Other People's Money: Adapting Entrepreneurial Techniques to Build Capital in Challenging Economic Times

Drawing on the “predator” model of entrepreneurship put forward by Villette and Vuillermot in their 2009 book “From Predators to Icons,” this article argues that challenging economic times reveal that self-funded, collaborative information literacy models have in many cases unsustainably overstretched staff and budgets. In such circumstances, it is necessary for librarians to shift to an entrepreneurial approach that seeks profitable opportunities funded by parties other than the library in order to build capital for current and future instructional services. Following Villette and Vuillermot, the article seeks to refute a cultural myth that sees the entrepreneur as someone who is first and foremost a “do-gooder” or marketer of helpful products, and it also advocates that librarians adopt a view of the entrepreneur as one who preys on unexploited, low-cost/high-profit opportunities to leverage “other people's money” to build capital for later innovation. The article considers the economics of information literacy and library instruction programs, provides historical context for what has come to be known as the “collaborative imperative,” points to the economic shortsightedness of many collaborative and “embedded librarian” partnerships, and details six examples from information literacy programs that model successful entrepreneurship of the sort argued for.     

The Impact of Victimization and Witnessing Violence on Physical Aggression Among High‐Risk Adolescents

Relations among witnessing violence, victimization, and physical aggression were investigated within a high‐risk sample of 1,156 sixth graders. Longitudinal, multilevel analyses were conducted on two waves of data from two cohorts of students in 37 schools from four communities. The sample was 65% male and 67% African American. Neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, witnessing violence, victimization, and physical aggression were strongly and positively correlated at the school level. Contrary to hypothesis, exposure to violence did not mediate the effects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage on changes in physical aggression. As expected, witnessing violence and physical aggression had bidirectional longitudinal effects on each other at the student level. In contrast, there were no cross‐variable relations between changes in violent victimization and aggression over time.     

Leadership and Social Justice

ABSTRACT

Leaders have tremendous influence not only in their organizations but for the profession and within the communities they serve. Librarianship has strong core values that are the foundation of our services but librarians also create an environment that supports diversity of opinions. How does a library leader balance social justice while serving the broad needs of a community? Is there an inherent conflict between personal perspectives and the encompassing multiple viewpoints? Library leaders may face difficult decisions in determining social justice issues within their libraries considering personal beliefs, institutional responsibilities, and community impacts. Every library leader has opportunities to address social justice issues within libraries and in so doing, will advance community goals of inclusiveness of all members.     

A Leader's Toolbelt

Leaders need a variety of tools to be effective in their management, communication, and leadership. These tools should be used for specific jobs and are operational in working with some personalities but not all. Leaders can develop these tools and over time, learn when and how to effectively use them. Such tools will enhance the leader's ability to address a variety of situations and issues drawing upon expertise gained through experience.     

Integrated Reference à la Carte: Evaluating,Selecting, and Implementing the Best Features for your Library

Integrated reference systems, such as SpringShare's LibAnswers, operate on a single, easy-to-use platform for providing virtual reference services and recording transactions. This article discusses the evidence-based decision-making carried out by librarians at Auburn University's main library and a branch library when deciding which aspects of the LibAnswers platform to incorporate at the two separate locations. Evaluating, selecting, and implementing appropriate components of LibAnswers resulted in complementary but separate systems that met the needs of both patrons and staff. This article adds to the body of literature on integrated reference systems by expanding the focus to include a branch library and its unique considerations and reasons for implementing LibAnswers.     

Leadership Reflections: Extrovert and Introvert Leaders

Leadership calls for the ability to work well with people, communicate with stakeholders, participate in and lead meetings, and often public speaking. As a leader advances within an organization, expectations increase for the individual to engage with others as leaders spend more time working with colleagues and stakeholders to advance the organization. These expectations tend to favor extroverts in leadership roles but organizations may overlook the strengths of introverts as leaders losing out on the potential for effective management. An understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of personality types will help individuals as well as organizations in developing leadership in order to achieve organizational goals.