PVLD Director's Blog

Text messaging the library

I'm at the Internet Librarian conference for the first time.  It's an annual gathering of librarians and others interested in technology and its application in libraries and despite my initial hesitation that it might be too "techie" for me, I'm getting some great ideas.

The last session by Nancy Dowd, Director of Marketing for the New Jersey State Library was about how New Jersey libraries are using text messaging to reach out to different segments of the community.

At PVLD we've talked about using text messaging as another communications tool for hold notifications and other circulation/catalog driven messages, but we haven't really talked about it as a marketing tool.

The New Jersey libraries are using what Nancy called a "boutique" text messaging service called Gold Mobile  to enable them to send, receive, and manage very targeted text messages at a cost of about $50/month/library.  The service itself looked very simple to use, with a web-based tool that library staff can use to compose and send messages and build /manage databases of subscribers to different types of messages.

Some of the ways the New Jersey libraries are using the service include -

• Sending Spanish-language information about library services to Latino community members who were hesitant to approach "Anglo" staff members. 
• Providing program information and reminders to teens, who are notoriously high users of text messaging, and also were prone to forget about upcoming teen activities
• Acknowleding how difficult it is for parents to participate in normal-length adult programs by conducting 10-15 minute long mini-programs on topics of interest to parents and then asking them to sign up to receive more information about that topic (e.g. information snippets, links to websites or books in the catalog) by text message.
• Sending text reminders of upcoming programs to  anyone who signs up to receive them.  This  one particularly struck me because one of the strongest requests from the focus groups we recently conducted was for reminders of upcoming programs a day or two before they take place  and it seems that text messaging might help us achieve that.
• Sending text-message mini-surveys with just one simple question.
• Asking people to send a text message to the library's text message code for a chance to win a prize as a way of building the library's text message contact database.

Nancy also gave examples of some interesting ways that businesses are using text-messaging as a marketing tool.  For example, Pottery Barn partnered with Barnes and Noble to reach out to college students.  They placed posters with an image of a comfortable Pottery Barn chair suitable for dorm rooms or apartments in Barnes and Noble stores near large colleges and universities with the message "Text 78709 for a chance to win this chair".  What a great way to build a list of people who might be interested in your product.

Nancy made it clear that text-messaging is not a panacea.  You need to make people aware that if they don't have unlimited messaging on their cell phone plan the messages could cost them.  You also need to have a targeted and compelling reason for people to sign up, based on their real needs and wants.  She also noted that success does not come overnight.  The New Jersey libraries have used pilot projects and trial and error to find what works.  They also have learned that it takes time for people to "catch on" so you need to be patient.

Caveats notwithstanding I can see how this might be a useful tool for PVLD as we work to improve how we market our services.  What do you think?  Would you sign up?

Noisy libraries...or taking the bitter with the better

When my late mother-in-law (a congenital optimist who had a saying for everything) was confronted with something less than positive she would often say "Oh well, you gotta take the bitter with the better". I thought of that today as I drafted a letter in response to a customer complaint about noise levels at the Peninsula Center Library.

Located a couple of blocks from one high school, a block from the Peninsula's only mall, and on the public transit route for the other high school we have always been heavily used by students...but this year we are over-run!  They start flowing in about 3PM, and by about 4PM it often seems like there is not a vacant seat in the entire library.  Some of them go directly to a study carrel or computer workstation and buckly down to do their homework, but many are chatting with friends or working on group projects.  When you have that many people talking, even when they remember (as they often do not!) to talk quietly, our open plan library is filled with a dull roar.

It's a classic example of "taking the bitter with the better". 

The bitter is that it does get too noisy. While we will probably never be the center of..."quiet contemplation of good literature" that my concerned correspondent referred to in his letter, we are sometimes much noisier than even a 21st century public library/community center should be.  This interferes with the ability of other people to enjoy the library, places an extra burden on our security guard, and means that the staff have to play a policing role far more often than they would like.  We are working hard to manage the situation with extra vigilance by the guard and staff, encouraging the teens to visit the Annex if they want to chat and socialize, and experimenting with different furniture configurations to try to create quieter zones within the library. Time will tell how successful these efforts will be, although the early signs are encouraging.

The better is that these kids are in the library.  They could be hanging out at the mall, going home to an empty house, or in some other much riskier environment.  Given all of the things that can happen when young people have too much unsupervised time on their hands, we're delighted to have so many of them choose to come to the library.  Yes, sometimes things get noisier that we would like and yes, sometimes we have to address specific behaviors that are not appropriate....but honestly, where would you rather have them go?

