Happy Holidays!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone all the best of the season.

I look forward to our conversations in 2010.

Happy New Year!

What makes a library a library?

What comes to mind when you think of a library?

This question came to mind after I read an article about a new Library Express outlet in Redmond Ridge, Washington. The King County Public Library in Washington State opened a Library Express in the master planned community of Redmond Ridge. The Express outlet is unstaffed, and library patrons can enter the building by scanning or typing in their library card number. Holds/Reserve pickup, a small collection of paperbacks, a library catalog computer and a dedicated phone line to staff at the nearby Regional Library are the services available.

I've heard of other libraries installing automated Library Kiosks in transit stations or having hold pickup outlets, taking some library services out where people are. But is the library just "commodity" distribution? What about all the other things we do? What about story time? What about the book clubs? What about the library staff?

So what goes into the library experience? Is it the books? Is it the programming? Is it the computers? Is it the people?
What is your library experience and what makes a library a library?

I'd love to hear what you think.

Netflix for Libraries?

The Hayward Public Library in Northern California is launching an interesting new service for library patrons. For a fee, library patrons can have a set number of books out indefinitely, without incurring additional fines and fees. Here is the article about the Hayward Library service. (I have to thank Kathy Gould of Palos Verdes Public Library - I saw this in her blog and I had to go see what Hayward was up to. Thanks Kathy!)

Hayward has chosen not to mail materials – so patrons come into the library, but they don’t have to worry about due dates or renewals.

I would love to hear what you think about this idea – Would you be willing to pay the library a monthly fee so you wouldn’t have to worry about due dates and fines? Would this work in Huntington Beach?

Reading at the Beach...

Here’s an interesting idea –

In the Netherlands, a number of public libraries set up Beach Branch Libraries. The Beach library was set up right on the sand, during the summer for 6 weeks. There were no fines, no fees, no library cards. To borrow something you just sign your name and address.

They have averaged 15,000 circulations during the 6 week period with only 1% of borrowed items not being returned. About 25,000 people visit the beach branches during the same period. The Beach libraries have circulated everything from books to IPods, audiobooks to Ebooks. The Beach libraries have also offered yoga classes and creative writing workshops for beachgoers.

Some preliminary research shows that the beach branches don’t bring new patrons to the regular library. But it is one way to take the library to the people.

I’d love to hear what people think about Libraries on the Sand…

Talking with people

As a leader, and as the Director of a large Library, I am regularly confronted with the challenge of communication.

What is the best way to communicate with my staff?
What is the best way to communicate with Library customers/patrons/clients?

How can I be sure that the community knows all the great things we do here at the Library and the services we provide?

Well, on Tuesday, September 15, at 2 PM, I’m having my first “coffee with the director” discussion. I will be here at the Central Library in our Balboa Room downstairs, with the door open. If you are interested in talking about the Huntington Beach Library, what you like about the library and what you’d like to see us do in the future, drop in and chat for awhile.

There will be coffee and there will be cookies to go along with the conversation.

I’d love to hear what you think about our Library.

I’m planning 2 other Coffee discussions – another one in the Balboa Room at Central Library at 2 PM on September 22 and then another session at our Main Street Library on September 23 at 2 PM.

I look forward to our conversation.

Summer Reading

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite summer activities is reading – and it appears that I am not alone -

Summer is winding down and I am thrilled to report that it has been a TERRIFIC summer for reading in Huntington Beach. Over 5,314 children and over 400 Teens all participated in our summer reading programs. Not to be left out, we had 580 adults reading through the summer.

We averaged 1,700 children’s books checked out EVERYDAY during summer reading. That’s pretty amazing.

Congratulations to all the participants – you are all winners because of your reading!

Get your Geek on!

What do you Geek?

I love the new Library Advocacy/Public Awareness campaign that was just launched this summer in Georgia and Iowa – the website is http://www.geekthelibrary.org/

People can log on and tell others what they “Geek” and find out how the Library can help them “Get their Geek on”.

