Cure for the Summertime Blues (part 2)

Great programs are underway for all ages. Today, songster Tom Pease is doing three shows, working his magic for children and parents.Staff and volunteers are working hard to organize things for the thousands who will participate in summer programs. Below, three staff people, one summer intern and two volunteers cover the information desk and prepare for the summer teen program.

more info at apl.org!

Cure for the Summertime Blues (part 1)

We just had the busiest single day our library has ever seen:

• 2,969 people through the doors
• 8,601 items checked out
• 6,608 items checked in

We checked out, on average: one item every five seconds for twelve hours straight! Over 15,000 things moved through our circulation process in one day. When Colleen Rortvedt, our Assistant Director, heard the news, she promptly (and properly) ordered a cake and invited the staff to an impromptu celebration.

We've got a lot of people, staff and volunteers, working hard to make good things happen here. It's important to acknowledge their hard work and celebrate milestone achievements.

This all happened on the first weekday after public schools were out for the year, so a lot of the business was families starting our summer programs. Summer is just beginning: June and July are our busiest months. We're going to work hard -- and have fun!

Book Festival wraps up

Elizabeth Berg, who was the last program of this year's Fox Cities Book Festival, is finishing up in our program area. She drew a crowd of 183 people and we had to scramble to set up additional chairs. A whole bunch of volunteers and Book Festival Board members quickly materialized to help get the chairs out.

That's just the way the whole thing has been -- all sorts of people, from all over the Fox Cities, pitching in together to promote authors, books and reading. It'll be awhile before all the heads are counted and all the evaluations are read, but I'd say it was a howling success. Our library had almost 1,100 people attending programs over the past four days. Michael Perry, our community read author, drew about 1,500 people speaking at every public library in the Fox Cities, plus the UW-Fox campus and in concert at the Performing Arts Center. Our National Library Week door count was 1,868 people a day coming to our building.

But numbers hardly tell the story. The real news was in all the conversations that sprang up, all the connections that developed, all the people exposed to authors and ideas they didn't know before. You get a lot of laughs hearing Sherman Alexie describe his appearance on the Colbert Report, or watching Nikola-Lisa wearing shades, playing the blues harp and doing a rap version of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" -- and then you can talk to people about it.

It took a lot of work, a lot of donations and a lot of hours of volunteer time by a lot of people. Every public library, and a lot of the school and university libraries, in the Fox Cities has been involved, along with many other community-minded folks who work for the joys of books, readers and writers. I'm betting we'll do it again!

photo: Michael Perry @ APL. Photo by Michael Kenney

Library Building Program Design Study

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.

Francis Bacon

We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities.

Pogo (Walt Kelly)

Things change. And in the 30 years since our current library was designed, library service has changed a lot. We're in the second year of studying our facility needs. Both year's studies were funded as part of our City capital budget, but with substantial dollars from our Library Foundation under-writing the cost.

2008
Our building study done in 2008 featured lots of community input: surveys, small groups, interviews with community leaders, and public town hall meetings. Altogether about 1,000 community members provided input. The conclusion was that our library needs more space and better functionality, including:

• More room for materials
• More room for public seating
• More meeting room spaces -- easier to set up and maintain and more readily accessible
  
• Improved security, including a better designed controlled exit and Radio Frequency ID for materials
  
• Technology, including more self-checks and an automated materials handling system to manage workloads
• Explore a drive-up window and cafe.
  
• 21st century services - spaces and connections designed for computers, more computers, shared work spaces, and learning labs
  

The study concluded that library service needs of this community would be best served by an new building or a major expansion of this building. We're proceeding with caution, particularly in the current economic climate, and don't expect that this would occur for years, but we still need to plan.

2009
This year, we're looking at program design. Thinking about the future of our library, this process will help us define the puzzle pieces, look at assembling them into different pictures, and present alternative building layouts to the Mayor, Library Board, and City Council. We can look at the pros & cons, the cost & value of different models.

In this year's process:

• We sent out Request for Proposals to:
  
• Define an architectural program to meet service needs
  
• Develop two conceptual designs: new building, and remodel/expand
• Fourteen proposals were received
• Three architectural firms were interviewed
• Engberg Anderson & George Lawson were hired
• Engberg Anderson library projects include:
• Shorewood
• Two Rivers
• Cudahy
• Beloit
• Brown County – Weyers Hilliard Branch
• 1994 APL study & preliminary design

The timeline for this year's study:

• Tour, identify issues, begin worksheets 4/7
• Complete worksheets 4/8-19
• Staff interviews & data refinement 4/20-22
• Review draft program with Library Board Building Committee 5/8
• Meet with Mayor & City stakeholders 5/11
• Draft concepts workshop 5/18
• Concept approval 6/1
• Present to Library Board & City Council 6/16 &17

And then there are political decisions to be made.

