All of these studies reinforce the point that it is increasingly important that we educate ourselves, as well as the people we serve, to work in this new environment. But what do we and they need to know?

Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project has posited several literacies that we and our users need to know more about to be successful in the future. These include:

• graphic literacy, essentially visual and screen literacy;
• navigation literacy, the ability to move confidently around a nonlinear environment;
• context literacy, the ability to find and make connections among disparate pieces of information;
• focus literacy, the ability to think deeply and to enjoy both leisure and daydreaming;
• skepticism literacy, the ability to evaluate information and its sources;
• ethical literacy, living responsibly in both the physical and the cyberspace world; and
• personal literacy, in which the user understands his identity and can manage privacy.¹⁸

More recently, Howard Rheingold, noted writer, speaker, and thinker on issues related to online communities and collective intelligence, in his 2012 book Net Smart, advocated the development of skills that will allow users of technology to “live mindfully in cyberculture” and declared that it is a skill that is as important for civilization as for individuals.¹⁹ Rheingold believes that we are “in a period where the cutting edge of change has moved from the technology to the literacies made possible by the technology.”²⁰ These literacies are very close to the knowledge and skill set we have, for a number of years, envisioned as the mark of an information literate person. At the same time, they are both personal and tied to the broader community. They are

• the ability to focus and pay attention to what one is doing;
• “crap detection”—learning how and where to search and how to evaluate results;
• knowing how to participate effectively;
• understanding effective ways to coordinate, cooperate, and collaborate with others; and
• “network smarts”—understanding the structure of social networks and how to be part of them, including an understanding of issues of privacy.²¹

Libraries fit into the educational continuum that will help technology users to develop skills that will allow them to find, evaluate, and use information resources. However, we will not be able to do this work without understanding the process and the rules, particularly in areas of social media, participation, and collaboration.

For libraries to “keep up” with changes, we need to develop a culture of learning inside libraries of all types as well as the personal attitudes to support that culture. We also need to create urgency, both in our libraries and in our professional organizations, for change. The ability to adapt to changing realities is crucial to the future of libraries as well as to the future of librarians.

Change is really difficult. We know we need to do it, but it is often unsettling, even agonizing. We also feel that we know what our users ought to be learning and doing, and that they may not know what is right for them. That sort of thinking can cause real problems, though. Libraries do not have enough money and other resources to make many mistakes. Good data are essential, but we can learn from our colleagues in other fields as well.

No one likes change. It is uncomfortable for both us and our users. Whenever I think of change, I remember the library patron who wrote to our comments link when we changed our library website not long after the Iraq invasion. He told us that what we had done to the library website ranked right up there with the 2003 burning of the Iraq National Library. That remark conveys such a vivid picture that all of us who work on the website still remember it eight years later. At the same time, though, there are great risks in not developing a planned program to review user needs and to accommodate them in library resources and service. I believe that planning for change is an important part of all of our responsibilities, whether or not we are managers or directors.

But how and where do we begin? There is a great deal of literature about the right way to make changes in the business setting that can provide us with good models to use. The research of both Rosabeth Moss Kanter and John P. Kotter, begun in the 1990s and continuing into this decade, tells us that change should focus on people. Emotions and feelings are important to the success of any change. In fact, both authors note that behavior change happens when participants’ emotions are engaged, when participants feel included and heard. Innovation, collaboration, and learning are key to the change process.

Kotter is well-known for his eight steps to successful change, beginning with the fact that people change because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings:²²

1. Develop a sense of urgency for the change, so that colleagues feel the need for change now.
2. Build a team to guide the change that includes a mix of levels in the organization.
3. Create a clear and simple vision with clear goals that can be articulated quickly.
4. Communicate widely to get buy-in.
5. Empower the actions of the members of the staff by removing obstacles, providing information and feedback, and rewarding appropriate behavior.
6. Create short-term wins.
7. Don’t let up.
8. Make change stick, by choosing tasks in a sequence that leads to the fulfillment of the vision and nurturing a new culture that rewards the change.²³

Kanter looks at the intangibles of organizations to make recommendations for successful change. Based on her research in business, sports, and nonprofit organizations, she notes that confidence, defined as “positive expectations for favorable outcomes,”²⁴ is a key factor in both innovation and success, and that confidence and positive attitudes are based on the support system, teamwork, accountability, initiative, and communication.²⁵ She notes that “powerlessness corrupts,” reminding her readers that powerlessness is caused by limiting information and “sneaking unpopular decisions through when they think no one’s looking” resulting in negativity and low aspirations.²⁶ Kanter states that “in change-adept organizations, people continuously learn and adapt, spread knowledge and share ideas. By making change a way of life, people are, in the best sense, ‘just doing their jobs.’”²⁷

