Category: Carrie’s Musings    

I can hardly contain the excitement.  It’s been a busy time with technology lately.  We’re excited to announce that the four libraries in Perry County are working together to share information resources with the whole community via technology.

Perry County is about to break new ground and offer an open source OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) to their customers:

• Hosted installation of koha, an online catalog with great features that allows customers to request items for pickup at any Perry County Library and allows Perry County residents access to authenticate direct into more online resources like ebooks and downloadable audio easily.
• Simple to update WordPress website interface for all libraries to update

Note, the sites above are still in testing and draft stages but will be releasing to the public after complettion in October.

In other technology news: The district is in the process of moving the Capital Area Library District Interlibrary Loan Online Application and the district website to new hosted servers.  The district website is an easy place to learn about what’s happening in other district libraries.   We share news and events on the front page.

Stay tuned for more updates on the new Perry County technology project that is releasing for use by the public on October 3, 2011.

Thanks to all who have helped along the way.

I was asked to answer these questions and present them to my colleagues at a meeting at State College:
1. How you understand and define, for yourself, the role of the district consultant
2. How has that role changed for you over the years?
3. What have been your most significant challenges and achievements as a district consultant?
4. What are your goals over the next 6 months?
5. What else would you like to say about being a district consultant?

Faced with these questions, I turned to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the answer: 42

Here are links to a few supporting source documents:
-Job Description for District Consultant
-District Promo 2011,
-Wordle: Word Cloud.

Sense of humor is critical.

Here are the slides/outline I used for the presentation.

DistrictConsultant2011hmmmSlideShow

After returning from the meeting, inspired by the words of friends, colleagues, and staff and leadership of the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, I scribbled down this Communication Plan to help me to be most organized to promote the “Getting on Board” materials that we were shown at the meeting. Communication Plan Draft.

I also wanted to give a shout out to WebJunction and wordpress. Technology tools are as good as the time and energy you put into using them. Make a valuable impact.

Let me know if you want to get involved in any of the projects that the Capital Area Library District has been working on.

I know some people who are in colleges in our area and around the country at lots of different levels. In my chats and discussions with many of them, library resources almost always come up. Public libraries try to provide a new layer of assistance to education and to those students using more technology in schoolwork. Do your library staff know the technology that students are using? Can we meet adult students where they already go?

Here are a few things I have learned about electronic resources from some academic and digital perspectives:

-My friend taking classes online via University of Phoenix is having a very positive experience. The online tools that are learned during the educational experience will serve a workforce that must communicate in many methods and technologies. Check out these tutorials on using their library resources there. Access to see the resources are available to current students and affiliates only, but you can also learn about their knowledge network of library information.

-My friend taking classes at HACC got the library resource tour before writing papers in a couple of his classes. HACC shows that their resources directly impact the courses and provide additional value to students: See the Guides They link exactly that a student may need to support specific courses and show their understanding of technology in education.

I was doing a “vanity-search” of various names when I was thinking about privacy when I ran across this really nice example of a press release announcing new board members to the community. Of course, when I saw the name Cleary University, I had to click further. It led me right to private educational opportunities in the Michigan area, which also seemed to include many other online certification programs and graduate programs. Considering online education, this got me to an online education site where I watched a nice demo of a project management skill improvement class.

All this reminded me how much I’d love to see public libraries open more portals to online education. Since the first time I saw it, I enjoyed the idea of this product available to public libraries, which provides access to online classes to students. It could serve as an entry point for people who need affordable and flexible options for education.

Personally, I would love to see it considered for purchase as a project for the Capital Region or Capital District to help libraries demonstrate their value to PA workforce development. I know thet cost of the resource seems daunting, but perhaps there are area employers who would want to consider a sponsorship of the service fees? (I have pricing information from a great vendor representative if it interests anyone, get in touch.) How would other librarians evaluate this resource?

