xiv Introduction with our colleagues. What happens then can affect our mood and energy for the day. Once our doors are officially open for the day, we speak with our patrons and students. In essence, we are on stage, where our audience judges our performance. Most of the time, things go smoothly. We help, teach, and guide as needed. We deal with problems as they are brought to our atten- tion, whether it is a tech issue or a project in the works. It is all part of the day’s work, and communication is what keeps things moving or interrupts them. In all these scenarios, we want our users to feel safe and welcome in the library. While we work to ensure our collections are increasingly diverse, in our conversations we may all too often reveal our implicit racism. Numerous books deal with this issue, but we must keep raising our aware- ness of it so we don’t inadvertently harm others and our program as a result of that implicit bias. Which brings us to the subtext of this book. Leadership and advocacy. Library budgets have been shrinking for years. Schools have eliminated librarians and repurposed the libraries or put in volunteers who work with a zero budget. The situation is dire. While advocacy with national, state, and local gov- ernments is important, it is critical to have your stakeholders ready to advocate for you and your programs. As the late Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local.” You need the support of your community, whether it is a school district, a town, or a section of the city. To develop these advocates takes leadership. The bottom line is that all librarians must become leaders. Leaders build important relationships with stakeholders, from students and their parents to teachers, administra- tors, boards of directors or school boards, and the communities beyond. We are in the relationship business and the fuel that drives relationships is communication. To become more successful at communication, and by doing so, become more successful as leaders, it is important to understand the process from the simple to the complex. It won’t guarantee success in every interaction, but it will produce far more favorable outcomes and give you the tools to analyze and learn from those that don’t go as planned.
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