Target Audience: Managers at all levels in all law library environments who are concerned about maintaining a vibrant and highly functioning work force in a time of great change Learning Outcomes: 1. Participants will learn about social capital - its role in building community and its importance in fostering strong institutions in the future. 2. Participants will return to their institutions and organizations with specific strategies to build community and enhance social capital in their own libraries.
Employee trust and a sense of common identity are the "glue" that hold a library together. The term "social capital" has come to define these strong and stable relationships that make organizations operate cohesively and as true communities. Those exceptional libraries that have significant social capital are characterized by energized and challenged staffs that have a sense of belonging to and committing to an entity greater than any one individual. This program will address how libraries - even during times of downsizing, organizational restructuring, and job freezes - can "invest" in social capital by encouraging professional and personal connections among staff, while nurturing institutional loyalty and trust. An expert on building organizational communities will focus on strategies to create libraries that are places of engagement and community in which staff are committed to one another and to the overriding service enterprise. The next panelist will discuss how to encourage staff cooperation and productivity while simultaneously fostering individual creativity, diversity, and innovation. The third panelist will offer practical guidance on creating a strong sense of institutional identity and overcoming the challenges to building community within a library.