Ideas and Opportunities in a Digital Age:
-More combined marketing of the “library” brand and use of e-resources: Will we create one site to post all the “online resources” available exclusively via libraries (public & academic/school) in our region or state?
-Statewide ideas are in progress for the 21st Century Literacies Platform for PA Libraries; it’s a big task, but will result in great improvements.
-Embrace technology for everyone; start with your staff and board. Encourage intelligent use of electronic tools in your own organizations. Does your library make meeting agendas and meeting notes available remotely and electronically? Can libraries help other nonprofits and local governments by modeling effective use of technologies to share community news, events, and resources?
-Establish strong specialty collections and develop staff member individual interests; then publicize referral links to local experts for collection or reference.
-Determine a plan for how your organization will decide which websites your organization will link to and which you should encourage to link to you? Do your stakeholders promote your digital resources?
-Try to engage active learners and students as volunteers and think tanks. If you know a student, can you propose a homework assignment that could be used in the classroom and apply to a real life scenario to benefit your library? Are you using interns?
-Offer more open access to public meeting spaces: Where can small study groups or project work groups meet in a neutral public place that isn’t school, work, home or a business? Obviously the answer is the public library; some libraries even offer special small group study space.
-Do you support the faculty that live in the community by buying the books they have written? Just think, the local author’s wisdom might even travel through Interlibrary Loan and delivery to make an impact on someone across the country purely because your library stocks it and shares it. If you can’t afford it, perhaps you can approach the local community member/author for a donated copy to get their support for the public library as a community resource sharing place?
-Do you own the rights to any content you can digitize? The current platform for ebooks allows for upload and sharing of local content. Ask if you are interested.
-Know about the population of learners in the community. Find student opinion surveys, learn what classes are being taken or are required in order to select the best resources.

What do you think of the PA Public Library Code Findings and Recommendations?

PA Broadband Summit notes

Carrie Cleary and two staff members from CCLS attended the PA Broadband Summit.

If you’re interested, you can see handouts and presentation slides from many of the sessions right here: PA Broadband Summit presentation slides

Here are a few of the notes I took that generated questions and ideas that could be applicable to your public library:

There is a critical issue: How can we deliver public library resources and services that meet community needs most effectively? If we choose to deliver services via technology, people need access to technology (even the last mile) and desire to use and trust technology.

Libraries help to deliver improved communications through the internet: how can we harness the needs of nonprofits, civic, and community clubs to help meet our mission?

What triggers the adoption of technology? Check out the Pew studies and learn about the nation and your community: Link to Pew study.

Now that 30% of your users don’t have a landline phone, how does that change your operations?

Factors effecting broadband internet adoption:
-Education level
-Income
-Age
-Rural/non-rural (it is mostly rural people who want access and don’t always have opportunity, but PA is ahead of other states in this area)

How will you handle customers who don’t want to use technology?
Can we deny premium services (like some companies don’t accept job applications) unless patrons use a preferred (effective for us) method of contact?

22% of people simply don’t use the internet directly because they don’t see a need to. How will that change with the next generation?

If people don’t know what they don’t have, they won’t have a reason to use it. Libraries can be a big part of the push to get users online and to streamline the cost of delivering services; we can be effective partners with local government in delivering e-government services effectively.

How does your library support digital literacy?

How do YOU define broadband? What is the national plan? Broadband.gov

Does the debate on net neutrality effect the services your customers want? YES.

Fact: U.S. Broadband prices are higher than in many other countries.

IMLS is developing protocols for libraries. What they are and when they will be announced is being decided: imls.gov

Why should your library support greater broadband adoption?

*A key problem with computer use in public libraries is how to deliver sound that accompanies the videos and tools online. Does your library use headphones so users can access the sound that goes with their video while they learn and browse on public access machines?

Libraries can help to make e-government, e-learning, and information and resource delivery better and faster. With consolidation of efforts, it can be cheaper too.

Have you ever visited savetheinternet.com or read about Net Neutrality? Net neutrality article, one of many

Openness is important to success but we need to reward innovations and let the end user have quality of service choice.

