Here is another excerpt of Dave Lankes’ vision for librarians, from the keynote of February’s ILEAD U conference in Springfield, IL – the State Library’s new initiative to help library staff develop stronger technology tools.
I encourage you to listen to Dave’s words as well as read them, for the passion and urgency of his delivery is part of the message.
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| Click to Listen |
I believe that librarians are a noble and vital part of society and that the future of librarianship is bright – but not if we continually see ourselves as centered on artifacts and behind institutional walls and waiting to help. For too long, librarians have seen our highest aim as to stand ready to serve, to offer a hand of assistance to those who reach out. But that’s not enough. The world is not changed by those who stand ready. The world is changed by those who act, who shape, who reach not when asked but when necessary. Serve, yes, but also be an instrument of radical positive change and in the face of ignorance lead to a better tomorrow.
That is the calling we have; it is not stacking and shelving. It is improving societies and communities. That we not only have to serve, but we have to innovate – constantly look for what’s new and what’s better. Have a vision of the future, not simply for your organization or your task or your function, but for the whole community. What is going to make Springfield better, Chicago better, what’s going to make our communities better? And be engaged in that whether it happens in the library or not. This is our passion. Our passion to look at a community and not hide our light and not say it’s only what we learned in school. It’s looking and saying this is what needs to happen and proactively reach out and making it happen. And so it’s not even innovation – it’s leadership.
We must be prepared to stand up and point to a better tomorrow. We as librarians have a vocation and a calling, not simply a job. When we look at our communities we are stewards of that community and you do not serve the community by sitting back and being unbiased and adding no value. You serve the community by standing up and saying what is right and making it happen. So ultimately what we’re here to do over these next months is not simply to blog and wiki and to Facebook and such – we’ll do that, those are tools that help us, but the reason we’re going to do that is so that we can lead, so that we can be prepared to make better communities. That’s what we have to worry about every day, every hour we spend on this project and every other that we spend as librarians.
lanks obvously lives in another part of the world then I do. My lovely librarian has been brow beaten so badly for her inovative thinking she has coward into a shell hiding in fear of losing her job. The first Selectman has ordered her to take down all social network sites and will not give her administrative access to the computers. our lovely librarian and I mean that sincerely asked me to organize Friends to help to raise fund for the library and we have been blackballed and ignored for 2 years. The First Selectman has sent out orders to the local businesses that any thing that has to do with the library she will handle it, I am so proud of the on line shopping and tool bar I established for my librarian and the First Selectman will not let us download the tool bar onto the computers it is meant to sponsor. The library wanted new computers and printers. the affiliation with my tool bar would pay us commission for ordering them from DELL and the first Selectman banished that too. Imagine how much we would profit if the Town Hall Library and all the buisnesses used the tool bar to order office suppplies from Office Depot. I have begun to think I am an alien in this place that I once loved. I do not know how to proceed or how to get this Selectman to get a life but am here now and networking on the Interenet to support my Librarian.
Between you and me…LIBRARIANS ROCK!
Unfortunately I live in the same world and too have seen way too many good librarians beaten by small mindedness. That does not mean I am willing to surrender to it and it sounds like you are either. It sounds like it is time for the Selectman to go.
Look the reality is that such behaviour is going to drive out good librarians and patrons alike ultimately hurting the community. Sounds like a great chance for patrons to lead a revolt. Sit in, petition and pester. We the people put these narrow minded folks in positions of power, we need to kick them out as well.
Yes we live in the same world, and I think in that world we need to have high aspirations even in the face of self-interest and narrow mindedness. Did the businesses push back against the Selectman? Did the members push back against the businesses?