Why do I use the word “efficient” to describe this path of librarianship?  In my article, Efficient Librarianship – A New Path for the Profession the word efficient is defined as: 1. Being or involving the immediate agent in producing an effect; 2. Productive of desired effects; especially: productive without waste.

While the second part of the definition is straightforward, the first part resonates with this work.  From the article:

“Identifying and implementing improvements to personal and organizational workflows produce powerful results. However, the best systems in the world are only useful if they free up energy for productive next actions. An Efficient Librarian understands the implications of the first part of the definition of the word “efficient” given at the start of this article which is to be the agent that produces an effect. An agent by definition is one who acts. Therefore, an Efficient Librarian is very mindful of his or her actions.

“Most people decide their next action at work by reacting to their surroundings. Crisis and stress tend to focus the mind on the most urgent needs. People may subconsciously allow crisis to enter their lives to narrow their action choices. To illustrate, think about what would happen if you discover that the building is on fire. Your next action would be very simple—get out! No need to think about that one. While it does help to simplify decision making, crisis is an unhealthy way to live from day to day due to the accumulated stress. Therefore, an Efficient Librarian purposefully moves past crisis to make meaningful action decisions when things first show up, rather than when they start to blow up.”

Read the rest of the article on the Public Libraries web site.