Information Outlook, Vol. 6, No. 5, May 2002
Getting to 100:
Managing Change at the Special Libraries Association
by Guy St. Clair
Guy St. Clair is the consulting specialist for Knowledge Management and Learning at SMR International in New York City. St.Clair is scheduled to author the association's centenary history, to be published in 2009. He is a past-president of the association and can be contacted at GuyStClair@cs.com.
The Spirit of Change
There are those who assert (correctly in my opinion) that SLA's strength in managing change is one of the association's critical assets. In fact, it was at a program at an SLA conference that the theme of change management was so forcefully stated that, for some practitioners, it became something of an operational mantra. David S. Ferriero and Thomas L. Wilding, speaking in San Antonio in 1991, recognized that "change is both inevitable and desirable" in information management (Ferriero and Wilding, 1991). If change is both inevitable and desirable in our work, it can be safely said, without fear of contradiction, that change is equally inevitable and desirable in our professional association. In that context, Past-President Donna Scheeder said it best and repeatedly during her presidency: "In SLA, change is our tradition."
One of SLA's best-loved and most influential management leaders was Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who at SLA's 1986 Conference in Boston had more than 1,000 specialist librarians standing and cheering. Her book on how innovation and entrepreneurship could bring about change in the American corporation had just been published and, as she described how specialist librarians could become "change masters" in their own organizations, everyone jumped with joy. Librarians finally felt a connection with the practice of management that few had ever felt before; Kanter's inspiration and drive pushed everyone forward.
Kanter's inspirations didn't stop with 1986, though. In fact, she has continued to publish and speak about the subject of change. In a 1998 interview she defined what she calls "the change-adept organization" as an organization which is constantly investing in three things:
· innovation;
· learning and professionalism;
· collaboration (Kanter, 1998).
Sound familiar? Kanter could almost be describing SLA. If you think about the changes that have taken place in the association within the past decadethe creation of new divisions and chapters; the establishment of caucuses as association subunits; the identification of core competencies for information professionals; the work of the five task forces and similar activitiesyou have to accept that Kanter's three criteria converged as these changes were undertaken. SLA embodies innovation, learning and professionalism and collaboration unlike any other professional association affiliated with librarianship, information management or knowledge services.
But SLA's application of these criteria can be taken back much further than the past decade, to long before they were articulated by Kanter. For example, SLA's very inception began with a need for change. The question of whether to change was not even a consideration. Major change was required and it had even been anticipated before John Cotton Dana and F. B. Deberard called a group of 20 specialist librarians together on the veranda of the Mt. Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
The participants in the "Veranda Conference," as it has come to be known, decided that the demands of their jobs had actually created a new kind of librarianshipthat of library service geared to meet the needs of specialized situations. These librarians were breaking completely new ground. There were no patterns to follow. They felt that they had everything to gain by forming their own working group to tackle their problems cooperatively (Elizabeth Ferguson, in Mitchell, 1959).
An early change built on this cooperative focus. The inclusiveness and diversity of SLA's membership was
established as a singular characteristic of the association, as is demonstrated in the association's constitution (Adopted at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, July 2, 1909):
The object of the association is to promote the interests of the commercial, industrial, technical, civic, municipal and legislative reference libraries, the special departments of the public libraries, universities, welfare associations, and business organizations (Mitchell, 1959).
Diversity among the types of organizations represented in SLA was not the only thing that made members unique. Early on it became clear that "library" wasn't always the word to describe where they worked and what they did. In 1941, newspaper reporter Leland R. Smith noted:
These librarians often don't even call their place of business a library their libraries are "information centers," the librarians are fact finders. And they have their fingers in a lot of queer pies (Smith, 1941).
Those queer pies provided opportunities, of course, and SLA's membership and its leaders were quick to undertake activities of the kind that would later be described by Peter F. Drucker when he advised nonprofit organizations about change management. These organizations must be organized to "perceive opportunities" and "to systematically look both outside and inside for clues to innovative opportunities." One strategy, according to Drucker, is "practically infallible" to "refocus and change the organization when you are successful." Responsibility for change lies "at the top, as in everything that has to do with the spirit of the organization Executives who run innovative organizations must train themselves to look out the window, to look for change The first requirement for successful innovation is to look at a change as a potential opportunity instead of [as] a threat" (Drucker, 1990).
The opportunities were there from the beginning, of course, and it soon became apparent to librarians working in specialized libraries that there could be strength in numbers. So they began to affiliate by subject interest or business, forming their first group (later division) in 1916. Other groups were formed in quick succession. The idea of local gatherings became popular as well, and within a few years of the association's founding, "Responsibility Districts" were created, later to evolve into the association's chapters (Mitchell, 1959).
As an example of how to apply Drucker's "practically infallible" recommendation, SLA's leaders eventually realized that much of the association's success was linked to the strengths of the membership, as represented in the divisions and chapters. Considered by many to be the memberships' direct connection to the SLA Board of Directors, the leaders of these two subunits (then called "liaison officers") were invited to attend board meetings, but they were not entitled to vote. This changed in 1974, when the success of those liaison officers in representing their respective constituencies led to a major structural initiative and association members approved a bylaws change to create the Chapter and Division Cabinet Chairs and Chairs-Elect as directors, replacing the Chapter and Division Liaison Officers. The first such directors were elected in 1974-1975.
Were these changes "smooth," simply and elegantly resolved with the ladies and gentlemen of the profession always marching along in step with one another? Of course not, but they were undertaken and achieved successfully simply because the association's leaders recognized collaboration as a major management principle. They may or may not have realized that by the turn of the 21st century, collaboration would be considered a critical management attribute. In his work on the subject, Edward Marshall has gone so far as to assert that "collaboration is the premier candidate to replace hierarchy as the organizing principle for leading and managing the 21st-century workplace" (Marshall, 1995). If that is the case, then SLA is primed to continue its strength as change is required.
