Although it has been widely adopted by business and education professionals peer
coaching has been relatively underused by librarians. Peer coaching is a costeffective
professional development and retention strategy with countless benefits
for participants, including: increased morale, individual development, improvement
in communication and management/leadership skills and assistance with goal
setting.
In September 2014, the presenters began a peer-coaching relationship that
continues to this day. They have helped each other develop the skills needed to be
successful managers, achieve personal goals, become aware of and integrate timesaving/
organizational technological tools into their daily routine and have provided
moral support during challenging times or when difficult decisions had to be made.
In June 2016, the presenters partnered with ALA’s Library Leadership &
Management Association to offer members the opportunity to participate in a peer
coaching pilot program. The presenters will discuss the theoretical foundation of
peer coaching, their experience designing and implementing a program for
themselves, and the results of their pilot program.
Learning Objectives
After attending this session, participants will be able to:
- Design and implement a peer-coaching program
- Evaluate the effectiveness of their peer-coaching program
- Establish a network of colleagues who may be interested in being their peercoach
