Four Retreats and a Forum: A Meditation on Retreats as a Response to Change.

INTRODUCTION

   "I will cast a cold eye on management fads." (Gorman, 1998, p. 183)

Many articles and books that have been published in the last decade examined the impact of technology and change upon library organizations. Most of these follow business models and urge libraries to use a battery of industry techniques to cope with change. Older articles championed the adoption of TQM (Total Quality Management) with its guiding principles of. "employee involvement and training, problem-solving teams; statistical methods; long-term goals and thinking and continuous improvement" (Mullen, 1993). The next wave of library management literature urged that the following business techniques be used to manage change: strategic planning, goal-setting, empowerment of staff, training, and teams. More recently, library publications argue the virtues of building "learning organizations" to create environments adaptable to change. Characteristics of learning organizations include: shared visions, team learning, systems thinking, and a view of learning as a lifelong process (Phipps, 1993, p. 22).

There is some overlap in these prescriptions for creating the agile organization or renewed library and possibly some sound advice (Haricombe & Lusher, 1998, p. 2). However, the most likely answer to creating an organization that keeps quality service as its top priority; that offers an atmosphere conducive to learning, working, and achievement; and is amenable to change is in the use of a wide range of management techniques filtered through the shared experiences, appreciated skills, and commonsense we share as library practitioners.

This article discusses the use of annual retreats to reinforce a variety of shared values, visions, and virtues in a modern library. The retreats that are discussed blend visioning, strategic planning, socializing, goal setting, brainstorming, and general discussion to create action plans for each year. They analyze the virtues of teams, training, enhanced communication, restructuring, and repeated evaluation in building a better organization. These retreats also emphasized for the entire staff the need to internalize overall university core values and goals into library values and goals. The need for partnerships, leadership, and the true place of technology in library planning also emerged as constant themes. Have these retreat discussions created the truly flexible, collegial, and essential academic unit we desire? The jury is probably still out on this, but these retreats do paint a portrait of an evolving organization, one that has melded several valuable management techniques into its everyday operations and arrived at a viable place to consider change as a welcome and continuing fact of library life at the end of the twentieth century.

BACKGROUND

   "I will take the long view when faced with change." (Gorman, 1998, p. 112)

The four retreats discussed in this article all took place at Bowling Green State University between the years 1995 and 1998. Bowling Green State University is a comprehensive university in Ohio offering over 100 undergraduate degree programs, 65 master's programs, and 15 doctorates to 16,000 students each year. The Libraries and Learning Resources unit consists of 106 employees, a book collection of over 2 million volumes, and a yearly budget of roughly $7 million. Classified as a medium-sized academic library, Bowling Green has, nevertheless, research-level collections in popular culture, popular music, and Great Lakes maritime history. The research collections are nationally known but, at times, the joy/burden of maintaining their reputations must be balanced against maintaining an adequate undergraduate collection and 4,000 serials that support faculty research (particularly in the sciences).

As at every other academic institution in the 1990s, the libraries at Bowling Green face challenges of a flat materials budget losing ground against journal inflation; increased user expectations for onsite and offsite services; a fast-paced deployment of technology in public and operational areas, necessitating new equipment, furniture, and training; and the difficulty of sustaining centrality to the university's mission at a time when both higher education and libraries are changing (for an interesting book of essays on the topic, see Grimes, 1998).

To help meet these challenges, the division has strong traditions of holding yearly retreats and of engaging in strategic planning. Some of the early retreats were social opportunities, others were used as forums to discuss restructuring, still others centered on OhioLink's impact on library services or the need for constant revision and updating of the strategic plan. Usually the retreats were attended by the twenty top managers in the organization and by representatives of any teams or committees that were operative. All retreats involved multiple days away from the library buildings, meals eaten together, a set agenda, and some discussion of the strategic plan.

FIRST RETREAT

      "I will apply fundamental principles to guide me through new
      situations." (Gorman, 1998, p. 61)

In spring 1995, I was appointed Dean of Libraries and Learning Resources at Bowling Green State University. Prior to my first day on the job, I was asked by the staff to attend their annual retreat. An agenda, supporting materials, and a list of the participants was mailed to me. The retreat was scheduled for two days in a former convent, with participants eating two of each day's meals together. The main agenda items were introductions, a review of the strategic plan, and updates from previously established teams on library space, technology, human resource development, and multicultural affairs.

