PVLD Director's Blog

Back To School

It's hard to believe that summer is nearly over and our local kids head back to school tomorrow.  We are bracing ourselves for an influx of students.  This cartoon from Shelf-Check sum up the challenges nicely!

Advice for a Monday Morning

I think I'll print this out and put it where I can see it every Monday.  From Nicholas Bate, one of my very favorite bloggers...

 

Changing technology

This has been a big week for me in terms of technology.  Last Friday morning I picked up my new Iphone 4 (love it!), and on Friday evening PVLD made the switch from Microsoft Outlook to a the corporate version of Gmail and Google Apps for our email and calendar systems.  Even for a wannabe geek like me that is a lot of technological change to absorb!

The Iphone upgrade was pretty easy - the new phone is faster, and has some cool features like a video camera and flash, but none of the basic functions or my apps changed.  It's been fun playing with the new features, and also fun showing my husband how to use all of the apps on my old Iphone, which he inherited. 

The switch to Gmail is another story.  I've been an Outlook user for nearly 20 years, and relied heavily on its Tasks functionality to organize my life and make sure everything on my plate got done, so the switch to a system with a very different model for handling tasks has been a challenge. In the end I decided to use a 3rd party application, Toodledo, to manage my task list.

I've also had to learn new ways to manage my inbox and calendars, and spent a fair amount of time cleaning up data after the migration.

After a week, however, I have to say that overall the combination of becoming a two-Iphone couple and the switch to Gmail has been a big step forward in terms of managing and integrating my work and personal lives:

• I love that Gmail is a web-based application, so it functions exactly the same whether I am using my work computer, my home computer, or some other computer with Internet access.  As much as I liked the desktop version of Outlook, the web version was really clunky.

• With the Gmail calendars Don and I can share access to a "family" calendar so we both can add and view events and activities that affect us both, and we can view this shared calendar either on its own or consolidated with other calendars we might use to get a comprehensive view of our schedules.  This means we can each keep a personal calendar with the details of our daily appointments and commitments, and at the same time view all of the activities on our shared calendar so we don't double-schedule ourselves.  Better yet we can easily manage our calendars from any computer with Internet access or from our Iphones.
• The "Toodledo" task  application allows me to manage my task list both on my computer and my Iphone.  With Outlook I could manage tasks on my computer, but not my Iphone.  I used to print out my Outlook task list nearly every day and carry it around with me and I had to remember to transfer my scribbled reminders from meetings and conversations into Outlook when I got back to my computer.  Now I can enter tasks from either my computer or phone, and the list is always up to date . I can also convert emails directly into tasks by forwarding them to Toodledo, and show the tasks on my Gmail calendar if I want. 
  
  Going to an entirely screen-based process for managing my tasks is taking a little getting used to, but it will be more efficient in the long-run and save some trees, too.
• Gmail has some very cool ways to manage, label, and filter emails.  I'm still learning how to use them, but I think they will make keeping my inbox to a reasonable size much easier.
• As if all of this weren't enough, today our Network Administrator figured out how to set up our PVLD voicemail system so new voicemails appear in our Gmail inboxes as new emails with "Wave" files attached. This means that not only will I be able to see at a glance when I have a new voicemail on my work phone whether I am in the office or not, I will also be able to listen to those voicemails right from the email instead of having to call into work.  Nice!

The advantages for PVLD are pretty big, too.  Employees who have a need to work from home from time to time will be able to easily access their emails, voicemails, and documents via the Internet.  We will avoid having to invest in new computer server capacity to house and store our emails, as they will be securely stored in Google's "cloud" with good archiving capabilities.  This also means our server room operations will be significantly streamlined, freeing our IT staff to work on expansion of our technology capabilities and to support our growing fleet of public computers.  Last but not least, our annual software license costs will be reduced by several thousand dollars.

There is a learning curve for sure, but both PVLD and took a step forward this week!

Apologies to all those who clicked on yesterday's link re unattended bags. That was actually a duplicate of something I posted several months ago and I have no idea why it suddenly reposted! I have removed it, so the link no longer works.

Print isn't dead yet

From SFGate.com via my friend Deborah Doyle's Facebook post  - Print is Not Dead - Libraries Booming

That's not news to us here at PVLD where our 09/10 door count and circulation matched 08/09's record levels per hour that the libraries were open, our Summer Reading program for kids and teens is on track to meet or exceed last year's record 3600 participants, and it is almost impossible to find a parking space in the afternoons....

