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A recent commercial playing on television extols going to a vacation spot where you can read anything you want and not be embarrassed. Isn’t it too bad that we live in a culture that is so driven that some would view reading something light or recreational as a waste of time?

I think librarians are the worst. A few months ago, we started a meeting of the public library directors going around the room sharing what we were reading. This was done by way of introduction to the new SELCO Community Information Librarian. I was amazed at how many people apologetically said they were reading a fiction book. It seems to me that in the stressful world of being a library director, it would be admirable to demonstrate the sheer joy of the literature we collect.

I, on the other hand, have limited ability to read fiction (I have to work on that). I truly enjoy reading non-fiction, self-help, or management-related books. Tomorrow I am giving a book-review at the Harmony Public Library “tea time”. Being quite sure that no one would want to hear about my current reading project (Drucker’s Managing the Non-Profit Organization) I have been gulping down Grogan’s Marley and Me. Not a bad read! It reminds me of a couple furry friends that live in my house.

When I came to this organization, my biggest bafflement was the organizational governance structure. Heck, I couldn’t even keep the meetings straight, which drove the Executive Director crazy (she probably wandered what kind of imbecile she had hired). There was the full Board, then the Executive Committee, which was not quite the full Board, but seemed at some times to have a lot more influence. Then there were lots of committees, both advisory committees (either bi-monthly or quarterly) and then other committees that just popped up on my schedule on an erratic schedule. And the prime puzzlement was that some people showed up at multiple meetings, while others came only to one kind of meeting and I guess would never come to some other meeting because that’s not their area of involvement. Even my staff colleagues confused me . . . “you should care about that, but that doesn’t involve you.” Whew!

I made a chart, and slowly got them in order in my mind. By the way, I’ve seen the same thing happen to everyone we’ve hired, and I’ve shared my chart with all of them. Even with the chart, it takes a loooooooong time to keep it all in order.

Part of my frustration with the governance-thing was that this was a whole new world for me. Having worked for Defense Department linked organizations for a large part of my adult life I was used to the chain of command structure, and was comfortable with it. There was a well-defined order. Someone was in charge. Sure, there would be committees, and we would discuss and advise. And we would always come to a decision, which would be in line with the position of appropriate rank (who was usually part of the process) to make the decided action happen, including making sure resources were appropriated. Some other person or group didn’t come back and question the decision, or possibly even create such a controversy that the decision was reconsidered, amended or possibly downright overthrown. And no one ever reached back into history to assess blame to a decided course of action that was jointly made and executed.

I understand our structure now, and I live with it. I even have come to believe in a representative governing structure that shares decision-making power. But I don’t think I’ll ever understand the propensity of fear that rears its ugly head all too often and manifests itself in the paralytic desire to second-guess, rehash, or analyze a proposed course of action to death and even more bewildering, to condemn past decisions and committees who made them.

I think it is important for everyone in a decision making position for a collaborative organizations, like ours, to keep in mind foremost the big picture. What is best for most is almost always best for all. If something hurts even one member, it is important to re-analyze and consider an alternative action. A proposed decision that expends a great amount of regional resources and benefits very few should be approached cautiously. And everyone should use the utmost diplomacy in controversial debate, and possibly agree to disagree – or even to support a conclusion that may benefit others far more than themselves.

In the past couple years the hot new service for public libraries has been to provide homework help centers. More recently, I’m seeing news releases of libraries providing tutor.com to their communities. Today it was the St. Paul Public Library announcing the service.

Though I laud the public libraries for stepping up to fill this need, I am finding this disturbing – on a multiple of levels.

I am disturbed that families are unwilling, unable, or possibly just plain abdicating their role to provide help with homework. Working with children on their schoolwork is a bonding experience for parents. It also keeps them in tune with what their children are learning and who they are becoming.

I am disturbed that schools are making assignments for which the school does not provide resources. When children need resources, parents either bring or send them to the public library both physically and virtually, where there is not necessarily a person helping them who is knowledgeable in school curriculum. Alarmingly, that help is then coming from a distance contract service over the Internet. Ironically, that is the same Internet where we tell children to assume an attitude of wariness and distrust.

I am concerned that public libraries are unilaterally assuming a responsibility for which they are not wholly qualified and that should be shared with other partners in the community. I hope that we as communities will seek to build local partnerships that include the K-12 educational system, academic institutions that may be in the community, businesses, and the public library with its cradle to grave responsibility.

The possibilities of that group working together are truly exciting. Instead of just the disembodied online help, we could collectively work to establish a system that could give our kids real human contact that cares about their success and walks with them through the educational process.

A book loving acquaintance bought the book “Brokeback Mountain”. She says that she’d rather read a book-turned-movie before she sees the movie than after she sees it. I agree with her. With the many award nominations for the movie, she intended to see the movie.

Trouble was, she did not know anything about the movie, nor did she read the subject headings, where she would have read the subject “homosexuality.” She was genuinely shocked by the book, and took it back to Barnes and Noble for a refund.

I asked her if her reaction would have been the same if she’d seen the movie. She said no, because she would have seen the ratings and expected it.

I wonder what would happen if libraries put ratings stickers on books like they do at the movies.

My mother would say, “what a lovely lady.” And she was. But Mother (independent German stock that she is) would also say “what a lotta nerve she has”. And she does. But all in all, it was a refreshing chance encounter in an otherwise dull, grey day.

I went to the mall to get a book for my lover’s Valentine gift. Then I went to Café Court, bought a sandwich, sat down, and was about to have lunch with Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Heaven knows, at over 700 pages, I won’t get a chance at reading it for a while.

