The University of St. Thomas Libraries have a strong and highly competent staff, but like many libraries, we've had a reduction in staff numbers and a high amount of turn over in the past decade. Additionally, many on staff have seen their job responsibilities and competencies shift. The libraries have restructured and three of the Associate Directors on the leadership team were hired in the past 5 years. With all this change, how do we ensure that all staff members feel respected, valued, and heard? How do we help staff make a transition to new teams and new job descriptions? How can we build a culture in our library that values adaptability and risk-taking, and encourages open communication and transparency in decision-making? At the same time that we were grappling with these questions, the University of St. Thomas Human Resources department was looking to broaden their services on campus to do more organizational development work. The Library management team and Human Resources department have collaborated to develop a program of intentional professional and organizational development activities, named "Mission Possible: Libraries." The goal of this program is to of strengthen our staff and our culture. At this session, we'll talk about our goals, processes, and activities that were developed for the program as well as talk about how staff responded, what worked, what didn't, and how we plan to continue to build a strong staff culture.
