John has mentioned that he would like BU Libraries to be a learning organization. I had lunch with a colleague from UCLA Libraries who is now their Assistant Director for Human Resources. They are pursuing the same organizational goal. In their main library, they recently merged their bibliographers and reference librarians into one department and now every librarian does reference, instruction, and collection management. I know this isn't new but it was interesting for me since Maryland did the same thing 6.5 years ago.
She was primarily interested in my experience on the UM Libraries' Facilitators Team since they are sending many of their staff to facilitation workshops. Though they are not forming teams they want people to learn how to work better together. UM developed a learning curriculum of workshops that all staff were encouraged to attend. In striving to become a learning organization, individuals within the organizaiton recognize that continuous learning and acquiring new skills are essential to the organization's ability to be nimble and adapt to change.
Jenifer and I hope to continue our dialog between and at ALA conferences.
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