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2016 Llama Career Institute, Boston, MA

Posted October 6, 2015

Everyone has values. Beginning in childhood, we as individuals build them into our personal lives – and ultimately these values inform and guide our professional lives. Institutions and organization are often built around a particular set of values, often from their founding. As professionals and individuals, we often feel values abstractly and face difficulty identifying the specific actions and traits that demonstrate our values, and we may struggles with how to advocate for and defend our values as professionals and library leaders.

The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) will present the fifth LLAMA Career Institute – entitled What Matters, A Workshop for Developing and Articulating Our Values – on Friday, January 8, 2016, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Held in conjunction with the American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, this LLAMA Career Institute will feature Miguel A. Figueroa and Jessamyn West.

Figueroa works at the Center for the Future of Libraries (www.ala.org/libraryofthefuture), a new initiative from the American Library Association that works to identify trends relevant to libraries and the communities they serve; promote futuring and innovation techniques to help librarians and library professionals shape their future; and build connections with experts and innovative thinkers to help libraries address emerging issues.

West is a librarian and community technologist. She helps run the Internet Archive’s Open Library project and writes a column for Computers in Libraries magazine. She works with small libraries and businesses in central Vermont to help them use technology to solve problems.

Participants can expect to leave this workshop with increased insight into how to identify values and with a better understanding of how values, decision-making, and actions flow together in the context of our profession and our library organizations. Aimed at leaders at all levels of organizations, the institute will provide participants with the ability to speak confidently as leaders to their and/or their institution’s values and to present these values in a compelling manner to both internal and external stakeholders.

Figueroa will open the institute and provide information on the work of the Center. Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Center is modeled on the successful American Alliance of Museum’s Center for the Future of Museums.

Following this opening segment, institute participants will have an opportunity explore the “top 25 library values” and to network with colleagues over lunch, which is included in the workshop registration fee.

During the afternoon session, West will be the featured presenter. She will guide participants through a series of presentations and activities that will help each participant:

  • to identifying their values as they currently understand them, as well as those of their current or past institution;
  • to rank values in order to be able to make decisions and take action;
  • to gain insight into good leadership culture and how to think about how decisions are made at all levels of an organization and in the workplace in relation to values;
  • to identify and examine hidden values and priorities;
  • to identify values of various stakeholders;
  • to effectively make the pitch for specific values – either your own individual values or the values of your institution.

Throughout the day, participants will have multiple opportunities to practice with one another, role-play a variety of scenarios, and hone the values and priorities they have identified into a punchy, well-delivered elevator speech.

The LLAMA Career Institute is open to all. Registration costs will cover workshop materials and will include light refreshments AND a boxed lunch. Costs for this LLAMA Career Institute are:

  • $180 for LLAMA Divisional Members (use code “LLAMA2016” when registering);
  • $230 for ALA members
  • $130 for Other Members (Retired, Student, Trustee, Non-Salaried, Support Staff)
  • $280 for Non-Members.

On-site registration will be subject to availability and will be $280.

Pre-registration prior to December 1, 2015 is recommended as space is limited. Register online at http://2016.alamidwinter.org/ticketedevents  – this takes you to “Ticketed Events” on the ALA Midwinter site; then search for LLAMA Institute (Event Code LAM1). 

Introduced at the 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting, the LLAMA Career Institute is a continuing education offering aimed at early-career professionals and professionals at any career stage seeking to acquire new knowledge, skills, and competencies in support of active and ongoing career development or potential career changes. Previous institute topics have been: Planning Your Next Career Move: Developing a Game Plan (2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting/Seattle); Writing & Editing: Developing Career Skills and Building Your Professional Reputation (2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting/Philadelphia); Project Management for Librarians: Planning for Success (2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting/Chicago); and Mind Over Matter: Sustainable Success for Library Leaders (2015 ALA Annual Conference/San Francisco).