Grant Rec'd for LO training LO18804

Laura Mueller (lmueller@nslsilus.ORG)
Fri, 07 Aug 1998 08:47:41 +0100

Hello,

My organization has been on what we call, an odyssey or journey towards
becoming an organization for almost two years now. Although Im not an
active participant of the listserv, I have learned so much reading the
discussions. I work for the North Suburban Library System which is an
organization of over 600 academic, public, school and special libraries.
We are one of twelve library systems in Illinois. We are funded through
the Illinois State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of
State, George Ryan.

I will be attending the Systems Thinking in Action Pegasus conference in
San Francisco in September and I'm hoping to meet some of you there.

I wanted to share some very exciting news with you we have been awarded a
$45,000 Library Services and Technology grant. This is for two of our
member libraries (Des Plaines Public Library & Ela Area Public Library
District) to receive training and staff development using the principles
of the Learning Organization. A detailed outline of the grant is below.
We will be completing a narrative report at the end of the process and Id
be happy to share it with anyone who is interested. If you are please
send me an e-mail with the request.

The Illinois State Library has awarded a $45,000 Library Services and
Technology grant to the North Suburban Library System (NSLS) in Wheeling
and two of its member libraries, the Des Plaines Public Library and the
Ela Area Public Library District in Lake Zurich. The grant will fund
training and staff development at both libraries using the principles of
the Learning Organization, a model for dealing with organizational growth
and change developed by MIT professor Peter Senge.

A Learning organization is customer-focused, responsive to change and team
based, with an emphasis on learning and shared leadership. It is a
totally different approach from the traditional hierarchical structure of
libraries and other organizations. Though the idea is becoming more
common in the business world, particularly in the high tech and oil
industries, very few public libraries have decided to become a Learning
Organization.

At the same time, libraries are facing a number of changes that make this
an ideal model. Changes in the population have led to a greater diversity
among library users and keeping up with the latest developments in
technology is a never-ending challenge. Library staff need more effective
ways to cope with their rapidly changing environment.

Initiated and coordinated by NSLS, the grant program is a partnership
between two very different libraries. The Des Plaines Public Library is
semi-urban and serves a population of 52,896 with a median household
income of $59,797. Ela is a district library that includes the villages
of Lake Zurich, Hawthorn Woods, and Kildeer. The population served is
25,000 with a median household income of $96,000.

The concept of partnering is key to the success of this program. Twelve
staff members from each library and from all levels of the organization
will attend a series of workshops on topics such as learning styles,
change management, empowerment, risk taking, and communication. Maureen
Sullivan, a nationally known consultant in the field of organizational
development and an expert on the Learning Organization, will lead the
sessions.

The workshops are patterned after a similar series conducted for NSLS
staff approximately two years ago. A goal of the program is to serve as a
model that can easily be expanded to other libraries in Illinois.

-- 
Laura A. Mueller
North Suburban Library System
200 W. Dundee Road
Wheeling, IL 60090
847/459-1300 ext. 121
http://www.nslsilus.org

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>