New SLA Fellow Dennie Heye has started to interview other SLA Fellows to find out what we can learn from them. The second in this series of interviews is with Martha Foote.
Tell us about your current role and employer?
I am the Board General Manager at LibraryCo Inc. in Toronto, Canada. LibraryCo provides central management of the 48 county and district law libraries in Ontario. I work with the LibraryCo Board of Directors (which is made up of eight practising lawyers), the three shareholder groups and the library staff around the province. Our goals are to establish policies and priorities for the provision of law library services and programs, provide funding to pay for the operation of the law libraries, and establish guidelines and standards for the organization and operation of the law libraries.
As a fellow, you have been recognized for your work to enhance SLA and the profession. I always feel that as fellows, we are standing on shoulders of giants. Who within the profession was the first to inspire you?
I’m fortunate that the SLA Toronto chapter and Legal Division have provided such strong role models. I would have to say that Stephen Abram was very inspirational. He was one of the first SLA members I met as I was beginning my career. Stephen’s energy, enthusiasm and sense of humour were very inspirational, and he was very welcoming to new graduates. Within the Legal Division there was Jeanne Korman, who was chair in 2001-02. Jeanne was wonderful at recruiting new volunteers and encouraged me to take on leadership roles within the division. Before I became involved with SLA I was active in the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL). Many of my CALL-eagues have been very supportive and inspirational. Ann Rae, formerly of the University of Toronto, was the first to encourage me to become involved with CALL. Neil Campbell, now of the University of Victoria, and John Eaton of the University of Manitoba, were and continue to be strong role models.
If you think about the future of our profession – what keeps you awake at night and why?
Job losses within the profession. Special libraries are among the first assets of a company to be reduced and/or closed. Libraries aren’t profit centres and in spite of their often heroic efforts to prove the value of their departments, many of our colleagues have lost their jobs. In many organizations, particularly the private sector, we simply aren’t close enough to the senior decision makers to have real influence. Where are our colleagues going when their libraries are closed, and what sorts of careers are new graduates going to pursue? What do we tell undergraduate students who are considering applying to library/information schools?
When it comes to innovation, a lot of companies are trying to stay ahead of the competition by disrupting themselves from the inside out. For example, Netflix disrupted their profitable DVD mail order business by starting a movie streaming service via the Internet. Do you have ideas how information professionals could start disruptive innovation in their organizations?
It’s a challenge for information professionals to start disruptive innovation because typically we aren’t close enough to the senior decision-makers to have that sort of impact. But there are ways for us to initiate disruption. As Information professionals we must look beyond what we typically do for our clients. We keep saying that our skill sets are much broader than we are given credit for, and here is the chance to prove it. If we work for corporations then we need to look at what new lines of business the company is embracing and how we can leverage our expertise in creative ways. Don’t wait to be asked. Come up with a plan and pitch it to the most senior person within the appropriate business unit. Or go beyond the plan and develop a service; then pilot it to the appropriate business unit. Decision-makers need information; they often don’t know what they need or even that they need it.
If you were given a chance to go 10 years back in time, what would you do differently in your job and professional development?
Probably I would have become active in SLA a lot sooner. Much of what I have learned in SLA has been directly applicable to my career.
In order to remain relevant in the future, what should SLA start doing? Stop doing? Do more of?
SLA is on the right path by embracing year-long learning as opposed to focusing exclusively on the annual conference as the vehicle for continuing education. Many of the divisions and chapters are developing webinars on all sorts of topics, and this allows all SLA members, regardless of where they live and work, to participate in ongoing continuing education programs. The Rocky Mountain chapter and the Legal and Leadership & Management divisions are making real strides in this area. These ongoing learning experiences give members a strong reason to belong to SLA. Membership retention is the real challenge right now, and it has been exacerbated by the job losses over the past few years. The association has lost a large number of members and we must rebuild. It’s up to each of us – not just our leaders – to recruit new members and give former members a reason to return to the association.