The Art of Communication
A Librarian's Guide for Successful Leadership, Collaboration, and Advocacy
by Hilda K. Weisburg
October 2022, 205pp, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
1 volume, Libraries Unlimited

Paperback: 978-1-4408-7895-4
$50, £39, 44€, A69
eBook Available: 978-1-4408-7896-1
Please contact your preferred eBook vendor for pricing.

Teaches strategies and techniques to help librarians build the successful communication skills that are a requirement for leadership.

Librarians will learn communication skills that help them develop as leaders, build community, and advocate for their libraries.

Librarians understand the importance of making the value of the library known to stakeholders. In this informative and conversational book, Hilda K. Weisburg gradually builds librarians’ communication skills, which are intrinsic to the success of library programs and services. Being able to effectively communicate as a sender and receiver of messages is a vital leadership skill, and librarians must master all the multi-faceted ways people exchange information in order to grow as leaders.

Throughout the book, librarians will learn communication basics and the obstacles that interfere with successful communication. The chapters in part one detail the three components of communication; part two prepares librarians to cope with difficult communications; and part three gives librarians further techniques to ensure their messages are cohesive and strategic as they reach out to stakeholders.

The book’s goal is for librarians to feel confident about using their newly learned communication skills for advocacy. As their value to the library community grows, they will be able to strategically use the relationships their communications have built to create positive change.

Features

  • Learn to communicate strategically and use communication to advance the library program
  • Understand leadership both as a job necessity and as a tool
  • Connect with timely topics, such as anti-racist communication and unintentional racism
  • Discover how librarians may have inadvertently muddled their messages and how to ensure they come through loud and clear
  • Learn to recognize the role of emotions in communication and how to manage them as a sender and a receiver
Hilda K. Weisburg was a librarian in public and school libraries for more than 30 years, mainly at the high school level. She is now an author, speaker, and adjunct instructor at William Paterson University and Montana State University. She received the 2016 AASL Distinguished Service Award and the New Jersey Association of School Librarians' President's Award. Weisburg has coauthored 17 books for school librarians, most recently Classroom Management for School Librarians and Leading for School Librarians: There Is No Other Option. She has written a YA fantasy novel, Woven Through Time. She is a past president of NJASL and serves on ALA and AASL committees.


Reviews

"Hilda K. Weisburg masterfully invites readers to develop the communication skills necessary for collaboration, leadership, and advocacy. Librarianship is first and foremost a career built on relationships. This book demonstrates that when we take the time to improve how we communicate through our voices and body language, as well as print, audio, and visual media, we are able to effect change as empowered thought leaders."—Kristina A. Holzweiss, 2015 School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year and coauthor of Hacking School Libraries

"Communication is the best tool library workers have. Weisburg lays out strategies for library workers to become visionary leaders through continuous communication skill building. The Art of Communication will be my go-to guide when advocating for libraries!"—Erin Berman, Division Director, Alameda County Library and Past Chair of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee’s Privacy Subcommittee
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