Goodbye (part 1)

After forty years working in libraries, including thirty-two years at APL – of which twenty-two have been in administration and the last fifteen as Director, I’m down to my last day before retirement.

It seems appropriate to share a few reflections and one librarian’s opinion on where we've been and where we’re going. I've seen massive changes in how we provide library service. At the UW-Memorial Library in 1972, we hand-stamped transaction cards each time a book was checked out, filed copies of the cards in call number order, and pulled them from the files when the books came back or when somebody wanted to place a hold. We had to maintain card catalogs for people to find anything and the catalog alone at Memorial took up a room larger than many small public libraries.

As a new reference librarian here in 1978, I could answer most questions by consulting our small card catalog, the Reader’s Guide to Periodicals (and its specialized cousins), and some selected reference books. We sent inter-library loan requests only a few places, using a teletype machine. Our media collections were LP records, a few filmstrips and – just for schools and groups -- 16 mm films. We had no community meeting spaces, very few adult programs, and none for teens.

So what’s changed? There’s been a revolution in electronic communications and thus in information. Databases and Google searches have replaced many reference books. Email and text messaging have replaced postal mail and telephone. So the library’s tradition “bibliographic instruction” of teaching people how to find things has gone electronic, in big-time fashion, with informal assistance in getting an email account and formal instruction in computer basics as precursors to doing meaningful research. "Library 2.0" has developed connections and interactivity, while shared automation networks have created huge virtual collections, making more library materials available to more people in more ready fashion than ever.

Growth in electronic media has meant that library materials are continuing to change, although book circulation is still huge, DVDs, digital recorded books, and eBooks are all increasing their share of library use. Downloadable electronic files continue to shake the publishing world and libraries are struggling to define their place and preserve their values in this rapidly evolving environment.

The library has long been a community center, but is more self-consciously developing that role with programs for all ages and interests, awareness of learning as a social activity, community meeting spaces, exhibits and displays and outreach via staff involvement with partner groups. Program attendance and meeting room use have grown rapidly. In Appleton, as in many places, we are more aware of the centrality of volunteers and friends in fulfilling the library’s mission. Many essential tasks are now done by volunteers as shrinking public funding has not been sufficient for the staff to grow as quickly as demands for services. There is an increasing reliance on donations and endowments. All of this leads to the need for a strong balanced friends organization providing a variety of support including volunteers, marketing, fundraising and advocacy.

With so many changes, are libraries still the same and relevant? Absolutely, and more than ever! The unchanging mission of the public library is for information equity, intellectual freedom, and a diversity of ideas, opinions and users. Public libraries support every individual’s ability to define and pursue their own opportunity, and the changing economics of information only increase the importance of supporting that for everyone. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” The public library is an institution working to guarantee this right.

The library has long been a cultural center, which no longer means a book warehouse, if it ever did. We support everyone's access to the cultural record in myriad forms. Libraries are individually responsive to their communities, but everywhere support lifelong learning, the love of books and reading, and the chance for everyone to learning independently on their own terms.

The technology changes the techniques, but not the values.

I’m leaving my job, but I’m still a librarian and will continue to work for the values of libraries – particularly public libraries.

Reading for librarians & advocates: interview with Gail Bush

In a great articulation of the timeless yet evolving value of libraries -- particularly public libraries -- jobber BWi has a worthwhile interview with Dr. Gail Bush on their blog. Dr. Bush is a professor in the reading and language department, director of the school library program, and director of the Center for Teaching through Children’s Books at National–Louis University in Skokie, Illinois. She is also a public library trustee for the Evanston Public Library.

Among her points:

• "The library, at its very core, is the cultural institution of the community. It has a unique role, which is why it is a universal in cultures with written traditions. The stewardship of the human records in that society in which the community dwells is one aspect of the role, the other, perhaps more authentic role for the library user, is the role in the enculturation [of] the next generation."


• "...the library is a reflection of its community at a moment in time. Each library tells its own story. This is who we are, we bring with us who we have been, and we strive to serve who we might be. Libraries, like their users, are in a constant state of becoming."


• "Entering a library on any given day is like standing in a river with the waters flowing around you. As you enter the library, it is your identity that becomes the driving force. How might that library serve your needs? Who are you today? Who are you in the process of becoming?"


• "On my desk sits a tiny publication that packs a wallop. It is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ... it is Article 19 that I see as a beacon for librarianship, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
  


• "We stand on the frontlines of ... democratic ideals, we are the community agency that welcomes you in as you are and helps you to become who you might be, which, in our country, is limited only by your own vision and determination."
  


• "We need to stay true to our vision. We do not have the luxury to allow ‘our current situation’ to limit our thinking, contain our potential, or impair transformation of our communities."


• "...quality literature and critical thinking require guided discovery. Conversation is key; it is in dialogue that we best serve our young charges and in fact, that we gain self-knowledge.


