PVLD Director's Blog

Congratulations to our new State Librarian Stacey Aldrich!

I just heard that my friend and colleague Stacey Aldrich has been appointed the new State Librarian of California.  Stacey has been in the acting State Librarian since her predecessor, Susan Hildreth, left to become the Director of the Seattle Public Library last spring.  I'm thrilled!

Stacey, at the relatively young age of 39, has nearly 20 years of library experience as well as training and experience as a professional Futurist. 

I've had the pleasure of getting to know Stacey as a fellow mentor on the Eureka Leadership program and through working together on several taskforces.  She is energetic, smart, politically astute, and a lot of fun.

Her passion for exploring the further horizons of the future and trying to understand what it means for libraries, her commitment to nurturing the next generation of library leaders, and her commitment to finding ways to unite libraries across this large and diverse state are just what California needs right now and I am looking forward to working with her as she takes on this challenging task.

Congratulations Stacey!

Germany's Open Air Library - A model for the future?

Made out of beer cans, open 24 hours, integrated with a reading cafe and open air stage, no library card required, books taken and returned on the honor system...this article from Fast Company describes the new library in Magdeburg, Germany.  A somewhat more detailed description can be found in this article.

Community generated and operated, it offers a low-cost model of what many of us believe the 21st century library is about - open access, a focus on books and reading, community engagement, and a gathering space.

Reading between the lines it also seems to be missing many of the things we librarians hold dear -professional collection development, a catalog, a website, reference services, library cards and circulation systems...

It is also not clear what, if any, involvement there has been by professional librarians. 

It's a fascinating model of what a community library could be...exciting and energizing, but also a bit scary!

I'd love to know what you think.

More on bridging the digital divide

My two last blog posts about our increasingly digital world, and the challenge of serving both "digital natives" and people who may have limited ability and/or interest in carrying out their affairs digitally seems to have struck a chord judging by the thoughtful comments on the blog, the emails from colleagues both within and outside PVLD, and the verbal comments I have received.

I got a long and thoughtful email from Genesis Hansen of the Newport Beach Public Library (which in many ways is the California library most like PVLD) outlining the ways they have tried to meet the challenge of serving their less computer-savvy customers, including re-introducing "snail mail" notifications when they abandoned their telephone notification system.

Genesis concludes her email with the following -

"...Which brings me back to the idea that for many of our customers, it might be better to offer a service that is geared towards “let me help you accomplish a specific task” rather than “let me teach you how to do it yourself.” There’s a significant portion of our user base for whom the second option is just not a realistic goal. And I think you are right that this type of help or training doesn’t require an MLS – I don’t think that’s the best use of our resources. Our local senior center has a computer club, and I’m thinking of ways that we can connect them with some of our customers who need a lot of hand-holding – I think it’s actually really possible that we could make this work on a volunteer basis, where we provide the facilities and schedule the appointments, but the actual training is done by tech-savvy volunteers. It’s one possibility, anyway…

And on a lighter note, my 89-year-old grandfather is on Facebook – he hasn’t really taken to it the way he took to email, but I love his attitude and willingness to try new things. He plays around on his computer and gets himself stuck sometimes, but it doesn’t stop him from trying to learn. He and his golf buddies go online to set up their tee-times, send each other dirty jokes and track their stock portfolios. He’s found a way to use the computer and internet to enhance his life and make it easier to accomplish some things he’d be doing anyway, and I think that’s so cool!"

Over the weekend I also saw a couple of newspaper articles that made it clear that libraries are not the only organizations struggling with how to take advantage of the efficiencies and benefits of the digital era offers without alienating customers who are not comfortable in this new world.

Sunday's New York Times had this article about T-Mobile's aborted attempt to charge customers more to receive paper rather than online bills; while Monday's LA Times ran this story about a move by some grocery stores to stop accepting paper checks.  Both highlight the difficulties inherent in asking people to put their faith in digital processes.

