July 24

Values and Relationships

How does the content of Colvin’s article relate to school libraries?

School libraries are a cog in the education machine. So, while they’re not particularly large enterprises on their own, they are part of a larger system.

Colvin (2000) mentioned two guiding forces – iron authority and shared values, going on to suggest that of the two, values are the basis of management in the twenty-first century. After all, “lots of people with aligned values constitute an awesome power” (Colvin, 2000).

This can relate to school libraries in two ways. Firstly, the library as it’s own system. Those working in the library will benefit from shared values, and these, ultimately, come from the school library’s management.

And secondly, aligning the school library to school and education system values, can be of benefit.

For six months, I worked at Sundrop Farms in Port Augusta. I was among the first to be hired, helping to construct four gigantic greenhouses during the first few months of their operations. Very early on, the management team were banging on about values, and how we were lucky to be here in the initial stages of Sundrop’s existence. Unfortunately, it was a little hard to instill the values in everyone who joined in.

Enough said.

Reference

Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the info era. Fortune, 141(5). Retrieved from https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1