• Keep the community close so that you hear from supporters and detractors. Stay aware of other community agencies and align your goals to best serve your constituents.


• "Traditionally we help learners find answers to their questions. Now we are obliged to help them question the answers."


• "In a nutshell, libraries and technology have been interwoven since the days of Alexandria. And since change is our constant, what better fit for the advances of emerging technologies to find a home at your community library. As we move closer to the semantic web, we need to stay vigilante that personalized information services do not limit the perspective of our learners."


• "Librarians need to be open to the universe... We need to mine our inner resources, to continue that novice perspective of learning something so new and different in order to keep the needs of the learner fresh in our minds."

There's a bunch more, worth reading for librarians and library supporters.

Why we fight, part 1 -- stories from the state conference

As I'm waiting for tonight's public hearing on the annual city budget, I'm remembering the state library conference held here in Appleton a couple of weeks ago. It was a good conference, with some excellent speakers and programs, opportunities to share with colleagues, and vendor products to review. But I keep thinking about two stories I heard, stories that highlight the importance of what we're doing.

The first was at the awards banquet, where Lynda Barry accepted the RR Donnelley Literary Award, given for the highest literary achievement by a Wisconsin author in 2009, for her book What It Is. She talked about problems in her home life when she was young, and how she regarded school teachers and public librarians as fulfilling parental roles and the public library becoming a home. She told how the public library, as a safe place that welcomed her, offered encouragement and opportunities to learn, had been essential for her.

The second story was told by the staff and library board members of the West Bend Public Library, which this year dealt with some difficult materials challenges -- challenges which had divided the community as the challengers sought to try the case in the media and in blogs rather than before the library board. The challenges had started with young adult materials, particularly a few titles addressing gay and lesbian issues for teens. When the situation finally came before the board, the public comments were recorded on video, and this video was shared at the conference.

Among the many passionate statements pro and con, there were two that resonated powerfully with me. One was a professor from UW-M who reminded listeners that the Library Bill of Rights was originally developed in our country in response to Nazi book-burning. The Nazis actively worked to make public libraries into institutions of propaganda, communicating only party-sanctioned values. The second speak was a mom with two grown sons, one of whom had grown up suffering discrimination, bullying and uncertainty as a gay teen. She said it would have meant the world to him to simply have access to a novel with characters who were like him and dealing with his issues.

This is why we fight for our public libraries. We need a place for everyone -- a safe, intellectually and culturally nourishing center of our community, a place for opportunities to learn and grow, where people and ideas are welcome. Thanks to Lynda Barry and the West Bend Public Library for reminding us.

Community space

Our library provides meeting spaces for community groups as one of our essential services. At Monday's meeting of the Capital Facilities Committee, examining the need for a new library building, one of our Alderpersons questioned plans to include expanded meeting spaces, asking:

"Why should the library incorporate everything for everyone? Why should the taxpayers pay for this when other structures exist? Why did the library provide space for a state legislator's listening session?"

Thankfully, another Alderperson, Michael Meyer, had a good answer, showing a strong understanding of the importance of public spaces in a public library. He said many of the same things I would say.

My answer is that of course we are not incorporating everything for everyone. We are doing specific things for specific reasons, in this case providing public gathering spaces to community groups, educational and cultural presentations, government, and library programs. I think we're doing it for some well considered reasons:

• It's our mission: "The Appleton Public Library is a center of community life, offering opportunities to learn, know, gather, and grow."
• Public libraries support democracy and democratic processes
• we're the new town square
• we're neutral ground, not on one side of issues
  
• we are freely accessible -- the ability to use the library is not dependent on ability to pay
• we promote free speech in collections and policies
  
• we promote access to information -- and public access to government, including legislators, congressional representatives, schools, and local, state and national committees and boards
• We're a well-known gathering place for all ages -- children, parents, seniors and families -- as well as all socioeconomic groups, all religions, all ethnic groups, all political viewpoints. The library is visibly for everyone
  
• We support community groups, through providing resources, information, a place to post public notices, as well as a place to gather
• Meeting spaces are integrated with library services:
• we provide library programs, and educational and cultural events, for all ages
• we provide a great many programs in collaboration with other organizations -- often the schools, but also colleges, the Multicultural Center, hospitals, social service agencies, and coalitions like the Project Promise Poverty group, and MoneySmart Week.
• we view collaborations and other meeting room use as an opportunity to help people become aware of books,reading, and other library materials and services -- once we've got them in the door, I love it if they walk out carrying a book!
• Our rooms are heavily used by a broad cross-section of the community: when I looked at several years of records, I found many uses by the local school district and various aspects of government (chiefly local), but also scouts, 4-H, religious groups, the League of Women Voters -- the list is LONG!
• Use is growing steadily over the long term, despite the fact that we have to turn groups away with no space available an impose limits both on the types of users and number of uses. We have a supply and demand issue and a staff cost to meet the demand.
• A new or updated building would allow for:
• Expanded meeting room hours -- available before and after library hours if designed for secure access
• Permanently set-up rooms (board rooms, lecture hall/auditorium) allowing for increased use with decreased set-up times & reduced staffing cost
• More use by business, perhaps on a fee basis, if there's enough space available that a sales meeting wouldn't mean there's no space for the soccer club
• The possibility that we could find donors to subsidize the cost of creating meeting spaces in exchange for naming rights.

