I love clothing maker Zappos’ core values. Which ones resonate when you think about public libraries? Deliver WOW Through Service To WOW, you must differentiate yourself, which means doing something a little unconventional and innovative. You must do something that’s above and beyond what’s expected. And whatever you do must have an emotional impact on
◊ Change Management ◊
Glad you made it
Hi – glad you made it to the new site. We’ve moved to a more robust platform with publishing, networking and collaboration tools to help us cultivate an interactive community of library advocates Over the coming months we’ll continue to ponder the value of public libraries and examine the funding crisis threatening so many across
It’s not about the books
Conversation at a recent Friends meeting was still animated after nearly 3 hours. Someone asked if we felt our town selectmen really “got it”. This ignited a short recitation of the material losses we’d suffer from a library closure. Then one person raised her voice slightly above the conversation to say “Hey, hey – it’s
MBLC also behind the curve
Just checked into the website of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Information on its strategic planning process is from May 2005. The Board appears to have kicked off a marketing campaign in 2007, however there is little information available except an outline of weak bullet points such as “parents need to recognize the value
The ALA needs an advocacy injection
The risk to the Beaman Public Library piqued my interest in public libraries about a month ago and I’ve been checking out what other people and organizations have to say. The ALA has been a big disappointment. Its Library Advocate’s Handbook is buried deep within the ALA website. This handbook is barely worth searching for
Ever met a boisterous librarian?
In its excellent 2008 report, From Awareness to Funding, the OCLC cites 2005 data that more than a third of U.S. public libraries are operating with level or declining budgets and “are being forced to reduce staff, cut hours and reduce community services.” Our town has seen this, with cuts to its library budget 4
Towns, libraries and stone soup
The aroma of stone soup1 wafts thru my brain as I ponder our trickle-down2 crisis. If you’re not familiar with the stone soup parable, it goes something like this: A traveler enters a village in crisis; fire had parched the earth and the villagers had no food. Many were weak and some had died. “There
We can’t race to the bottom
Responding to pressure from beleagured public libraries, Massachusetts legislators have proposed temporarily waiving certification requirements. Mass Library Commissioner George Comeau reportedly does not support this measure, stating that it would “result in an ‘open season’ on cutting library budgets“. I couldn’t agree more. This would sanction a variant of the “race to the bottom” we’ve