• Library Building Committee and Board will probably make a recommendation
• Mayor decides what to put in the Executive Budget
  
• Budget approval is up to the City Council – they approve long range capital plans, as well as appropriation for next year
• Marketing – sharing the story – will be a job for the whole library staff and supporters
  
• Any political effort to create community discussion will need leadership from our Friends' group
  
• Any project is likely to require significant private dollars. Fundraising through a capital campaign, led by our Library Foundation, will be important – and could start later this year
• A referendum is a possible way for the community to make a decision, though not it would not be my preference, as it would be expensive in its own right

A final thought, as we move (carefully) forward:

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Alan Kay

Library issues & the state budget hearing

The Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin Legislature is holding one of their regional budget hearings in Appleton today. There was a huge turnout at Lawrence University. I felt I needed to testify in support of public libraries.

Libraries are reasonably well-served in the budget: if we're getting less of what we asked for, we're getting a great deal of what we need. We're feeling the squeeze of significant increases in use and flat or decreasing funding. The Governor has done right to support library systems, which in turn support local libraries. To do this, he has moved more of state funding for library services off the income tax and is funding it via the Universal Service Fund, which comes from a surcharge on phone bills. This plan was attacked by our State Senator, Mike Ellis, so I felt some need to defend it. You can read a copy of Sen. Ellis's critique and my response on the FoxPolitics blog.

Here's my written testimony as submitted to the Committee:

Members of the Joint Finance Committee:

My name is Terry Dawson. I serve as the Director of the Appleton Public Library, and am a member and Past President of the Wisconsin Library Association.

I support the 2009-2011 budget bill, as introduced by the Joint Finance Committee, which provides a Universal Service Fund appropriation to fund specific library services: BadgerLink, Public Library System Aids, the Statewide Resource-Sharing Contracts, and Newsline for the Blind.

The original act that established the Universal Service Fund, 1993 Wisconsin Act 496, states that the fund shall give priority to: "local units of government, educational institutions and libraries". To that end, I served as a public library representative, appointed by Governor Thompson, on the Universal Service Fund Council, advising the PSC on fund disbursement, for two terms, beginning in 1994.

In recent years, library systems have become increasingly focused on and built around telecommunications-based services to local communities; technology has evolved systems into networks. Thus state support coming from the Universal Service Fund, as opposed to income tax, makes good sense, is consistent with the purpose of the Universal Service Fund, and makes it possible to sustain critically important library services.

During these difficult economic times, library use has increased dramatically, and use of telecommunications services provided through libraries has been even more dramatic, as we provide increased support for job seekers and those who have lost access to other resources. At our library alone, users logged 12,899 hours on public computers in the first two months of 2009, a 60% increase from the previous year. These computers access the Internet over connections provided through our library system. Systems are provide open access and communications services -- effectively promoting collaboration to level the playing field, and create opportunities for all Wisconsin residents.

The Appleton Public Library has over 84,000 library card holders, and more than 1,600 people per day come through our doors. Every item checked out, every web page viewed, every database search, every use of the catalog – these are all made possible through services provided by the Outagamie Waupaca Library System, funded through this budget. Vital access to information and materials occurs through BadgerLink, Resource-sharing and Newsline.

I urge you to use this budget, as introduced, to help sustain our library and all of Wisconsin’s public libraries as we work to create equal opportunities for your constituents to learn and enrich their lives.

Thank you.

The Death of Content?

Aaron Schmidt has posted "libraries might not provide content in the future & it’s okay on Walking Paper. It's a provocative piece occasioned by some recent technology developments including:

• iPhone's Kindle ap, allowing any iPhone owner the ability to buy Kindle content (the same content Amazon will not license for library circulation, no matter how many Kindles we buy)
• Netflix offering streaming-only subscription plans, and new collaborations with the New York Times and Rotten Tomatoes, hastening the demise of the DVD as a physical artifact the same way that
• iTunes has become the world's biggest record store -- which is probably why Amazon is emailing me MP3 sales promos
• the demise of many newspapers, including the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on the brink
• more online content subject to restrictive DRM that will tend to squeeze out libraries
  

I agree that this is a serious concern, but disagree with where Aaron Schmidt seems to take it:

It really doesn’t matter if we stop providing content in the same way. It might be the best thing to happen to public libraries. Yes, there will be some access equality issues that need sorting, but if we don’t have to concern ourselves with making sure people have access to content we’ll have more time to create excellent programs and experiences based around content and conversation.

