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Vol. 24, No. 3/Spring 2002

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Marcia MacVaneSmall Libraries: The Best Advice You Ever Got
By Marcia MacVane

 

One of the first bits of advice I was given when I became a manager was "You can’t solve every problem." I didn’t believe it. I firmly believed that if you worked with reasonable people, reasonable solutions could be found. However, years of banging my head against brick walls have swayed my beliefs. Now my mantra reads: "Make your solutions work for you." Let me explain.

I occasionally find myself trying to solve problems in my department that have been created by people in other departments. This eats up an enormous amount of my time, sometimes to no avail.

One of the problems that constantly drives our library absolutely wild is our "picture problem." When staff photographers put their work into our production system, they are supposed to drop a copy of the photo into the library archiving system. This process takes about five extra seconds.

In the beginning, we excused non-compliance because it was a "new" process. We would call the photographers and tell them which photos we still needed. When that didn’t work consistently, we photocopied copies of the proofs from the newspaper and sent them to the photo department. A couple of days later, we would get the proofs back, the photos would be in the archive and we would finish the work started days earlier.

All but two of the photographers now follow the procedure. Those two create more stress in my department than you can imagine. Beyond the fact that there is a constant irritation that they are not doing what they are supposed to do, there is the stress of having incomplete work hanging over the heads of my employees every day.

As of May 1, we will no longer "hunt down" missing photos; they simply will not be archived. The problem is no longer ours; photos that are not archived will not be available for republication without first being relocated and re-scanned - by the photo department.

This whole situation started me thinking about other bits of advice given to me over the length of my career, and started me wondering about what other "bits" might be out there.

Judy Canter, library director at the San Francisco Chronicle, said "God Almighty, after 35 years in this crazy business I should have learned a thing or two." Her advice is short and sweet, and all too true.

  1. Be visible. And speak up at meetings.
  2. Don’t hesitate to say yes to taking on a task which may not exactly fall into your job description. Over the years, I could see the library getting the reputation of getting jobs done and done well.
  3. Give service with a smile.
  4. Don’t complain about having to work hard and work long hours.

Michael Knoop, news research editor at the San Antonio Express-News, related an incident on how best to respond to criticism leveled at your work that is not your fault.

"Recently I was pretty irritated when a reader sent a letter to the editor about research that I had done for a graphic. He considered the source for the research (CIA World Factbook) biased. The problem was only about 2% of my research was used for the graphic but my name was still attached to it. If the majority of my research had been used, the graphic would have been more balanced because it was based on several resources, not just the CIA source, and would have addressed the reader's particular concern.

When I complained to my editor (Kathy Foley), she told me to shrug off the reader's negative letter and suggested that I realize this last minute changing happens to reporters every day. … The experience helped me to empathize with my colleagues in the newsroom.

I had the opportunity to write a letter to the news editor which was forwarded to the reader that 1.) expressed the validity of the CIA World Factbook as ONE of many sources by attaching reviews by third party resources, and 2.) expressed the integrity of the news research department by presenting the reader with the compiled research as an attached document."

Jim Meier, news research senior editor at The Sporting News, provided one of those suggestions that hits you over the head with its simplicity, but I would venture we have all dealt with a similar problem at one time or another.

"I visited the Olympic library in Los Angeles and noticed that they have a central reference desk which gets a lot of phone calls. They had put a portable phone at the desk, so that the librarians could take the call, and head right to the shelves to get the needed material. They even were able to continue with the reference interview over the phone while they were in the stacks.

We've got a 25x50 room here in St. Louis with both of our offices at one end. So whenever we were working in the stacks … we would have to run back to answer our phones. Upon returning from LA, we bought a portable phone and had it installed at that end of the room and it has made a big difference. … [S]o now I can be on the phone and just go next door to the clips while still talking to the patron. Saves a lot of time on missed calls and calling people back."

Anne Magill, library administrative supervisor at the San Diego Union-Tribune, passed along two valuable suggestions.

"One of our researchers discovered ('learned the hard way') that a researcher working as part of a reporting team on a special project needs to stay in regular contact with the editor as well as with the reporters; this helps ensure that the researcher is remembered when it's time for published credit and any further recognition, such as awards. She passed this advice along after her work did not get published credit despite the reporters' verbal accolades."

Some more from Anne:

"We have a librarian on the monthly newsroom contests judging committee. This position provides visibility and professional contact as well serving as an advocate for recognition of librarians' efforts on daily and special projects. (We lobbied hard for a contest category called 'Support of Journalistic Excellence,' which now appears on the monthly and annual contests, and covers librarians, news assistants, secretaries, tech staff, etc.) It's a great morale-booster for our staff as well as a way to promote the library's excellent efforts."

Laura Soto-Barra, assistant managing editor/library for The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., related a story that happened to her recently.

"I attend the editors team to plan future stories …. In one of those meetings, our Projects Editor said he wanted a story to explore how a certain local developer worked, look at previous projects in the surrounding counties, profiling his team, methods, etc. The only reaction was smiles and some nodding. I felt upset because I have my own ideas on that developer and I said "Yes, by all means let's find out what a crook he is and let's tell our readers.' The editor said, 'Laura, I didn't say he was a crook,' and I insisted, 'Well, let's find out, if he's not a crook, let's also tell our readers!' At that point another editor told me: 'Never use that word in the newsroom when planning a story.' He explained about impartiality, fairness, not having our minds made up, etc. So I asked, what should I say then? And he answered: 'Let's take a critical look at his activities.'

I learned two things: 1.) We, librarians in the newsroom, should keep journalism basic principles in mind. 2.) The word CROOK comes from "CRitical lOOK."

I could not end this column without including the following advice. From John Marikos, news librarian at the Statesman Journal (Salem, Ore.): "Join this (NewsLib) list!"

From Tim Rozgonyi, assistant technology systems editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Document everything!"

From Diane Logsdon, librarian at the Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.): "When reporters ask you a question, ask: ‘What do you really want?’ I still do that today. Not really in that way, but the interview question is still one of the most important skills for a librarian to master."

And last but not least, from Margot Williams, research editor at the Washington Post: "We don’t do homework."


Marcia MacVane is Library Director at the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram. You can contact her at mmacvane@pressherald.com.