Management of Training and Staff Development. By June Whetherly. London: Library Association Publishing, 1994. 66 p. ISBN 1–85604–104–2. $35.00.
This training guide is a part of a series being published by the (British) Library Association. According to the editor of the series, each guide “stands in its own right,” but assembled as they are published they will form a comprehensive manual of training and staff development in library and information work. The guides are projected to consist of concisely written summaries of the best principles and practices—each in a specific area of training. The guides are addressed to a wide user group—to the beginner and to the experienced practitioner as well as to the training officer.
The training guide under the review is concerned with management of training, with education, and with development of staff at all levels. The various training methods are described, with special attention to coaching and short courses. The respective advantages of training on and off the job are noted as is the use of external and internal trainers. It is rightly deemed most important who in the organization is responsible for learning and training. The guide advocates that training be undertaken in a systematic fashion in organizations of all sizes.
An important task is to identify the training needs of groups as well as of individuals. Situations which require remedial efforts are, for instance, lack of familiarity with computer applications or inadequate handling of reference inquiries. The author underscores that training needs to be managed; otherwise individual staff members might be concerned with furthering primarily their own interests and neglect the requirement of the organization as a whole.
A goal of the learning process is to condition the learners to accept change and so to prepare them to welcome new procedures. There are many methods to meet training needs: attainment of various levels of library qualification, some acquired before staff members joined a library and some after they did so; “open learning”; guided reading; and coaching and mentoring, two very popular devices. Further, courses may have to be designed to satisfy specific training objectives. Should a course be in–house or external? Should the trainers be “internal” (meaning staff within the department) or external? Answers will depend upon local conditions.
Finally, who is responsible for training? This reviewer adopts the author’s view that all people involved share this responsibility: the learner, the training officer, the supervisor, the manager. The guide describes in detail the devices and approaches the people who are involved may use. In various contexts it has been clear that learning and instruction should not be limited to immediate job requirements, and that indeed it may extend to cover future career needs.
This comprehensive, clearly written guide is enriched by an appendix consisting of 10 excellent sample working documents devoted to patterns of staff development. The Aston University checklist should prove particularly helpful for identifying elements of training and staff development. As should be emphasized, the guide is geared to British library training. While most applicable to library systems organized in accordance with the British pattern, the guide should also be useful for identifying, analyzing and evaluating general library training problems.
Fritz Veit is Director Emeritus, Chicago State University Libraries. For biographical information see TWL 1–1.
Citation
Veit, Fritz., Review of Management of Training and Staff Development.. By June Whetherly. Third World Libraries, Volume 5, Number 1 (Fall 1994).