Libraries as Learning Organisations Symposium

The Libraries as Learning Organisations Symposium was held in Brisbane, Australia on 1 November 2013. A learning organisation is the term given to an enterprise that facilitates the learning of its members and stakeholders, and continuously transforms itself (Pedler, Burgoyne, and Boydell 1991). In a learning organisation new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people learn together to create the results they truly desire (Senge 1990). The one-day symposium considered the question: are libraries learning organisations? This special issue provides seven papers presented at the symposium. Gillian Hallam, Andrew Hiskens and Rebecca Ong open the discussion by outlining the literacy and learning project undertaken by National and State Libraries Australasia. The project aimed to help libraries to improve their organisational comprehension and practice as learning institutions, and developed a learning organisations maturity model that could be used to assess a library’s capabilities in this area. Building on this work, Anja Tait and Kerry Blinco report on the application of the model in the Northern Territory Library. The model provided structure to guide conversations around the library’s current state and future development as a learning organisation. Their work shows that staff at all levels are involved in learning, with learning in one part of the organisation having an impact throughout the organisation. They noted that staff at all levels within organisations need to be heard and valued, and that supportive leadership that provides a shared purpose and clear direction sparks momentum for positive change and ongoing learning within and beyond organisations. Three papers explore academic libraries as learning organisations. Julia Leong discusses the approach adopted by RMIT University Library to provide purposeful learning opportunities for its staff. The RMIT Library uses a variety of continuing education methods and, in particular, recognises the value of experience-based learning. Her work reveals the benefits of adopting a structured approach to planning, organising, delivering, and evaluating organisational learning. She also notes that professional development should be carefully aligned with organisational directions for accountability and efficiency and to generate learner motivation. The processes of adopting a purposeful approach to staff learning and development is further explored by Felicity Renner, Catherine Clark, Bel Shilkin, Jill Benn, Merrilee Albatis and Roz Howard. They provide a candid discussion of the use of Senge’s learning organisations framework by the University of Western Australia Library to develop a new service model for student IT support. Their work reveals that successfully adopting Senge’s framework to guide workplace learning and development requires considerable flexibility and time. Liz Walkley Hall and Ian McBain discuss the use of a support group in building a culture of research at Flinders University Library. Their work shows how providing structured and formal support has a positive impact on developing staff research skills and confidence. They conclude by noting that further work is needed to explore how the support group contributes to the university’s strategic goals and to the library supporting these goals.