PVLD Director's Blog

""Netflix"-style library fees

Some of the staff members at PVLD have been tossing around the idea of a Netflix-style book delivery service for some time, but have found it is more complicated than it seems both in terms of the back-end software, the staffing required, and the logistics of a large-scale mailing operation.

This article about the Hayward Public Library tells of a somewhat different approach - adopting the Netflix pre-payment financial model, but not the mail delivery service.  Essentially the Hayward Library plans to offer people the option of paying a flat monthly fee for the ability to have a fixed number of items checked out at one time for as long as they want to keep them without further overdue fees.  The Hayward Library Director indicates that they think this service will significantly increase their fee revenue while offering a convenience to customers.

Interesting!

I think Hayward uses the same back-end Integrated Library System that we do, so if they can make it work we could too.

If we offered an option like this would you use it?

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.

21st Century Literacies

Thank you to Helene Blower of LibraryBytes for pointing me to this thought-provoking video of social media educator Howard Rheingold talking about 21st century literacies.  My past couple of blog posts talked about the challengethat people who don't have basic computer skills face in navigating our increasingly digital world.  Mr. Rheingold talks about how the challenge goes beyond skills to literacies, which he defines as the coupling of skills with using them in a meaningful way within a community.    

The video iteself is about 45 minutes long,  but for those who are interested in this subject it is a worthwhile investment of time.  In the library realm we have tended to focus on what we call "information literacy", and what Mr. Rheingold calls critical consumption or "crap detection", as the key 21st century literacy. This is certainly important, but I was intrigued by the other literacies identified in the video - 

• Attention - in a world of multitasking and myriad distractions, how do we make judgements about what to pay attention to?
• Participation - how do we use technology and social media to participate in the wider community
• Cooperation - how do we use technology and social media to engage others?
• Network awareness - how do we identify/build/participate in networks and recognize how our social media actions are transmitted via networks?

With regard to the "attention" literacy I was particularly struck by Mr. Rheingold's comment that the world of social media is "not a queue, it's a flow" - that unlike the world of email and other "point to point" messages which can be processed serially and need to be managed, the world of social media demands that we accept that we will not view or receive every message, and that we need to learn how to "sample" and perform a form of triage so that we get a feel for what is happening and respond to the important stuff without getting bogged down.  This is definitely an area where I am only semi-literate!

Mr. Rheingold questions whether the traditional educational environment is, or even can be, the place for developing these literacies...which of course made me wonder whether/if libraries could play a role.  Given that we struggle to be recognized even as a resource for the information literacy/critical consumption literacy that we see as core to our mission and have not yet come to grips with how to effectively help people build even basic computer skillsand comfort levels  I'm not sure how - but its something I want to spend some time thinking about.  It seems to me that starting with encouraging/helping our staff to gain these literacies is a starting point, though.

Anyway - here's the video (if it doesn't display click here for a link)

(and if you want to dive a little deeper into how to become an effective "crap detector" I recommend this article)

 

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!

Web 2.0 and Social Media - Not Just a Fad!

Are "social media" like Twitter and Facebook a fad, or has the Internet ushered in a social and cultural revolution to rival the industrial revolution? 

Thank you to Stephen Abram for sharing this YouTube video that attempts to answer this question using data (with citations!)..watching with the sound off is recommended!

The video demonstrates how the Internet has grown much faster than media like radio and TV did.  What it doesn't address is how, unlike using a basic radio or television where the only skills required were turning on switches and changing channels or adjusting volume, the Internet requires a raft of skills from basic literacy to data entry to establishing and maintaing passwords to screen-based navigation.

I've been thinking about this alot as PVLD is experiencing first hand the challenges some (mostly older) customers have navigating the process of setting up their user accounts in our new SOPAC online catalog.  Our Digital Services Manager, David Campbell, is providing a lot of one on one coaching through this process and as he does he is hearing that these people also have a lot of difficulty with online activities like buying books from Amazon, or booking travel online.  In his experience they need more than classes or written instructions, they need someone to hold their hand and guide them as they use these new tools.