What effect does net neutrality have on your users who must buy devices and subscription services to best meet their needs?

How does your organization aim to deliver content, resources, and information that work on all devices and all connections equally and let the consumer choice drive?

What is “reasonable network management”? How would you define it in a technology plan to allow your users to access the most valuable resources most effectively?

How can we write policies that will stimulate effective use of technology?

What should a framework look like?
-there is a presumption against discrimination. We won’t harm users or get in the way of private competition/innovation.
-broadband providers and services need the freedom to innovate
-customers should be able to understand your network management practices. There should be transparency as to your priorities for speed and reliability of service.

Is a case by case decision made by the FCC better than a set of standards that are difficult to enforce and may cramp innovation?

How does your technology plan address network management? What is restricted and what is advertised as uses of the productive uses of technology?
To ensure quality of service, you have to have some level of discrimination. Which services do you offer expedited or always available access to and which are less important? How can we set clear guidelines for use of limited resources? Align your priorities.

How can public libraries set “priorities” for use of limited technology resources? Does your internet policy officially meet the standards of CIPA? Did “The authority with responsibility for administration of the school or library provide reasonable public notice and hold at least one public hearing to address a proposed Technology Protection Measure and Internet Safety Policy.” from CIPA filtering requirements found here: see CIPA filtering requirements. When was it last reviewed?

What is your library’s role as a consumer protection advocate? Is there an up to date customer bill of rights for your library? Should there be a district or regional bill of rights or should it be localized?

If $1 of technology investment gives $10 of return, how can we capitalize on that?

The critical issues in broadband adoption include:
-People need to use and trust technology to meet information ad service needs, even in rural communities. This means that reliability, security, and speed are important.
-Libraries can become stronger government and community partners by assisting in helping people to take advantage of community betterment through technology services.
-Local government, state and federal government already communicate via technology. The library enable consumers to get that information through the best (cheapest/fastest) method possible.
-Libraries can partner better with schools if they are delivering services via technology.

What follows is a transcript of things I wrote down during the Pat Wagner workshop. It’s good to review the ideas that matter sometimes when you are planning projects and taking next steps rapidly.

It hurts your library when your public expects more than you can deliver on half the budget.

What is the core of your business?

We are forced to innovate. What innovative policy can we place into Resource Sharing to make it most effective?

Truths I believe:
Local district loan is cheap collection sharing.
When time isn’t a factor, we can get most things customers want.
Format shouldn’t matter as much as content
When libraries share all clients benefit.

Stick with the choices you make.

Have the guts to enforce the plan or you let them steal money and time.

Perfectionism is like standing outside your building ripping up $100 bills.

What should the ratio be between items loaned and items borrowed?

Local library loans + district loans + Interlibrary Loans from Access + Interlibrary loans from OCLC = Items borrowed?

Total Items loaned outside our library cannot exceed : ________ (insert number here: what would you base it on?)

People procrastinate on stuff they don’t have to do or stuff without immediate consequences. Who stops you from procrastinating? How does knowledge of fear, policy, evaluation, and humanity help those consequences?

Tip: If you’re trying to explain something, make a graphic equation. Examples:
customer needs + library resouces = better community
Library Resources – Community Needs = Remaining Community Needs
Hours open (Physical Space) / Staff Hours or Staff Costs (How does that look by county or by circulation?)

Who makes the decision so we can get the work done?

How do you know you were successful?

Statistics are the perfect picture of whatever you counted yesterday.

What are the signs you see in a community that show it is prosperous? Be specific about things you see…

Try this exercise: Write a press release or an essay. What 5 things do you give your community?
Try to use concrete evidence, think Law & Order.

Libraries say: Even if we can’t fill your request, we treat you with respect and might offer an alternative.

What are the steps in triage? While we’re not in a critical care unit, how could these help us think about doing effective public library work?

Agreed: Humans misunderstand, make mistakes, and disagree.