Kanter’s “Change Wheel” has some similarities with Kotter’s eight steps to successful change. The wheel supports empowerment, a culture of sharing information, communicating about change before it happens, milestones, training and feedback, rewards and recognition, and inspiration. The spokes on the wheel are the following:

• Create a common theme for the change message and a shared vision internalized by all.
• Send the right message with symbols and signals of change.
• Create a guidance structure and process for leading change.
• Use education, training, and action tools to communicate what, why, and how.
• Find champions and sponsors of change.
• Celebrate quick wins and local innovations done by units based on the shared vision.
• Value communication and exchange of best practices.
• Reassess and realign policies and procedures to support the new direction.
• Establish change measures, set milestones, and create a feedback loop.
• Provide rewards and recognition for meeting milestones.²⁸

Leaders of change, according to Kanter, need to be aware of the classic reasons for resistance to change and to avoid or counteract them:

• loss of face
• loss of control
• excess uncertainty
• surprise and the resulting automatic defensiveness
• the “difference” effect
• “can I do it?”
• ripple effects from annoyance at disruptions to other activities
• more work
• past resentments
• real threats and anger that the change will inflict real pain and create clear losers²⁹

She exhorts leaders to nurture skills in “tuning in to the environment, kaleidoscopic thinking, [creating] an inspiring vision, coalition-building, nurturing a working team, persisting through difficulties, and spreading credit and recognition.”³⁰

Reading between the lines in the material above, we can see that successful change does not happen without good leadership. In his recent blog post, “Learning to Lead Others to Change” in Leading from the Library, Steven Bell asks, “Great leaders have a way of inspiring followers to believe in a cause that makes them want to change. … What does it take to be that kind of leader?” The author notes that a primary criterion for change leadership is to develop trust in your ideas, by “being predictable, consistent, able to articulate the vision, and honest, and … fulfill promises.”³¹

John P. Kotter provides a blueprint to follow. In his article “Leading Change: Learn to Do It Right,” he notes three key tasks of an effective leader:

• “managing multiple time lines”—making it clear that meaningful change takes time, and creating “shorter-term wins” that move toward an effective vision
• “building coalitions”—finding a strong team, expanding it to cover a number of views, building support, and leading the group so that it works together as a team, rather than as a group of individuals
• creating a vision of the future that is clear, appealing, and ambitious yet attainable

He defines a great leader as one who sees clearly, is not afraid to challenge the status quo, is energetic, holds deep convictions about the cause, and is willing to learn and take risks. Kotter notes that “producing change is about 80 percent leadership—establishing direction, aligning, motivating, and inspiring people—and about 20 percent management—planning budgeting organizing and problem-solving.”³²

Leadership must begin at the top, of course, but it cannot end there. I believe that every member of the organization must take some responsibility for leadership—for listening, for speaking up with ideas, agreements and concerns, and for moving the process forward.

This need for change is not just limited to our libraries and our work arrangements. It is an issue that affects ALA as well. The 2012–13 ALA president, Maureen Sullivan, believes that it will be important to re-imagine ALA. She believes that recent ALA reports, the economy and library budgets, the ALA 2015 goals, and changes in the larger environment make this necessary. In her proposed 2012–2013 budget, she states “it is time to give serious consideration to restructuring ALA.” She notes “any plan to do this requires careful consideration of feasibility, desirability and complexity of such an undertaking”³³ and led discussions with ALA leaders at the fall 2012 joint boards meeting on this topic.

In RUSA, our Structures Task Force in 2011–12 provided a series of actions that will, we believe, result in more members and better service for these members, both new and returning. This year, I hope to build on that work with a review of publishing and continuing education activities, shown by our recent membership study as a very high priority of RUSA members.

How do we get started? The first step is to create an urgency or desire for change to start the ball rolling. In this process, we can identify where large changes and incremental changes will work most effectively. That means a first step will be to know ourselves. A second and equally important step will be to gather meaningful input from those we serve. We need to be careful not to move so slowly that everyone becomes discouraged and to make sure that we keep communication lines flowing throughout the process. Hopefully, we will develop a culture that supports and encourages both learning and regular change to maintain our relevance.