Author: Barbara

Library Speakers’ Bureau – just like Rochesterfest

Here’s a great idea from Marylaine Block’s weekly e-zine (#299, 22 June 2007). In her newsletter article today, Knowledge Pushers, Marylaine says that libraries are more than books. She cites the value of the knowledge of librarians. She says:

We know how to get grants, how to track our ancestors, how to digitize precious historical and family photos, and how to entice children to read. We know how to find trustworthy factual information on political candidates and important public issues. We’ve done the research and can tell anxious parents about the capabilities and limitations of various internet filters; we can also suggest other ways to keep kids safe as they explore the net.

She suggests that the reason the public doesn’t know is that we don’t tell them, that libraries wait for people to come to us, when we could go out to the community. Marylaine says that as the director goes out (I hope that’s so, but I fear too many times it’s not), so could other library staff.

All this reminded me of Rochesterfest — where I’ve found wonderful food the last couple of days (why cook?). At Rochesterfest, there is a row of food stands, run by our great local restaurants. People who go to the festival find great food from vendors whose restaurants they may never have thought to try.

So, just like the restaurateur, who comes to meet new customers where they are, the library will bring valuable information to people where they are through the library speakers’ bureau.

While I don’t work in a library that provides direct service to end users, I do get the chance to speak to groups (as do most of the librarians I work with) – and really get charged up when I invited to do so. I’ve spoken to church libraries, Rotary, groups of teachers and librarians, led a book discussion for a tea, and am looking forward to this fall when among other meetings I’ll be doing a presentation for the Friends of the Mabel Public Library.

No threat at DDR

All the kids who hang out at teen night at the Chatfield Public Library have nothing to fear from me — I’ll never beat them at DDR (Dance Dance Revolution.) It was fun to try it, though. Monica, the Chatfield PL Director set up DDR as a demonstration for the other librarians as a warm up for their regular meeting yesterday. A few tried it, more watched. But what a great thing they’ve got going in Chatfield for the kids. Now here’s another one of those “if I had a library posts” . . . .

Of course, if I managed to keep my feet in the center of the controller, I’d have done a lot better.
Monica and Barbara

However, 2 of my colleagues have it down to “perfect” — Congrats AJ and JP! How cool is this?
Aurora and Jonya

Pimping library carts

From the Racine Report blog of the Journal Times . . . . yesterday the Racine Public Library (in Wisconsin) had a “Pimp my Cart” contest for teens. Sounds like the 12 kids who participated had a lot of fun. The contest was based on the MTV show “Pimp My Ride.” The kids tricked out library carts, and the library has pledged to use the book carts, although it sounds like one of them, dubbed “Road Kill” and made out of parts from an old Honda motorcycle and two wheels from a Chevrolet Camaro, will have trouble cruising the aisles in the stacks. All the carts will be displayed outside during Monday’s Hot Rod Power Tour in Racine.

Racine Public Library joins many other libraries in trying novel ways to appeal to kids and get them to the library. Good for them!

What I find remarkable is the public comments (21 of them at the time of this posting) that follow the blog post — many of which miss the point of the activity and use the opportunity to bad mouth the library. Here are some examples (exact quotes):

  • Computers and the internet have reduced library use! Millions of books are being “digitized” and will soon be available on the web! Libraries are offering many new services and gimmicks in their attempt to “survive”! Unsupervised internet access for children, coffee shops, DVD rentals, travel tours, gimmicks like this! The libraries know in the years to come, they face extinction!
  • This is sad. The library sets the bar for our youth so low that MTV can make it over. It is insulting to the teens of Racine. They should have more respect for our youth!
  • Will the library director eventually concede this was a dated, contrived, and somewhat demeaning promotion?
  • Honestly, I’d prefer my kids stay away from the libraries– with no limits on the content the patrons can access on the internet, no limits on what kids can check out (R rated movies included), and the declining quality of juvenile literature (did YOU know that your 11 year old is considered a YOUNG ADULT? The YA designation references a great number of books that contain graphic teen sex, violence, drug use, many of which are NOT in any way appropriate for 11 year olds, or most teens in general, if you care at all what your kids are exposed to).
  • I think the library needs to grow a pair and impose appropriate limits on what kids can check out and what adults can access on the internet. How simple is that? Apparently not simple enough.Until that happens, I’ll discourage my older kids from hanging out at the library. We’ll teach them about sex and drug use and the wiles of internet porn in our own time, thank you very much.

