Library Staff Development Handbook

From planning to hiring to advocating for staff, this second edition provides practical tools, tips, templates, and reports from practitioners in the field.

In order to address some of our societal shifts and changes since the publication of the first edition, this new volume has been updated throughout. New sections have been added and include promoting staff morale during challenging times, providing a safe work environment, coaching remote workers, and attending to diversity and biases in the library workplace. A new chapter dedicated to working with library supervisory boards has also been included.

In keeping with the first edition, this new volume applies to a wide variety of library settings and includes numerous tips, resource suggestions, and “real life” examples. Throughout the book, practitioners across libraries and library systems, from academic, public, urban, and rural settings share their experiences when it comes to the joys and challenges of the day-to-day tasks of supporting staff. After all, libraries don’t work without their most vital resource, the folks who run them.

Author Biography

Mary Grace Flaherty is professor emerita at the School of Information and Library Science at UNC-Chapel Hill, USA. She has over 40 years of professional library experience in a variety of positions. She holds a PhD from Syracuse University and master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland. She served as an IMLS Fellow, and as a Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Flaherty’s other books include: Great Library Events: From Planning to Promoting to Evaluation; Disaster Planning Handbook for Libraries; and Promoting Individual and Community Health at the Library.