Teens and Reading

The past couple of Sundays the New York Times has had two very interesting articles about teen literature and reading. 

The first, I'm Y.A. and I'm OK from the July 20th edition of the Times, is about the "increasingly porous border" between the realms of "adult" and "young adult" literature.  This is an issue PVLD has been discussing particularly with regard to our Science Fiction collection, where most of the best new works are classified as YA even though they would be of great interest to adults.  We are planning to create a single merged Science Fiction collection to address that particular genre, but as the New York Times article points out the problem exists across genres. Wonderful literature of interest to all ages is being "hidden" in the YA section of libraries and bookstores where adult browsers are unlikely to find it.  Merging collections across the board isn't really the answer, as our YA collections are an integral part of the "teen space" that we have worked so hard to establish as means of attracting teens to the library and encouraging them to read.  Parts of the solution may be in special, temporary displays of YA materials where adults are likely to see them or in "staff picks" lists for adults that include YA titles....

The good news is that if YA literature is flourishing to the extent that publishers want to classify items as YA, then teens must be reading...so I thought this past Sunday's NY Times article on online vs traditional reading was all the more interesting as it featured a number of teens who do their primary reading online and probably rarely if ever pick up a YA novel.  The article does a good job of articulating some of the differences between online and traditional reading without taking sides in the ongoing debate abou how important traditional, paper-based reading skills really are.  I thought some of the teens' comments about why they read online were really perceptive, and the idea that online reading might offer real advantages to people with dyslexia and other learning disabilities was something I had never thought about. 

Interesting stuff!

Learning and the Google Generation

Today's TimesOnline has an interesting story by the mother of a 15 year old about how her son's approach to studying (earbuds in ears, moving between homework and Facebook...) differs from how she studied when she was that age.  The article is a personal take on what has been written about many times before - that "digital natives" interact with and process information differently than "digital immigrants", but its a nice summary of the concepts.

What I found more surprising than the article were the comments, most of which were quite reactionary in tone and content.  While I too wonder what kids are missing as they live more and more of their lives online and plugged in, it seems to me that we need to face reality and figure how we are going to serve, interact with, and someday employ a generation whose minds work quite differently from ours.  Saying that it shouldn't be so isn't really all that helpful!

Growing Up Online

BAck in January the PBS program Frontline aired this program on "Growing Up Online".  The entire episode and a lot of interesting supplemental material is available on the Frontline website.  It will take about an hour of your time to view all of the "chapters" - but I found it was an hour well spent in terms of the insights I gained into how today's teens, the first generation to grow up with the Internet as a fact of life, are using the technology.

The program doesn't shy away from the risks of being online, including a poignant segment on the tragic consequences of cyber-bullying, and I have to confess that even my Internet-embracing self was shocked by some of what the kids were doing online. And as a childless person I sure felt for the parents interviewed!  (At the same time the former adolescent in me was also moved by the way some of the kids interviewed were using the Internet to connect with, empower, and validate their deepest selves in ways that would be impossible in the physical world).

In the end I appreciated Danah Boyd's comment to the effect that these kids live in a society with fundamentally different properties than the one I grew up in, and this is not going to change.  Strategies like blocking access to the parts of that society that make us fearful are not at the end of the day going to keep kids safe.  As fast as we block access to something, an alternative will spring up. What we need to do is teach people how to live in this new society safely - just as we teach them to look before crossing the street or to wear a seatbelt.

Libraries are already playing a role in helping people understand how to be safe online, but it seems to me there is more that we could do....

Rocking at the Annex

A couple of weeks ago the teens at the Annex were participated in our first ever "Rock Band" competition organized by Annex staffer Kali Merina.  If the success of an event can be judged by the noise levels, this was a chart-topper (Apologies to our neighbors, especially the PV Board of Realtors who have the misfortune of being directly below the Annex.  Next time we'll do it after normal business hours!)

Looks like fun, doesn't it!

 

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Digital Generation Gap

The other day I was talking on the phone to my 16 year old niece in Canada, who was telling me about her new haircut.  I said "Sounds cute - email me a picture" to which she responded "Just look on my Facebook page"  Duh!

The conversation reminded me of a couple of articles that I came across a few weeks ago about parenting in this digital age.  The first, from the New York Times, talks about how text messaging is changing how parents and kids communicate.  The second, from the Washington Post, is about the perils and pitfalls of parents becoming "Facebook friends" with their kids.

