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 strengths is a great thing, but it is a different thing than having a vision towards which to build our future.
Who is our Henry Ford, our Steve Jobs? Who is leading us to a place where libraries will thrive and succeed in an uncertain future? Some may argue that we don’t need visionaries to lead us, but I disagree. Most of us work day to day with our heads down, just trying to get everything done. We need leaders who have the time and space to be constantly looking ahead, watching the clouds, and anticipating the storms and sunshine to come.
How true this is. And even if libraries identified an impassioned and capable leader, where would the person work? How would s/he develop a team of talented people to help make our libraries all they can be? A fundamental weakness of our public library system is that it is not structured to hold the human and technical resources we need to meet contemporary needs in a robust way. Our libraries are structured to hold books and local meetings, and that won’t be enough for the public or the profession much longer.
Other large, non-profit entities with similar missions and dispersed physical locations have strong leaders. Think about NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller, for example. She has reinvigorated that organization since taking the helm last January. Under her direction, NPR has enhanced its value proposition by creating new distribution channels1 that make high quality content easy to access and well worth supporting. Moreover, Ms. Schiller has brought a real industry presence to the broadcaster. NPR is now seen as an important media player and my impression is that professional journalists and publishers refer to the organization more than they have in the past 25 years.
Schiller’s experience running successful commercial organizations is a key part of her success at NPR. Another factor is the time she spends in public dialogue to hear people’s praise and criticism and educate them about NPR’s mission, goals and funding mechanisms. Her March 2009 address to the National Press Club on what NPR can learn from its “commercial cousins” holds valuable lessons for public libraries. My comments are below the lessons, in italics.
1. More bottom-line thinking about return on investment
In 2007 the U.S. had 9,214 public libraries and a total of 16,604 outlets including branches. They employed 145,000 people full-time and had operating revenue of $11 billion.2 At the risk of angering every hard-working library director who needs to sweat over the smallest budget line item — I believe our public libraries can deliver a lot more value than they currently do given their tangible resources and the level of public investment in them each year. What’s needed most in this vast enterprise is room for executive leadership to drive priorities and manage resources more effectively than the current structures allow.
2. A sense of urgency, which will help it stay nimble in times of economic flux
Kim Leeder has said what everyone knows about public libraries: they’re “turtles among a race of hares when it comes to moving with the times.” Without bold leadership to rapidly put forth an action plan that leverages the incredible brand loyalty and resources behind our public libraries, I fear they will not remain viable beyond the next 10-15 years.
3. A focus on what the audience truly wants and needs from NPR programs
In An Inflection Point for Public Libraries, I argued that professional librarians and well-meaning volunteers cannot achieve the financial results of professional fundraisers. The same is true for product development. It’s really difficult to ascertain what people want that isn’t delivered by another organization (now or in the future) and turn it into a product or service offering. And that’s only the beginning. Once the offering is out there, it’s an on-going process to monitor performance and adapt it to maintain viability. I appreciate how foreign these concepts are to the library community. I also appreciate the need to start enacting them in the next 2 – 3 years.
4. Greater diversity of listeners
Many months ago, I reached out by phone to a librarian blogger whose work I admired. After hearing a few of my ideas, he interjected “People use public libraries when they’re children and in high school. We lose ‘em during their working years and they come back when they retire. That’s just the way it is.” I wouldn’t count on those patterns holding for much longer. I also wouldn’t count on the people that use libraries today due to the recession remaining users once their circumstances change. Some will, of course, though not enough (IMHO) to justify continued taxpayer support.
5. Shout from the hilltops about accomplishments and offerings.
Be honest. Would you really want to see any of the folks currently advocating for libraries on Oprah … or at a White House dinner? Public libraries really need someone, like Vivian Schiller, who can get to the hilltops and shout.
1The NPR website has had a makeover, but more importantly NPR has created technology tools to enable local stations to syndicate content on their websites. Check out the website for WBUR in Boston. It’s a really good news site and I’ve made it one of my browser homepages. Additionally, NPR and strong member stations make audio content available via the web and iTunes.
2Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2009). Public Libraries in the United States: Fiscal Year 2007.
One of the problems I’ve noticed is the tendency to de-value the brand.
For example, a friend of mine, knowing I am a librarian, complained to me that his local public library was too loud. Why were the librarians allowing so much noise? He also believed that it was extremely foolish for the library to be built right next to the local high school, because “at 2 pm the library is flooded with high school students. What were they thinking?!?” He concluded that he no longer visits the library after 2 pm as it is too disruptive.
There is a tendency amongst librarians to want to dispel the stereotypes about our profession. We want to modernize the library and make it “hip.” One of the biggest insults one librarian can say to another is, “get the bun out of your hair.” A “modern” librarian once remarked that if patrons want quiet they should go to a coffee shop instead of a library.
Why do we spend so much time trying to dispel these stereotypes? That is our brand, it is who we are. To go back to the NPR analogy, the new president didn’t replace the current programming with hip-hop to appeal to Gen Y. She stayed true to the brand, which is always the first rule: do not alienate your core customer-base.
High schoolers are great, but they don’t approve millages.
Hi Betty – I so agree about the brand. I’m working on a post about “running our libraries like a business” and one of the sub-topics will be bolstering and protecting the brand. Hope you check back for it.