Uff-da! Here’s a public relations challenge for the Racine PL director. Here’s hoping for a turn in the comments trend.

Gulp – no Dewey?

As we strive to make libraries more relevant, some libraries are experimenting with arranging books, CDs, DVDs, etc. like they do in bookstores. A new library to open soon in Arizona claims to be the first in the nation to be arranged entirely independent of the Dewey Decimal System. The Perry Branch of the Maricopa County Library District in Gilbert will be organized in 50 sections, then subsections, from sports to cooking, gardening to mysteries, according to the Arizona Republic. Librarians are quoted as saying that people are defeated in their searching because “they don’t know Dewey.” The article further states that people want to search for books by subject. Hmmmm . . . . I thought Dewey was by subject.

The Perry Library is relatively small, 28,000 square feet, and will have 24,000 items. It is a joint use facility located in a school.

Several Minnesota libraries are experimenting with parts of their collections displayed as they are in Barnes and Noble. I have attended several conference programs on space arrangement and marketing, and whole-heartedly endorse the efforts to merchandise the materials in a more attractive manner than shelving everything so that all that is visible are long rows of dull-looking spines.

The article is unclear as to how the items will be arranged. What will happen when someone wants a specific book; is there a numbering or other classification system to assist in quick location? Are they using RFID? Certainly, library automation systems are capable of keeping track of just about any coding system they devise to designate location.

My most recent experience with finding something in my local Barnes and Noble bookstore ended in a fruitless search for a specific title. Even the salesclerk couldn’t find it (even though the B & N computer said they had several copies). I finally came home and ordered the book online.

The Maricopa innovation will be interesting to watch. Maybe I should take a field-trip to Arizona to research it first hand. ***smile***

Flags at Covered Bridge Park

While driving through Zumbrota this afternoon, I came upon this nice surprise at Covered Bridge Park – the Field of Honor, from the Zumbrota VFW. 230 flags commemorate the 230th birthday of the flag. A single POW flag stands in the center.
Field of Honor, Zumbrota Minnesota

Phil, the Edge, and the Library

I don’t usually watch commercials, unless it’s the panorama of sales pitches during the Super Bowl. And then only so that I can give my unqualified opinion the next day of the best and worst offerings. But I recently heard the word “library” on TV and perked up my ears to find out that the Ford Edge is “library quiet” and that it “beat the Lexus RS 350 in a quiet test.”

Edge is the crossover SUV that Ford built to appeal to its protype “Phil.” Phil, as defined by Ford, is an “educated urban professional with tastes that are slightly avant–garde but not too much so. Phil and his wife pull in $85,000. Phil buys his clothes at Banana Republic and drinks Samuel Adams beer.” (see CNN, Oct 22, 2006) And Phil is looking for “quiet.”

Now a lot of librarians are trying to shed the “shhhh” image, and tout their library as a happening place, where you might even be lucky enough to see DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution for the uninitiated) in the teen room. So what’s with the high value of quiet?

I think that the Phils of the word (as well as Phyllis) crave quiet. Phil/lys has enough of the noise and stress of the word and welcomes that embracing quiet of the library. Like the library where we went to study when the dormitory got too loud. I think there’s a message here for libraries — one I see many embracing. While the library is busy, and has lots going on, it’s good to have a space where we safeguard quiet and maybe even put up a sign “this room, quiet please!”

Image and impact

Does appearance really matter? Or is it true what my mother used to tell me as an awkward adolescent that “it’s what’s inside that counts.” (sorry, Mom, it didn’t cut it then, and it doesn’t cut it now.) I lean more to the “what you see is what you get” idea.

I’ve been thinking a lot about image lately. Joyce Valenza admonished her listeners to model the “information professional” in her presentation at Computers in Libraries. And I think she meant in every way from actions to image. When I was training to be a customer service instructor for the squadron in my prior life as a civilian working for the military, I attended Fred Pryor customer service training. One thought stuck in my mind — impact is affected 83% by appearance and 17% by what is said. Watching the Today show this morning, one topic was body language – the guest said 90% of impression is made by what is observed.

