PVLD Director's Blog

PVLD's amazing volunteers

Last week I received our volunteer statistics for the 09/10 fiscal year from super-volunteer Gene Roeder.  Gene serves as Vice President - Operations of the Peninsula Friends of the Library, Chair of our library book sales, and compiler of our volunteer statistics and works about as many hours at the library as I do (he recently hit a total of 15,500 volunteer hours!) without the benefit of a paycheck.

Gene is just one of over 200 active volunteers who help us with a long list of tasks - everything from fundraising to shelving books to creating displays and signage to cleaning and repairing books and other library materials to  helping with programs and events to taking passport photos...and more!

Our volunteer program has been growing steadily, but it surprised even me to see that this past fiscal year we recorded more than 30,000 hours of volunteer service.  That's the equiavalent of an additional 15 full-time employees, and a big reason why we have been able to sustain our services despite the financial challenges we face.

It also represents a 34% increase in volunteer hours over the past six years, which makes me really proud!

This level of volunteer support would not be possible without both the many community members who are willing to give their time to the library and the library staff who continue to find new ways to use the time and talents of our volunteers.  You are all amazing - THANK YOU!!!

Gene Roeder - Volunteer Extraordinaire

Peninsula Friends of the Library Vice- President Gene Roeder was today honored by the California Association of Library Trustees and Commissioners for "Outstanding Volunteer Service to a Library".

Gene is Book Sale Chair, Past President of the Friends, and originator of the Books for Troops. Since he started volunteering at the library in 2002 he has contributed 14,000 hours of his time.

Congratulations Gene....and thank you!

Micro-volunteering

Here at PVLD we rely heavily on volunteers to supplement our staff.  Over 220 volunteers gave nearly 29,000 hours of their time last year...that's the equivalent of about 15 full-time employees or about a 30% addition to our full-time-equivalent paid staff! 

Most of our volunteer opportunities require people to make a substantial and regular time commitment and to come to one of the libraries, and most of our volunteers are either high school students who leave us when they head off to college, or retirees. 

At the same time, we know that societal trends and changing demographics mean that this model of location-based volunteering is under threat.  The contingent of older volunteers who are willing to make this kind of commitment is aging, and the Baby Boomers are increasingly looking for volunteer opportunities that can be done to fit in with their busy lives, on their schedule, and that capitalize on their skills and life interests.  Coming to the library every week to shelve the new magazines and newspapers or work in the library shop just isn't appealing to them.  Students are also increasingly busy and find it hard to commit to a regular schedule, although the fact that volunteering looks good on college applications is a powerful incentive.

That's why I was intrigued by this new online service that delivers what it calls "micro-volunteering" opportunities to people's mobile phones.  Essentially organizations can post volunteer opportunities that can be done remotely and when convenient for the "volunteer".  The Extraordinaries offers "on demand volunteerism" by mobile phone.  The opportunities posted on its home page are fascinating - documenting instances of government waste, posting stories that put a face on the immigration debate, contributing to an online map showing the locations of Automated Defibrillators around the world, adding tags (descriptors) to images in an online virtual arts library, reporting bird sightings to the Audubon Society, providing coaching and feedback to someone learning English....even the Library of Congress is using it to get people to help tag images in their digital image collection!

While this will never replace what volunteers do within our library walls, I can see some interesting applications for PVLD - for example adding tags and reviews to the items in our online catalog, testing website updates or databases and giving us feedback, posting information about the library or the Friends of the Library to various social networking sites (e.g. asking people to post PVLD/PFL information to their Facebook page or send it out on their Twitter accounts), adding tags to our local history photos and other digital photos, sending in testimonials/photos of themselves using the library for use in our marketing and fundraising efforts. 

Right now The Extraordinaries is still in beta, and is only available for the Iphone.  I've downloaded the Iphone app and will be following its progress...and maybe even trying out some of the listed opportunities.  I'd also love to hear any ideas you have for how PVLD could leverage this new tool!

2008 - What a year!

I've been spending some time today sorting through the piles on my desk trying to create some order before I head off on vacation.  There is nothing worse than coming back from time off to a chaotic office....and somehow it is even worse when the return to work coincides with the start of a new year.

As I've waded through the mounds of paper I've been thinking about what our staff and volunteers have accomplished in the space of 12 months and it is truly amazing - 

We launched a new website, online catalog and Integrated Library System (the software that supports all of our library operations from purchasing books to issuing library cards to checking items in and out).  Any one of these would be a major project on their own, and to do them all at the same time is a real accomplishment and required the coordinated efforts of people from every department!

