In e-books, e-book readers, but what about end-users?, Carl Grant, President of Ex Libris North America, observed:
… there is a important point-of-view missing or only slightly represented and that is the view of the end-users. While presumably, many of us [...] talk to end-users, directly or indirectly, and try to interpret what we believe they want, it’s still an interpretation and a pale representation.
He went on to say:
It’s a frequent concern of mine when working with libraries, that they don’t spend enough time talking to their end users about their information needs and how libraries might fill those needs. …Our profession needs to have these conversations more fequently, not less. Once taken, we need to listen and respond to the results.
Carl’s observations about technology parallel my experience around advocacy. For the past six months I have tried to initiate advocacy conversations with library organizations in my state and across the country. The response from librarians and administrators alike has been pretty uniform: thanks for contacting us; we need patrons like you — have you thought about joining the Friends group at your local library? When I’ve asked about forums for broader conversation about public libraries, no one I’ve been in touch with has been aware of any.
My sense is that dialogue between users and their libraries is rather bounded. Topics like reference questions, local news and book sales are in bounds and dialogue about the profession, systems and strategy is not. And within this narrow corridor patron voices extend only as far as their tax dollar. Even the newest major advocacy campaign reinforces these limitations.
These cultural norms may have developed long ago when the library community was more educated than its users, communication options were limited and libraries were a community’s leading source of information. We need to develop new norms for new times. Perhaps I’ll reach out to Carl Grant. A conversation between the two of us may be the modest start to a dialogue we’ve each called for…
