Change makers: are you one too?

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead
 
This conference paper discusses the Change Makers project which set out to create practical tools for leaders in public libraries to use in recruitment. These tools aim to assist public libraries to transform their workforce for the 21st century and not only recruit staff who are change ready and change resilient, but who are curious, passionate and engaged. As future library leaders, we are responsible for building dynamic, responsive libraries that are seen as relevant to our respective communities and stakeholders. Of course, that means dynamic and responsive people too.
 
This paper builds on collaborative research that was undertaken as part of the State Library of Queensland's inaugural Library Leadership 2015 program. We didn't know each other well; we didn't know what we were doing at first; but we knew that there was often a mismatch between the flexible, resilient, change oriented workforce our libraries need in the 21st century, and some of the ways we attract, recruit and induct new staff. That's where the Change Makers project was conceived. We looked closely at current public library recruitment practices, and what other contemporary organisations did differently or better. 
 
This paper will inspire libraries to think differently about recruitment, and we provide evidence-based tools and templates to help you do something differently. If we have learnt one thing from the program, it was that nothing is too dull for reinvention - even recruitment.