Consistently providing opportunities for individuals to learn and grow is essential for building a team that's well-equipped to create innovative solutions. Working in technology, where the tools change all the time, where skills can be highly specialized, and where burnout is a serious risk, it's even more important to take time to learn, experiment, and self-direct engaging challenges.
At the library, we promote, inspire, and support intellectual curiosity at all levels of the organization - continuous learning is one of our core values. I'll share some of the intentional structures we use to build this into our day-to-day work, especially when it comes to working with technology.
For example, beyond supporting more formal conferences and professional development, we have regular meetings where we learn together, dedicated time for individual self-directed learning, review and reflection activities for specific projects, and open library-wide sessions. I'll explain these structures, how they got going, and some of the ways they help us continue to do great work.