Interestingly, I think NPR did lose its way for awhile. I’ve been a steady listener and contributor since 1985. A few years ago, I felt NPR didn’t deliver the high quality programming I’d come to rely on. This was partly due to financial pressure – NPR was cutting back like all news organizations & the depth of reporting suffered. They were also trying to modernize and in doing so, gave up their special sauce (IMHO). They dumped renowned host Bob Edwards in favor of a younger male/female team. They also dropped thoughtful essays by folks like Elissa Ely, MD and Baxter Black in favor of trendy pieces in the “Jerry Seinfeld” vein. As a result, I listened less and donated less. Vivian Schiller is bringing NPR back, and she’s brought me along with her. I listen more, contribute more and once again spread the word about good content I’ve heard on the radio or experienced online.
While libraries could certainly benefit from a Vivian Schiller, I hesitate to spend time looking for a national library spokesperson. Each library (I’m talking about public libraries here, since that is my gig) is a local institution and I think that getting the local library staff out onto the streets of their communities would be far more effective at drumming up support for libraries than would a distant, removed figurehead.
But like I said, having a Vivian on our side could only help!
Hi Mark – I’m concerned that our public libraries can’t survive much longer as strictly local institutions. Local governance made perfect sense when they were founded, and the model has been remarkably durable … though I think it’s just about run its course. In my town of West Boylston, MA our library staff are long standing and engaged members of our community … in their neighborhoods, the schools, the churches and local businesses. In addition, our Library Director does outreach all the time by ‘building bridges’ with other town departments, attending select board meetings, doing shows for our public access TV station – she really puts herself out there. Our library and staff are beloved and our Director is highly regarded as one of our town leaders. And yet our library is struggling. Each year, we lose a little ground from where we were the year before. We’re running pretty lean this year.
And, as difficult as it has been to realize this — if my town proposed a tax override to fund our library for another year, I probably wouldn’t vote for it. I’m convinced the existing structure of my local/regional library system isn’t sustainable and can’t justify throwing more money at it. (Instead, I donate my managerial and technical skills generously in my own community and pursue radical advocacy in my state and across the country.)
In An Inflection Point for Public Libraries, I wrote “I believe we do not need to remake our public libraries; we simply need to shore them up. As we envision change, it seems important to preserve the local autonomy and authenticity that have collectively made these institutions a national treasure. The right change would bolster libraries’ ability to leverage digital technology while increasing use of their physical facilities and surrounding amenities.” I’ve proposed creation of a National Public Library Corporation, similar to NPR. I’d be interested to know what you think of this idea.
When I started my career in libraries, this transition to “hip” was already occuring. I felt that we were more involved with entertaining than being a place that provide opportunity through information and education.
I didn’t know what was going on. Now, that I read some of the comments here, it makes sense. Being who you aren’t only works for a moments and then it goes to hell. Enhancing the beauty that is you, making it better and proudly sharing who you are has better results.
I think the past ten to fifteen years, libraries have been pretending that they are something else, to a point that they no longer know who they are at all.
Let’s go back to the core and polish off the beauty that is library and get that message back to our communities.
Some things that I think are working for the library are navigators and providers of information. I think workshops are a great part of libraries; it continues in the vain of providing information.
What we can do we these things that we do well is expand on how we get this information and information-based products to our customers. This means better allocation of resources to make that happen. If a library system provided information in a format similar to what NPR priovides to its customers via internet as well as on the radio, we would be going in the right direection.
I feel ALA should be a stronger voice in creating the message that change and unity is needed in public libraries in order for them to survive. We do need an innovative leader of public libraries to bring focus to all of us and to help bring attention to all of the great services we provide.
You have suggested “I believe we do not need to remake our public libraries; we simply need to shore them up.” I strongly disagree as I have noted in my recent book “The Customer Focused Library: Re-Inventing the Public Library from the Outside In.” Shoring up a library will simply produce more of the same. We need to look at the experience of the public library through the eyes of our customers. Libraries place too many obstacles in the way of the customer getting to what they want. At a broader level a NAtional Public Library Corporation may be one approach that would lead to better funding but it would require a dynamic individual really skilled in raising serious bucks.
Hi Joe – I look forward to reading your book.
My hope is that we can strengthen the many good things about our public library system while melting away the things that threaten its existence. Absent significant change in the next few years, I believe our public libraries will be fading away at a rapid pace by 2019.
In my view local autonomy is a societal & democratic asset, despite its incredible limitations. A well-run NPL could be a powerful counterbalance. It would introduce a more efficient systemic structure to better leverage the funds already circulating through the system. The IMLS reported collective public library operating budgets of $11b in 2007, and yet the majority of our public libraries are running on fumes because the lion’s share of operating budgets are devoted to re-inventing the wheel tens of thousands of times across the country. Foundations and corporations still make significant grants, though my impression is they’re used on campaigns geared toward making people who already love libraries love them more (e.g. “I Love Libraries” or “Geek the Library”) — or to perpetuate operations that don’t add much value for libraries or patrons (e.g. the recent Dollar General grant administered through the ALA).
Creating a top-notch centralized resource for libraries to obtain services and using donated funds to better effect would have a huge impact. It would, I believe, also trigger an avalanche of productive activity within our libraries.