Candidate for 2018-2020 Director: Hildy Dworkin

E-mail: hildysla@gmail.com

Hildy Dworkin has been the librarian for the NYC Department of Social Services (NYC DSS) for 18 years and earned her MLS at Queens College in NYC. The library was established in 1947, but closed in 1995, and so it was Hildy’s job to reestablish the library and bring it into the twenty-first century. Her first request for additional computers and Internet accounts was rejected because the agency would only give Internet access to specific individuals. Not willing to give up, she learned the art of the justification memo and finally there was a place where all staff had access to the Internet. While this has been her only job as an information professional, Hildy has had the opportunity to wear a few hats while managing the library, including handling press for the agency. This experience showed her a whole different side to the information world and where her love for communications was developed. In addition, thanks to many requests regarding the structure of the agency, she has become an expert on its organizational structure—especially as it relates to administering human services. She is also the agency’s accidental historian. When it was announced that the NYC DSS was moving to 4 World Trade Center, she was faced with the daunting task of moving a library that had files dating back to the 1920s and bookshelves that had not been weeded in many years. However, it was also an opportunity to have input in the library design for the new space and the beautiful library reopened two years ago on 4 WTC’s 36th floor.

Question 1: When did you first join SLA? What made you decide to join then and why do you still belong today?

I joined SLA in 2000. After reading about all the divisions I chose the Solo Librarians Division, knowing that since I was indeed alone and a novice, I was going to need the support and knowledge of others. Because experienced professionals—especially Solo librarians—in SLA taught me that nurturing relationships within your organization was essential to success, I earned a seat at the design table for the new library even though I wasn’t management. My early SLA leadership began as secretary to Solos and later I became chair when the division was going through a difficult time recruiting leaders and so I remained chair until Solos once again had a robust leadership team. One of the highlights was being chair for SLA’s centennial in 2009 when Solos honored the founding members of the division. I am also part of the conference planning team for the NYC Chapter’s biannual conference. The leadership bug bit and I served as a member of the Public Relations Advisory Council (PRAC) and am PRAC’s 2016-17 chair. My love of organizational communications made PRAC a perfect fit.

I believe that good communication must be part of the foundation of any organization. Building on the excellent work of the SLA Professional Competencies Task Force, PRAC has been discussing various initiatives to educate SLA members and employers how to connect the competencies to the work we do. Working together, SLA can show the world the value that information professionals bring to any organization.

Question 2: How has involvement with SLA over the years helped you grow professionally and personally? How do you feel SLA can help members grow into the future?

My role at work has evolved into a dream job and my involvement with SLA has a lot to do with that! I did not know any other information professionals when I started my job 18 years ago, and so I sought out SLA and joined the Solo Librarians Division. I was charged with bringing the library into the 21st century and when I needed advice about cataloging software, I learned quickly how I could reap the benefits of the pool of resources at my fingertips. The other Solos were, and continue to be a lifeline, along with many other #slaers! The programs at annual conferences, webinars, and local programming helped me obtain the professional development that I could never have obtained through my employer.

Having various volunteer and leadership roles in SLA gave me the confidence, skills, and support to grow as a leader in my organization. Because of my SLA conference planning experience, I now participate and lead many cultural and educational events in the agency. Members should think of SLA as a “playground” for leadership skill-building by providing a safe place for colleagues to practice, learn from mistakes, hone leadership skills, and ask questions. SLA has various tools like SLA Connect, the Core Competencies, and a variety of toolkits to help us grow professionally, but we need to do a better job of informing members of the availability these tools and to how put them into real life context.

Question 3: SLA’s membership has been in decline for the last couple of years; what can the board, staff, leadership and membership do to reverse this trend?

How do we increase membership? I feel like this is the “age-old question” of every professional association. On the unit level, every leader has had to find solutions to recruitment and declining membership rolls. When I first became Chair-elect, then Chair of the Solo Librarians Division, I was almost “obsessed” with running membership reports! I wanted to know how many new members there were and how many we lost every month. It happened to be during the timespan that businesses, governments, associations, individuals, and others began to feel the financial effects of the recession. In the first year or so of the recession, I recall that the Solo Division’s membership numbers were fairly constant—one would leave and another would join. For a while the division maintained the status quo—not optimal, but under the circumstances, acceptable. Over the course of several years (around 2007-2010) I noticed that, for the most part, Solo membership did decline, but appeared to be on par with the association as a whole so it was difficult to determine what exactly could be done to increase membership. It was hard to fight the job loss or budget cuts when employers would no longer pay dues. This is one of the major reasons that members give when asked why they are not renewing their membership. I recall a conversation I had with a solo member who absolutely loved SLA and did not want to leave, but it was a choice between paying the bills and paying the dues when her employer no longer would contribute towards her membership. Sometimes it is just that tight financially and we cannot judge.