In response, I wrote:

Yes, we are increasingly a community center. But let’s not kid ourselves: it’s access to materials and the Internet that are bringing people to our doors. Kathleen de la Pena McCook has famously noted that information equity is the core value of our profession. It may be that in our provision of popular media we have veered too far toward Charlie Robinson’s “give ‘em what they want” and that the loss of ability to provide content will create more opportunities to “give ‘em what they need.”

But we should not let the baby slide out with the bathwater. I agree with Jonathon Rochkind’s comment above:

“we also ought not to sanguinely accept publisher’s attempts to illegalize libraries traditional content provision business in the “1s and 0s” market, like they would have liked to even in the print market. We should fight it with tooth and nail.”

In the interest of preserving equity of access to information, we need to utilize — and seek to improve agreements with — online content providers that see potential in our markets.

You note that “the real emphasis has been on providing shared experiences by gathering people together at hosted events. Connecting people in this way has more of a positive impact than sinmply sending someone home with a disc”. True as far as it goes, but the “shared experience” part of our service is still only a small fraction of the “circulating materials” part of our service. We need to intentionally prepare for changes, but I’m not ready to shrug off materials provision in the future just yet.

I think we need to be serious about content provision in new ways. It doesn't bother me that users will get new content in new ways -- I enjoy streaming Netflix too -- but we have an interest in assuring that diverse content is broadly accessible. Although equity of access and quality shared experiences are both critical for public library, the importance of access will continue to be primary for the foreseeable future. I suggest we need to do several things:

• continue collective action on DRM legislative issues. ALA has terrific resources on this, and we may currently have a more receptive audience in Washington than we've seen for awhile;
• our market muscle may not be huge, but it exists: we can encourage vendors to broaden offerings and make them easier to use and license, e.g. Overdrive's adoption of MP3;
• continue to develop other digital resources via
• digital and digitized collections
• robust vital websites
  
• chat reference
• mobile web
• continue to help our patrons know that however content and information channels change, however the digital divide evolves, librarians have a commitment to helping them get access to the resources they need;
• continue to do our best to work with currently available media -- seems like a no-brainer, but people are borrowing more books than ever.

Libraries' role as content providers cannot be a warehouse function only, but needs to look forward as well as backward. Libraries' role as an agency of transformation needs both sacred communal space and connection to unlimited possibilities. Digital excitements notwithstanding, the novel and the picture book seem stronger than ever and not likely to go away soon. I'm glad teens can play Guitar Hero here, but that doesn't supplant the importance of a parent with a toddler in their lap reading Goodnight Moon. Some parts of libraries' transformative power are more intimate than they are collective.

But as caleb notes in a thoughtful response on Bibliographic Wilderness: "we are going to work harder than ever". That much we all seem to agree on.

Pat Horn, Circulation Clerk, receives Courtesy Award

Pat Horn, left, with random cybrarian and Rotary Courtesy Award presenter Barbara Kelly

Pat Horn was one of the recipients of this year's Courtesy Award from the Appleton Downtown Rotary. She was nominated by Terry Bergen, who wrote:

I am a frequent patron of the Appleton Public Library because I am in two book clubs. The library becomes more and more heavily used every day and the line at the circulation desk is always long. I am always surprised to notice the good humor and gracious helpfulness of the circulation staff at the check-out desk, regardless of the conditions. Patrons will often get angry or rude for reasons beyond the control of the staff such as an overdue book fine or a lost book fee. The circulation staff serve thousands of people every day at the checkout desk, processing more than 1.5 million items every year. One individual I noticed in particular is an exceptional provider of customer service. I described this person to the Circulation Supervisor at the library who gave me her name, Pat Horn. The Circulation Supervisor also endorsed Pat as the outstanding member of her team because of her caring and attentive customer service.

Pat (Patricia) Horn is particularly worthy of the Courtesy Award because she warmly welcomes everyone who approaches the checkout desk at the library and:

• listens to patrons' concerns
• is able to communicate and enforce library rules, procedures, and policies in a way that informs without offending
• makes everyone, from all walks of life, feel like this is his or her library
• never has a bad day
• never gets rattled
• will drop everything and look throughout the library for something a patron wants so that they leave knowing she did everything she could do to find what he wanted

This award reflects particularly well on Pat, who has a great gift for service, cares deeply, and applies her heart and mind to doing a good job for our patrons. But it also reflects well on the whole terrific crew at our Circ Desk.