Plenty of food for thought, although I keep coming back to the Sacramento Bee article about the 98-year old Facebook user and to Genesis' description of how her grandfather uses Facebook.  My own grandmother has been dead for nearly 10 years, but a few months before she died at age 80 she got her first computer and learned to use email.  She was delighted by this new way of keeping in touch with people, and I know she would have loved Facebook.

I also think about how digital technology has enriched my relationships.  Whether its getting glimpses into the lives of my nieces and nephew via their Facebook pages, hearing from Friends about what is new in their lives via Twitter, or playing games online with my sister in Canada I am connected to far-flung family and friends in ways that feel more like living near them than the letters bearing old news or phone calls that were limited by time zone differences and cost of my years in Canada and Australia.

I wonder if part of the solution to encouraging those who are reluctant to enter the digital realm is to help them discover these "soft" benefits.  it won't work for all, and I keep coming back to the idea that one-on-one coaching would be most effective, but it seems to me that being able to play games with distant grandkids, or as one of my friends does, play online bridge with far-flung siblings while videoconferencing on Skype (which she describes as being just like sitting around a table together) would be a real draw.

Keep those comments coming!

Who says librarians don't rock!

Thanks to my Facebook friends Paula and Eileen for sharing this!  Very appropriate for me to see it on a day when a birthday is looming.  Also, sometimes working in a library sure feels like being in a roller derby and this is turning out to be one of those weeks!

Reason for hope

I'm taking a couple of days off and turning the Memorial Day holiday into a five-day weekend, with a goal of getting some stuff done around the house, and also tuning out work and recharging my batteries.  My preoccupation with the budget challenges faced by PVLD has not left me with much time or energy to write posts that are really thought-provoking, and I'm hoping this will change when I get back next week.

Despite all of the budget issues, I'm heading off with a sense of optimism...not because the financial picture is improving but because of how the staff here at PVLD are responding.  Everyone is understandably anxious about how the budget cuts will affect them personally, and everyone is aware that there is likely to be some pain, but despite that they remain focused on providing outstanding service to our community.

The number and quality of special programs and events at all of our libraries continues to grow, the Librarians have planned outstanding Summer Reading activities for all ages, the staff who support the Passport Service are handling a big jump in volume in addition to their normal duties, the Circulation staff have re-engineered their  work processes so that they have cut the time it takes to get a book back on the shelf after check-in in half, the Facilities staff has brought in-house virtually all of the maintenance activities we used to contract out and dealt with all of the extra work associated with the many new programs and events...I could go on and on.

Today we had a meeting to brainstorm about our upcoming TEDxPVLD event and 15 enthusiastic people came to share ideas and help make this event happen...and that doesn't count the people who are eager to help but couldn't make today's meeting.  These are staff members who are already stretched thin with their daily workloads but are volunteering to take the time to participate.

I've also been encouraged by the suggestions from employees about how we can cut costs and increase revenue.  People have been willing to put forward ideas that mean more work or even less pay...and I am very aware how hard they are already working and how challenging it is to live in our area on our less-than-lavish salaries.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it...they are a truly amazing group!  That's why my stomach is in knots at the thought of the inevitable hardship that this budget crisis will impose, and why I will do everything in my power to make laying off employees a truly last resort.  But it's also why I am confident that with everyone pulling together we will make it through this crisis.

To the PVLD staff - you are incredible.  You are making it possible for me to take these few days off with a sense of hope rather than panic....thank you!

Involving Library Users

One of the things that we seem to find difficult at PVLD (and I suspect in many other libraries and types of organizations) is finding meaningful ways to get input from our library users and our communities not just when we have a big project like remodeling or expanding a library but in our day-to-day development of services. I think in part it is because as professionals librarians feel that they should be able to design services and programs "without help", and perhaps in part because we are a bit afraid of what we might learn.

That's why I found this video of the user engagement processes used by the Arhaus Library in Denmark (one of a number of videos about the amazing Arhaus library and their focus on the design of the user experience- check out this one about teen engagement, too.  Thanks Helene Blowers of LibraryBytes for passing it along. 

