“My town officials think all we’re running here is a babysitting service” a librarian recently shared in a moment of frustration. She went on to mention studies about the proven impact on cognitive abilities when toddlers are actively engaged in library programs like Lapsit versus passively engaged with toys & videos.
This was news to me;
Posts under ‘Change Management’
Are public libraries glorified babysitting services?
The high cost of library micro-grants
Early in my career I was taught how to wring cost from a process or product. Instructors had me trace every interaction & transaction involved in procuring a product or service, assign a cost to each and assess its value to the deliverable. What I learned was, essentially the deliverable holds value and everything else
Libraries – protect that brand
Brands. They’re instantly recognizable, even as mere snippets from a distance …
They evoke feelings and thoughts. They influence behavior.
Organizations spend billions each year creating and preserving them, for they know brand loyalty grows and dies hard.
I’d argue library is also a brand and needs to be actively managed to increase its visibility and public support.
Running our public libraries like a business
Themes of leadership and outreach have coursed through the Radical Patron content in 2010. Today’s post introduces another: applying business principles to public libraries.
Libraries wisely seem interested in how to climb the ladders and avoid the chutes. With nearly 30 years (yikes) experience working in and consulting for businesses, I have perspectives and ideas that
On Web2.0 and Talking vs Doing
David Crotty’s Scholarly Kitchen post, Science and Web 2.0: Talking About Science vs. Doing Science describes patterns beyond the publishing industry. Check out some of what he says about scientists’ use of Web 2.0 technologies:
Discovery, doing research, gathering and interpreting results, that’s the very nature of being a scientist. There are people whose
On librarians arguing with the world
A characteristic of librarian discourse immediately jumped out at me when I broadened my advocacy work nearly a year ago, though framing it succinctly had been elusive until I read Kim Leeder’s post on the future of libraries. She notes:
I hear a little shrillness in the voices of many librarians who speak or write about
iPad is a gamechanger for libraries
I’ve not chimed into the conversation on mobile devices, in part because plenty of people cover that beat and also because smartphones and ebook readers, in my opinion, would not have been all that disruptive to libraries. You see, despite the numerous discrete conveniences delivered by both device types, they don’t significantly change the relationship
Who is the Vivian Schiller for public libraries?
In her thought provoking essay for ItLwtLP, Kim Leeder shared the following reflections on library vision and leadership:
It seems to me, and I don’t mean to criticize any of our great library leaders, that most of the “vision” I see in the library field is just an expansion of what already exists. Building on our
Asking the right questions about public libraries
If we view the coming decade as a period of realignment for the American public, what are the right questions to ask about the role of its public libraries? Two recent articles and a reflection on a beloved, bygone organization are illuminating.
Kim Leeder: Vision and Visionaries: A Whole Bunch of Questions to Start off
A “do or die” decade for public libraries
When asked recently about the future of public libraries, I shared my concern that they would fade away, as local pharmacies have in the past 10-15 years. With continued tight municipal budgets, increased unemployment and home foreclosures and the proliferation of online services for guided search, reader’s advisory and digital entertainment, I can easily see
