Taiga Forum

Crossing the Table: Employee Relations Issues in Libraries #

The Taiga Forum, held annually in conjunction with the DLF Forum, is a place to facilitate a robust community of practice for academic library leaders who cross traditional organizational boundaries to focus on creating the future within our organizations. The 2015 event will be a conversation about employee relations in libraries.

Employee relations in higher education can be a difficult maze of interrelated policies and issues that can involve multiple library and campus groups, as well as the relationships between these groups. Academic library leaders must envision and lead change in library services and staffing, negotiate complex issues with labor unions and other employee associations, effectively place the library staffing model within the campus research and teaching culture, and do all of this while strengthening employee morale and engagement and promoting a culture that values all levels of staff.

The Taiga Forum, following the DLF Forum in Vancouver, will feature expert speakers and open, honest discussion of challenges and strategies for these types of employee relations issues, including evolving staffing models, changes in promotion and tenure models for librarians, and working with unions and employee associations. The conversations will focus both on staff and on librarians, and on productive ways to work with each and to bridge the gap between them.

In addition, we will ask willing participants to share their own employee relations experiences and tips in lightning talk-style presentations. Come learn and share your own experiences with how these issues affect academic libraries, and what tools you can employ as a current or aspiring academic library leader to effectively navigate challenging employee relations matters.

Registration is $120 and is open to all.

Details #

When: Thursday, October 29, 2015, 10am–4pm
Where: TBD