Although I had met many of the individuals at the retreat during my interviews, I did not remember most of them very clearly. Fortunately, the introductory part of the session was intended as a way for all staff to get to know one another better. Each person was asked not only to identify him- or herself but to give a brief description of their educational background, special interests, and how they came to work in libraries. It was a great way to get to know the diverse backgrounds of my new staff, and I was astounded to realize that even though several of these individuals had worked together for two or more years, many did not know each other's past history or "outside" hobbies.

The bulk of this first retreat was spent in a line-by-line analysis of the strategic plan. This was a very convenient way for me, as a new dean, to learn quickly the major concerns of the group, to sense the direction they felt the libraries were headed, and to discern what forces were commonly perceived as driving the organization in 1995 (the strategic planning process at Bowling Green has been well documented in Gratch and Wood, 1991). I used this opportunity to work with the twenty-two assembled managers on the language of the document and to ensure it correctly expressed their will. We eliminated a few statements that were unclear or no longer pertained to the organization. We discussed which measures might be used to benchmark some of the broad statements in the strategic plan. Lastly, I indicated to them some of the areas I knew would need more attention in the future, such as fundraising, grant writing, creating digital products from uniquely held images, and reestablishing the singular identity of Bowling Green's Libraries. I asked that these be incorporated into the strategic plan. This review, though time-consuming, was a good way for us to brainstorm on major concerns. We discussed systems, ergonomics, physical plant, training, and limited budgets. Many individuals asked questions about why I felt the libraries needed to establish a unique identity apart from their standing as an OhioLink consortial member. Several were curious about the emphasis on fundraising, grant writing, and revenue production. Most of the managers perceived our systemwide automation consortium, OhioLink, and technology as the driving forces behind all of the libraries' efforts. OhioLink enabled BGSU libraries to share their resources throughout the state and to access various databases. Adopting OhioLink meant retraining of staff, new equipment, and new ways of analyzing workflow. Most felt that the overall thrust of technology in the workplace, including e-mail for all staff, was a heavy presence demanding new equipment, furnishings, and new ways of thinking. But technology was perceived as a driver, not as a tool. Other issues were seen as subsidiary to the radical changes demanded by technology. Some other items surfaced only to be swallowed in discussions of systems and equipment.

My first retreat at BGSU also involved reviewing a document on the physical plant as prepared by a task force on space. This was a comprehensive plan that outlined five years of change and growth, including such things as reclassification of the Dewey Decimal collection to the Library of Congress classification scheme, planning for transfer of volumes to a new off-site depository, and the need for new study space. ! also heard about the divisions' efforts to provide programming on diversity and was given an update on the use of teams to discuss major library issues such as preservation, training, and emergency management. This was a welter of new concepts and new faces to absorb in two days.

There were several positive aspects of this first retreat. It was well planned, it had a set agenda, and it was conducted at a place far enough away from the libraries that individuals could concentrate on the items at hand and not be distracted by daily operational calls. The meals provided gave participants a chance to talk informally and relax. However, if I had it to do over again, I would not have crammed the agenda so full of discussion items. I certainly would not have insisted on a line-by-line reading and group rewriting of the strategic plan. I might have more carefully structured the two days as a listening opportunity and saved my remarks and comments for a period at the end of the session. The group outlined pages of needs and concerns for their new dean. Many of them had budgetary implications far beyond the reach of state support. Yet, in many ways, the concerns expressed during this first session shaped the direction we were to take for the next two years and gave my own administration a driving force--find additional funds.

SECOND RETREAT

     "I will decide what is important to the library and seek funding for it."
     (Gorman, 1998, p. 77)

The year between my first retreat and the second was an exceptionally busy one for me and for all of Bowling Green State University's Libraries and Learning Resource units. OhioLink borrowing, which enabled students from nineteen Ohio universities to borrow from another participating institution, caused our interlibrary loan rates to skyrocket from 9,000 transactions to over 40,000 transactions in a single year. Journal cuts were implemented in an attempt to balance a finite materials budget against a rampant inflation rate. Leaks in the skylight and roofing in the Main Library made trails of trashcans, puddles, and plastic sheeting a common occurrence. Piles of broken furniture continued to collect on every floor, and the exterior of the main building featured crumbling sculptures and broken marble staircases--holdovers from the library's original design which were intended to incorporate "art" into our public space.

