Maryland Library Leadership Institute

Riverfront Conference Center
Donaldson Brown Estate, Port Deposit, Maryland
October 29 – November 2, 2007
Nancy Chiu Sillcox

At the Maryland Library Leadership Institute I had 5 full days (the day ended at 9:00 p.m.) of intense workshops on developing leadership skills and learning strategies that will help me to promote positive change in libraries and to implement innovative ideas to meet the needs of our customers and community. I also had ample opportunities to meet with other Maryland librarians, many who are leaders in their profession, to discuss openly about their successes and failures and to create a continuing network of support.

We had sessions on discovering our leadership style through analyzing enneagrams (personality test, similar to the Myers-Briggs); setting strategic priorities that will make the most impact for libraries, our customers and community; creating a personal vision that will define the future of libraries; analyzing personal reactions to change and how to help the team through the stages of transition; creating community partnerships; taking risks.

In our Learning Groups we had the guidance of two Mentors whose real life experiences gave us valuable insights about leadership. They candidly shared what worked and what didn’t and how they would have changed their strategies to better meet their goals and objectives. Many of the mentors were either Library Directors or Heads of University/College libraries.

And to top it all off – the food was fabulous, rooms were spacious, the beds were comfortable, the setting was gorgeous (I felt like the rich and famous) and I didn’t even have to make my bed in the morning.