Other Duties as Assigned: Reaching New Heights Through Changes

One of the primary aspects of librarianship is how our roles can and will change. Melissa Brooks, Michelle Colquitt, and Kayla Whitehead discuss change management in their new positions, including changes from smaller institutions to larger ones and into positions with increasing responsibilities at the same institution. In addition, we discuss strategies we have found helpful while undergoing great periods of change. Our perspectives include managerial (Brooks), career-change (Colquitt) and moving from a sole practitioner to team member (Whitehead). This session focuses on theory-versus-practice regarding what we learned in library school versus the realities of working in academic libraries. We examine change management and the growth mindset—particularly in planning projects versus their actual execution and implementation—as well as staffing levels and their impact on workflows.