As librarians we take pride in our long history of upholding and defending intellectual freedom, equitable access to information, privacy, lifelong learning, and many other important social values. But how often are we making management, leadership, and customer service decisions based on these essential values that are at the heart of libraries and librarianship? This presentation will review the current ideas of values-based leadership within business literature. We will then critically look at how we are doing the work of libraries and ask the hard question: Are we really doing our best? We will then consider how we can reinvigorate our professional work practices by placing the values of librarianship at the center of our leadership, management and customer service decisions.

1. Cristina Hernandez Trotter
chtrotter@gmail.com
GaCOMO Conference 2014

2. What is
leadership?

3. "Writers write, trainers train,
and theorists theorize, and
the nature of leadership
continues to elude them."
Values Leadership: Towards a New Philosophy of Leadership. Fairholm. (1991)

4. definitions of leadership

7. Transactional leadership
vs.
Transformational leadership

8. “Management is doing things right;
leadership is doing the right things.”
- Peter Druker

9. From http://toplineconsulting.com.au/topline-leadership-development-program/

10. .

11. “Values-based leadership means different
things to different people. Indeed, the
concept borders on meaning anything to
anyone, such that it ends up meaning nothing
to no one.”
- Micheal K McCuddy, Valparaiso Univ.

12. “Values-based leaders exercise their
influence to make a difference by aligning
decisions and actions with consciously chosen
values. They inspire and enable themselves
and others to accomplish their highest values
in action.”
- Graduate Certificate in Values-Based Leadership, Royal Roads Univ.

14. ALA’s Core Competencies of Librarianship
8. ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
8E. The concepts behind, issues relating to, and
methods for, principled,
Transformational
leadership

15. ALA’s Core Competencies of Librarianship
1. FOUNDATIONS OF THE PROFESSION
1A. The ethics, values and foundational principles of
the library and information profession.
1B. The role of the library and information
professionals in the promotion of democratic
principles and intellectual freedom (including
freedom of expression, thought and conscience).

16. ALA’s Code of Ethics
• We provide the highest level of SERVICE to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized
resources; equitable service policies; EQUITABLE ACCESS; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous
responses to all requests.
• We uphold the principles of INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM and resist all efforts to censor library resources.
• We protect each library user's right to PRIVACY and CONFIDENTIALITY with respect to information sought
or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.
• We respect intellectual property rights and advocate BALANCE between the interests of information
users and rights holders.
• We treat co-workers and other colleagues with RESPECT, FAIRNESS, AND GOOD FAITH, and advocate
conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions.
• We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing
institutions.
• We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our
personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of
access to their information resources.
• We strive for EXCELLENCE in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and
skills, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers, and by fostering the aspirations of
potential members of the profession.

17. ALA’s Core Values of Librarianship
Access
Confidentiality/Privacy
Democracy
Diversity
Education and Lifelong Learning
Intellectual Freedom
Preservation
The Public Good
Professionalism
Service
Social Responsibility

18. Gorman’s Our Enduring Values
Stewardship
Service
Intellectual Freedom
Privacy
Rationalism
Commitment to literacy and learning
Equity of Access
Democracy

19. Privacy
Service
Equity of Access
Stewardship
Intellectual Freedom
Rationalism
Democracy
“Do librarians have a shared set of values? A Comparative Study of 36 Codes of Ethics Based on
Gorman’s Enduring Values” by Catherine Foster & David McMenemy. (2012)
Literacy and learning
Adheres to Value Partly Aheres to Value Does Not Adhere to Value

20. Strategic Planning
Templates from www.poweredtemplate.com

21. PARTNERSHIP
ACCOUNTABILITY
STEWARDSHIP
INTEGRITY
GROWTH

22. Montgomery County Public Libraries
Values
INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM ACCOUNTABILITY QUALITY SERVICE DIVERSITY
FAIRNESS PROFESSIONAL ETHICS INTEGRITY OF INFORMATION
RESPECT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, OUR COMMUNITY, AND OURSELVES
Customer Service Guidelines
Our service to library customers is based on the values
of our organization rather than merely on rules and procedures.
We base our service policies on the mission of the library
and the shared organizational values.

23. Clinton-Macomb Public Library
Philosophical Principles Policy
CORE VALUES OF LIBRARIANSHIP
LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS
CODE OF ETHICS
FREEDOM TO READ STATEMENT
FREEDOM TO VIEW STATEMENT
Customer Service Guidelines

24. Boulder Public Library
City of Boulder’s Core Values
- Shared Across All City Departments -
CUSTOMER SERVICE RESPECT INTEGRITY
COLLABORATION INNOVATION
Library Staff
Competencies & Evaluation

25. In any bureaucratic organization there will be two
kinds of people: those who work to further the actual
goals of the organization, and those who work for the
organization itself.
In all cases, the latter will always gain control of the
organization, and will always write the rules under
which the organization functions.
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy

27. “We have found that a
library is not an end in
itself, but a means to
many ends.”
- Charles E. Rush, 1939

28. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science
1.Books are for use.
2.Every reader his book.
3.Every book its reader.
4.Save the time of the reader.
5.The library is a growing organism.

30. From http://toplineconsulting.com.au/topline-leadership-development-program/

32. “Sometimes the first duty of
intelligent men is the
restatement of the obvious.”
- George Orwell

33. Resources
Burns, MacGregor. Leadership. 1978.
Copeland, Mary K. “The Emerging Significance of Values Based Leadership: A Literature Review.” International Journal of
Leadership Studies. Spring 2014, p106-135. Available at:
http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol8iss2/6-Copeland.pdf
Covey, Stephen. Principle-Centered Leadership. 1991.
Davis, Heather and Peter Macauley. “Taking Library Leadership Personally.” The Australian Library Journal. Feb. 2011, p41-53.
Available at: http://leadershipliteracies.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/davis_macauley.pdf
Fairholm, Gilbert W. Values Leadership: Toward a New Philosophy of Leadership. 1991.
Finks, Lee W. “Values Without Shame.” American Libraries. Apr. 1989, p352-356.
Foster, Catherine, and David McMenemy. “Do librarians have a shared set of values? A Comparative Study of 36 Codes of Ethics
Based on Gorman’s Enduring Values.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. Dec. 2012, p249- 262.
Gorman, Micheal. Our Enduring Values. 2000.

34. Resources
Hicks , Deborah and Lisa M. Given. “Principled, Transformational Leadership: Analyzing the Discourse of Leadership in the
Development of Librarianship’s Core Competences.” The Library Quarterly. Jan 2013, p7-25.
McGuire, Jeanne. “The Case for Values-Based Leadership: Maximizing People and Profitability.” Corporate Education Group
Website. Available at: http://www.corpedgroup.com/resources/ml/ValuesBasedLeadership.asp
Rost, Joseph C. “Leadership Development in the New Millennium.” Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. Nov. 1993,
p91-110.
Staninger, Steven W. “Identifying the Presence of Ineffective Leadership in Libraries.” Library Leadership & Management.
v26:no 1. Available at: https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/download/5782/5815
Stone, A. Gregory, and Kathleen Patterson “The History of Leadership Focus.” Servant Leadership Research Roundtable
Proceedings. (Regent Univ.) Aug. 2005. Available at:
http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2005/stone_history.pdf
Only if we had more time…
Dole, Wanda V. and Jitka M. Hurych. “Using Kidder's dilemma paradigm to resolve conflicts in library core values.” New Library
World. Oct. 2009, p.449-456.

35. Cristina Hernandez Trotter
chtrotter@gmail.com
GaCOMO Conference 2014