Thanks to Library Trustee Terry Bergen for taking note and submitting the nomination. Thanks to the Rotary for making this award. But especially, congratulations & thanks, Pat!

from left: Brian Kopetsky, Terry Dawson, Colleen Rortvedt, Pat Horn, Vicki Lenz

The Library Rebooted

There's a very worthwhile article for librarians and library supporters in the Spring 2009 issue of Strategy + Business. The article, "The Library Rebooted" has a good overview of changes in library services, a good section on the relevance of public community libraries, a section on digital challenges for research libraries, an excellent sidebar on "Why Libraries Are Good Investments", and Seven Imperatives for Library Leadership, including:

1. Rethink the operating model
2. Understand and respond to user needs
3. Embrace the concept of continuous innovation
4. Forge a digital identity
5. Connect with stakeholders in ways pure Internet companies cannot
6. Expand the metrics
7. Be courageous

Thanks to Tom Corsmeier for the heads-up on some good reading!

Diversity: What is Your Comfort Level?

I'm excited that next Saturday, March 7, Appleton will host a Diversity Conference. Our library will be a participant at the event, held at Appleton North High School and sponsored by the Fox Cities Rotary Multicultural Center -- of which the library is a member.

I have long felt that public libraries have a natural affinity for diversity efforts. Inclusiveness and opportunity for the entire community are part of our core values, and our continuing focus on intellectual freedom means we are bound to seek out and include all points of view. So I'm glad we'll be participating in this conference, which "is to provide ideas, resources and inspiration to educators and community members to make a difference", with a focus on

• Enhancing a Multicultural Learning Environment
• Eliminating the Achievement Gap
• Fostering Social Justice/Activism
• Promoting Multicultural Education in the 21st Century

Sessions will include, among others:

• Eliminating the Achievement (Opportunity) Gap through Multicultural Education: Shifts of Consciousness and Practice
• Societal Trends Affecting Education
• Mental Health Issues in the Classroom and the Community
• Integrating Multicultural Literature Into Curriculum: A Space and Place For All
• Closing the Knowledge Gap is a key to Eliminating the Achievement Gap
• Honoring our Common Differences: Creating Inclusive Classroom or Workplaces
• Disparities in Poverty and Race: Closing the Achievement Gap
• Promoting an Inclusive Environment for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender Individuals in our Schools, Workplace, and Community
• Diversity Resources at the Appleton Public Library
• Lawrence University ArtsBridge: A Successful Model for Integrating the Arts with the Contemporary World Studies Curriculum
• Our Impoverished Notions of Poverty: Toward an Authentic Understanding of Education and Class
• Community Dialogue on Unity and Diversity

I'm glad our community is intentional about this conversation and look forward to the increased awareness that will result. I'm proud we can be a small part of it. Get a brochure for the event here.

Library building study 2009

There's more unemployment. The world's economy continues to degrade, and is not likely to significantly improve before next year. Appleton voters defeated two school referenda. Is this any time to be planning to grow the library?

Emphatically, yes.

There are three reasons this is a good time for planning. First, to plan is not to build, but to be ready to build when the time is right. Second, the need to do this was well established years ago, and strongly demonstrated again in the study done last year, even before the economic downtourn. Third, the worsening economy has made the library even more important in many lives.

The library's volume of business has been growing steadily for years, but in recent months has grown in leaps with the economic problems. The added library use gives us a preview of how crowded we will continue to be without more space. The poor economy has re-emphasized our need to find new efficiencies in operations, even while it reminds us that we need to plan for brighter days.

Our 2008 study, involving about 1,000 community members in surveys, focus groups, interviews and town hall meetings, reaffirmed that our library needs a larger space designed to efficiently provide 21st century services. This year, we will work with architects to roughly lay out spaces to do this work. We'll plan sizes, adjacencies, and functions. We'll look at cost options for a new building vs. remodeling current space. We'll get a vision of what could be.

When that vision will be realized may be uncertain. But it is certain that we need to be ready for a better future and move in that direction. The staff and Board of our library will keep talking and will keep involving the community. We won't go forward until this city is ready to go forward, but this is a good time to plan: realistically and hopefully looking toward the future.