The discussion continues...

The Community Library

I worked for seven years in academic libraries and found it worthwhile and fulfilling on many levels. There was a focus on formal learning and research, knowledge in depth, extensive research tools, and a community of scholars. But it wasn't quite my niche. I was looking for something broader, more encompassing and inclusive. I found it at the Appleton Public Library.

I love the fact that this is a place that welcomes all ages and income levels. e only criteria for using the public library are wanting to be here and civil behavior. We've made it easy because we need to be inclusive. We get the babies and the senior citizens. We get the able, the disabled, the well and the ill. We get the doctors, the judges, the preachers, and the homeless. We get the readers and the watchers, those who walk, and those in strollers or wheelchairs. We serve the nonprofit organizations, the business community, and the unemployed. We welcome everyone to a place which is, if not a community of scholars, nonetheless a community of learning, culture, and communication.

Communities and people need public libraries: places to read, talk, go to a 4-H meeting, a puppet show, or a discussion series on the Revolutionary War. Some of us may do research and social networking on home computers, but we need to physically gather with other humans, to ask questions, explore ideas, discuss and learn. We need to find what we’re looking for, but also to be surprised by all the things that are here and all the things others bring. In a democratic society, it’s vital that we create opportunities for everyone to learn – as each person determines their own wants and needs. And people need books, and will for years to come.

We need to be part of a diverse community, to offer and be part of equal opportunity, to seek the challenges of diverse people and different points of view.

Naysayers -- or those neither curious nor community-minded -- may say the day of the library, especially the public library, is past. Those who are paying attention, those who are engaged in making better lives and learning opportunities for themselves and all their neighbors, and the increasing numbers who use us, know better. That’s why U.S. News & World Report picked “librarian” as one of the top careers for 2009, saying “librarians are among our society's most empowering people.” We’re present – and we have a bright future.

Welcome to your public library. We’ll work to keep it welcoming for everyone.


from the Fine Print newsletter, Summer 2009

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.

DC libraries waken controversy

There's a tough dance between being a good librarian, compassionate, progressive, inclusive in providing service -- and yet tough-minded and aware that we're always making choices about scarce resources.

Proposed Rules Would Ban Sleeping in Library

By Martin Weil and Elissa Silverman

Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 29, 2008; Page B03

New rules have been proposed for D.C. public libraries, including a ban on sleeping and a limit on bringing in bags, in what library officials called an effort to make the system more welcoming. [full story]

The coverage is in the Washington Post, but the more interesting story is in the online comments posted, which constitute a fascinating debate about the role of libraries and the problems of homelessness. Seems to be a polarizing issue.

Our approach to date at APL has been to evaluate situations on the extent to which they cause a problem and interfere with library use. The occasional (non-snoring) sleeper has not been a problem, someone passed out in a chair in an alcoholic haze with a booze bottle in his pocket is a problem. If all our chairs were occupied by sleepers it would be different, but where's the line? It's tempting to be black & white: "sleeping is forbidden!", but for now that seems more unjust -- if simpler -- than the more difficult gray of judgement calls.

Cell phones redux

The terrific online comic strip Unshelved hit library cell phone use last week:

Used by permission.

After a spirited discussion at last May's Library Board meeting, our Board upheld staff practices of maintaining our second floor (reference, nonfiction, public Internet) as a cell phone-free zone, while allowing cell phone use on the first floor (circulation, children's, periodicals, media, fiction) and lower level (meeting rooms). This seemed like a workable arrangement -- and a reasonable compromise between those who feel they can use their cell phone any where and those who feel no one should be allowed to use cell phones in the library.

Our practice acknowledges that cell phones are part of people's lives, even at the library, but also that some library users have an expectation of being able to read or study undisturbed. It doesn't eliminate enforcement problems -- there are always some inconsiderate people like the guy in the strip -- but it does manage the situation responsibly. The Board asked us to further study the situation and report back in November. Our Assistant Director, Barb Kelly, presented the following at yesterday's Board meeting.

• Most staff feel that we have found a good balance between the needs of people with cell phones and the needs of others for quiet. Staff did express concern that there were some good reasons why people might need to use a cell phone on the second floor – mostly having to do with the public access computers there and the possibility that someone working on one might need to consult work or school, etc. The sign expressing the rules for the computer lab includes language that allows staff to make exceptions in such cases. Very few exceptions have been requested or made.