Should everybody learn to think like a manager? (depend on who your managers are…)

Keep staff informed of major checkpoints on the way to benchmarks. How do they know they are getting there…?

Scenario for Staff:
1000 people are standing at the desk waving a piece of paper with a request. What do you do?

If you could only fill 100 of them, how would you decide? (With the economy, this reminds me of the scene from It’s a Wonderful Life where George Bailey uses his honeymoon money to help everyone get by until the bank reopened, saving the Bailey Building & Loan. What would happen today?)

How do you communicate to those with needs you cannot meet? (Side story: I was offered money this week to do a job for a patron when I was helping out a customer in a district library while the director answered the phone during our meeting regarding grant funding…Did I want to help the man, yes, but I couldn’t take the time to help him forever, I could only do so much. See, he’d bought a service to make money through a website and he didn’t have an email address. He wanted me to find a way to make his money making scheme work, and to be honest, the sales person who sent him the Priority Mail envelop about his service should have been ashamed of taking someone’s money who couldn’t use the service really, but that’s a whole other story. I couldn’t do it for him, and I didn’t have a friend I could recommend to help, except, well, there’s self education online, programs in community centers, and the director printed contact info on where to register a business complaint because the company was no longer returning phone calls. The one-on0one customer interaction is a difficulty for reference librarians to limit.)

Best tip of the Day for Time Management: Figure out how much time you have before you decide what you will do. (align your expectations!)

For project managers, bad news is good information. It’s GREAT if staff tell you what doesn’t look good, what doesn’t work, and what bumps they hit along the way. This means you are a trusted project manager and that you’re working well together.

Beware of project drift…

There’s no room for grammar in project management, however, you need to DEFINE concrete expectations and milestones.

What’s the ratio between Fast, speed of service; Cheap/Cost/Commodities used or traded ; and Quality/Effectiveness at meeting goals
Quality Metric / Cost = Effective Service Delivery to meet need
Quality + Time = 10
Quality (aka Impact) / cost (aka Resources) = 10 (but 9 is okay too)

What “timing” matters in District Loan/ILL?

How can employees gauge how much time they should spend on a customer request?
Can we write a procedure to enforce common sense?

If your library got a bequest of $1,000,000 and offered to split the ownership of the results of an investment between all the staff and board, how many of your staff would support that idea?
Now…think this: Which programs or services would staff rather sell and split the profits from rather than continue? You’ll see which ones aren’t making an impact.

Something has to be more important than something else. Will you flip a coin to make your decision?

If you can hold a gun to someone’s head and they can complete a task, it is not a training issue.

Define Goals and constraints. Explain the how. (Page 23 of Pat Wagner handouts see here: Project Management and Priorities Sheets by Pat Wagner 2010will be a structure for a few district project outlines I am working on)

Truths of the Capital Resource Sharing Team:
-Local district loan is effective collection sharing.
-When time isn’t a factor, we can get most things customers want through sharing with other library collections through ILL processes.
-Format shouldn’t matter as much as content when considering the value of filling a request.
-When libraries share all clients benefit.
-There must be limits to what requests we will fill for customers. Libraries do not have time to waste.

Which of these statements do you agree with?
Which do you disagree with?
What truths would you add?
Suggestions?

This week I attended a workshop with Pat Wagner offered by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
Posted here, find the handouts with many brilliant tips for good Project Management and Setting Priorities: Project Management and Priorities Sheets by Pat Wagner 2010

Library workshops are sometimes especially valuable for the networking opportunities brought by in person communication and time given to reflect on library ideals in the presence of others.
Below are some random musings I had at and just after the workshop.

What Do Libraries have in Common?:
-Library staff want people to use our organizations and valuable information resources to improve their lives and communities.
-Libraries think that literacy and good citizenship is important.
-Libraries value education for everyone who is interested.
-Libraries are asked to meet minimum service standards to receive funding.
-Libraries receive some combination of funding from government and donations. Most are not-for-profit, or are not charged sales tax.
-Libraries employ human beings and use technology to some level.
-Libraries all have collections of things we loan to people who want to borrow them.

