Library directors forum: Peer consulting for library leaders and their challenges
This meeting is the first in what we hope will be a series of regular meetings specifically for AMICAL library directors, organized by the Leadership and Assessment Committee. The meeting will provide a forum for library directors to help each other with challenges or opportunities they’re currently working on or anticipating at their own libraries. Input received by meeting participants will also inform the planning of future meetings in this series.
Who should come?
This meeting is intended for library directors at AMICAL member institutions (including those in de facto or interim positions of responsibility for their library). All AMICAL library directors are welcome to attend, whether or not they are seeking peer advice on a particular challenge.
Overview of the meeting
The core of this 1-hour meeting will be a peer consulting session allowing participants bringing a challenge to get focused advice from their peers. The discussion will be in small groups and structured in a way that helps peers to focus on each other’s words, listen actively and ask useful questions, in order to give useful advice.
How to prepare
If you will be participating but not seeking peer consultation: no preparation is required.
If you are seeking peer consultation: ideally, you should let the organizers know (at contact@amicalnet.org) at least a day before the event. Come to the meeting prepared to give a 2-minute, completely informal oral description of your challenge and what kind of help you’re looking for from your peers. Your challenge should relate in some way to library leadership or management, and the help you’re seeking should be something that a group of AMICAL peers might conceivably be able to speak to.
Optional, for those interested in knowing more about the discussion format we’re using: see this description of the Wise Crowds format (the basic description, not the “Wise Crowds for Large Groups” description below it).
Organizers
This meeting is being organized jointly by Asma Al-Kanan (University Librarian, American University of Kuwait, and chair of AMICAL’s Leadership & Assessment Committee) and AMICAL Admin (Jeff Gima and Alex Armstrong).
Register for the meeting
The registration link has already been sent to all library directors at AMICAL member institutions (including those in de facto or interim positions of responsibility for their library). If you believe you should have received this email, but have not, contact us.