Libraries as centers for entrepreneurship

As recent blog posts reflect, the subject of how libraries can support local businesses has been on my mind.  Today started with a meeting about our Zerunyan Center for Business, Entrepreneurship, and Community Development (located at the Peninsula Center Library) and as I write this a local group of Angel Investors is meeting in our Community Room to hear about new start-up businesses, and my day will end with a Chamber of Commerce meeting as part of my role as Chair-elect of the Chamber.

On a business-focused day like this it seemed like synchronicity when this article about a proposal by some entrepreneurs up in Santa Cruz to "... integrate libraries as the centerpiece of efforts to generate large numbers of low cost and small-scale entrepreneur businesses"  came across my blog reader.

Based on the headline I was excited to see what new ideas were being pursued up north, and it is always nice to see a maintstream media article about all of the ways libraries can support entrepreneurs.  As I read the article, however, I was dismayed that many of the things presented as new ways to support businesses are actually things many public libraries already do:

"Public libraries could provide open spaces, computers, wireless environments, print and electronic materials, access to the Internet, public hours, photocopiers, printers and places to sit and read and meet with others, they said. "Best of all, librarians are trained professionals who can connect people with the information they need to become entrepreneurs."

Open spaces? - check

Computers? - check

Wireless environments? - check

Access to print and electronic materials? - check

Public hours? - check

Photocopiers and printers? - check

Places to sit and read, and to meet with others? - check

Trained professional librarians who can connect people with entrepreneurial resources? - check

The comments from the entrepreneurs made me wonder if they really know what their local libraries are probably already doing, or whether they have a vision that extends beyond what was reported. 

In the end the article left me appreciative of the recognition that libraries can play an important role in local business development, but wishing both the entrepreneurs cited and the journalist had done a bit more homework...

Libraries and economic development

From my friend Paula Weiner, Director of the Torrance Public Library - an excellent article on why libraries are important from the The current issue of Governing Magazine -

Libraries Lose More Than Time.

Libraries as employment centers

Everyone who works in a public library knows that in these tough economic times we are seeing more and more people come to us looking for resources to aid their job search, and to use our computers to create resumes and fill out online job applications. 

This year, thanks to a Federal Library Services and Technology Act grant PVLD along with nearly every other public library in California is please to be able to offer free access to the Career Transitions online service for job-seekers via our website (available from any computer with Internet access whether in the library or not).

Against this background it was nice to see the important role libraries play highlighted in this week's Job Journal : 

Libraries Branching Out into Employment Centers

Libraries Branching Out into Employment Centers

With free Internet access, a wealth of printed information, and knowledgeable staffers, libraries are becoming valuable hubs for jobseekers. With the growing need, libraries are offering classes on resume writing and interview techniques, as well as online courses for entrepreneurs and civil-service exam prep. Some even offer free career counseling. In 2009, 20 million people reported using public libraries in their job searches, 6.9 million people used library computers for job-related training, and 3.7 million jobs were landed with the aid of library computers.

 Nice recognition for an important, but sometimes overlooked, service provided by your local library!

Selling vs serving

One of the projects that took up a fair amount of my time a few weeks ago was serving as a Rater for applications to this year's Eureka Leadership Institute.  This involved reviewing and rating about 60 applications for the 30 available slots.  Applicants had to submit a resume, several reference letters, provide answers to four qualitative questions about leadership, and describe a project that they plan to undertake as part of the Eureka process.

One of the qualitative questions was along the lines of "What are the most pressing issues facing your library and your community and how can the library address them?"  and I was stunned by the number of people who wrote only about the issues facing their library (budget pressures, short staffing, lack of awareness of library services, etc.) with no reference to the needs and issues of the community they serve and/or responded that the most important thing the library can do is make sure more people are aware of and use its services...i.e. "selling" the library or, as I have seen it put, "converting the heathen".   

I don't know whether it is an indictment of the state of library education or a reflection of a "hunkering down" mentality within libraries, but it was very disappointing that so few applicants seemed to grasp that the path to success isn't convincing people how wonderful libraries are, but rather in identifying and addressing real community needs.

My experience of the Eureka applications is still fresh, so this blog post from Dan Blank about using social networking to build communities (via David Lee King)  really struck a cord, especially this:

You don’t sell to a community. You support a community. You provide for a community. You connect a community. You mediate a community. You balance a community. You sacrifice for a community.

