Page 29 - Campus Technology, March/April 2019

Communication with faculty is uppermost for a library-IT merger to succeed, said Centenary College Director of IT Scott Merritt. “They need assurances that we’re going to continue the provide the resources they’re used to, [while also letting them know] we want to take it to the next level and help them in their teaching responsibili- ties, in their pedagogy.”
Recognize common goals for students. Recently, after the departure of a reference librarian at Centenary, Library Services Director Christy Wrenn began teaching information literacy to first-year students to fill in the gap until a new librarian could be hired. That has made her realize that her focus for the future should be “to pull more faculty, more students into the library to experience what’s located on our website — because it is the best kept secret on campus.”
Consider joining the other association. For CIOs, that might mean attending events hosted by the Association of College & Research Libraries (part of the American Library Association); and for librar-
ians, it might include a membership in Educause, the association for campus IT leaders. Davidson College Library Director Lisa Forest joined Edu- cause after the merger of IT and the library at her previous institution, Hamilton College, because she “felt like I needed to increase my knowledge of educational technology and IT in general.”
Undertake joint professional development efforts. At Davidson, that includes plans for the leadership members from both sides to read Dare to Lead, a “playbook” by Brene Brown for “develop- ing brave leaders and courageous cultures.” In coming weeks, people will gather, said Forrest, “to discuss that as part of our ongoing efforts to be super-collaborators.”
Look for ways to develop a “shared presence.”
That means, suggested Forrest, showing support in social networking by tagging each other and high- lighting projects done by the other unit. When profiling individuals from one group in public ways or planning outreach or programming events, consider including members of the other group as well.
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