Franklin Sayre

I’m the Makerspace Librarian at Thompson Rivers University and also Co-Chair the Librarians’ Department. These days I am particularly interested in creating active learning spaces that foster belonging and encouraging sustainability and critical thinking about technology and information.

As Co-Chair of the Librarians’ Department, I focus on fostering a collaborative, collegial environment, supporting faculty, and advancing departmental priorities. My work includes chairing meetings, overseeing workload distribution, mentoring colleagues, and working closely with my co-chair to address challenges. I’ve also led initiatives to streamline workload processes, introduce cross-functional teams, and develop a flexible liaison structure, all aimed at improving support, consistency, and communication across the department. Through these efforts, I strive to create a supportive and effective framework that empowers our team and aligns with our strategic goals.

  • Chair regular departmental meetings.
  • Meet regularly with individual faculty to offer mentorship, support, and address concerns.
  • Communicate regularly with my co-chair to discuss and resolve issues.
  • Review Annual Professional Activity Reports (APARs) from Library Faculty and write responses. I share this task with my co-chair, each of us draft feedback for half of our colleagues and then we collaboratively review them for consistency and fairness and both sign them. I aim to provide constructive feedback that acknowledges achievements and guides professional development while also contextualizing the faculty member’s work for future review committees.
  • Collaborate with library Library Administration on issues of shared concern, including attending bi-weekly Library Leadership Meetings.
  • Participate in the TRU Chairs Group to represent our department.
  • Organized faculty BBQs in fall 2022 and 2023 to foster collegiality and community.

Workload Committee Leadership

Since May 2022, I have chaired the Workload Committee, which involves leading the committee that prepares the departments’ annual workload document that formally assigns faculty work and requests new faculty positions. Each year I solicit feedback from faculty, lead Department-wide brainstorming sessions to plan for new positions, present the final draft to the department as a whole to gather additional input and foster transparency, and write the final version that is voted on by the committee. I have also presented our workload to CUPE Staff in order to better foster trust and transparency.

Since well before I took this role on it has also involved addressing frequent changes and fluctuating demands that come up throughout the year and I have worked to resolve complex staffing issues related to faculty secondments, sabbaticals, leaves, and job changes, ensuring continuity of service and equitable workload distribution. Recognizing these challenges, I led the development of a new format for workload, which has improved our ability to plan and forecast needs for the department’s future.

Proposing a Liaison Teams Structure for Instruction and Consultation Support

A significant achievement during this time was proposing a new “Teams Approach” for assigning liaison responsibilities. This change was driven by the need to address persistent challenges related to workload distribution, coverage during leaves or sabbaticals, and the growing complexity of functional roles within the library. The new model allows for a more flexible and collaborative structure, ensuring balanced workload and increased consistency for users. It also provides a built-in structure for mentorship and collaboration, which is especially valuable for new or contract librarians.

This new model received unanimous department approval and is being implemented by my colleagues who lead instruction and liaison support.

Development of Cross-Functional Teams

Seeing the success of the Liaison Teams model, I have proposed and encouraged the development of other cross-functional teams in different areas in the Department.

  • The Public and Access Services Team was formed to enhance coordination of front-line services in 2023 and continues today.
  • A Research Support Team started forming shortly after that, led by myself. The team’s focus is improving support for research and scholarly communication, and includes aligning our services with the evolving research landscape at TRU, particularly in response to the growth of tripartite faculty. We have also explored opportunities for collaborative research projects and redesigning key academic spaces, such as the Learning Commons.
  • In the spring of 2024 two additional teams started coming together: a Technical Services Team and a Communications and Outreach Team (which I am also part of, and helped initiate).

Functional Area CUPE Oversight Working Group

In response to what I saw as a gap in support for librarians who have significant responsibilities overseeing the world of technicians, I founded a mentorship group in Fall 2022 to support faculty librarians seeking to develop team leadership skills. This group created a space for discussing best practices in team leadership, task delegation, and communication strategies. As part of this initiative, I have emphasized the importance of improving staff morale and fostering a collaborative environment. This group has now been paused due to competiting demands, though I hope the work of the group can be integrated into the department’s processes through discussions at Department Meetings.

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