But collaboration was only part of the picture, as was certainly evident in other changes which required an attention to innovation and a focus on learning and professionalism. For example, the move toward becoming a global association was, quite literally, out of our hands. As society in general and the business and research communities in particular, moved to an international focus, our association could not simply stand by and "let it happen." And we were anticipating this change anyway, even if not in any formal way. As early as the end of World War II, Walter Hausdorfer (SLA president in 1944-1945) described in a newspaper interview the association's international relations committee as working with something called "the joint committee for aid to devastated libraries," with plans to "extend [SLA's] sphere beyond our shores" ("Special library's" 1945). Two other former presidents, Elizabeth W. Owens (1950-1951) and Vivian D. Hewitt (1978-1979), made serious moves toward internationalism during their respective terms of office. By the last decade of the last century, of course, SLA had no choice but to become an international association. If it was to play a viable role in information management and in the support of information professionals working in the field, SLA had to do so with a global reach.
Similarly, the move toward establishing SLA as a virtual association was driven not so much by the natural inclinations of the association's leaders and staff, but simply because SLA had to do it if it was to function for the benefit of its members. Establishing SLA as a virtual association was not easy. A collaboration of the highest order was required, as were establishing an innovative ambiance and excelling at learning and professionalism. Throughout this effort, the association's members were exposed to the virtues of the virtual association and made aware of how it would be used to enhance their individual professionalism. This particular activity was done so well that today most of us can't even imagine SLA without recognizing its role as a virtual association.
Of course there were changes that did not go smoothly, and some of these efforts can only be characterized as unpleasant. The members of the association and its leadership could not collaborate in some areas and sometimes an organizational version of "bad blood" resulted. The infamous dues increase of 1995 was preceded by several years of dissention and debate, including (because a bylaws change is required to change the dues) a "stand-up" vote at the 1991 Annual Meeting in San Antonio. During this meeting, a motion to send the change to the membership in a mail ballot was defeated. It was not until 1995 that the dues increase made it through the process and no amount of strength in being change-adept could have made it happen any faster.
Other changes have been suggested and have not come to fruition, despite the best intentions and sincerity of those proposing the change. Certainly one of the hottest issues has been, for many years, the name of the association. SLA, as a professional association, has its strength in the diversity of its membership, as was clearly spelled out in the SLA Constitution of 1909. In the intervening 93 years, however, that diversity has brought to SLA many interested parties who are not librarians, and while networking with information and knowledge services professionals from beyond librarianship continues to be one of the association's great goals, some have sought a more direct path to these people. James B. Dodd (SLA president, 1980-1981) drew his line in the sand in his final address in June, 1981, referring to the association's name as a "handicap" and stating his opinion that "the word 'library' is an albatross around our necks from which we should cut ourselves free." Eleven years later, in my own final address as SLA's president, I also proposed a name change as a means of better expressing who we are and what we do. Since then, there has been much conversation and debate about the name of the association, but, in this instance, the change has not happened.
The future of the association is in the hands of its members. Mechanisms exist for moving the association into new—and, yes, perhaps threatening or different—directions. We have a structure that will permit change, and indeed, will even permit change to that structure. Simply put, the association came into being as a change agent, and it will only continue to exist if it can continue as a change agent. Where the association will go and the kind of association it will be when it reaches its centenary can't be predicted today. But wherever SLA is going, our members, leaders and staff will do well to pay attention to some thoughts from Stephen Abram (paraphrased here with permission):
"The strategic window of opportunity for specialist librarians and SLA is huge, but keep in mind that it won't be open long. We're about to enter the boomer-retirement era. It will be the largest flight of knowledge capital from the open marketand from SLAin history. Knowledge—tacit, explicit and cultural—will need to be transferred. The gauntlet has been thrown down for specialized librarianship and for SLA: use the technology, use our professional skills, learn from others and we will be so stupendously successful that the world will beat a path to our door" (Abram, 2002, paraphrased).
SLA can be the means through which the world reaches that door, if we are willing to accept that change. Fortunately, change management and change implementation are our great strengths. And change is our tradition. 
References
Abram, Stephen. "Let's Talk About It: The Emerging Technology Future for Special Librarians." Information Outlook, 5 (2), February 2002.
Dodd, James B. "Changing the Context for Special Libraries." Presidential Address, June 17, 1981. Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Association, 1981.
Drucker, Peter F. Managing the Nonprofit Organization: Principles and Practices. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.
Ferriero, David S., and Thomas L. Wilding, "Scanning the Environment in Strategic Planning." Masterminding Tomorrow's InformationCreative Strategies for the '90s. Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Association, 1991.
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, quoted in "A Conversation with Rosabeth Moss Kanter About Leadership," by Donna J. Abernathy. Training & Development, 52 (7), July 1998.
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. The Change Masters. New York: Touchstone, 1985.
Marshall, Edward M. Transforming the Way We Work: The Power of the Collaborative Workplace. New York: American Management Association, 1995.
Mitchell, Alma Clarvoe, ed. Special Libraries AssociationIts First Fifty Years 1909-1959. New York, NY: Special Libraries Association, 1959.
Smith, Leland R. "Special Librarians: A Rapidly Developing Profession." The Indianapolis Sunday Star. October 1941.
"Special Library's Work Described [Interview with Walter Hausdorfer, President, Special Libraries Association]." Milwaukee Journal. February 2, 1945.
St. Clair, Guy. Change Management in Action. Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Association, 1999.
St. Clair, Guy. "Shaping Our Destiny." Presidential Address, June 10, 1992. Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Association, 1992.
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