Lessons from a symposium - manager -trustee panel

• Policy - needs to be vision driven, community focused and consistent
• Board needs a manager (leader) who can help with direction
• "Book famine" - lack of titles for print disabled
• Need to provide policy with care and feeding - they are living documents
• If you are tackling tough issues, you need to be armed with information - compare with other libraries, prove that what you do is relevant
• Sometimes, throwing the gauntlet at taking on tough issues, e.g. pay, can make something impossible begin to become possible (if not an immediate reality)
• HR case study: board sets HIGH level HR policies, CEO sets operational
• Mirror city policies if you can
• CEO sets management compensation, involved in all but 1rst level discipline, collective bargaining interpretation
• "Rules about rules": they have to be reasonable, published, communicated, understood, enforced and consistent with collective agreement
• Chairs should talk to managers weekly; look for burnout signs e.g. tears, defensiveness, taking it personal