We continued to work on initiatives from the strategic plan, such as staff training and development, reassessing the role of teams in our work, moving materials to the Regional Book Depository, and developing a master calendar for events and deadlines. In addition, I began to incorporate some of the initiatives percolating on campus into the thinking of Libraries and Learning Resources. We had numerous discussions about the image of the university and the image of the library. There were individual consultations with campus faculty about journals and on the role they wanted to see the libraries play in their instructional efforts. Also, fundraising, a constant topic on campus, was reintroduced to Libraries and Learning Resources as an activity that had to transcend sporadic interactions with our Friends group.

Before my second retreat, I asked each manager to submit items that they would like to see discussed; I asked each unit to think how we might improve the image of Bowling Green State University; and, finally, I asked that everyone come to the retreat with ideas for bolstering our financial base whether through cost cutting, revenue generation, or partnering.

Luckily for me, some of the same preparatory work that went into making my first retreat such a success logistically was again carried forth by the staff. We held our two-day session in a beautiful, fairly remote setting. Meals were arranged, and time was left on the agenda for informal, as well as group, discussions. By not anchoring all of the discussions to the strategic plan, I hoped that more ideas would be generated. By asking for input on discussion topics, I hoped that we would hit on items that, perhaps, might not receive enough attention in the crush of day-to-day business.

The results were interesting, if mixed. As it turned out, a large item of concern, and one that I was not fully aware of, was the process of staff evaluation. Another topic that most felt required discussion was improving the reliability of some of our automated services: how reliable could we be if staff did not have the proper equipment to monitor our online systems? If we were dependent on campus computing to maintain our lab, how could we ensure that we were providing a reliable level of service? What were our future expectations for networked information? Finally, many expressed interest in just knowing what was happening with our teams and in other units. What were we publishing in BGSU's campus press? What equipment were we buying and supplying to the campus through Instructional Media Services? What progress was being made at filling the Regional Book Depository? Did we still need teams to implement library planning?

The two days were spent discussing many of these issues and aiming for resolution. We decided that our practice of conducting 360 degree evaluations of all staff--staff by supervisor and supervisor by staff--was appropriate, but that we needed to disseminate more broadly the evaluation forms to give everyone a chance for input. We developed a mechanism for analyzing equipment needs each year and resolved to eliminate longstanding needs at whatever cost rather than to carry them forth year after year. Because teams were foundering without specific needs and without enough energy to implement suggestions, we decided to eliminate many teams, consolidate others, and not reestablish more teams in the future. Finally, each unit was asked to report on its five most important initiatives of the year past--i.e., a brief oral annual report. Valuable information was shared and consensus was reached on some key operational issues.

In other ways, however, the more open-ended discussions were less fruitful. Ideas for enhancing the university's image and the library's were neither plentiful nor particularly innovative. The brainstorming on finance ranged from using less paper, to using rental cars rather than requesting mileage reimbursement (actually cheaper in our area), to writing to the Ohio Arts Council for refurbishment of our deck and sculptures. There was nothing terribly radical or innovative that would generate either more discussion or immediate cash.

What could I have done to improve the content of our open-ended discussions? I think I should have provided attendees with articles on best practices elsewhere regarding the enhancement of image and income. Perhaps I could have conducted a pre-retreat discussion with the entire staff seeking input on issues and ideas for further development. Finally, an external speaker--either from the university or elsewhere--might have been effective in stimulating our discussions. That person might have provided insight into the image that our library already projected, and he or she might have shared with us plans in-place elsewhere that were already working to raise visibility and dollars.

I came away from the retreat with one solid idea and one real resolve. The idea was to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the main library building in the year ahead and to use that anniversary as a reason for raising money to refurbish the building's exterior and to buy furniture for its interior. Cleaning up the building's crumbling and faded sculptures and fixing a leaking skylight (or two) might not only enhance the library's image but also help the staff to have a better environment for their daily work. Celebrating an anniversary would provide an opportunity to cooperate on revenue generation. I hoped to launch a concept that would benefit the libraries in the long-term and transform their image within a reviving institution.