I like the structured use of various tools to get input as opposed to ad hoc input the way we tend to do it al PVLD.  Now I'm thinking about ways to use some of these techniques in support of our new Strategic Plan (to be adopted by our Board of Trustees this week).... 

Hope for the future of libraries

This past Wednesday I had the privelege of attending the one year reunion meeting of the Southern California area Eureka Fellows.  The Eureka Leadership program is sponsored by the California State Library as a means of developing future library leaders. Eureka Fellows are selected through  competitive applications process for a year-long leadership development process that starts with a 5-day intensive leadership institute followed by completion of a major grant-funded project over the course of the next year with opportunities for mentoring and follow-up coaching along the way.  I had the privilege of serving as a mentor for the first cohort of Eureka fellows a year ago, and Wednesday's event was the culmination of their journey.  PVLD was also fortunate to have two staff members - Branch Manager Jennifer Addington and Circulation Manager Eve Wittenmyer - selected as Eureka Fellows.

On Wednesday  the participants gave presentations on their projects to their Library Directors and the Eureka facilitators.  I was blown away by both the quality of the work they have done and the marked development in their confidence as leaders.  I knew last year that this was a special bunch of people, and seeing them at the end of the Eureka process reinforced just how special they all are.  The future of libraries is in very good hands!

Apart from the pride I felt watching the presentations, every single one of them gave me a new idea or inspiration.  All of these presentations should be up soon on the Eureka blog soon, but here are some highlights -