What’s Different?
-Programs we choose to do
-Populations we choose to prioritize
-Items we decide to buy
-Marketing messages we send
-The politics of our local operation
-Local community needs we choose to meet
-How much money we spend
-Who pays for the services
-How long you have to wait in line
-How much space we have available and how well we maintain our facilities
-How we plan

In summary, librarians want people to use our organizations and valuable information resources to improve their lives and communities. We all have different specific ways we do it, but we believe in basic service standards that we aim to meet.

Don’t let money get in the way of serving people with a genuine need for library services. Focus on the positive, instead of on the budget changes. What can you try to reinvent? (See this handout from the DLC Leadership Workshop–Jonelle and Linda attended from our district): Destroy and Rebuild Your Business Model

Together we can demonstrate the value of resource sharing and collaboration in our library community, at the local library, system, district, region, state, and national level. Cooperation often trumps competition when we share the same core mission ideals of meeting literacy needs.

Feel free to continue the conversation below. What are your thoughts on libraries, cooperation, and resource sharing?

Has your library been trying to serve community needs through your website? What website statistics are most important? Are users on internet explorer or firefox or another browser? Is traffic to your website coming from search engines, email messages, or direct referral?

Libraries are great places for people to access the internet, but how does the internet and all of its search engines know your library? Have you tried to search for your library on Google, Bing, or Yahoo like some potential library users might? Do you get the results you want? Is all of the information listed complete and accurate? What does your library’s profile look like? Have you read your user reviews? How do customers find your website?

How do local media websites list your library? Have you searched PennLive http://businessfinder.pennlive.com/PA-Harrisburg-17101?s=library

How do users know the content on your website? Do they know you have databases and other great information? How do you get traffic to your website? Here’s one idea: http://www.google.com/grants/new/index.html

Do you have other ideas? Please share them. There are a lot of questions.

Today, library directors across the state of PA received a letter from Secretary Gluck regarding the distribution of state funds to public libraries.

Here’s a brief quote:
“If the FMAP funding extension is not authorized by Congress, all state line items in the recently passed budget are vulnerable to cuts, including the public library subsidy. Because of this possibility, the public library subsidy will be paid out in the amount of one-twelfth (1/12) of the total amount of the enacted appropriation per month. This will allow for a budget reserve or reduction in 2010 -2011 enacted budget levels, if ultimately necessary.
Congress is considering the FMAP allocation this week (House of Representatives) and next week (Senate) and there is still time for you to communicate with your representatives and senators about the importance of the FMAP extension to Pennsylvania’s budget. You can find contact information for your senator and representative at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/US_Congress.shtml.”

Read more about PA’s changes to state funding for libraries in the convenient comparison chart here: http://pala.affiniscape.com/associations/9291/files/2008-09-10%20state%20budgets%20compared.pdf .

Want to know more? Here’s a state budget policy site with some more information about FMAP funds: http://www.pennbpc.org/FMAP-congressional-district For even more information, ask your reference librarian to do some research so you can have an informed opinion backed up by credible facts to share with the community about how this will effect your budget planning.

For those directors or trustees in the district who want to talk about budget planning for the coming year, contact your consultant.

Keep motivated and focused on delivering necessary services to your customers. Keep focused on ways you can show the positive impact of having strong public library service in your community. Impact stories and real outcomes will be useful tools to demonstrate the great return on government dollars invested in strong information and resources sharing services.

Check out the Foundation Center resources housed at the Dauphin County Library System’s largest library ESA.

Online, you can search a database for examples of possible areas of collaboration. Consider how streamlining the work your organization does by combining forces with other libraries and non-profits could help to expand the impact and make the outcomes of your work more visible in the community. Collaboration Ideas.

