Chapter 06 : A New Opportunity at the Research Medical Library

Chapter 06 : A New Opportunity at the Research Medical Library

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Description

Here Ms. Hoffman tells the story of being recruited to MD Anderson to become Executive Director of the Research Medical Library. She explains the situation she stepped into, commenting on limitations of staff at that time. She also talks about the pressing need to develop the Library’s technological base.

She shares a story from her on site interview: an interaction with a faculty member very committed to the Library’s technology.

Identifier

HoffmanKJ_01_20180319_C06

Publication Date

3-19-2018

City

Houston, Texas

Topics Covered

The Interview Subject's Story - Joining MD Anderson/Coming to Texas; Leadership; On Leadership; Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents; Professional Path; Career and Accomplishments; Evolution of Career; Professional Practice; The Professional at Work; Building/Transforming the Institution

Transcript

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

I got a phone call from Robin Sandefur, and—telling me Sara Jean was retiring. Would I consider, as he put it, throwing my hat in the ring?

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

And Robin Sandefur’s role?

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

He was... Oh, what’s his exact title? He was my boss when I came here. He was the—was he...? I can’t remember if he was a—I don’t think he was a vice president, but Dr. Tomasovic was—followed him. So he was, like, Head of Academic Affairs, something—

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Yeah, Head of Academic Affairs, Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

Yeah, some—I can’t remember his exact title, but it was somewhere along that line. We should look that up. I should know that.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Yep. That’s fine. That’s stuff that can be added later on.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

Yeah. But he phoned me up, and so I said, well, sure, what have I got to lose? Same thing I said before. So I came. I came on interview, and was a full two-day interview, and they offered me the position. It was a wonderful opportunity to come back, rejoin my family. And I wasn’t really ready to leave the job in Dallas. There was so much more I wanted to do, and we were just embarking on this great plan. But the opportunity here was one I could not just let go. But the—I’ll tell you, the—I did have to think about it, though. The weak part at that point was the staff. It did not—this library did not have a real strong staff. It had a few individuals, but in my estimation it didn’t have the strength of staff. And people are everything.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Now, as you’re—what were—and I’m asking here for really a critical evaluation of the landscape—what were the weaknesses that you were identifying?

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

Again, it was a staff that didn’t embrace change, and they didn’t have a vision. They were just kind of going along, same old same old, and they could’ve been so much greater. That’s not to say Sara Jean was a bad administrator, but—and she told me—I mean, she was at that point where she knew there were things coming on the horizon that weren’t her strength, and it was time for her to retire.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Smart.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

And so that—rebuilding the staff to—and get the existing staff... We did add positions, but getting the existing staff to accept change... It was like—I was telling you earlier—they still had the paper serials check-in, the Kardex. They still had the shelf list. (laughs) And it was a time—when I came here, it was a time when technology was making that next big leap, because journals were coming online. It wasn’t just databases, which we had and had had for a while, but it was journals that were coming online. And that was a major change. And it was hard for people to embrace that. Plus, I was a leader—I like to get things done and do things quickly, I move fast, and for a lot of people that was hard. They didn’t—they weren’t comfortable with a leader that was moving too fast.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Interesting, yeah, yeah.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

That’s how I would assess what it was like when I came here.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Now, when Robin Sandefur and other leaders talked to you about what they wanted the new executive director to address and to do, how were they representing the role?

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

They didn’t tell me what they were expecting.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Really?

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

No.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Huh. That kind of goes to a question (laughs) I was going to ask about an hour ago but didn’t, which is: do you feel that most institutions have any kind of granular understanding of what a library does? (laughter)

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

I knew that’s where you were going. I guess they don’t. They really don’t, which is why you hear, “Oh, well, everything’s on the internet. We don’t need libraries anymore.” Obviously people do not really understand what libraries are all about, or what they can provide, what they offer a community. Yeah, I think they really didn’t know. They just—“Oh, come in, just come in and manage this library for us,” so...

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Now, when you came for your two days of interviews—I mean, anybody who comes to an interview is also educating people, so how did you—what were you saying to educate these folks about what you were bringing, what you might be able to do, what you could do?

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

I interviewed with a lot of individuals, not just library staff, and I remember the one interview that... Sara Jean was still here, and she and Robin Sandefur were both very nervous about the interview I was to have with Mitch Morris. Mitch Morrison, Dr. Morrison. And he played a heavy hand in the library. And he had more of a grasp on what the library needed to be, and he was really a visionary. And even though he was a physician, he was very into technology, and actually left Anderson a couple years after I was here to pursue a dotcom career.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Oh, wow, so very into it.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

So he was really into technology. And he had really exerted himself in library management, and was insisting that we have—the library have a certain database that was only accessible from a Mac, an Apple-based machine. Was that the one? Maybe not. I may be wrong on that, but it was a certain database that was not... Oh, I wish I could remember its name. But anyway, it was very expensive, and Sara Jean really didn’t want it. There was just a lot of controversy about the whole thing. But he was really exerting a lot of pressure to want to run the library, I think, almost himself. And so they were very worried about his interview with me. Well, went into this interview and, I don’t know, something clicked. (snaps fingers) And he realized I knew about technology, and we just—we sat down like we’re sitting here. We had a conversation. And Sara Jean was waiting to take me to, like, the next interview, and was getting very nervous, because we’d gone way over time, and she had his secretary ring in and say... And he said, “In a minute, in a minute.” And we were—we had just really hit it off.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Oh, that’s cool.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

And I think at that point he had confidence that I could direct the library and take it where it needed to go, he didn’t have to meddle in the affairs anymore. And he didn’t. He didn’t meddle in the affairs.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Wow. Yeah. That’s a wonderful story.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

So I remember that one—that’s the one thing that stands out about that whole two-day interview was that session with him.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

Well, he—yeah, it’s interesting, because sometimes that happens when there’s one person in the institution that feels like they’re the lone voice that really can see what needs to be done, and they’re the only ones that are... And then, oh my gosh, I’ve got an ally. There’s somebody I can give this to.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

Right.

Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:

And he felt that way about you. So that’s really great.

Kathryn Jones Hoffman, MSLS:

Yeah.

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Chapter 06 : A New Opportunity at the Research Medical Library

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