Twenty graduates reach PINNACLE’s summit
GPLS News, January 2009
Chancellor Erroll Davis presents Ashley Moore with a certificate and an engraved award as one of PINNACLE's first graduates.
Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. brought Georgia’s first PINNACLE Institute to a close on Oct. 15 in the Seney-Stovall Chapel at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government in Athens.
“To those in the inaugural PINNACLE leadership class, you have my congratulations on your selection and completion of this important program,” Davis said, as he delivered the institute’s commencement address. “Within the University System of Georgia, we are very serious regarding the need to develop a much stronger leadership culture at all levels and in all areas of the organization, so I commend (State Librarian) Lamar (Veatch) and all those involved in the Georgia Public Library Service for the devel-opment and implementation of the PINNACLE Institute.
“Each of you, as graduates of this program, will, I hope, come away with some new insights and skill sets that will equip you to be better leaders. In turn, I know you will use these new skills to help those in your organizations become better leaders.”
The goal of PINNACLE — short for the Public Library Institute for New and Creative Leadership Education — is to ensure the future of high-quality library leadership across Georgia. During the yearlong course, 20 of the best and brightest young leaders in the Georgia library community received training in a variety of topics.
In his comments to the graduates and approximately 50 invited guests, Davis outlined the four key elements of leadership — trust, vision, roles and communication — and urged graduates to develop a culture of leadership in their respective organizations.
“Given the situation in the national and global economy, the need for true leadership is critical,” he said. “People need to appreciate the power of leaders to change the future, to man-age risks, to alter outcomes. We must make the investment in training our people, in giving them leadership skills, in giving them tools and techniques.
“Leaders are not born; they are grown. They are trained. In the University System, we take very seriously our responsibility to help train leaders, and one of the results of this approach is PINNACLE.”
GPLS launched PINNACLE with a one-week retreat in November 2007. It included eight monthly two-day sessions on topics that included situational leadership, time management, analytical and creative problem solving, financial management and performance measures, human resource management and administrative law, managing conflict and group dynamics, ethics, power, best practices, process improvement, project coaching, media relations, leadership in a political environment and effective presentations.
“Graduation wrapped up a year that has affected the way I look at leadership and helped me to see the type of leader I need to become in order to be even more effective,” said Anne Bowen, deputy director of the Ocmulgee Regional Library System in Eastman.
Jo Lahmon, branch manager for the Cobb County Public Library System, also gave the program a rave review. “Not only did I learn skills and techniques that could be immediately put to good use in the workplace,” she said, “but I was also able to meet new people from around the state and forge relationships that will last for a long time.”
“This program lit a fire in our hearts, urging us to make ourselves, our libraries and our communities better,” said Ashley Moore, assistant director of the Dougherty County Public Library. “It also reminded us that we can have fun along the way. PINNACLE offers opportunities that no one should pass up. It was amazing to watch the transformations that participants went through in such a short amount of time, and graduation was an exciting opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments as well as those of the mentors and GPLS.”
In addition to Bowen, Lahmon and Moore, PINNACLE’s first-year graduates are: Jimmy Bass, head of the Newnan-Coweta Public Library; Ted Bazemore, virtual services librarian with the Clayton County Library System (CCLS); Brijin Boddy, head of the teen department for Chattahoochee Valley Regional Libraries (CVRL) in Columbus; Sarah Boyd, reference librarian with West Georgia Regional Library System in Carrollton; Lecia Eubanks, director of the Cherokee Regional Library in LaFayette; Trudi Green, team leader for information services for the Athens Regional Library System (ARLS); Sandy Hester, director of the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Library; Gina Jenkins, principal librarian/branch manager for the DeKalb County Public Library; and Colleen Knight, adult services librarian with the Bartow County Library System.
Also graduating were: Lisa MacKinney, assistant director of the Hall County Library System; Beata Mengel, youth services librarian with CCLS; Karen Odom, head librarian at Houston County Public Libraries’ Centerville branch; Jill Prouty, library administrator with the Flint River Regional Library System’s Peachtree City Library; Susan Stephens, director of the Chattooga County Library System; Jeff Tomlinson, director of the Uncle Remus Regional Library System in Madison; Leigh Wiley, director of the Worth County Library System; and Beverly Williams, subregional manager for the Georgia Library for Accessible Services (GLASS) in Atlanta.
Eleven volunteers with more than 200 years of combined experience in the library profession served as mentors for the inaugural class. Mentors included Kathryn Ames, director of ARLS; Pat Carterette, director of Continuing Education for GPLS; Stella Cone, director of GLASS; Susan Cooley, director of the Sara Hightower Regional Library in Rome; Dusty Gres, director of the Ohoopee Regional Library in Vidalia; Greg Heid, director of the Newton County Library System; Lyn Hopper, assistant state librarian for Library Development; Claudya Muller, director of CVRL; Lois Roberts, director of the Statesboro Regional Library; David Singleton, director of Library Experiences at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (N.C.); and Julie Walker, deputy state librarian.
PINNACLE’s steering committee worked with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIG), a public service and outreach unit of the University of Georgia, to design the curriculum, and CVIG’s Walt McBride led many of the training sessions.
“We believe PINNACLE can become a national model for training the next generation of library leaders,” said Walker. She noted that PINNACLE was conceived as a yearly program, but because of state budget cuts, that plan has been scaled back to every other year.
The application process for PINNACLE’s 2009-2010 class will begin next spring, Walker said. To apply, interested parties must hold a master of library science, a master of science in library science or a master of library and information science degree; be currently employed in a public library in Georgia; and have at least two years of experience. Applications will be available in early 2009 at www.georgialibraries.org.