Use the search to find examples of other non-profits who have joined together in a collaboration to:
-Purchase goods and /or services together
-Share (co-locate) or better utilize space
-Combine marketing efforts
-Share development (fundraising) activities
-Share advocacy efforts
-Form a confederation
-Merge
-Share staffing
-Share staff training

How could your library apply to win the next Collaboration Prize?

When a group of people comes together with the dedication, courage, and vision to improve community access to shared resources, they make the future brighter for everyone.

That’s what librarians and their supporters do.

Every day amazing people come together to make public library buildings and websites examples of welcoming community centers that offer beneficial resources and services to everyone. These libraries are places where information in many formats is collected, organized, and shared; education is provided and expanded to all ages; and the love of literacy, arts and sciences that enhance our society can thrive.

Public libraries are a place where people (regardless of age, income, race, weight, sexual orientation, religion, or politics) are free to ask for information or to borrow books owned by any other community library, to follow specific interests in any topical area, access technology tools to keep up with the rapidly changing economy, and to clear the pathway to leading successful lives.

Are you a library supporter? I hope so.

Budget proposals estimate a soon to be signed 9.1% state funding cut to the public library subsidy in PA.
Read this memo for more on what the budget holds for libraries. Memo

See calculations of 9.1% reduction for public libraries in the three county Capital Area Library District: Estimated calculations for Cumberland, Dauphin, and Perry County public libraries as well as the District

And for those of you who want to see the whole state budget, here’s a file for that too. General Fund State Appropriations

The belt tightens a little more, especially for those libraries that do not receive much from local municipal or county funding, but the library spirit will stay strong. You can’t defeat a librarian! Libraries are backed by boards of trustees that know what community needs can be best met by sharing resources.

Good strategic planning allows libraries to make the most effective community impact with the resources they have. Continue to play big, focus on outcomes and results, and thrive within the economy you can control, always knowing that your community is 100% better because there is a public library. Call or email your consultant to schedule a consult or Q & A session on budgeting and planning for your library’s future.

Public Libraries can provide basic information services and resources at no direct cost to the end user because the community shares them. The customer with an information need typically doesn’t need to pay anything at the time they receive services because the community finds it valuable enough to pay for it for all residents to share. Public libraries in PA are currently funded through allocated state, county, municipal and borough budgets, partnerships, in-kind donations and private financial support.

People in a rapidly changing information economy need public libraries as a place to share resources (both physical and virtual) with trained workers to help people best learn how to help themselves.

Whatever the result of the PA state budget (it is possible that 9% cuts in state funding are in the plan for public libraries) keep spirits high and keep focus on the goal of continuing to improve your community.

The need for citizens to be fully literate and engaged in positive work for community benefit increases in times of tight economy. Libraries aim to meet the need for literacy at all ages and in all subjects by providing a community center for information, technology access, education, and quality recreation.

Check out this article in the Patriot News for a perspective of what’s happening with the state budget: http://www.pennlive.com/ The concluding sentence of the article doesn’t leave those departments and libraries starting with a new fiscal year on July 1 with much security, but I do what I can to remain positive and hope for the best: “No wonder both sides are not shy about saying the June 30 budget deadline can’t contain the oozing plumes of disagreement on so many important issues.”

To libraries, I would suggest that this isn’t the time to get mired in worry about what will happen if state funding isn’t available. You know you are doing your best with the resources that are provided. We’re not here to lobby; the valuable impact we make on the community often speaks for itself, but perhaps it could be time for public libraries to show their value and expertise in using and sharing valuable information.

I read an article over the weekend (thank you Google reader and friends for aggregating news on my interests all in one place) that showcased winners in a contest to make government information easy to access, display, use, and understand. Check it out to see how very complex information can be displayed in a more simple format to share with the public in some of these examples: Government Information Design contest winners. I particularly enjoyed this fun way to compare county level data showing each county’s level of each of the 7 deadly sins: countysinrankings.org/ which relied on data displayed at countyhealthrankings.org/ to give a data picture in easy to compare format.