• Irma Morales of the Orange Public Library reported on her project to capture the history of the barrio where her branch library is located.  As part of the project she hosted a day-long event where community members were encouraged to share photos for addition to the local history collection, learn about little-known parts of the community's history such as the role it played in desegration of Mexican-Americans, and share their experiences.  What a great way to involve the community in developin local history resources!
• Thea Blair of the Mission Viejo Public Library talked about her project to install a low-vision reader and adaptive workstation for the visually impaired to meet the needs of her aging community.  I had never thought of reaching out to the Lion's Club as a partner to help us serve the visually impaired, but when Thea reminded us of their interest in vision issues it made perfect sense....
• Robin Isaacson of the San Diego County Public Library named her project "Words Gone Wild" and talked about how she is using a new online catalog interface to as she put it "free cataloging information from the constraints of the MARC record" and allow people to search the catalog in ways that make sense to them.  It was a great articulation of why the whole concept of "social cataloging" is important.
• Our own Eve and Jennifer reported on their "Culture Quake" project to transform PVLD's customer service.  For me the eye-opener was how much they've accomplished without me even really knowing what they were up to!  I'm looking forward to seeing the customer service wiki that they have in development.
• Cheryl Eberly of Santa Ana Public Library gave a moving and inspirational talk about her "Circle of Mentoring" project that connects at-risk youth with adult mentors, and also gives the youth the opportunity to mentor younger kids.
• Amanda Schukle of San Diego County Public Library described her project to give librarians data and tools so they can create Customer-Driven Collections.  Amanda has a way with words and I loved her "Dump the Junk" weeding report and "Bang for Your Buck" collection turnover report.
• Patricia Rivera of Buena Park Library District went first and gave an amazing presentation of how her "Library Lures Latinos".  She has done a great job of engaging staff in reaching out to the Latino people who make up a significant part of Buena Park's population.  She had lots of quantitative data to demonstrate the resulting increased library usage by Latinos, but to me the biggest indicator of success was the story she told of a staff member who used to get frustrated about the hesitancy of Latino patrons to speak to staff, until she herself went to the "Spanish for Non-Spanish Speakers" training for library staff and realized how difficult it is to use a language not your own.
• Cara Vera of Rancho Cucamonga described her library's participation the the City of Rancho Cucamonga's "Healthy RC" initiative.  It was a terrific example of the library adapting its existing resources to position itself squarely at the heart of something important to its community.  It also gave me an idea about our library taking the lead to develop a "Healthy PV" initiative.
• Christina Wainwright of San Diego Public Library's project was to use library programs to build long-term relationships with community members instead of "one night stands" where people enjoy a program, but then that's it until the next one they come to.  Her goal is to use library programs to create bonds both between attendees and with the library.  She described her successful "Monday Night Meetup" program where people give "speed book reviews" in "speed dating" format, and then those reviews spark conversations and connections.  She also described how she now evaluates each program in terms of both the level of interactivity between participants that it fosters and the degree to which is anchored to the library's core services, and aims for programs that offer both as these are the ones that foster long-term relationships.  Christina transformed how I am going to look at our PVLD programs in the future.
• Susan Broman of the Los Angeles County Public Library talked about her "Get Up From Behind the Desk" project to encourage and support local efforts to provide adult programming - no easy task in a massive, complex, and tradition-bound library system!  Susan has a talent for developing tools that help librarians do things better and more efficiently, and I have know via my husband, and LA County Community Library Manager, that she is having a major impact and helping transform the entire Adult Services culture at LACPL.  Her staff "What Are We Reading" blog also gave an idea for a similar blog that our staff could write for the community. 
• Polly Cipparone of San Diego County Public Library has developed a "The Future is Now" wiki for staff to share information about change initiatives in her library system.  I thought the idea of allowing employees to post questions and comments anonymously was an great non-threatening way to allow people to engage in the change process.
• Jeannie Kays of the Palm Desert Library (Riverside County Library System) has developed a staff training program that is a model for other libraries.  It has 6 core modules that are repeated every quarter so everyon has a chance to attend.  Training is done by staff volunteers and ranges from Beginning Reference for Non-Reference Staff to Frequently Asked Reference Questions to Using Microsoft Publisher to Create Flyers".  I think we may just steal her work!
• Genesis Hansen of Newport Beach reported on her project to use customer input to drive design of the new library website.  Apart from the very useful content of her presentation, which included examples of how staff perceptions of customer needs can be off base, Genesis had an amazingly crisp and succinct presentation...she also managed to make great progress on her project despite taking time off in the middle of it to have a baby!  I was also pleased that she shared information about her blog, Wrong Again which will now be part of my regular reading.
• Last but not least Andrea Taylor of the Fullerton Public Library presented her "One City One Source" initiative to reach out to city staff and educate them about library services.  She used meetings with each city department to tell them about the library and sign them up for library cards.  This is something we really need to do with our local cities...since we are independent of them they really don't know much about what we offer.

You can see why I was exhausted and exhilirated when I got home on Wednesday night... and why I didn't hesitate to say yes when asked to be a mentor again this year! 

 

Five questions for the future of libraries

I'm at a workshop listening to Interim State Librarian talk about trends that libraries need to think about as we design our services and Programs.

She started by proposing that we think about 5 questions, the answers to which could give us clues about how to evolve what we do.

The questions-

1. How do people know things?

2. How do people find and use information?

3. What is community?

4. What is learning?

5. What is leisur and entertainment?

And underlying all of these is the fact that all of these things are very different than they were when most of our services were developed.

The trends Stacey is currently presenting also provide lots of food for thought. I'm going to see if she'll share her presentation so I can post it!

Libraries on the front lines of the recession

  For all those who wonder if there is a role for libraries in the age of the Internet - here's more compelling evidence of why we matter.  Librarian Eva Gronowska of the Southfield Public Library outside of Detroit has written an amazing and moving description of how the recession has affected her work and her community in the April 6th issue of Newsweek. 

We are seeing the same trends even in a relatively affluent area like the Palos Verdes Peninsula - more job-seekers using our computers and other resources; books on personal finance, frugality, and related topics flying off the shelves of our "rainy day" display; and library use that grows each month.

On a Friday afternoon at the end of a very long week Ms. Gronowska's article was a heartwarming reminder of why we are here...and that at the heart of the myriad roles we play for our communities is the most important of all, "a bastion of hope".

