Putting the “Person” back into “Personnel”: Emotional Intelligence in Law Libraries
Sherri Thomas, Assistant Director, University of New Mexico Law Library
Law libraries are institutions with the essential mission of serving diverse and demanding patron bases. In these times of budgetary crunches, libraries are carrying their same levels of service, but with fewer personnel. Many times delegation of responsibilities does not depend on assessing what individual in the institution will excel at a task, but more often on who has less on their plate overflowing plates. Without considering the person that is taking the task and only focusing on task completion poor attitudes take root, which immediately create discord between supervisors and supervisees, and will eventually adversely affect library services. This article takes a look at how law library administrators can use emotional intelligence techniques to avoid managerial pitfalls and stay sane.