Final Paper Lisa Butler

LIS 771

Organizational Culture

Libraries, just like other workplaces, offer different benefits. Every potential employee will
compare salaries, insurance, and other benefits before deciding which employment
opportunity they will accept. While salaries and insurance plans offer concrete numbers and
facts to compare one library again another, the benefits that fall into the “other” category are
harder to define and measure. When it comes to hiring, the most attractive benefits that might
sway a candidate to choose one location over another are those benefits that fall into the
“other” category or, in other words, the organization’s culture.

So, what is organizational culture? As mentioned above, organizational culture or workplace

Public libraries, like other organizations, have a specific culture that will set one library apart
from another. The one difference with libraries is the patrons. Since libraries are not for-profit
ventures, taxpayers and other stakeholders will play a larger role in forming the culture of a
library. Patrons will choose to visit one library because the staff are friendlier than another
library. Moms might choose a library based on the quality of children's books and programs. An
older patron may visit a particular library because of senior specific programs.

Hall and Parker touch on this topic when discussing the need for a strategic plan. They suggest
every library should have a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement. (3) The Mission
Statement will tell patrons who you are and what you are about, or the present version of the
library. A Vision Statement tells where you are going, or what the future could look like. The
Skokie Public Library went one step further and wrote a Culture Statement that begins with:
“We are Skokie Public Library. We serve the community, and we are a community.” (6) This kind
of statement tells why we are here to fulfill our Mission Statement and why we want to head in
the direction of the Vision Statement.

For the purposes of exploring organizational culture, two library directors were interviewed by
phone. Director Lynn Noffke from the Limestone Public Library District is a friend and former
colleague. Limestone Library is in a rural area outside of Kankakee and serves just over 5,000
residents. One of the unique features of this library is its location. There is no “downtown” area
Final Paper Lisa Butler
LIS 771

for Limestone township and the library building is not located in the middle of a residential
neighborhood. The library sits on the corner of an intersection with two of the three corners
being farm fields and the third corner has a farmhouse. This unique location greatly impacts the
organizational culture in many ways that will be discussed later in the paper.

Director Michelle Krooswyk from the New Lenox Public Library District is the second person
interviewed for this paper. New Lenox Public Library is much larger, serving about 40,000
patrons. The current library building was built in 2001 in what is called the “Commons” along
with City Hall, a City Park, and bike path. This is a beautiful building that I toured during a
PrairieCat Circulation Users Group meeting before Krooswyk became the library’s director. It is
centrally located with residential housing within walking distance. So, unlike Limestone,
location is not the defining feature of the library’s culture, it is changes in leadership.

Even though these libraries are very different, they share some similarities. Both libraries
employ diverse staffs with almost equal numbers of males and females and similar ratios of
part-time employees versus full-time employees. Limestone being much smaller, uses
substitute assistants for times when regular staff are sick or need vacation time. Both directors
listed taxpayers as a stakeholder, not just patrons who visit the library. And both directors
agreed that cooperation between departments and cross-training between departments was
important for cultivating a healthy work environment. Neither director felt that there were sub-
cultures in the various departments. Noffke stated that they were too small of a staff with a
total of about 10 employees. Krooswyk stated that each department had different
personalities, for example youth services staff was a little more “out there,” but the values
were the same across departments.

Knowing that both directors value cooperation, diversity, and cross-training. What makes the
culture in each building different? Location and leadership are the two defining factors
between the organizational cultures. When looking at location, New Lenox Library sits in a
vibrant location with several amenities within walking distance. Many libraries can boast about
being in a similar location. But, as mentioned above, Limestone does not have this type of
beneficial location.

Limestone Public Library as a building is not very visible even though it is located between two
highways. The land the library sits on was donated by one of the farmers in the township
before it became a district library so moving is not feasible financially. Not to mention there is
not a central downtown area to relocate to like there is in New Lenox. So, much of the culture is
created around what the employees can do within these parameters.

Most of the advertising for programs, especially summer reading programs, consist of flyers in
local businesses. At one time, a print newsletter was mailed to every house within the district,
Final Paper Lisa Butler
LIS 771

but recent budget constraints have forced them to rely on an e-newsletter as the primary mode
of mass communication. An e-newsletter presents two challenges to effective communication,
one being the need to request the newsletter in order to receive it and the other being lack of
quality internet access. Limestone is not just rural but located on the Kankakee River and both
geographical features impact internet access.

Due to the library building being isolated, there is not much foot traffic. Programing is focused
and takes place in the evenings when residents are home from work and children can get rides
to the library. The closest school building is about two miles away so walking from school to the
library is not an option eliminating to need for after school programs. Bussing could be
arranged with the school, but then the library becomes a childcare center since students cannot
walk home from the library. This means children’s programs need to take place in the evenings
but also need to be planned around sports schedules. Hosting programs at the school are not
feasible either since children will run into the same transportation problems of not having a
ride home.

While these are some of challenges the staff at Limestone face, Noffke encourages the staff to
focus on working together and discovering each other's strengths. She also has built a
community of staff members who prioritize listening to the patrons in order to find ways to
better serve them within the confines of the above challenges. Besides actively listening, staff
ask patrons directly and passively for suggestions. An evaluation with “I wish” statements and
requests for suggestions are passed out at all programs. The staff are asked to observe which
programs patrons gravitated to, especially during summer reading. All these expectations and
behaviors help to keep the staff focused on working together as a team creating this ideal
supportive culture in this rural community.

New Lenox Public Library’s primary cultural challenge came from leadership, or as Krooswyk
hinted at, a lack of quality leadership. When Krooswyk came to New Lenox five years ago, she
was the fourth director for the library during the previous five years. A culture of gossip and
grumbling had developed and most of the staff was focused on themselves and their tasks
rather than on patrons and their needs. While Noffke commented that the director before her
left a negative environment behind, it was not at the level of New Lenox’s issues and Noffke has
had a decade to resolve those issues.

During the last five years, Krooswyk has worked to make deliberate and targeted changes to
the organizational culture in library. The first and most important change according to
Krooswyk was to instill the “why” into the staff. Asking the question of why are we here at the
library? Why do we do this instead of that? Why are these rules and policies enforced?
Changing staff attitudes took time and effort and not everyone wanted to stay. But once the
staff all understood the direction Krooswyk wanted to take, change came easier.
Final Paper Lisa Butler
LIS 771

The cultural focus changed from a me centered attitude toward a patron centered attitude.
Communication became a priority along with knowing the why behind everything the library
does. The management team meets every other week to discuss issues and talk about new
ideas. A staff newsletter is sent out on Fridays to keep everyone on the same page. Gossip is
discouraged even though the Grapevine can be the fastest way to share information. The focus
on communication with all stakeholders is also a priority with the library board members
receiving the same Friday newsletters as the staff. A monthly newsletter called Guide is
available in print and online for all residents. Social media communications are currently being
re-vamped to improve effectiveness in that area.

As Krooswyk emphasized repeatedly in the interview, the staff is the library’s most important
asset. Developing a positive culture gets people engaged, makes them accountable and
responsible for their actions. By creating a culture that asks, “why are we doing this?” And then
effectively communicates the answer helps to build teamwork and creates opportunities for
staff to take risks and try new initiatives. Leading with the expectation that the why will always
be explained has allowed for other positive changes in the organizational culture to occur.

Having seen two versions of library culture, are these the only organizational cultures worth
valuing. Forsey talks about four different types of organizational cultures. Libraries tend to
gravitate toward the Clan Culture which is described as “family-like,” friendly and respectful. (2)
These are values that Noffke and Krooswyk cultivate among their employees. While Cancialosi
agrees with Forsey’s four types of organizational culture, he adds in four other types that have
similar values but different structures. (1)

A businessperson with a strong sales background would not value the Clan Culture found in the
two sample libraries. This type of person values competition and getting things done and will
thrive better in a Market Culture. (2) But that same person might mistake a Person Culture for a
Market Culture and end up miserable. While both Market and Person Cultures value how
employees and customers are treated, the Market Culture gets there through competition and
the Person Culture horizontally, by staying in your lane so to speak.

All of which goes back to the issue of hiring the right person. Finding employees who not only
value the same things as the rest of the staff but are willing to behave in a manner that reflects
the organizational culture you are trying to mold. Finding potential employees who understand
organizational culture and how positively add to it are just a bonus. It is up to the employer, or
in the case of a library, the director to understand how to mold and encourage an
organizational culture that works effectively for the community and then promote that culture
as a benefit alongside salary and insurance packages.
Final Paper Lisa Butler
LIS 771
Final Paper Lisa Butler
LIS 771

References:
1. Cancialosi, C. (2017, July 17) What is Organizational Culture? Retrieved from
https://gothamculture.com. Retrieved for this paper on May 4, 2021 from
https://gothamculture.com/what-is-organizational-culture-definition/
2. Forsey, C. (2018, Oct 4). What Organizational Culture is and Why it Matters. Retrieved on May 5,
2021 from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/organizational-culture.
3. Hall, K and Parker K. (2019). The Public Library Director’s Toolkit. ALA Editions.
4. Krooswyk, Michelle. (2021, April 28). Director of New Lenox Public Library District. Interviewed
by phone on April 28, 2021.
5. Noffke, Lynne. (2021, April 22). Director of Limestone Public Library District. Interview by phone
on April 22, 2021.
6. Skokie Public Library. Culture Statement. Retrieved on May 3, 2021 from
https://skokielibrary.info/about/staff/culture/