Andy Woodworth of the Burlington County Library System addressed both quite recently. In a guest post on Will Manley’s blog, he asked his colleagues  “How do you feel about the Librarian image?” On his own blog he writes in The Master’s Degree Misperception: “It is a disservice to the education, to the degree, and to the profession when the bulk of a librarian’s daily tasks could be performed by someone with a GED.” Both essays generated a cascade of comments, as these posts always seem to, and reveal how frustrated and beleaguered many public library employees feel.

Kudos to Andy for saying what many observe: the ceiling is low in terms of the services most public libraries provide and professional opportunity they can offer to employees. This is a significant structural problem that will accrue to their demise as much as technological disruption or tight funding. We’ve got to raise the ceiling — not to save libraries, but because there are so many things our citizens and communities need that the marketplace does not provide (and librarians are well-trained and positioned to provide). I’ve offered a number of ideas and have more to share.

The sky is the limit. Digital technology has made so much possible and based on the people I met at the Reference Renaissance conference last month, I believe we have an incredible untapped labor pool in our nation’s librarians. It’s time to tap into it.

It’s unlikely these professionals will be adequately leveraged within the current ecosystem. If our public libraries have remained impervious to substantive change up to this point, what will it take to budge them?  I’ve been pushing a National Public Library Corporation to address funding, deliver better content & services and provide increased employment and upward mobility for the library profession. Weigh in. Can you get behind an NPL? If not, can you think of ways to get this stone to roll?

Additional reading:
1. A recent blog post on employment outlook from the front lines.
2. ALA, Planning for 2015: The Recent History and Future Supply of Librarians, June 2009

John Blyberg, Assistant Director of Innovation & User Experience, supports a range of applications on the Library’s in-house server. Some organizations simply need a basic webhosting account, others use a blogging platform and a few require a CMS. He also provides consultation for organizations unfamiliar with web technologies to help them determine the best configuration to meet their needs.

The plethora of web technologies (and reconciling recommendations from consultants, peer organizations and personal connections) can be overwhelming for most folks. As a result, many NPOs and municipal agencies spend more time and money than they need to on technology services. The Darien organizations are extremely fortunate to receive webhosting and consultation free-of-charge from their library.

In my first article on a National Public Library Corporation, I suggested:

It would also benefit the public and libraries if [the NPL technology] solutions could be shared by other municipal agencies. The public would receive more convenient, consolidated access to their local governments and have their library to thank for it. Libraries might find agencies that currently compete with them for local funding becoming allies if they were using modules of the library’s information system to manage some of their administrative functions.

When we spoke, John actually highlighted this as a benefit by pointing out that people who use the webhosting are “influencers” and voters who may not necessarily use traditional library services. Way to go Darien Public Library — for finding a powerful way to serve the community and advocate for the library!

Welcome Guest Artists

I’d love to broaden the gallery with more photos and other image types that exude a love of libraries and help reinforce the brand.

Are you a visual person? Please consider becoming a guest artist.

Welcome Guest Artists

I’d love to broaden the gallery with more photos and other image types that exude a love of libraries and help reinforce the brand.

Are you a visual person? Please consider becoming a guest artist.

Welcome Guest Artists

I’d love to broaden the gallery with more photos and other image types that exude a love of libraries and help reinforce the brand.

Are you a visual person? Please consider becoming a guest artist.

I thought I might blog – but the outdoors is calling me … so I’ll be back on Aug 23 with more extreme thoughts on public libraries. For now, enjoy a glimpse of the lovely Estes Valley Library!

Welcome Guest Artists

I’d love to broaden the gallery with more photos and other image types that exude a love of libraries and help reinforce the brand.

Are you a visual person? Please consider becoming a guest artist.

What a priviledge it has been to be ‘let inside’ – to connect with library professionals unburdened by the need to demonstrate value with every statement … to see them for who they really are; not superheroes or crazy nordic warrior queens, but simply information professionals working to:

• wade through the overgrown info landscape to clear a path for the rest of us
• experiment with technology tools that will enhance and help contextualize our human experience
• identify and remove barriers of access to info and human resources

Welcome Guest Artists

I’d love to broaden the gallery with more photos and other image types that exude a love of libraries and help reinforce the brand.

Are you a visual person? Please consider becoming a guest artist.

A common trope is to frame issues in polar, life-or-death ways and library rhetoric often falls into this trap. Two of the FOX videos do the same thing. For me, the fact that our public libraries aren’t necessities (no one dies when we reduce hours or close them down) makes the issues much more engaging. Our libraries are the embodiment of values and insights and traditions that we choose to create and share with one another. I view our national library dilemma as a nexus for a really important question: what kind of society and country do we want to live in and what heritage do we want to pass along?

My passion for libraries comes not from thinking about how to perpetuate what we have but rather on what we want to invest in, preserve and create together. Stepping through the arguments FOX presented has furthered my thinking and I look forward to sharing what I’ve come up with.