Change as Noun and Verb: A Transformational Approach to Change Efforts That Don’t Suck

“The Winds of Change in Academic Libraries.” “Innovation in Academic Libraries.” “Managing Change in Academic Libraries.” “The Changing Academic Library.” These are just a few examples of the large and growing literature on change as it relates to academic libraries released in the past decade. It’s clear that change, innovation, and leadership are central concerns for the profession, yet specific conversations about change tend to happen on the margins: over coffee with colleagues at a conference, in a private email conversation, or Twitter threads on change gone wrong.

There are few tools available that provide a comprehensive approach to managing change within an organization, leaving most libraries and librarians to figure out how to approach these complicated processes on their own. As co-authors of ACRL’s openly licensed Fostering Change: A Team-Based Guide, the presenters will walk attendees through a hands-on session that will provide participants with an opportunity to explore and, more importantly, walk away with a change management outline they can implement within their own organizations which covers everything from planning for change, understanding the effects of change at both an individual and organizational level, and executing change efforts with equity, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront.