PVLD Director's Blog

The future of reading - teen edition

In all of the discussion about e-books and the future of readng, one thing that is starting to emerge is that teens and young adults still want to read and own physical books.

We've seen this in our family as my high school and college-aged nieces and nephew put a trip to the library book sales high on their list of things to do when they visit from Canada, and invariably go home with bags so loaded with books that we run the risk of excess baggage charges. Younger family members also request books as gifts and welcome gift cards that they can use to purchase "real books". To my knowledge none of our family members under the age of 30 owns an e-reader, and those that have tablets don't seem to use them for reading.

At the library we recently explored using teen volunteers to help teach adults how to use e-readers, only to learn that most of the teens don't have or use an e-reader.

This recent article from publishers weekly highlights that while many teens do read digital content, in part because it satisfies their desire for instant gratification, they also want to own the paper version....it seems to be "and" rather than "or" with this age group. And while the article notes that in the recent holiday season Barnes and Noble sold five times as many e-books of Young Adult titles as print ones online, and Amazon also reports that sales of Young Adult e-books outstrip those for e-books overall, I have to wonder how much of that is because of the growing popularity of Young Adult fiction with adults who no longer could be described as young. Just witness the current popularity of The Hunger Games, which is being read by adults across the country, including many book clubs...or these observations from an article in the Los Angeles Times a couple of years ago.

If teens and Young Adults represent the future, then the future of reading may not be as different as some would have us believe!

Go Library! Visiting the libraries in the Los Angeles area

Ellen November, a PVLD volunteer and community activist, has begun a mission to visit and blog about libraries across Los Angeles County. She got the idea from Oleg Kagan, a Librarian at the County of Los Angeles Public Library's West Hollywood Library and husband of PVLD's own Ashley Kagan.

I'm looking forward to this virtual library tour! If you want to join along click here to view Ellen's Go Library blog..and share it with your friends.

Why are we (the library) here?

One of the things we have been talking about here at PVLD is what is the one overarching thing that we are trying to do as a library and how do we communicate that so that is the guiding force behind the actions and behavior of every employee and volunteer.

We don't necessarily mean a "vision statement" or a "mission statement" or a tagline...we already have one of each of those...but rather a simple articulation of why we are here.

The conversation is ongoing, but the more I think about the more I think that it is not about "access to information", or "reading" or "community center" or any of the other concepts that we in libraries often talk about.  What we are here to do is  make our community, and people's lives, better.

The wording may not be quite right, and the grammar could use some polishing, but at the end of the day if our community is not made better because of what the library does, and if the life of every person who comes through our doors or uses our services is not made better in some way small or large because of their interaction with us, we are not fulfilling our true mission.

For the community that means understanding its needs and problems, as well as its goals and aspirations, and finding ways to meet the needs, help solve the problems, or support the achievement the goals and aspirations through the resources, services, and programs that the library offers.

For individual people it means not only offering resources, services and programs to help them address their personal needs and problems or achieve their goals and aspirations but also doing what we can to make sure that every interaction with us enhances their lives.  That could be as simple as a smile and greeting to a lonely older adult or  or the speedy and polite resolution of an issue with their library account or the ability to find something enjoyable to read or a clean and comfortable place to study (or a clean restroom for that matter!)....or as complex as helping them research a medical issue or complete a homework assignment or learn a new skill or language.

The key is that whatever we do should pass the tests of making things better for our community and for every person we interact with.

At least that is what I think the real role of the library is....what about you?

Giving orders

Our Leadership Team  been talking a lot about teamwork lately, and particularly about the challenge we face as leaders in balancing our desire to engage team members in decision-making with our leadership role and responsibility for giving direction and making decisions, so this nugget from the Leadership Schpleadership blog via Cultural Offering really struck a chord when I came across it the other day...

Thought Food From The Master

Said the governor, “Is there any advice you can give me in the exercise of my office?”

“Yes. Learn how to give orders.”

“Why?”

“So that others can receive them without feeling inferior,” said the Master.