My concern is libraries
A local, national and global view
Welcome!
Jan Richards Consulting offers practical, tailored solutions to assist libraries in realising their potential. I believe in conversations and I recognise that every library and every project is different. I will work with you to get the best outcome for your community.
With an in-depth knowledge across the sector and strong professional networks, I specialise in being honest, realistic and getting the job done.
Yes, everybody loves libraries! But if we are to remain relevant, we need to be agile, adaptive, accountable and collaborative.
Jan Richards
Engage
Let’s engage with your internal and external stakeholders to undertake library reviews, develop strategic and marketing plans, evaluate organisational structures and staffing, develop policy and procedures, contemplate new initiatives and conduct community consultations and surveys.
Enhance
Together we can enhance your service offer: explore opportunities for partnerships and collaboration; creation of communication and advocacy strategies including branding and collateral; tweaking what you’re already doing to maximise the impact. Sometimes you have the skills but you just don’t have the time – researching an issue, writing a report, developing a policy. Here and happy to assist.
Enable
Increasing the capacity and capability of your team through their involvement in any project is key to the JRC philosophy. Building skills and confidence enables them to undertake similar projects in the future – doing myself out of a job I know! Follow up is included in all consultancies and mentoring and coaching is an option.
Criss Crossing the Country
During November I covered the length (if not the breadth) of Australia delivering IFLA’s Measurement, Evaluating and Demonstrating Impact of Library Services training. It was a delight to spend time discussing how we can better tell our story, and the resources we need to ensure that it is effective. Together we were able to highlight…
Reading is Magic
And it’s a wrap on another Children’s Book Week. My social media feeds won’t be half as colourful without the creative interpretations of book titles by colleagues, family and friends. I have loved the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s special week for as long as I can remember – certainly back to primary school at…
Your Opinion Matters
I seem to have spent a significant proportion of my life over the past few weeks working through survey results. Not that I’m complaining, I really do enjoy the whole process from the design through to the evaluation. Must admit nothing quite beats the first couple of ‘pings’ which indicates that someone has responded, I…
Testimonials
‘Just wanted to let you know that this was the most important, useful and practical PD! Will definitely be going back to school on Monday to start those conversations.’‘Thank you Jan, your depth of experience and expertise was great to see’. Teams: the hard conversations Presented for ALIA Schools as an online workshop in MarchContinue reading “ALIA Schools PD participant”
‘The content reminded me of the importance of considering the implications of healthy membership statistics and the strategies to achieve them’. ‘Jan’s way of looking at membership campaigns. It was inspiring’ Members: engaging, retaining and growingA workshop series for the NSW Public Libraries Association presented during April and May 2021 with 150 participants from 57Continue reading “NSW Public Libraries Association – Membership Campaign”
‘Brilliant! Quick, complete and accurate! You are a perfect professional librarian’. I love working with my friends in Iran. I had the thrill of being able to visit them in 2019 but I’ve also done a number of video presentations for their conferences. The Iranian Library and Information Science Association (ILISA) together with the NationalContinue reading “Iranian Library and Information Science Association (ILISA) and the National Library (NLAI)”
The authors are deeply grateful to Mrs. Jan Richards, Chair of IFLA Division E, whose leadership, respect and inclusiveness constantly encourage and facilitate communications and collaborations among the Sections. I was humbled to be acknowledged by my colleagues Luisa Marquardt (Italy) and Raj Kumar Bhardwaj (India) in their publication Ranganathan’s Legacy and Implications of TheContinue reading “IFLA Division E”
Love your work! Like all ghostwriters protecting the identity of those you’re writing for is important. This quote is from a busy colleague who values a concise, well written Annual Report, and recognises that outsourcing can be a more effective solution. Enter Jan Richards Consulting. I love writing and telling stories. Bringing the richness ofContinue reading “K.M.”
Jan Richards Consulting 