I believe that having a membership chair and committee helped Solos maintain membership and reduced loss. We created a social media presence in addition to the discussion list and offered discounts on training opportunities. For me, I found that for division recruitment, face-to-face encounters at the Annual Conference were the most successful. (This was also true for recruiting new leaders.) Since the Solos are not a subject-based, an extra effort was always made to explain who we are and why it would benefit someone to join. Our big sell of course is that we offered people a few hundred individuals to share ideas, help problem-solve, and feel less alone. I think one of my most rewarding moments was after one of those wonderful informal discussions—that only happen in person—was when someone was moved (emotionally) because our soon-to-be member found the place she belonged and said she found a “home.” I, too felt like the division was my home and as the years have gone by, all of SLA is my home. There is no other time that I feel more joy and energy than when I am around other #slaers who are trying to find solutions for the world’s information problems! When an organization feels like home and the people feel like family, it’s hard to leave.

And so how do we make others feel like SLA can be their home, too? The world around us seems to move at lightning speed these days and our global connections continue to increase the amount of information people are receiving.

SLA must find a way to stand out. I think a good start was the renewed energy felt by me and many who attended the conference in Phoenix. This energy needs to harnessed and shared so that others will want to have that experience. When thinking of solutions we often turn to ideas that require a financial investment such as recruitment and the value of the profession campaigns. I do not think SLA can afford to embark on anything large-scale that could cause a financial burden.

So what can we do? I think we should stop shooting for the stars and take it one step at a time; make it less overwhelming. My mother always talks about the small goal theory: do one part of the task regularly and all of a sudden the task is complete. Start with something simple.

  • SLA leadership and staff must convey consistent messaging. One simple thing could be including the SLA tagline “Connecting People and Information” to our email signatures or individual social media profile with a link to “join today”!
  • Include why we are members on our profiles instead of just listing the affiliation. Include a link to “join today”!
  • Utilizing SLA Connect reach out to membership to submit recruitment ideas—then actually try some!
  • Educate current membership on the tools and other useful information and connect these tools to something useful. For example, we have these great core competencies posted on the website. Now let’s take the next step and connect them to real life situations—“Connecting Competencies to Work”!
  • Offer non-members one or two webinars or events at a member price (or free); use a system like many newspapers that allow us to access a certain number of articles before we’re back behind a paywall. “Like what you’ve learned? Join for more!”
  • Reach out to members who may be able to volunteer services, equipment, and time for campaigns and allow this to count as a donation to SLA.
  • Conduct “on the street” brief video-interviews at conferences and post them to our social media and other public-facing places.

There is no single magic solution, but collectively I think this is something that leadership, staff, and members can improve.

Question 4: SLA relies on its leadership to develop its vision to move forward. What motivates you to help lead and build a better SLA?

About six months after joining SLA I attended my first conference. It just so happened that it was the Leadership Summit in January. I knew very little about the profession and even less about SLA. It was quite some time ago so I don’t remember what the opening session was, but I remember that I was in awe and that I felt like I had a home. After six months as a Solo and faceless email discussions with members of my new community, it was incredibly exciting to be with people who knew what I was talking about, welcomed me without judgment, and most importantly gave me an inside look into the leadership and inner workings of SLA.

I do not believe it was an accident that my first conference was a Leadership Summit–it was destiny. I knew I wanted to be a part of this and was drawn to learning what I could about leadership. Five years later I was asked to be secretary for the Solo Librarians Division. Admittedly, I liked being up front, on the dais, but I also felt like I could make a difference and as secretary I had to listen very carefully to everything being said.

That was leadership lesson number 1: Listen, which quickly led to lesson number 2: Ask Questions. When I recall that first conference in January 2001, it is not the content of the programming I remember; it is the people, the camaraderie, and the fact that someone was listening and even wanted my opinion that stayed with me.

And that’s my greatest motivation. I want to be able to give back to SLA. I want to be able to make a difference in someone’s life the way #SLAers made a difference in mine and continue to do so!

I joined when SLA had a robust membership and financial stability. I stayed through our tough times and now that we are moving in the right direction, I want to be part of helping us keep this upward trend. I believe at the core of any good organization is good communication. We need to use all the communication outlets available to broadcast the value of SLA and all we have to offer. I want to help facilitate connecting SLA tools and information to real life so that we as information professionals can communicate our value to our employers and enlighten the world! Together we can build a strong SLA and help all information professionals fulfill their destinies.

 

 

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