One of the important roles libraries can play (in both the physical and virtual worlds) is helping build communities...but as Dan Blank notes that is very different from selling something. 

Sure, we need to make sure people are aware of our services and most libraries, PVLD included, invest a significant amount of time and effort in marketing our services and programs.  I get worried, though, when as a profession we seem to confuse marketing with developing a deep understanding of the communities we serve and their needs and aspirations, and then connecting what we do to those needs.

The list!

I've had some requests for the list of books from last weekend's gathering, so here it is.  A few items may be in the wrong category...pretty much any book we talked about got written down, so it is an eclectic list!

Fiction
Allen, Sarah Garden Spells
Amirrezvani, Anita Blood of Flowers
Bail, Murray Eucalyptus
Barbery, Muriel The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Barrows, Annie and Mary Ann Shaffer The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel
Pie Society
Bender, Aimee The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Blake, Sarah The Postmistress
Boyle, T. C. The Woman (about Frank Lloyd Wright’s women)
Bradbury, Ray Something Wicked This Way Comes
Bradley, Alan Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed that Stings,
The Hangman's Bag
Byatt,A.S. Possession (read past p. 100)
Cashore, Kristin Graceling (young adult)
Collins, Suzanne The Hunger Games (young adult)
Courtenay, Bruce The Power of One
De Rosnay, Tatiana Sarah’s Key
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee Sister of My Heart
Drayson, Nicholas A Guide to the Birds of East Africa (a novel)
Ghosh, Amitav Hungry Tide
Gopnik, Adam Paris to the Moon
Greene, Graham The Honorary Consul
Gruen, Sarah Water for Elephants
Ford, Jamie Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Haddon, Mark The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night
Harrison, Jim The English Major
Horan, Nancy Loving Frank (Frank Lloyd Wright)
James, PD â€" mysteries
Jordan, Hillary Mudbound
Larsson, Steig The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo, The Girl Who Played with
Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Mankell, Henning mysteries
McCann, Colum Let the Great World Spin
Mones, Nicole The Last Chinese Chef
Petterson, Per Out Stealing Horses
Quinn, Spencer Thereby Hangs a Tale, Dog On It (mysteries)
Rendell, Ruth  Detective Wexford mysteries
Russo, Richard Bridge of Sighs and That Old Cape Magic
See, Lisa Snowflower and the Secret Fan, Shanghai Girls
Shreeve, Anita Change of Altitude
Simonson, Helen Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Smith, Jack God and Mr. Gomez
Stein, Garth The Art of Racing in the Rain
Straight, Susan A Million Nightengales
Strout, Eliabeth Olive Kitteridge
Tsukiyama, Gail The Street of 1,000 Blossoms, Samuri Gardens and Women of
the Silk
Verghese, Abraham Cutting for StoneWaldman,
Ayelet Red Hook Road
Zafron, Carlos Ruiz Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game
Zusak, Marcus The Book Thief

Nonfiction
Bard, Elizabeth Lunch in Paris: a love story with recipes
Carpenter, Novella Farm City: the education of an urban farmer
Child, Julia My Life in France
Cooper, Helene The House at Sugar Beach
Drinkwater, Carol The Olive Farm
Fadiman, Anne The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Forshaw, Barry The Man Who Left Too Soon: the biography of Steig Larsson
Gentile, Olivia Life List: a woman's quest for the world's most
amazing birds
Gill, Brendan Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright
Gruber, Michael Book of Air and Shadows
Halperin, Mark and John Heileman Game Change (about the 2008 election)
Hirsi Ali, Ayaan Infidel, Nomad: From Islam to America
Kahn, Ava, Ellen Eisenberg and William Toll Jews of the Pacific Coast:
reinventing community on America's edge
Kidder, Tracy Mountains Beyond Mountains: the quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a
man who would cure the world
Krakauer, Jon Where Men Win Glory (about Pat Tillman), Into Thin Air
Lebovitz, David Sweet Life in Paris
Levy, JoAnn They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush
Mortenson, Greg Three Cups of Tea, Stones Into Schools
Obmascik, Mark The Big Year: a tale of man, nature and fowl obsession
Snetsinger, Phoebe Birding on Borrowed Time
Stewart, Rory The Places in Between
Struach, Barbara The Secret Life of the Grown Up Brain
Walls, Jeannette Glass Castle and Half Broken Horses
Zorbas, Elaine Fiddletown: From Gold Rush to Rediscovery