Library as Learning Organization: Cultivating Communities of Practice

Abstract

As our midsize academic library at Northern Kentucky University reinvigorated our
committee structure, we saw communities of practice (CoPs) as a key feature of
empowering employees and enabling organizational growth. As we shared in part one
of this two-part series,1 CoPs are one component of the committee structure at Steely
Library, defined as follows: “Learning communities led by library employees and focused
on topics of interest to the library. CoP proposals are solicited each spring with a limited
number selected for the upcoming academic year (either for the fall semester, the spring
semester, or both). CoPs allow participants to learn new skills they can apply to their role
and generate a concrete deliverable that will benefit the entire library.”