• We considered whether there might be space on the first floor that could be made off-limits for cell phones. It is our opinion that this would be very difficult to do, and would not accomplish the desired results of creating a quiet area on that floor. There are really no areas on the first floor that are isolated from the main spaces, and it would be very difficult for staff to enforce any such rules.
• In our recent surveys, 4 people out of 320 results from the in-house survey, and 3 out of 141 online surveys indicated they wished cell phones be banned. That is not a very high percentage, especially given the publicity around the issue.
• We did feel that our signs could be improved. They were all just a little different, having been created at different times. We re-did all of them using the same colors, fonts, graphics, etc. but mainly retaining the language we were using. We have added a sign in the elevator, as some people who never used the stairs did not see the signs there. And we also put signs in the restrooms on the second floor, as people fail to realize how much their voices carry.
• We laminated all of the new signs so that they would hold up better and not become shabby as quickly. We will replace them in the event are defaced or worn.
• Generally, the language on the signs becomes more specific and stronger in tone as one moves from the first floor to the second where cell phone use is prohibited. The sign at the front door is meant to inform people of our rules. The signs in the stairway and elevator instruct people to take action to turn off or silence phones. The signs on the second floor are firm about the rule.

We feel, as you concluded at the May meeting, that this is more of a cell phone user behavior issue than a cell phone issue. We think current practice is properly addressing the concerns.

I appreciate the thoughtful work by Barb and other staff on this issue. Board members had one suggestion: add other languages to the signs. Good idea -- we're on it!

Community space

It's freezing outside, but Alex Kahler and his "Big Brother" Chuck Lewis enjoy a quiet Scrabble game in the green library atrium.

"if anything remains constant, it's our thirst for knowledge and community connection"

Four good library stories in today's Post Crescent...nice job by our paper in delineating library issues for Appleton, the Fox Cities and beyond.

Laurie Kaiser column: Library gives connection to community
Experts not so long ago predicted that the Internet would wipe out the need for public libraries. After all, so much information is just a keystroke away. Who needs dusty reference books and a trip...

Internet offerings keep libraries booked up
Just when folks thought the Internet would send libraries the way of eight-track tapes, it has made them busier than ever.

Public libraries are keeping up

Over the past two decades, Wendy McMorrow has seen the public library grow and change alongside her four children, who range in age from 20 to 12.

Audio books allow 'readers' to get up and go

Cruising down the interstate, Shanna Buettner often pops an audio book in the car stereo and settles in for a long ride.

Governing: "Revolution in the Stacks"

Retiring Guy (aka Middleton Public Library Director Paul Nelson) points out a great article in this month's issue of Governing magazine. "Revolution in the Stacks" emphasizes the need for public libraries to serve a teen clientèle, but along the way, it touches on a lot of issues. Certainly many of them are relevant for our community:

• increasing library use
• changes brought about by technology
• the continuing digital divide
• opportunities for shared media production facilities
  
• changes in library design, including models from retail
  
• public libraries as "the third place"
• library 2.0 as a means of developing interactive, client-centered services.

This is familiar stuff to readers of this blog and to those who have followed the reports from our library facility consultants. Sounds like our consulting team is right on the money, with respect to national trends and best practices.

The Governing article is worth reading for librarians & trustees -- the municipal officials in the magazines may already be reading it, so it's an opportunity.

Revolution in Seattle

Crosscut.com has a great article about the departure of the Seattle library director and her legacy in their library building. The story highlights some of the tensions in modern library design and things communities should consider about library facilities.

A few relevant quotes from the article:

architects must do more than create a visually spectacular structure. They must also make sure the building “works.” Is it efficient, comfortable, and able to do the job for which it was intended?

Libraries today are less about the real estate necessary for storing books, and much more about being a public forum — a space for meetings, performances, gatherings, and centers for community communication.

the public is choosing the atmosphere of the new bookstores over public libraries. ... public librarians must create an environment that will attract young children and keep them coming. ... bookstores could empty public libraries if they don't become more inviting and convenient to match the public's busy lifestyles.

...libraries need to respond to changes, not just build to the old models.... libraries offer hope and guidance to new immigrants and provide a place of acceptance in a world that disenfranchises many people.... if we are to attract children of all ethnic origins and their families into new concepts of citizenship as well as the joys of reading, libraries are the place to start.

Libraries today are spaces for meetings, performances, gatherings, and centers for community communication. Future librarians will be pied pipers, organizers of events that expand horizons and arouse curiosity in books and reading.

Library as Place

Michael Stephens recommended this video in his PLA presentation -- an interesting viewpoint on the intersection of "Library 2.0" and "Library as Place."