Our IT department upgraded all of the public computers across PVLD, added additional workstations for the library catalog and databases, increased our Internet bandwidth using a new service provider, installed several new computer servers including our first using the Linux operating system, brought our public printing services in-house to improve customer service.

The Digital Services department not only led the implementation of the new website but implemented new online services including the Value Line and Morningstar investment services, the Brainfuse online homework help service, Mango Languages, and more.  The Digital Services team also gave PVLD a presence on Facebook and Twitter, helped the Peninsula Friends of the Library establish their web pages and blog, worked with other PVLD departments to establish their department blogs, and began planning for the next versions of the website and online catalog which will go live in 2009.

Staff at all locations worked hard to improve our library collections by removing dated materials and reorganizing various areas to make them more accessible to and easily browsed by our customers.  New reference sections were created at both the Malaga Cove and Miraleste Libraries, staff at Malaga Cove began the creation of a separate biography section (a project that will be replicated at the other libraries), paperbacks were added to the library catalog, the music CD section at Peninsula Center was reorganized by type of music instead of an esoteric numbering system, we added collections of video games for circulation, and more.  This doesn't sound like much but it involves a LOT of work!

We sustained all of our popular ongoing programs and events from story times to book groups at all libraries to the Malaga Cove history discussion group, chess clubs, and origami club to the record-breaking Summer Reading program to holiday music concerts at all of the libraries to the monthly foreign films in partnership with Chadwick school to the annual Art in our Library art show.  As if that weren't enough we added lots of new programs and events including -

• An antiques appraisal event at Malaga Cove
• "Tuesdays at the Annex" programs for older adults
• "Mondays at Miraleste" teen programs at the Miraleste Library
• Expansion of the popular American Girls Teas to all libraries with a total attendance of over 520 people this year!
• Introduction of "Play Dates at the Library" at Malaga Cove
• A Chinese story time and other kids' programs in partnership with the South Bay Chinese School
• The first annual Artisan Faire at Malaga Cove
• Scrapbooking Clubs at both Malaga Cove and Miraleste
• Lots of exciting activities for teens at the Annex
• "Web 2.0" classes on blogging, Facebook, and Flickr
• And more!

In addition to handling all of the set ups and clean ups associated with these programs and keeping all of our libraries clean and in great shape, the Facilities Department also carried out several enhancement projects at Malaga Cove including electrical upgrades, installation of a new fire and security alarm system, restoration of the magazine and newspaper reading area (thanks to a generous gift from the Palos Verdes Woman's Club) and refurbishment of the Tower Room (thanks to a generous gift from volunteers Pat and Bill Foltz).  Facilities Manager Erich Widmann also worked with our architect and staff to develop schematic level designs for the proposed expansion and renovation of the Miraleste Library.

The Passport Services team introduced Saturday passport hours as a way of providing more convenient hours for families and generating additional revenue, and are taking turns working Saturdays to support this service.

The Friends of the Library made many improvements to their operations, including hiring their first employee - part-time Campaign Coordinator Georgia Case.  They also improved their online presence through new web pages and a blog, launched their first ever end-of-year appeal to members and donors, introduced a Friends membership card and changed from a calendar-year to a rolling 12-month membership period, seeded an endowment fund, did a lot of planning for the capital campaign for upgrades to the Malaga Cove and Miraleste Libraries, and continued to grow their revenues from book sales and the library shop.

We particpated in a number of State Library initiatives.  Branch Manager Jennifer Addington and Customer Service/Circulation Manager Eve Wittenmyer were selected to attend the first ever Eureka Leadership Institute for emerging California library leaders, making PVLD one of only 3 libraries across the state (and the only small library system) to have two staff members selected.  Adult Services Manager Debra Petersen and Librarian Louise Beebe successfully applied for a $20,000 grant to develop services for Baby Boomers who want to start or grow a business, the Young Readers Department received a second $5,000 grant to continue the Early Learning for Families program at the Malaga Cove Library, and Coordinator of Volunteer Services Dori Medina was selected  to serve on an advisory panel for a statewide initiative to improve volunteer engagement with libraries.

Staff, volunteers, and library supporters successfully mobilized to protest the threat that the State would "borrow" local property tax revenues (which make up 87% of PVLD's budget). 

...And while all of that was going on we served the over 650,000 people who passed through our doors and checked out 845,000 items!

Whew!  What a tribute to our amazing staff, and to the volunteers who give 28,000 hours of their time to PVLD each year!  And just wait until you see what is in store for 2009....

I'll be on vacation through New Year's Day, so this will be my last post until then.  Best wishes for the holiday season!  

