Hi, Miss Julie

The beginning of any good staff in-service should include a way of breaking up departmental cliques, much like the way the “Dance at the Gym” from West Side Story begins with the MC trying to integrate the Sharks and the Jets, with about just as much success. These vain attempts at integration also remind me of another classic musical number, The Farmer and the Cowman Should be Friends. You could insert any two library departments and have a pretty apt parallel.

Are there any managers out there reading this who can explain to me the once a year integration phenomenon? Why isn’t interdepartmental cooperation and communication a constant goal? Or is it?