The Darien Statement on the Library and Librarians

When I was in library school back in the mid-1980s a group of us (including our Dean) spent endless hours discussing and debating the essence of librarianship...you know, the kind of discussions you have in grad school when you are with a bunch of bright, committed people hanging out in places like student lounges and local bars.  I loved those discussions and the sense that we were talking about the very future of our profession...and the role that conversation and dialogue played in advancing ideas.

Today I got a little frisson of recognition when I came across posts on a number of library blogs talking about the just issued "Darien Statement on the Library and Librarians" - a manifesto of sorts that was written by John Blyberg of the Darien Public Library, Cindi Trainor of Eastern Kentucky University, and Kathryn Greenhill of Murdoch University in Western Australia in one of those frenzies of collaborative inspiration that can happen when like minds meet (in this case in person and then using an amazing array of virtual tools).

The manifesto itself is an astounding piece of work that reflects much of what has been bouncing around in my head for the past few years and addresses not just what libraries/librarians are but what we need to become...and just reading the posts on the process by Cindi and Kathryn about the process brought me back to those intense library school conversations.  John, Cindi, and Kathryn put the Statement out there to stimulate more of just those kinds of conversations, so here it is!

The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians
Written and endorsed by John Blyberg, Kathryn Greenhill, and Cindi Trainor

The Purpose of the Library

The purpose of the Library is to preserve the integrity of civilization.

The Library has a moral obligation to adhere to its purpose despite social, economic, environmental, or political influences. The purpose of the Library will never change.

The Library is infinite in its capacity to contain, connect and disseminate knowledge; librarians are human and ephemeral, therefore we must work together to ensure the Library’s permanence.

Individual libraries serve the mission of their parent institution or governing body, but the purpose of the Library overrides that mission when the two come into conflict.

Why we do things will not change, but how we do them will.

A clear understanding of the Library’s purpose, its role, and the role of librarians is essential to the preservation of the Library.

The Role of the Library

The Library:

• Provides the opportunity for personal enlightenment.
• Encourages the love of learning.
• Empowers people to fulfill their civic duty.
• Facilitates human connections.
• Preserves and provides materials.
• Expands capacity for creative expression.
• Inspires and perpetuates hope.

The Role of Librarians

Librarians:

• Are stewards of the Library.
• Connect people with accurate information.
• Assist people in the creation of their human and information networks.
• Select, organize and facilitate creation of content.
• Protect access to content and preserve freedom of information and expression.
• Anticipate, identify and meet the needs of the Library’s community.

The Preservation of the Library

Our methods need to rapidly change to address the profound impact of information technology on the nature of human connection and the transmission and consumption of knowledge.

If the Library is to fulfill its purpose in the future, librarians must commit to a culture of continuous operational change, accept risk and uncertainty as key properties of the profession, and uphold service to the user as our most valuable directive.

As librarians, we must:

• Promote openness, kindness, and transparency among libraries and users.
• Eliminate barriers to cooperation between the Library and any person, institution, or entity within or outside the Library.
• Choose wisely what to stop doing.
• Preserve and foster the connections between users and the Library.
• Harness distributed expertise to serve the needs of the local and global community.
• Help individuals to learn and to use new tools to create a more robust path to knowledge.
• Engage in activism on behalf of the Library if its integrity is externally threatened.
• Endorse procedures only if they guide librarians or users to excellence.
• Identify and implement the most humane and efficient methods, tools, standards and practices.
• Adopt technology that keeps data open and free, abandon technology that does not.
• Be willing and have the expertise to make frequent radical changes.
• Hire the best people and let them do their job; remove staff who cannot or will not.
• Trust each other and trust the users.

We have faith that the citizens of our communities will continue to fulfill their civic responsibility by preserving the Library.

Lets honor John, Cindi and Kathryn by keeping the conversation going...tell me what you think!  Have they captured what we are all about?  Is there something missing?  Something that makes you uncomfortable?  Something about the Statement you love?