 

Former Library Trustee Jane Jones wins award at CLA!

A highlight of the California Library Association annual conference was seeing former Library Trustee Jane Jones receive the "Board Member Emeritus" award from the California Association of Library Trustees and Commissioners (CALTAC) for her many years of dedicated service to CALTAC.

As Caltac Treasurer Jane introduced previously non-existent budgeting practices and improved financial management.  She also was one of the first Trainers for CALTAC's Board Effectiveness Training program, and has since provided Board Effectiveness Training to over 30 library boards and commissions including a very worthwhile session with PVLD's own Board earlier this year.

Here's a photo of Jane receiving her award from outgoing CALTAC President Alan Smith:

   

Congratulations Jane!

Notes from CLA

I'm writing this from the California Library Association annual conference in San Jose. This year my conference schedule is full of meetings and committee work, so there hasn't been as much time to attend the actual sessions as I'd like.  I have seen and heard some things that I think are worth sharing though.  These are just somewhat random notes and thoughts -

• If the exhibition hall is any indicator, the fiscal challenges facing libraries are pretty severe.  There are fewer vendors than in previous years, and far fewer freebies and giveaways from those who are present.  There are also far fewer conference attendees in the exhibit hall, and the vendors are practically reaching out and grabbing people by the arm to get them to stop and talk.  Not a good sign!
• Carla Lehn of the California State Library and a representative of volunteermatch.org gave a very interesting overview of a new project to enhance the role of public libraries in supporting volunteerism in their communities.  They reiterated that the real challenge ahead is providing meaningful volunteer opportunities to Baby Boomers.  Currently aged 44-62 Boomers already volunteer at a higher rate than the previous generation did at the same age, but are looking for opportunities truly apply their skills and knowledge in their volunteer work.  They probably won't be satisfied with shelving books or setting out newspapers.   Interestingly, indications are that this trend will be amplified with Generations X and Y .
  
  There is already a nationwide shortage of "great opportunities to satisfy the demand for interesting, challenging volunteer work"  and libraries have a great opportunity to engage this new generation of volunteers, but we have to dramatically change how we use volunteers and get over our reluctance to have volunteers do more than the stuff staff doesn't want to do.  My own view is that management of volunteers will be a critical skill for future library leaders.
  
  Beyond more effectively engaging volunteers within the library, there is an opportunity for public libraries to become the "civic hub" of their community and provide the mechanisms to connect volunteers with volunteer opportunities both within and outside the library.  Volunteermatch.org looks like it might provide a great tool to help us achieve this.
• Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind among other books gave a fascinating presentation on trends that libraries need to pay attention to, followed by an interactive discussion led by my favorite library pundits Joan Frye Williams and George Needham.  I hadn't read A Whole New Mind, but plan to do so and will probably post more about the concepts later.  Today I'll limit myself to some of the practical ideas that were scattered throughout the conceptual discussions.
   
  I particularly appreciated Dan's pitch for "empathetic signage". Examples he gave included a sign above an electric hand-dryer in an airport restroom that said "We know - we hate them too, but they are the most environmentally-sound solution we could find"; a sign on a church lawn that says "Children Play Here.  Please pick up after your dog"; and a sign on the lawn of a military cemetary that says "Honor those who served.  Please do not step on the grass."
  
  During the "George and Joan" discussion members of the audience also shared some great ideas including putting a self-check machine in the children's area to make it easier for harried parents to check things out; having a Friday afternoon "happy hour" in the library with staff in aloha shirts, free refreshments for customers, and fun activities; and changing the employee recruitment process to include an element of play as a means of seeing how a candidate might behave in a culture that values teamwork and having fun.
• On a personal note, conference is a wonderful opportunity for me to reconnect with other library directors from across the state.  I have the pleasure of working with wonderful Trustees, staff, volunteers, and community members.  As wonderful as they are, however, sometimes it feels like only another library director really knows what my world is like.  The opportunity to talk with my peers is worth more to me than any of the conference sessions, and I am grateful that PVLD makes it  possible for me to be here.

And with that, I'm off to a meeting with our CLA lobbyists....

Volunteers at PVLD - A 30+ year success story

I just learned that tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the formal volunteer program at PVLD.  Volunteer support has been important at PVLD since our inception in the late 1920s and accelerated with the formation of the Peninsula Friends of the Library in the early 1960s.  It wasn't until the loss of revenue that accompanied Proposition 13 in the late 1970s, however, that volunteers became an integral part of our service model, assisting with library operations from shelving books to putting out the new magazines and newspapers to repairing books and other materials to helping catalog foreign language items providing front-line customer service through our Information Greeter program.

