Located in downtown Denver, Colorado, the Auraria Campus is home to three institutions of higher education – University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and Community College of Denver – the latter two are Hispanic-Serving Institutions. The Auraria Library serves the campus’ approximately 43,000 students, including many first-generation, underrepresented, and non-traditional students, and sees more than 750,000 visits a year. In 2018, I was hired as Auraria Library’s director. In addition to the challenges of serving three institutions with differing needs, I quickly realized that the library itself was in a state of transition and seeking answers for what was going to come next for the organization.

Library employees are incredibly passionate and dedicated, and it was important to build on the existing work that had happened, while redirecting efforts in respectful and productive ways. This session will provide participants with a practical application of change management elements and approaches including:
 
Internal perspective:

• Discussing the main elements of transformational change which takes an ecosystem approach and where there is a shift in organizational attitudes, beliefs, and cultural values
• Preparing for strategic change by establishing trust and transparency in leadership
• Creating new policies and processes in areas such as hiring, workforce planning, and budgeting
• Building internal capacity through training, recognition, and mentorship
• Considering the human aspect of change management by addressing reactions to and anxiety about change (both at the employee as well as at the administrative levels)

• Developing a robust stakeholder engagement framework to assist with strategic planning
• Telling the library story and raising awareness about its impact for our faculty, staff, and students