Both articles make some interesting points about privacy.  I'd never though of cell phones and text messaging as enabling kids to have more privacy, but as the New York Times article points out its a lot harder for your parents to know what you are up to if you are accessing the Internet from your cell phone, or sending a text message to a friend rather than talking on the phone where your parent can hear at least one side of the conversation.

I also thought the Washington Post quote from Steve Jones, University of Illinois Professor and digital communications expert was interesting -

"What they want to keep most private is not something they wish to keep from strangers, it's the things they want to keep from people that know them," he said. "It's 'I don't care what someone who doesn't know me finds out. But I do care about what someone I know intimately [does].' "

On the one hand, a technology gives parents a much greater ability to stay in touch with their kids, but on the other hand that same technology allows kids to conduct a much greater portion of their lives in ways that are hidden from their parents.

Part of growing up is expanding the parts of your life that you want to keep private from your parents, so there is nothing new in that.  What is new I think is the extent to which technology is enabling that process to happen earlier and faster than ever before.

The articles also made me think that PVLD's policy of requiring parental permission for minors to access the Internet via library computers is of greater symbolic than practical value.  Kids who want to use technology to "hide" stuff from their parents will find a way to do it whether they use library computers or not, and kids like my niece who have little to hide will let even their aunts and uncles be their Facebook friends.  I hope we aren't creating a false sense of security.       

More reasons I love this job

While I love my job, some days and weeks seem to be more of a struggle than others andthe past couple of weeks fit that category.  Little issues to be resolved, too many meetings, not enough time in the sunshine, and the lingering effects of being sick over the holidays have been sapping my energy. 

Even during this low-period, though, things happen that remind me that this is a great job in a great community -

1.  Last week we opened an envelope that was probably dropped off at the library over the holidays but didn't get opened due to staff vacations and illnesses.  Inside was $50 in cash and a letter, written in pencil on looseleaf notebook paper, that read

"Dear Librarians,

I would like to donate my birthday money, $50, to this library.  I enjoy coming here to rent books and use the study areas.  This library is a very important and helpful place to me.  Thank you and I hope you have a great holiday.

Sincerely,

[Name withheld to protect privacy]
5th grader of Montemalaga

Now if that doesn't lift your mood I don't know what will!

2.  Yesterday a local family came to the Annex with their arms loaded with boxes which turned out to be the hot video game "Rock Band" which they were giving to the Annex.  Within 1/2 hour the kids had the drums, guitars, and microphone set up and it has been in constant use ever since. 

3.  Over the year-end period there has been a steady stream of donations to both the Friends of the Library and PVLD.

All of this is evidence that the library is making a difference in our community, and people appreciate what we do...and that's what makes the tough days and weeks worthwhile!

What does this mean for libraries?

Michael Stephens of Tame the Web ( http://tametheweb.com/ )posted this today with the simple command "Go. Watch. Now."  From the cultural anthropology students at Kansas State University -

Happy Birthday to the Annex!

Annex Birthday Party - big crowds
Originally uploaded by pvldteens.

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since the Annex opened! Yesterday the Annex staff celebrated with a birthday party - and I got the following email from Ali Orr last night -

"FYI today’s Annex Birthday Party was a huge success. We had 61 attendees! They ate 10 pizzas, played lots of games, 4 of them won cool prizes and (the best part of all) they even helped us clean up the popcorn which was *everywhere*. There were two boys who wanted to use the vacuum. We had to have them alternate so they both got to do it!

We also had quite a few new patrons – I would estimate around 10-12. I talked to a few parents who were quite excited to learn about the Annex and 3 seniors who said they had heard about the Annex and wanted to check it out. (Of course, I encouraged them to come back tomorrow morning for the OWL event.) "

As you can see from Ali's email older adults also think the Annex is cool! Today we are having our third event for OWLs (Older Wiser Livelier adults) at the Annex.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making the Annex a success - especially the Peninsula Friends of the Library for providing funding and being willing to take the risk of a new venture, our partner Freedom4U who does such a great job of running the Annex on the weekends, the Annex staff past and present (Ali, Justin, Kristen, Kali, Ji, and Melanie), the Facilities staff for not only doing the construction work to create this fabulous space but also keeping it clean, and the Adult Services staff who have created the OWL program (especially Debra and Louise). THANK YOU!