Long-time volunteer Janet Vogel reminded us today that many of these volunteer activities were launched with PVLD's first formal volunteer orientation on September 25th, 1978.  From that beginning our volunteer program has grown to over 200 volunteers who provided approximately 28,000 hours of service in the 2007/2008 fiscal year.

The volunteers are one of the main reasons we have been able to maintain service levels through good times and bad, and have also been a source of improvement ideas and community support.  As we face the current economic crisis and associated budget uncertainty, our volunteers are one of the reasons I am confident that we will weather the storm.

If you are interested in volunteering at PVLD click here

To all of our volunteers past, present, and future - thank you!

When adults can't read - and what you can do to help!

I just got back from the California Library Association Legislative Committee meeting in Sacramento.  It was discouraging to hear how far apart the parties remain on budget issues, but for the most part the impact on libraries is not much different than it was a month ago.  The one very notable exception is that the recently released Republican proposal contains an option to eliminate the "English Acquisition and Literacy Program" for a savings of $4.5 million.

Reading the name of the program you might think that it is aimed at non-English speakers such as immigrants....it is NOT!  It is a 25 year old program administered by the state library to support public libraries in helping functionally illiterate native English speakers acquire basic literacy skills so that they can get a drivers license, fill out a job application, or read a story to their children.  In fact, by law this program does NOT provide English as a Second Language education!

800 public libraries participate in the program, serving 20,000 functionally illiterate adults each year.  The State funding provides only a small portion of the cost of serving these citizens - every $1 of State funding is matched by an average of $3 of local and/or private funding.  These funds combined allow libraries to hire program coordinators (usually part-time), train volunteer tutors, and purchase materials and supplies. The tutoring is done by volunteer tutors whose contributions have been valued at $16 million/year.  In effect this means that for an investment of $4.5 million the State gains nearly $30 million in value, and that value is realized in an additional 20,000 citizens who now have the ability to contribute more fully to the economy, raise better educated families, and vote! 

It appears that the rationale for cutting this program is that similar services are available through the K-12 education system, adult education programs, the community college system, and community groups.  This is simply not true.

The people served by this program are ADULTS who the K-12 education system has failed.  Returning to public schools is simply not an option.

There are very few, if any, basic literacy programs for adult English speakers offered through adult education programs.  Adult school-based literacy education tends to focus on English as a Second Language (ESL) - not the native English speakers served by the public library program in question.  Also adult school classes charge fees and typically meet at fixed times - both barriers to people who in many cases have limited financial resources and schedule flexibility.  These are also people who have in the past not performed well in formal educational settings leading to reluctance to go back to a school campus.

Community colleges do offer basic skills tutoring to enrolled students, but to access their services a person must (1) fill out an application (2) take an assessment test and (3) enroll in a class at a cost of $15/unit.  To someone with poor functional literacy the first two hurdles alone are enough to prevent access and the fee,schedule, and fear of formal education hurdles are the same as for adult schools.

It is true that some community groups offer adult literacy education, but these fall largely into two categories - ethnically-based community groups that offer English language education to non-English speakers, and groups such as our own local South Bay Literacy Council that in many cases work closely with public libraries and thereby benefit from the State funding.

In addition to being focused on English-speakers, the public library literacy programs are differentiated by the fact that they provide one-on-one or small group tutoring that is non-threatening to adults who are often reluctant to admit that they can't read and write and/or have been turned off by formal education; by the fact that it is driven by the students individual goals and aspirations (some want simply to get their drivers' license, others to read the Bible or get a job or continue their formal education) and by the fact that the tutoring is scheduled and located to meet the student's needs rather than confined to a class schedule and location(so someone working night shift, or with family responsibilities, can find a time and place that works for them).  And it works!  I have seen testimonial after testimonial from students whose lives, and those of their families, were transformed when they learned to read and write.

PVLD does not receive State literacy funding and does not have an adult literacy program as this is not a burning issue for our residents...but that doesn't mean we shouldn't care!  One in five Americans is functionally illiterate.  Think about what would happen in terms of employability, reduced reliance on welfare and government support, public health, and family life if everyone could read and write at a basic level.  And reading is becoming an even more important skill as we transition to a digital era.  People who can't read can't access the Internet, get email or text messages, or participate in the information economy.  Think about how different your life would be if you couldn't read!

The State funding provides only a portion of the cost of public library literacy programs, but it is an important part.  It typically funds a part-time staff member who can then work to procure local funding, apply for grants, and recruit volunteers.  Without this foundation the existing programs would crumble.