But there she was, as I looked up from the book, held far to the left of where I was munching on my dripping chopped steak sandwich. Didn’t really want to drip lettuce or onions on a gift book before it was even presented. Yes, there she was, holding her tray, smiling at me and asking if she could join me.

The tables were not crowded, less than half occupied on this Tuesday noon. I really don’t know why she asked, nor why I said yes, but she didn’t look crazy, or like she would try to save my soul, or anything threatening in this wide-open public space. So, she sat down and we chatted. I must admit, I enjoyed my lunch with this senior, mall-walking dynamo, who dropped into my life. We exchanged first names and other life facts like that she’s a retired nurse from Methodist Hospital. We talked about books and our children, especially her daughter who was killed by a drunk driver.

Then we flew off our separate ways as we bid mutual good wishes for a good day. I know mine was immeasurably better for having spent less than a half hour together. I hope hers was too.

When I worked for the Air Force, the director of the base library was known as the Base Librarian, not the library director, or director of the library (somewhat passive titles – where the position seems to modify the institution). When the Minnesota State Librarian was hired, she re-claimed that unique title that had been lost with the annihilation of the Minnesota State Library.

I like this acclamation – that there is a person in charge of all those things associated with the collective knowledge of the community the library serves. Sort of like the “Sheriff” of a county – not the director of the sheriff’s department, but the “Sheriff”. All the law enforcement personnel who support the work of that department are known as “deputies”.

So, let’s have the “city librarian” — a position to take their place with other important utilities, like superintendent of public works, fire marshal, chief of police, or city attorney.

Just ran across this resource on Blog Safety: BlogSafety.com. Good information for teachers and parents who might find the whole blog-thing scary — especially “MySpace”. Now, if only the kids would enter this virtual world with caution.

I went shopping today . . . and thought about libraries. Yes, I think about libraries a lot (even on Sunday) – some say I should get a life ;^)

First I went to Home Depot to buy a new kitchen faucet. There was a very expansive faucet display, with every kind and price faucet you could want, all on a display wall. The bottom of the display was about eye-level for me, and went up from there. Each faucet had a sign, with the price of the faucet and the features/installation requirements. Trouble is, I had trouble reading the signs. I’m a baby-boomer, with middle-aged vision compensated for with trifocals. In order to read the signs, I had to tip my head way back, attempting to find the part of the visual field where I could read the printing. Some of the signs I couldn’t read at all, and after stretching my neck back until it hurt, I went to Menards and bought my faucet.

Then I went to Barnes and Noble to buy Marly and Me. No trouble finding it on prominent displays, since it’s #1 on the New York Times best-seller list for non-fiction. Then I wandered around the store, browsing the displays on tabletops. I ended up buying Marly, plus 2 more books I didn’t even know I wanted before walking into the store.

Thirdly, I went to Hollywood Video. Multiple copies of new releases were all around the perimeter of the store. In the center of the store were previous new releases, being sold as excess/used merchandise at a fraction of the original cost.

All this reminded me of a class I took in library school at UIUC – Marketing Library Services. A class exercise was looking at libraries through the eyes of a customer. How many books in the library are beyond the field of trifocals, or what treasures are there buried in the stacks that could find new life in a table-top display? And how many customers could we thrill with shorter waiting-lists for best-sellers?

I don’t know how feasible all of this is, but it sure is interesting to ponder.

From Bulletin Board in today’s Pioneer Press:

“A recent issue of Sports Illustrated featured a story on NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

An excerpt: ‘After (graduating from) NYU, Tagliabue worked for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on nuclear-weapons policy. The two great lessons he took away from his time at the Pentagon were 1) “No matter how well designed the system is, monkeys still run the system,” and 2) “Whoever is most critical to your plan will be in the crapper when you really need him.” ‘

How true.

During library school at UIUC as a LEEP student, we spent a fair amount of time debating the name of library schools, and how many venerable ALA accredited programs have dumped the “library” word. As glassy-eyed students, most of us could not understand this drastic action and definitely did not approve.

Now OCLC published a report just last month, Perceptions of Libraries and Information Sources that provides evidence that the word library is a brand that invokes perceptions that are not necessarily healthy for the longevity of libraries. OCLC report
Chris Olson, as a guest columnist in Informed Librarian reviews the report, and cites 3 key findings:
1. The people surveyed overwhelmingly equate the library brand with “books.”
2. Respondents use the library less and read less since they began using the Internet.
3. People like to self-serve when it comes to locating information.

Reading the Tea Leaves, Chris Olson, Guest Forum, Informed Librarian Online

Chris further relates what a millstone the library brand is becoming to libraries who are working to project the image of information utility. Libraries have always been and probably always will be associated with repositories of books. Looking up the word library in a dictionary gives primary meanings related to books and repositories. Even Wikipedia only adds “modern libraries” and access to information in the second paragraph.

I work hard to inspire libraries of all types to establish themselves as something more in their communities than the place they keep the books. The libraries I see receiving the most respect (and the funding that follows) have positioned themselves as an intrinsic part of their communities, as critical a utility as the power company.

I understand the concept that Chris is putting forth, but I fear that attempts to adopt a new identity and word other than library will not be in our best interest. As an example, I see school library media centers being marginalized out of existence. I hypothesize that the beginning of the end for those institutions was when they ceased to be known as libraries with all the history, tradition, and respect of the institution in the educational system, and proclaimed themselves as media centers – media being something that could be maintained with credentials far less than those of the teaching librarian.