HPL Cares: Leading by Taking Action
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1940Keywords:
Oregon, Oregon libraries, academic library, libraries, librarians, northwest, information science, information literacy, social media, writing, library trends, books, donors, library funding, Oregon library association, quarterly, Oregon library association quarterly, American library association, ala, ola, reading, library success, success, evolving roles, OSU, Oregon state, University, web services, public, new discipline, changes in libraries, career, careers, library careers, library career, professional journal, scholarly, academic, circulation, Portland, Multnomah County Library, innovative, inventive, solution, oregon librarians, librarian, political, politics, political action, association, civics, civic education, inspiring, engagement, role, participation, skills, create, creating, resources, develop, source, evaluate, evaluation, evaluating, University of Oregon, UO, learn, learned, program, job, for, a, an, the, leadership, institute, liola, leader, leaders, wil wheaton, jane scheppke, gallup, strengthsfinder, strength based leadership, LIOLA, leadership institute of the Oregon library association, hillsboro public library, supervisor, courtney gill, hpl cares, we partner, we support, we care, harkins house, nami, astronomers without borders, homeless, oregon food bank, mckinney-vento, sock drive, washington county, hilldoer day, city of hillsboro, teen, councilAbstract
Like many Oregon cities, Hillsboro is changing at a fast pace. Rapid growth has created many challenges for the City’s most vulnerable community members. Two top challenges include housing instability and food insecurity. While the library serves as a vital community hub, the Hillsboro Public Library (HPL) continuously seeks to make a greater impact. The Hillsboro Public Library Leadership Team (LLT) approved the formation of the staff-led HPL Cares team. HPL Cares consists of six big-hearted library staff members who took the idea of a library-sponsored community service group and developed a community-focused inspiration team.
The HPL Cares team is staffed by HPL employees and supported by a supervisor liaison. Aside from the supervisor liaison, the team members do not hold official leadership positions within the library. As an entirely employee-run team, there is no hierarchy. Team members are directed by their passion for service. With each new project, team members rotate the responsibility of project lead. With the support of their fellow team members, the project lead has the opportunity to practice team management, communication, and organization skills. While these are invaluable skills in a leadership position, they are not the sum total of what it means to be a leader. Leaders set an example and inspire those around them to follow.
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