If you care, please let the Legislative Leaders and the Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Budget committees (Denise Duchesny and John Laird) know that you believe that basic literacy is essential to a successful society and a thriving economy and that cutting the English Acquisition and Literacy Program is short-sighted.  And remind them that for an investment of less than $250 per adult learner they are reaping 5 or 6 times that in matching contributions and an incalculable economic and societal benefit.

Time is of the essence, so phone calls and faxes are preferred.  Contact information is below

Senate President pro Tem, Don Perata – (916) 651-4009 – phone,  (916) 327-1997 - fax

Senate Republican Leader, Dave Cogdill (916) 651-4014 – phone, (916) 327-3523 – fax

Senate Budget Chair, Denise Ducheny (916) 651-4040 – phone, (916) 327-3522 – fax

Assembly Speaker, Karen Bass (916) 319-2047 – phone, (916) 319-2147 – fax

Assembly Republican Leader, Mike Villines (916) 319-2029 – phone, (916) 319-2129 – fax

Assembly Budget Chair, John Laird (916) 319-2027 – phone, (916) 319-2127 – fax

Thank you! 

Boomer Volunteers

A few days ago I came across this post on How To Treat Boomer Volunteers on Donor Power ( a great blog about fundraising). It makes the point that

... baby boomers boast a large number of well-educated, highly skilled executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders, many of whom will feel that their talents are not being put to use in low-level volunteer positions. Research indicates that these boomers should be placed at programming levels to utilize their abilities fully and to keep them engaged.

That got me thinking about our volunteer positions and whether they are going to satisfy the soon-to-be retired wave of baby boomers. While we certainly have some "programming level" volunteer positions such as the Friends of the Library Board, management of the Library Shop, or oversight of the book sales, many of our volunteer positions are important to the smooth operation of the library, but fairly low level. Things like tidying the library, sorting books, and putting out the new periodicals.

Tonight Branch Operations Manager Jennifer Addington and I were at a community event and met a very nice couple who are both soon to retire from executive positions at a very large aerospace corporation. They are looking for volunteer opportunities, and would love to get involved with the library. The more I talked to them about their talents and interests the more it became obvious that:

1. They are way over-qualified for, and not really interested in, many of the kinds of volunteer positions we have.
2. They would be able to contribute a great deal to the library district – but in areas that are currently viewed by staff as "their" domain. For example, the wife is responsible for the corporation's information systems and has successfully managed very large scale and complex software projects. She could be a real asset in our current efforts to replace our systems if we could find a way to make use of those talents in conjunction with those of our staff.
3. Our volunteer program, and to a large extent our culture, is not ready to provide the kinds of opportunities that these highly qualified volunteers are seeking.

I see this a big challenge and a big opportunity for us. The challenge is to develop volunteer programs in which volunteer talents are fully utilized, including using them in areas that currently are the exclusive domain of staff. This doesn't mean replacing staff with volunteers, but it does mean working with staff to integrate volunteers into their work as equals (or maybe even as mentors or coaches where the volunteers are more knowledgeable and experienced than staff) and continuing to change the culture from one in which volunteers are seen as a bit of a hassle to one that values them as a means of really stretching our capabilities.

The opportunity is that I don't think many other organizations have gotten it right yet either…so if we can change quickly enough we will have our pick of the talented people who will soon be available.

Value Without Involvement

I am at a conference for volunteer leaders in Chambers of Commerce today thanks to my position on the PV Chamber of Commerce board.

Some of the information is specific to Chambers but there have been some nuggets that are more widely applicable.

One of the issues the Peninsula Friends of the Library has been dealing with is the issue of whether they are fundamentally a fundraising organization or a volunteer organization. The question came up when the Friends were developing their new membership brochure. The old brochure had lots of information about volunteering. The question was raised as to whether this was discouraging people from joining as it implied you not only have to give money, you have to give time. In the end the Friends decided to remove the volunteer information from the brochure.

That's why I was interested to hear that Chambers of Commerce, which also rely heavily on volunteers to get the work done, wrestle with the same issue. The advice from one of today's presenters -

"members want value WITHOUT involvement"

In a world where time has more value than money we need to be making sure we deliver great value without expecting people to contribute their time. The old saying "you get out what you put in" needs to be re-thought in the context that people are putting in money and expect value for that investment and are likely unwilling and/or unable to put in time.

As our Friends of the Library continue to transform themselves into major fundraising organization one of the questions will be what value are we giving people for their membership and donation funds. The more value we give, the more we will get!

Volunteering will always be the engine that drives the Friends but we need to recognize that members/donors are not the same as volunteers and we need to find ways to reward the contributions of both.