Establishing, Growing, & Sustaining Law Library Associations

1. Establishing, Growing, & Sustaining Law Library Associations Susan E. Fox Executive Director American Associations of Law Libraries Chicago, Illinois USA World Library & Information Congress 72nd IFLA General Conference Seoul, Korea 20-24 August 2006

2. Life Cycle of an Organization • Birth • Childhood • Adolescence • Adulthood • Aging • Dying

3. BIRTH Dream, Vision, Opportunity: Can this dream be realized?

4. CharacteristicsBirth • Overlapping tasks; operational board • Often one-person rule • No written rules

5. CharacteristicsBirth • No professional staff • Nonexistent internal systems • No teams, task forces, or organized means for coordination

6. CharacteristicsBirth • Strong commitment and purpose • Action oriented, opportunity driven, vision focused • Limited to no budget

7. RequirementsBirth • Strong visionary leader who can maintain a high degree of commitment • Leader is often hands on with significant input, but must nonetheless listen to and include others

8. RequirementsBirth • Action often more important than decisions • Develop preliminary systems for the organization

9. CHILDHOOD Found and Frame: How are we going to pull this off?

10. CharacteristicsChildhood • Some division of labor • More than one person rule • Few rules

11. CharacteristicsChildhood • Some administrative staff support • Some internal systems: basic budget and information systems • Top leaders coordinate

12. RequirementsChildhood • Ability to attract and develop additional leadership • Develop diversified funding sources • Continue to strengthen internal systems

13. ADOLESCENCE Ground and Grow: How can we build this to be viable?

14. CharacteristicsAdolescence • Expanding scope of operations and actions • Take on more difficult challenges • Take responsibility for action or inaction

15. CharacteristicsAdolescence • Learn from and receive mentoring by those with more experience

16. RequirementsAdolescence • Policy and procedures manuals • Increasing professional staff support • Control systems in place, budget, performance reports, etc.

17. RequirementsAdolescence • Some use of task forces, lateral teams for coordination

18. ADULTHOOD Produce and Sustain: How can the momentum be sustained?

19. CharacteristicsAdulthood • Organization assumes a greater level of responsibility • Takes the lead on an issue even without significant credit • Takes appropriate risks even if defeat is possible

20. CharacteristicsAdulthood • Nurture and mentor organizations in their childhood and adolescence

21. Requirements Adulthood • Expand board of directors to be more diverse, more professional • Paid management team responsible for day-to-day operations • Division of labor throughout the association is extensive and well documented

22. RequirementsAdulthood • Mission and image are well established. The message is consistent and highly visible. • Financially Sound

23. AGING Review and Renew: What do we need to do to redesign?

24. CharacteristicsAging • Membership is in decline • Original vision and mission are unclear or no longer relevant • Decline in member involvement

25. CharacteristicsAging • Movement from nostalgia to questioning • Emphasis on how things are done rather than what and why they are done

26. RequirementsAging • Develop a new strategic focus, mission, and vision (re-dream the dream) • Review programs and policies for obsolescence

27. RequirementsAging • Engage in active and continual environmental scan of opportunities and threats • Develop the courage to return to the birth stage

28. DYING Assess and Decide: When is it time to let go?

29. CharacteristicsDying • Total loss of purpose and hope • Mission not understood • Internal conflict

30. CharacteristicsDying • Lack of interest and participation • Changes impossible to achieve • Passive and maintenance oriented

31. RequirementsDying • Keep vision fresh and alive • Set clear priorities • Avoid maintenance mentality

32. RequirementsDying • Broaden the diversity of membership, intentionally recruit new and different members

33. Life Cycle of an Organization • Birth • Childhood • Adolescence • Adulthood • Aging • Dying

34. CREATING A VISION What is our preferred future?

35. Creating a Vision • Draw on the beliefs, mission, and environment of the association • Describe in vivid terms what you want to see in the future • Be specific

36. Creating a Vision • Be positive and inspiring • Do not assume that the association will have the same framework it does today • Be open to dramatic modifications to the association. Dream big dreams!

37. Key Components for Your Vision Incorporate your beliefs. They must: • Meet your association goals as well as those of the profession • Be a statement of values • Be a public and visible declaration of your expected outcomes

38. Key Components for Your Vision • Be precise and practical • Guide the actions of all involved • Reflect the knowledge, philosophy, and actions of all

39. Key Components for Your Vision • Be a key component of strategic planning

40. AALL Vision The American Association of Law Libraries is a thriving professional association whose members and libraries – whether physical or virtual legal information services – are recognized as critical to the success of their organizations and as central to society. AALL members possess the knowledge and skills to maintain effectiveness in a constantly changing legal environment. Since the ready availability of legal information is a necessary requirement for a just and democratic society, AALL and its members advocate and work toward fair and equitable access to authentic current and historic legal information, and educate and train library users to be knowledgeable and skilled legal information consumers.

41. Benefits of Visioning The process of creating a vision may seem vague and superfluous. However, the long-term benefits are substantial.

42. Benefits of Visioning • Breaks you out of boundary thinking • Provides continuity and avoids the stutter effect of planning fits and starts • Identifies direction and purpose

43. Benefits of Visioning • Identifies direction and purpose • Alerts stakeholders to needed change • Promotes interest and commitment

44. Benefits of Visioning • Promotes laser-like focus • Encourages openness to unique and creative solutions • Encourages and builds confidence

45. Benefits of Visioning • Builds loyalty through involvement (ownership) • Results in efficiency and productivity

46. Vision Killers • Tradition • Fear of ridicule • Stereotypes of people, conditions, roles, and governing boards

47. Vision Killers • Complacency among stakeholders • Fatigued leaders • Short term thinking • Naysayers – those who constantly find reason to say No

48. Creating a Mission Statement • Draws on your belief statements (core values) • Must be future oriented and portray your association as it will be

49. Creating a Mission Statement • Must be specific, not generic • Must be short, not more than one or two sentences

50. AALL Mission The American Association of Law Libraries supports and serves its members, promotes and enhances the value of law libraries, fosters law librarianship, and provides leadership and advocacy in the field of legal information and information policy.