Library Angst

What are your plans for keeping patron interest when the economy comes back?

Labels: economy, patron

I've seen this lots of places, but it was Lauren's post that actually motivated me to do something. I've been thinking about this for a while. I don't really instruct students. Not in an extended format. So I thought about what was the best lesson I've ever learned; what would I want my daughter to carry with her into the future.

I doubt my parents realized the impact it would have on me, but from a young age, they stressed to me how every person is unique. My father especially. I really took this to heart. It's shaped who I am today.

Whenever I've felt doubtful about myself, I think, there's NO ONE else on the planet like you. There is no one else who puts ideas together, places one foot in front of the other, chews food, in the same manner that I do. So even when I question what I'm doing, what I'm thinking, I take solace in the fact I am unique and no one can take that away from me.

Here's the magic of this. I am not confined in thinking that I need to be like everyone else, think like everyone else, or act like everyone else. I can't be. We're all unique. And being unique means that none of us are alike. You couldn't follow the crowd if you wanted to.

So how is this helpful? Why would you want to tell this to students? For me, it removed my inhibitions, it removed my fear of failure. No matter how awful things might feel in the moment, you can know deep down that you bring something to any situation you get into because you are unique. You might whiff on today's project, but tomorrow's project might be that big home run. You can achieve some truly amazing things if you aren't afraid to make a few mistakes (or even a lot of mistakes).

The library world sometimes feels very safe. Very tried and true. This has been frustrating for me coming into this field. Sometimes you can butt your head up against so many obstacles just trying to get the simplest things done. And other times the things you sweated the most sail through without problems.

Just always remember, "There is only one you."

Original photo by Irina Souiki

Labels: passion quilt meme, unique

You may have noticed that the URL for this blog is 'books to burn.' When I created this blog, I wasn't sure what that meant. I just liked the way it rolled off the tongue. I liked how it was a little controversial. But I liked how it didn't mean anything and still carried a lot of imagery.

You see, fire is a powerful thing. It was something that separated us from the rest of the animals on this planet. It provides warmth and security, yet it still carries a destructive, terrifying power. What else can both comfort and destroy?

It also makes me think of two of my favorite cities: Chicago and New York. While there are a lot of ways in which the two cities are different, but there's one way in which they will always be separated in my mind.

For those of you who have been there, what happens in New York City on garbage day? All the garbage is piled up on the curbs as New York has no alleyways. One garbage day, you have to wade through trash to get to where you're going. For such an amazing, exciting city, it stinks--literally--to have to walk through garbage.

You know what happens in Chicago on garbage day? All the trash is behind the buildings and out of sight. The public doesn't have to see it nor do they have to walk through it.

Do you know why Chicago is able to put its trash in the alleys behind the buildings?

Because in 1871 Chicago burned to the ground and they were able to rebuild the city with a better plan so that people didn't have to walk through garbage.

There are days when I'd like to start a fire to burn everything to the ground so we could start over with a new plan and not have to walk through garbage any more.

I'm just saying.

Labels: angry, libraries, revolution

It's been a while since I've posted here. I've been busy with two library jobs, trying to get the next issue of the zine ready, and preparing for the World Fantasy Convention that this hasn't been my top priority. There's been a lot of stuff going on that I have thoughts on. Of course, at this point the time has passed for me to make relevant posts about it (the whole librarian as a calling thing is dead in the water now...), but today I read something from one of my favorite blogs, The Annoyed Librarian, that has prompted me to write.

Now, the AL (as she calls herself) tends to annoy/anger me as I read her posts, but I think I need that. Just like how Library Revolution makes me mad some times, the AL writes some things that get my hackles up. She calls things as they are. And I think librarians need someone to stand up and call their bullshit "bullshit" now and again. (I don't believe she'd curse, that's my own failing)

From today (she's discussing outsourcing library services):

This debate is similar to all the guff about how we have to bend over and grab our ankles to make libraries "relevant" to people. Libraries are relevant or they're not. The people care, or they don't. If people don't want what libraries provide, then libraries will go away, but that's more of a problem for the librarians than it is for the people. What if all "information" was available for free online, search engines had perfected search, "information literacy" was universal, and computers and Internet access were available to all? If that happens, public libraries will probably be unnecessary for the most part. Is that a problem for the people, or for the librarians? Even now it's true for many people. Access to information is cheap. We talk about the "digital divide," but I wonder how many people on the other side of the digital divide can afford televisions and cable.

and:

If librarians were interested only in user satisfaction, they wouldn't complain about library outsourcing in such a knee-jerk manner. Librarians are interested in librarians, except, of course, when they're not.

I mean, how great is that? But I want you to go back and think about this statement again:

Libraries are relevant or they're not.

Yes, there are things you can do to make the library more prominent in the community, there are things you can do to enhance the user experience (my library now has downloadable movies, sweet!), but there's little you can do to make the library more relevant.

There's only so much control you have over what someone else thinks is relevant. At one point in my life guitars and music shops were the only relevant thing. At another point it was skateboarding. I think most people who know me now would laugh a little to hear those two statements. More pertinent to this discussion, even though I work in a library now, and would feel comfortable to say that librarianship is a calling for me, from when I left high school to when I started my MLIS coursework (a span of 1989 - 2004) I entered a library fewer than ten times. The library was not relevant to me.

These days, I could not live without the library. If for nothing more than the fact that I no longer buy hundreds of books a year. And again, for that alone I love being part of a big consortium. There are few books that I am looking for that I cannot get through the consortium. I am not able to use much of the library's programming. This is equal parts my lack of time and the lack of convenience of getting to the library. But is the library relevant to me? As an employee, of course. As a patron...I don't know. If I wasn't in the library a few times a month (I'm part-time at the public gig) I don't know how much I'd use it. Certainly not the branch I work at; there are two closer to me.