How can libraries best design and share the information we have to help us showcase the benefits of keeping our funding level strong or of increasing it by 5% as advocated by the Pennsylvania Library Association?

How can libraries assist in the organization of information and facts and data to help our citizens and leaders be literate to can play a vital role as a part of an informed democracy.
Can we send an online information packed display to our public and the politicians showing them an infographic of the impact of budget decisions? As one example, can we show how increased library funding can coorelate with decreased prison funding? How can we use the ROI study to spread the news?

What did your library do today to show the public library role as an aggregator of the range of viewpoints, a wealth of information in multiple formats, and a place for education to enhance our great democracy?

Use this egovtoolkit to make sure your community knows how to access egovernment too.

Ideas always welcomed. :)

Libraries are defined by their content. What is content worth? What form should your public library provide it in?

Check out this interesting post: craigmod.com

We all have occasional long days of frustration. At a recent meeting I attended where training needs were discussed, people shared stories about patrons being more cranky and frustrated lately too. The guy who waited 45 minutes to get an internet computer so he could submit vital online forms and the woman coming in your library for the first time because she needs an email address to apply for a job aren’t always in the same chipper mood as the avid literature lover or the smiling mother of 3 getting books for her kids who makes time to drop in for story hour, but we all know that public libraries serve everyone with valuable resources. It’s a tall order to fill.

When the mission of your library is to help people and your community, and every day, all you want is to do is meet more and more overwhelming community needs, it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then you’re hit with the idea that you might not have as much money to do it with in the future. It can be a really devastating thought. All this comes at a time when more items than ever are going through our doors. Some days we need more inspiration. Find it in the impact.

Imagine for a moment, a world without libraries. What if you woke up this morning and there were no libraries. I know it’s far fetched, but imagine it……….

After that temporary moment of fear about what you’ll when what you believe in is gone, look around: What does the world look like without libraries? Imagine no academic libraries, no public libraries, no special libraries, no law libraries, no medical libraries, no school libraries. Pretend it’s a world where Melville Dewey was never born and WorldCat didn’t allow you to search multiple catalogs. Imagine there’s no OPAC, no ILS. How’s democracy looking? Or is it an Idiocracy? Where are all the scholarly works stored and how does a person get to see them and use them? How do publishers, artists, and other creatives feel (if there are any left)? How are people reading and consuming information? Can they find anything? And the internet? Librarians changed that too and they keep on changing it.

Do you have a vision for libraries? Do you have a story that demonstrates how the library changed a life?
Share it. Record it. Write it. Film it. Do it. Plan it. And have fun with it.
The world without libraries isn’t a pretty place. See all the value in what we do. Do whatever it takes to Be inspiring.

Share your ideas to make sure EVERYONE (including those who assist with the funding) learns the impact your library work makes on everyday life.

Comments are always welcome below.

In brief: Advocate for your library. Libraries help to make literate voters. Your thoughts here. :)

Lots of Words: Public librarians and their governing boards aim to be open, fair, balanced, and good. We keep party politics out of decisions that effect library services. We aim for a common mission, to do good for our community through public libraries. Libraries should be aware of the potential to enter lobbyist territory.
“All charities not otherwise excluded, who spend more than $2,500 per quarter on advocacy, must register as lobbyists with the Pennsylvania Department of State. Charities will be required to register as lobbyists, track their advocacy communications and disclose all costs associated with state advocacy. Failure to register could result in fines”
Here’s the link to more information: pano.org (Note: One leader at each district library has a username and password to PANO’s vast collection of resources.)

Now that you’ve read about lobbying, I urge you to continue to be an advocate for libraries.
How much do you know about advocacy?
Here’s a sample of places to begin to learn more:
ala.org American Library Association
citizensfortheartsinpa.orgLook at advocacy outside libraries.
palibraries.org: Look for the Advocacy Tool KitPALA

To switch subjects, just a bit, on the lighter side, just for fun, imagine two candidates for political election:
Person 1: cheated on his wife and used the word retard casually, but increases library support by 50%
Person 2: did lots of government stuff that some people like and some people dislike, but capped library funding.
Who would you vote for? (Write-in anyone?)