A FORUM AND A RETREAT

   "I will make my library a place of color and light." (Gorman, 1998, p. 4)

The year between my second and third retreats was an extremely exciting one for me and for my staff. A combination of hard work, high energy, and good fortune allowed us to raise enough money to completely restore the exterior of the Main Library building. We sold our old furniture and created naming opportunities with new furniture. The restored library building became a symbol not just for us and our users, but for the university--appearing on credit cards, in television commercials, and in university publications. The strategic plan, which was devised in 1994 and revised in 1995, seemed outdated because together we had managed to accomplish many of its aims: incorporating OhioLink into the general workflow; reclaiming our space as useful, beautiful, and functional; and improving communication between our internal units and between Libraries and Learning Resources and the university.

Many daunting tasks still remained, including the creation of a new strategic plan. The preparation for my third retreat began early with the formation of a committee to review the strategic plan and, perhaps, devise a new plan for the next three to five years. To introduce the new plan, we decided to hold a forum and a retreat. The forum would include all Libraries and Learning Resources staff and would reintroduce the strategic plan. The ensuing managers' retreat would examine ideas that arose from the forum and, again, ask those managers how our division could best contribute to the overall goals of the university.

The forum was really the first retreat ever conducted with the entire staff. Working with the Strategic Plan Committee, we devised a fairly tight agenda: an introduction of the plan, an opportunity for small groups to discuss various aspects of the plan, and a gathering to share new ideas. The things that worked best logistically here were scheduling the retreat site far enough away from campus so that no one would be pulled back into operational issues; planning the set-up in a space comfortable enough for 106 employees yet flexible enough to enable large and small-group discussions; and providing all attendees with a copy of the draft plan well in advance of the forum/retreat (a copy of the plan is available at: <http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library_>).

The Strategic Plan Committee decided that the old plan, with its absolute emphasis on technology and OhioLink, was no longer viable for the organization as it existed in 1997 or hoped to develop by the year 2000. The committee jettisoned most references to older management jargon, such as teams, quality services, and continuous improvement. Instead, the document took a more outward focus. The emphasis was now on preserving our reputation for excellence, empowering the user, assuming leadership roles in information management, enhancing intellectual access, optimizing the environment, and maximizing the division's resource base.

The committee members introduced the plan to the entire staff at the forum and highlighted new action items that might arise from adopting a new vision. We might introduce and promote additional user-initiated services (in circulation, reserve, and document delivery) and we might conduct more focus groups and surveys to determine actual user needs and outcomes. It was stated that we should work more closely with the faculty on strengthening the collections and on our instructional sessions to enhance the overall curriculum of the university, and it was acknowledged that it was definitely time to step-up the process of creating more individual learning tools, whether on paper, on the World Wide Web, or on video.

After introducing the new strategic plan, the committee divided the staff into discussion groups, based on their year of birth and the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac: tigers, hares, dragons, serpents, and so on. Some groups were much larger than others, but the discussions were lively and produced some good ideas. Web links from the libraries to all relevant university resources were suggested, as were internal bulletin messages on technological developments, and an electronic suggestion box. The distinct emphasis in every area was on the need for more staff training at every level and in every department. Technology seemed to make information and knowledge ever more accessible, but learning all that was available and how to use it seemed always beyond everyone's grasp.

At the end of the forum, I provided ten brass plates for conference room chairs inscribed with staff names of those who had performed in an outstanding manner during the year of our thirtieth anniversary or who had produced innovative programs for our patrons. Although most people continued to view technology as a driver, it was also obvious that, without a very committed and energetic staff willing to share their skills and enthusiasm for library work with our patrons and with each other every day, our organization could not really progress in using technology or in any other way.