While these statistics are pretty unscientific, I think they say something about the image we present both for ourselves as information professionals and also for the library institution. And I think that mantel is on us whether we’re punched in on company time, or buying a gallon of milk at the gas station. This reminds me of a friend who is a Mary Kay consultant, who says her training emphasizes to BE the Mary Kay product whenever and wherever she is — which includes dropping her kids off at school in the morning. My friends who are teachers are very cognizant of their image and actions in their communities. I think librarians who portray a professional demeanor (even in jeans at the garden shop – where I will be later today) will leave a lasting impression of someone worthy of trust to any citizen or board member they encounter.

I even bought a “Radical Militant Librarian” button a couple years ago, in a moment reminiscent of my college days. No, I didn’t wear the button, since that’s not the kind of sound-bite impression I want to make to the infinitely more people I encounter than will ever get to know me enough to understand what that pithy statement means. A librarian colleague has a T-shirt with an irreverent, though humorous, comment that uses a street word that I would not say in any customer or office communications. Would I wear it? No, because I can’t control the occurence of opportunistic moments that may make or break someone’s opinions and make lasting impacts on libraries or even my future career path.

Not too many years ago, businesses had strict dress codes, with the intent of modeling for the customers a professional image of their company. Gradually, about the time of the tech revolution, we saw an erosion of professional dress standards not only on blue-jeans Fridays but any time through the week. In recent years, many companies have returned to a dress code for employees. (although, I still struggle with what exactly “business casual” is — I think it might have something to do with the brand/price tag?) The fast food industry usually requires company-supplied shirts and uniform pants. Big box stores like Target require company-colored polo shirts. Even WalMart, in its marketing efforts to upgrade its image, is phasing in a uniform shirt for its employees.

And personal appearance is only one part of image. Other clues can send messages too. I was shocked at one management training class I attended that advocated a practice that the interviewer should walk the prospective employees back to their cars after interviews, assessing their vehicle condition, cleanliness, etc. as a point of character. And, from the employee side – someone I know who was interviewing with a certain company, arrived in town early and found the homes of management team members (using phone book addresses), looking for clues about their personal priorities.

All food for thought, I guess. And this leads to appearance of libraries – condition and decor . . . but that’s another blog post.

Annual evaluations

We’re in the annual employee evaluation season at MPOW — a time when I would readily pack up and go somewhere else. I wish that we could give everyone a gold star and a raise and go on with our busy days that never have enough hours in them to accomplish what we have to do.

I started out my adult career life as a teacher, and I quickly learned that my toughest times were spent not with the middle-schoolers, but rather in parent-teacher conferences. I never really had any bad experiences, but the whole time of meeting with the kids’ parents was exhausting. Then I became a parent, and found out that parent-teacher night was just as draining on the other side of the table.

This whole business about accountability is built into our culture. My current organization has a merit-based pay raise system. Indeed, most of my career employers have had some sort of financial incentive tied to someone else’s opinion of how effective my work efforts have been. As a supervisor, it’s humbling to be thus entrusted. When I worked for the Air Force, the evaluations I wrote had a direct relationship to promotion or possibly the end of a career. Sort of brought to mind admonitions about “judging not” and “lest you be judged.”

This question was in the “Working Q & A ” section of this morning’s Pioneer Press: “I have a star employee. She is motivated, gets her work done quickly and doesn’t seem to need my guidance. Am I breaking some rule of good management by letting her work largely on her own?” The columnist’s answer somewhat surprised me; she said that it’s even more important to manage star performers, since they want to know that they have a boss who’s looking out for them and setting them up for continued success.

Colleague Tom Shaughnessy, Metronet Library Director, wrote a very insightful piece in which he uses the terms “review” and “root canal’ in the same sentence. He then goes on and makes a good point: “Some HR experts have argued that less emphasis should be placed on looking backward and more on improving future performance.” I like that approach – although Tom does close the post by saying he’s still searching for a better way after 30 years, and solicits opinions from others. And incidentally, he’s gotten no comments.

For all my kvetching . . . I think the evaluation process is important. I would much rather work in an organization that evaluates, than one that does not. For if an organization does not step back and assess its most important resource – its people – it does not truly value them. And I truly do strive that the evaluations I give have no surprises (as I long ago learned in Air Force civilian personnel training). The time to deal with problems is when they happen, and the time to celebrate successes is as often as possible. The annual evaluation process just brings it all together, and sets goals for the future.