I hope we can all laugh about the election quandary I pose above. After all, we’re librarians. We would prepare more supporting information that would make the decision easier. It’s our job. We organize, prepare, and share resources so our users can make informed decisions in this democracy.

While I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of elections right now that would be completely influenced by a candidate’s platform on paying for public library services, we can’t forget that the collective impact of library users is powerful in a very different way. Think about it.
Now, how can we harness the power? Hmmmm…. :)

That brings it all back to politics. What is the role of the public library in politics? I propose it is this: to provide shared open access to unbiased organized information and resources to grow an informed citizenry that makes better decisions to elect leaders. It’s a cycle.

Once that politician gets elected, how do you remind him or her that the library helped people make better decisions? Does your library do things from the list below?:
Provide first hand proof the value of your information services directly to the email inbox of your leader.
Give the town manager information that makes solving a crisis easier.
Send an article from POWERLibrary with evidence to help build a solution for health care in the U.S.
Post information from the library’s catalog or website on the Facebook wall of your favorite teacher so he can send students to useful resources available at the public library.

Libraries are there to help leaders succeed. Be thankful for what libraries are allowed to do and do what’s valuable today. Make them look good. Give leaders the firsthand proof you provide quality information they can use to lead and improve the community. See the collective value of that impact and smile.

Every person you are serving could be the next leader.

Pennsylvania public library leaders learned how the 2009-2010 Library Access Appropriation would be spent.
You can read the official release from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries here: Message from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries

How would you best summarize the effect of this on your library location? How do you think it could impact PA libraries as a whole?

I’ll share a few thoughts and interpretations here. Anyone else who reads this post can feel free to contribute to the discussion too. Comment below.

1. POWERLibrary: As of January 1, 2010 many databases that used to be provided to all public library users across the state will not be freely available.
Libraries should determine which databases should be purchased with local funding. The CALD Electronic Resources Committee is working to determine ways libraries in our area can work together to get the best value on the most needed resources.
At what level will your library spend local dollars to replace POWERLibrary resources that may no longer be available?

2. Statewide Library Card Program: Libraries must continue to participate in the program but there will be NO reimbursement for the transactions. Libraries must cotinue to issue library cards to non-residents. Libraries may choose not to extend special services like ILL or hold requests to people who live outside their service area. Some libraries may develop fees for library services beyond the basic minimums.

3. IDS: No cut in funding this year.

4. AskHerePA: The state may soon be soliciting more reference librarian volunteers to staff the service.
AccessPA Database: Locally used for ILL, it remains to be seen what exact impact the budget cuts may have.

Note: Waivers will be granted to libraries who cannot meet the standards due to financial distress.

Here’s a story about a PA library system that just can’t survive the loss of city and state funds without making drastic changes: Reading closes three locations.

Is your library thinking of revenue streams that will sustain your current operations?

What fundraising methods can libraries embrace that allow you to support your priorities to provide access to content and quality information via technology, ongoing education, and culture and community to the residents?

Check out this article in the Patriot News regarding a local woman who is paying court costs after she didn’t return library materials: Patriot News article

As librarians, we already know that it is important that users return materials–libraries work because we share ownership in the collection with the whole community–this is nothing new, but take a minute to read a few of the public comments posted in response. For example: “Borrowing books should be like borrowing videos at the video store. You give a credit card or debit card. If you do not return it by a specific date, you own it. It is time to consider a nominal fee like 25 cents for chidlren’s books and $1.00 for an adult book – to borrow a book out of the library. OR you can sit there and read it for free. This would take libraries out of the PA budget food chain.”

How can public libraries respond to comments like these? Are subscription libraries the answer to meet the needs for reading materials?

What do you think?