The forum was a success. Planning for it had taken the better part of six months. In preparation for the forum, members of the Strategic Plan Committee had asked all staff where they would like Libraries and Learning Resources to go in the next five to ten years. The committee had made certain that its work on a draft strategic plan was completed far enough in advance so that everyone would receive a copy of the document a month before the scheduled forum. The committee outlined its presentation carefully and did not go into too much detail. The suggestion of action items that might stem from the strategic plan helped to generate further discussion in the smaller groups. Regrouping to record suggestions and then breaking for lunch for informal discussion of possible action items rounded out a well-planned and well-received session.

The managers' retreat that came after the forum was a one-day meeting that focused on blending the division's aspirations into those of the campus. Bowling Green State University was in the process of stepping up its student recruitment efforts. The university also realized that it could not rely strictly on state subsidy if it wanted to achieve excellence in facilities or research. Additionally, the emphasis of the campus had to be on putting students first and creating a more visible profile for the university within its region and nationally. To actualize these goals within Libraries and Learning Resources, it was determined that we needed to put renewed vigor into patron services--perhaps providing longer hours, holding off on charging for computer printing, and immediately creating better looking study areas. New resolve was also needed in writing grants, marketing the division's events and services, and performing outreach to area high schools and visitors.

FOURTH RETREAT

   "I will remember that libraries grow and develop and will plan
   accordingly." (Gorman, 1998, p. 60)

During the 1997-98 academic year, the staff worked hard to actualize some of our goals that were consistent with campus goals and aspirations. An outreach team was established to perform tours and introductory sessions for potential enrollees of the university. Areas in the stacks were rapidly cleared with the intent of providing more study space for students and a reading room for faculty. The access services staff extended its hours during the final month of each semester. The information services staff-began to plan for the hire of a librarian, specifically to help freshman students acquire the information gathering, research, and writing skills they would need to stay in college and succeed. The units within libraries and learning resources produced fifteen external grants and were successful in funding five projects that enhanced services and brought the division and the university to the attention of the region's news media and politicians.

We still struggled with issues of training, providing equipment adequate to existing needs, and with the desire for an infrastructure upgrade (heat, light, humidity control) to the main library building, but spirits were high and we were attracting more university support and recognition for our external efforts.

That year's retreat was planned as a way of revisiting some of the intellectual and operational imperatives that stood behind all of the goals and actions in Libraries and Learning Resources. Prior to the retreat, participants were provided with an agenda, a report by Borns and several other graduate students on "Library Service Satisfaction: A Faculty and Student Assessment" (Borns et al., 1998), and an article on the digital press at the University of Cincinnati (Guernsey, 1998). These materials were intended to help drive the focus of the retreat away from internal operational issues and toward patron services and the digital future.

At the retreat we discussed customer service, our academic programs, the state of the collections, the continuing need for additional training of personnel, budgets, fundraising, and outreach efforts, but our most revealing conversations were once again about technology and its place in library operations. Three years ago, technology was seen as the compelling force in every operation of Libraries and Learning Resources. At this retreat we paused to consider the division's deployment of technology in relation to the campus use of technology.

Bowling Green State University is a networked campus, with some distance learning initiatives and some innovative programs (such as art) that use computing in ways that are a model for other universities. In most aspects, however, technology is not a driving force on campus. It is a tool used in some classrooms and by some instructors to facilitate communication or enhance classroom presentations. Fortunately or unfortunately, technology in libraries and learning resources reflects the campuswide emphasis on technology. The division is ahead of many units on campus in its use of two-way interactive video, its creation of online tutorials,(1) and its management of Web resources,(2) but it has not taken a nationwide leadership role in digitizing materials nor offering patron-initiated services. OhioLink is still a key part of service offerings both in circulation and reference services, but it does not drive new initiatives in the area of technology.

Additionally, at this retreat there was simply an overall acceptance of technology as another fact of life in library work. More important to the division in establishing its identity were the leadership roles the staff were willing to play in campuswide, statewide, and national organizations. Also viewed as critical were the permanent contributions the staff had made in the areas of documenting university history,(3) remaking the physical image of the main library building, and responding to the changing needs of students and faculty. The campus was not driven by technology nor was any one division. We were driven by staff and our heaviest investment had been, and would probably always be, in recruiting, retaining, training, and retraining the people who provided service to the campus community.

