ZimLA fb 1000th Mark!!!!

Yes we did it!!! Yes we can still surpass and achieve more After 3+ years we recently hit the 1000th membership mark. Established in early 2010 with me as founder administrator alongside the ZimLA revival team #HarrietNcube #HoseaTokwe #LanternFusire #EllaMoyo #EdwinMadziwo #KennethMangemba #ArielMuvhunzwi,this group has confounded all critics. Membership cuts across all imaginable divides such as age, sex, religion, qualifications, affiliations, students, employed, unemployed, culture, regional, diaspora, award winning librarians,straight-jacketed librarians, library assistants, techno savvy librarians,, academic librarians, government librarians, documentalists,infoprenuers, information officers, knowledge managers, records managers, archival world, semi retired, retired, backbenchers, aggressive, proactive, talkative, selfish, dumb, the rich, the poor, the usual unwelcome hackers, electronics, herbal sales gurus. In short a POTPOURRI!!! The group has been and largely remains unmoderated, a sure sign of maturity. But on occasion some admin intervention has been evoked. The posts, debates, comments, likes, shares have been INSPIRING:SURPRISING:EMPOWERING. Who can forget the hard hitting and controversial debate on the state of the national archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ), fronted by the veteran #RogerStringer and the equally proactive #TonderaiChanakira #WilsonYule #JawetChiguvare #FanuelChirombo our American correspondent #WilliamTekede #GodfreyTsvuura #TeeMalapela et..al Other posts included #NeversaySithole with his daily scoops, the unpredictable and maverick #LazarusSauti, intellectually hilarious jaw breaking geeks from #CollenceChisita, #DridenKunaka with his ZSLT advocacy, #KennethMangemba and his US corners/FFT afashaira nenyika, #RathefortChitune the cocky rookie. educational opportunities from our international colleagues #PeterSharpe, the hilarious image #WhichBookDoYouWantToday #facebook, SOS such as #AlfredGumbwa #NziramasangaCommission. Others even used it for their assignments (little signs of research laziness kkkkk) Numerous employment, internship, volunteering, temporary, consultancy,exchange programs, conferences, research opportunities came by in their numbers from colleagues such as #TonderaiChanakira SA based #GoergeSithole #EdwinMadziwo #HarareCityLibrary. many colleagues benefited from the above such as #LindiweMpindiwa (India), #TanakaChirenje (IFLA Singapore) #HopeMudarikwa #ArielMuvhunzwi (LIASA Durban. share your experiences mates.... In short our CORE value of promoting #NETWORKING #COLLABORATIONS #SYNERGIES is about realized. excellent examples include #LIASA, #IFLAAfricaSection, #IASL (#JerryMathema) #ChatLiteracy + many other initiatives. Interestingly other special focused groups came into existence such as #InformationAndKnowledgeManagementProfessionals(Zimbabwe), #InformationPractitionersInZimbabwe, #ProgressiveAfricanLibraryandInformationActivists(PALIAct -Zimbabwe), #NUST_LIS, #ZEIPNET (#GilchristeNdongwe #RonaldMunatsi). the result increased networking opportunities, #DIVERSITY at its best. Parting Shot to my colleagues in #ZimLANEC FACT: we have dismally failed to turn this 1000+ librarians into #Paid-up membership. Our current membership retention is not pleasing. FACT: we have serious challenges trying to advocate and articulate to members the mantra "What can i do for ZimLA and my country", simply my positive contribution and participation in ZimLA activities towards national development, rather than the obvious "What do i benefit" syndrome. Lets be #PATRIOTIC for once FACT: Non-recognition of those who have tirelessly and unselfishly contributed to the growth of Zimbabwean librarianship. No to individualistic tendencies, No to appropriating the profession TURN AROUND STRATEGY You and I urgently need to embrace "Agile management" (Wells 2013), for ZimLA's fortunes to change. Fact we need to be "adaptive", "flexible", and "responsive" to member needs with speed. 5 ways(Bikinshaw 2014) for ZimLA to become more agile and strengthened to meet our challenging socio-economic conditions 1. Use peripheral vision: actively monitor trends and innovations 2. Encourage dissent: encourage debate and be prepared to have assumptions and beliefs challenged; No to complacency 3. Experiment: try out new activities, even if its risky 4. Simplify & Flatten: pushing decision-making to the front line to enable responsiveness as opportunities arise 5. Act quickly: when opportunities arise Thank you for being a member of this vibrant community and this might be the appropriate opportunity for YOU to re-assess your contributions to ZimLA's turn around fortunes. We have been in existence for the past 66 years AWAKE people. Out: #ProudToBeALIBRARIAN Views expressed above are my own and not necessary of ZimLA NEC