It seems to me that this is both a challenge and an opportunity for libraries.  On the one hand, we need to keep developing services and products that engage those who are comfortable in the online world of the "social web", and at the same time we need to support those who are not. 

I jokingly told David this afternoon that in his individualized support for people struggling with the new system he is the equivalent of an old-fashioned travel agent.  Thinking about it further, it strikes me that this is not just a funny comment, but a service model that we need to explore further....

Twitter and the transformation of communication

This TED video of Clay Shirky talking about "How Social Media Can Make History" has been floating around the blogosphere for little while now.  I just had a chance to watch it, and found it to be one of the most succinct and compelling descriptions yet of how the Internet is transforming not only traditional media but how people communicate and how organizations and institutions need to respond. 

The entire video provides food for thought, but I was particulaly taken by his description of a new world of what he calls media, and I would call information, that is produced locally (i.e. everywhere), by amateurs, extremely quickly (essentially in real time) and in abundance...and where it's distribution is not one to one, or even one to many, but many to many in a rich network of messages and conversations. 

Mr. Shirky's talk is in large part about how this change in the very nature of information and communication is making old models of institutional control of individuals irrelevent and driving new models of organization based on convening and supporting groups and conversations. He uses China's attemtps to control access to the Internet use as an example of the former (particularly relevent given news in the last day or so that China has suspended access to Twitter and Facebook to prevent the dissemination of information about ethnic riots in Xinjiang province) and Barack Obama's presidential campaign as an example of the latter.

He doesn't mention librarians or libraries at all, but I couldn't help thinking about what all of this means for a profession and institutions that originated to collect, organize, and disseminate information/media in a world that was the inverse of that being created by the Internet - i.e. where information/media were produced centrally, by "professionals", disseminated slowly, transmitted "one way" to a person or group, and scarce/expensive.  This model is at the very heart of the professional library disciplines of cataloging, collection development, and reference and I have to wonder how they will change in this new world.

My own view (as previously stated on this blog!) is that the role of the librarian will need to move from collecting, organizing (controlling?), and disseminating information to  fostering connections between people and to a large extent letting the information take care of itself.  We're already seeing this role emerge in the growing importance of library "programming" (speakers, events, and activities) programs in general, and at least here at PVLD we are particularly seeing an interest people in ongoing clubs (like PVLD's book groups, story times, history discussion group, chess clubs, etc.) and "series" type programs such as the concerts organized by librarian Ashely Burdick or the Cine-Monde movie series - which provide not only entertainment and learning opportunities, but foster intreaction. conversation, and relationships. Interestingly in our case these ongoing programs are increasingly supported and even led by volunteers and to an extent self-organizing.

I can see a future in which less an less of a librarian's time is spent on the traditional activities of collection management (which increasingly can increasingly be automated based on actual usage data and techniques such as standing orders) and reference (which becomes less important in a world where information and the tools to find it are ubiquitous and people feel capable of finding what they need on their own) and more time is spent as Mr. Shirky puts is "Creating an environment for convening and supporting groups".

And since the video doesn't always display correctly - here's the link! http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html

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).... 

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!

The "Sixth Sense" - the future of information

PVLD volunteer extraordinaire Gene Roeder forwarded me this video from Ted.com.  It's a stunning example of how the way people interact with information may be transformed in the not-too-distant future, and has profound implications for libraries. 

Watch the video, and then imagine a world where people go to the shelves, pick up a book, and immediately see how closely it matches their personal likes and dislikes.  Or where there is no such thing as a "computer" that sits on a table because everyone is wearing all the computer capacity they need.  Or where no library cards are needed because people's account information is automatically transmitted to our systems when they approach the Circ desk.  Or where micro-GPS information enables people to select an item from our catalog by typing it into the catalog screen projected on their hand, and then be guided to exactly where that item is located on the shelf.

 

Amazing!  Now let your imagine run free and think about what libraries will need to do to serve people in the world of the "sixth sense"!

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?