We resolved at this retreat to reaffirm some of our human and service values at subsequent retreats (see, for example, Clack, 1995) and to look at goals that involved human resources first before consideration of other goals in the year ahead.

CONCLUSION

   "I will see the ideal in every library." (Gorman, 1998, p. 84)

To prepare for this article, I reread, "Retreat as a Response to Change," co-written with editor Janice Kirkland (Kirkland & Dobb, 1989). It remains one of the few articles ever written about library retreats. However, I was shocked to discover how critical I had been of my former library and my former colleagues because they had not incorporated year-long feedback and year-long reexamination of goals into the once-a-year-retreat process. As a director myself now, I see retreats in a different light. We have a retreat each year as a way to reconnect with one another away from daily operational concerns. Each retreat is deliberately planned as both a business and social occasion. Some of the year's goals for the division are established, but often we simply review what is happening in each of our units and on the campus as a whole. We reaffirm some of our shared values. It is a communication tool, a constant work in process. With any luck, the participants take away from the retreat a better understanding of each other and what might be motivating each of us to excel in our service to users and to the profession. Perhaps the most systematic part of our retreats has been that we offer participants a few recorded notes and I always present to the entire staff a summary of each retreat, noting a few of the loftier goals for reexamination later.

We are in the midst of the year that followed our 1998 retreat. We have had to concentrate very specifically on human resources as we seek to hire new employees, reconsider the work of our technical services units, rewrite our faculty manual, and redesign a merit document for our managers. We have already begun the process of preparing for the 1999 retreat. We plan to visit one of our partner institutions, the Hayes Presidential Center, and talk about values and new initiatives. The work at our four previous retreats and one forum will definitely help shape the agenda of the 1999 retreat. In 1989, our article concluded that "retreats can be rich and rewarding responses to technology." In 1999, I would add that retreats can be a rich and rewarding way to reflect on human interactions, to reaffirm shared values, and to ensure that, as we set forth on our future actions, we do so with a keen understanding of their impact on the people who make up our organization.

NOTES

(1) See http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/tutorial/tutor1.html, Falcon Tutorial, which was cited as one of the top ten instructional tutorials of 1998 by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

(2) See http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/ejournals/ejhome.htm, Electronic Journals, which was one of the first local sites developed to categorize and describe available electronic journals.

(3) An example: Doyt Perry: A coach for life (1998) a video documentary co-produced by Libraries and Learning Resources employee Paul Yon.

REFERENCES

Borns, R.; Clemetsen, B.; & Polishuk, D. (1998) Jerome Library services: An assessment of faculty and student satisfaction. Unpublished paper. Bowling Green State University.

Clack, M. E. (1995). Values, a process of discovery: The Harvard College Library's organizational value process. Library Administration & Management, 9(3), 146-152.

Gorman, M. (1998). Our singular strengths: Meditations for librarians. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Gratch, B., & Wood, E. (1991). Strategic planning: Implementation and first year appraisal. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 17(1), 10-15.

Grimes, D.J. (1998) Academic library centrality: User success through service, access and traditions. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, Association for College & Research Libraries.

Guernsey, L. (1998). Digital presses transform librarians into entrepreneurs. Chronicle of Higher Education, (May 22), 27-28.

Haricombe, L.J., & Lusher, T.J. (1998). Creating the agile library: A management guide for librarians. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Kirkland, J., & Dobb, L. S. (1989). Retreat as a response to change. Library Trends, 37(4), 495-509.

Mullen, J. A. (1993). Total quality management: A mindset and method to stimulate change. Journal of Library Administration, 18(3/4), 106.

Phipps, S. E. (1993). Transforming libraries into learning organizations: The challenge for leadership. Journal of Library Administration, 18(3/4), 19-37.

Linda S. Dobb, Libraries and Learning Resources, Jerome Library, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403

LINDA S. DOBB is the Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She is former Dean of Libraries and Learning Resources at Bowling Green State University. She is the author of articles on revenue generation, copyright, library automated systems, and technostress, and co-author with Patricia Dick of the American Library Association publication Human Resource Management for Small Libraries. Ms. Dobb was also co-author with Janice Kirkland of the article "The Retreat as a Response to Change" in the Spring 1989 issue of Library Trends.3