I do think that libraries should do a better job of marketing their services to their community. And perhaps they need to hire someone to do that for them. I'm not convinced that librarians know what their community wants, or where their community goes/is, to be able to market properly. Will better marketing make libraries relevant? That's up to the patron. Not to us.

Labels: advocacy, libraries

UPDATE: Working now, at 10:50 AM CST. Weird.

As of 10:30 AM CST, I get this message when I click on the Events & Conferences link in the main navigation bar at ALA:

ERROR
The requested URL could not be retrieved
While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.ala.org/error/HTTP_FORBIDDEN.cfm
The following error was encountered:
Read Error
The system returned: (104) Connection reset by peer
An error condition occurred while reading data from the network. Please retry your request.
Your cache administrator is webmaster.

When I try to click on the Midwinter icon that's on the right-hand side of the site I get this:

The page you requested is not on our new Web site at this Web address: /errordocs/300.cfm. The American Library Association has redesigned and reorganized its Web site. Try these steps to find this resource:
Search our site.The resource you are looking for may have a new URL (Web address).

If you are unable to find a specific piece of content, please contact library@ala.org for assistance. We will get back to you within one week. Alternately, you can browse the site archive at http://archive.ala.org/, which includes the entirety of the site as it existed prior to April of 2003. Please note that content in our archive may be outdated or functioning incorrectly.
Thank you for visiting ALA's new Web site!

So, anyone else having this problem? I've e-mailed ALA, but since I've never done that before, I don't have any idea how responsive they are.

Am I the only one having trouble? I'm using IE7 to view the page. I've deleted the cache on this machine (I'm on a chared computer at the reference desk; I've never gone to ALA from this machine before today) to try and see if there was something stored in memory, burt that hasn't fixed anything.

Labels: ALA, library, website

This is me. (And my daughter [she's using me as a chalkboard]) Unlike so many others, I don't work on the Web.

I work with the Web.

I live and work in Davenport, IA. Both libraries I work at are behind the times in adding technology to their libraries. I work at a college without a proxy server so we have to hand out user name/password sheets to students and hope they don't lose them. I work at a public library that doesn't see the need to learn social software. In both cases I believe we are doing a disservice to our patrons/users. I also run a small publishing company that would not exist without the Web.

I use the Web everyday in my work: in addition to the ubiquitous e-mail and IM for communication, I use the Web through databases to assist students in finding articles for class; I've posted photos on Flickr of library events; I've used LibraryThing to create online reader's advisories; I attend webinars to learn more about database features and ILS features; I have a website for my magazine; I also have FaceBook, MySpace, Blogspot (since 2001), Twitter, and etc. accounts which I use to promote my publishing/librarianship and reach a wider audience; I sell magazines, etc. online so that people can read what I publish; I belong to Google Groups so I can have discussions with people who don't live anywhere near me; I read LOTS of library and publishing oriented blogs so I can keep abreast of what's happening in those respective fields; and I generally am online all the time at work, doing something.

I use the Web everyday in my life: I post photos on Flickr and Videos on YouTube of my daughter for family in Denver and Arizona and elsewhere; from looking up who's that actor to finding recipes to getting driving directions to weather forecasts to sports scores to buying foodstuffs I can't find where I live, there's a lot of information I get online that, while available through other means, is not as convenient through other means.

I use not-the-Web everyday in my work: I talk to my staff every day, face to face; I answer questions from students at the reference desk; I walk patrons to the stacks and help them find their books (I never point); I attend conferences to learn more about specific aspects of librarianship and to network with other library professionals; I attend conventions (science fiction) to meet authors, editors, fans, etc. and to promote what I publish; I meet with colleagues and staff to talk about concerns and plans for the library; I mail out lots and lots of magazines, etc. to people who purchase what I publish; and I do mundane things like check out and check in books, send faxes, make photocopies, accept fine payments, place books on hold for patrons, sign time sheets, and so many other things I don't keep track of.

I use not-the-Web everyday in my life: as evidenced by the photo above, the most important thing I do everyday is spend time with my family; I love to cook; I sit on a couch and read a book; I take care of my house; I watch tv with my wife; and so many other things that don't involve the Web.

I don't know that I could work without the web (i.e., this morning I sent a story collection to a writer in Serbia so he can write the introduction and also sent it to an artist in MA so he can create interior artwork; pre-Web days this would have been impossible), but there is work I do that does not and cannot involve the web. They are not exclusive of each other, but I do not do only one or the other. I feel that the Web enhances the most important thing I do: provide service to my patrons.

(inspired by Michael and the Annoyed Librarian)

Labels: academic library, librarian, library, public library, service

From Seth Godin (this is actually the entire post, but the blog is SO informative you must go there):

It's easy to be wowed by what a magical job the search engines do in finding you just the right needle in the haystack.

The fact is that search engines are very good at fairly simple searches, and very good at finding information about single products, services, people and ideas.

But they're terrible at connections, at rankings, at horizontal results. They can't help me find the 25 most important up and coming artists in the United States. They can't help me find six products that are viable alternatives to something that was just discontinued. They can't help me rank the service of four accounting firms.

There's a giant opportunity. (Many opportunities, actually). It's to collate and slice and dice and rank domain-specific knowledge and surface it. There are some areas where this is done extremely well (restaurants, for example), but in most cases, it's not done at all.

Organizing the world's information is a laudable goal. But we're only an inch down the road.

Um, isn't that what we do every day with reader's advisories, displays, handouts, and other whatnot?

So, what are you doing to let your community (aw heck, the world) know that you've organized some information in a particular way? Are you optimizing your website so that people will find it in their searches?

Labels: library, reference questions