Sponsored by OCLC (the Online Computer Library Center), the new Geek the Library campaign is partially supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to help develop an effective public awareness campaign for all libraries.

Libraries are amazing places, where your Inner Geek can break free and shine – we just need to get the word out about the wonderful things @ your library.

So, what do you Geek? I'd love to hear...

The American Library Association Conference

Things I brought back from Chicago…

I attended the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, running from July 10 – 14. I am serving on 3 committees, so my time was taken up with lots of meetings, but I did manage to see some of the Conference exhibits and to hear some of the library buzz out in the halls. And of course, there was the Book Cart Drill Team Championships. (See this year’s winners at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106561675 )

I was so engrossed in meetings that I didn’t get to see many programs. But I did get to hear how other libraries are coping with the current economic crisis – how things are going, how busy we all are, how libraries are more important than ever.

I got to see and test some really interesting and exciting new automated library machines – the Go Library and the Lending Library. These machines are like an ATM or Vending machine for library books. The Go Library is really like an ATM – it is a kiosk and you do everything on screen and then the machine releases your item to you. Or lets you return it.

The Lending Library by Brodart is more like a Red Box Video machine or a regular vending machine. You can see the books and select them, checking them out with a sweep of your library card.

Both machines present interesting possibilities for expanding the library’s reach out into the community. The Go Library is being tested in Northern California at BART stations.

And then there is the unexpected take away from the Conference -

I brought back a pretty inspirational Customer Service mantra courtesy of a famous Deli – Zingerman’s of Ann Arbor. Zingerman's Ari Weinzweig was at ALA, making a presentation on his newest book Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon. (After all, everything is better with bacon)

Apparently, Zingerman’s has an amazing customer service creed that they live by – Here’s the link to the Zingerman web site http://www.zingermans.com/CustService.aspx#guarantee

Good food and happy customers – Zingerman’s is doing it right.

I love that we can learn something from a Deli on how to treat our customers/patrons/clients.

READ, RENEW, RETURN

We don't often think about it, but Libraries are by their very nature GREEN –

We buy the books and then the community shares them. Any of our items can be checked out and returned MANY, MANY times. We save you money and we save resources.

The Environmental Protection Agency is promoting libraries as a great way to help save the Planet. Check out this link - http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2009/06/23/climate-for-action-save-some-money%E2%80%A6and-the-planet/

Thanks to our Friends of the Library for sharing this link with me!

If you are looking for other ways to be kind to the planet, come into the Library. We have lots of guides and information about how to live Green. We can all make a difference.

How do you take care of the planet?

The new Kindle DX from Amazon

My new Kindle DX -

Recently I purchased a Kindle DX from Amazon. I wanted to see what the new electronic readers were like and the new DX had a good sized reading area and seemed to have more features that I could use.

Well, I have to say after having the little white device for over 2 weeks I find that I like it.

It is definitely growing on me...

The best thing about the DX is the “whispernet” wireless connection to Amazon. The instant gratification of downloading a book that I want wherever I am is pretty amazing. But it is easy to be tempted – you have this new device with all this space on it. I have to BUY something, just so I have things on the DX.

I also like the size and weight – it is easy to read, easy to change type font, easy to navigate around. And it certainly reduces the weight of my tote bag coming into work! These are all good things.

What I don’t like about it is the price of books – it is better than purchasing hardcovers (even the ones at Costco that are steeply discounted.). But it is still $10 per book, more or less. So this takes the place of a paperback habit.

I’m going to be taking my Kindle with me on a business trip in July, and I will see how it does as my reading device. I can use it on the airplane – but like all electronic equipment I’ll have to turn in off on takeoff and landing.

So, what does the Kindle mean for libraries? A few libraries are starting to experiment with checking out Kindles so people can try them. I’m wondering about Ebooks in PDF – there’s another source for content. And if the Textbooks on the Kindle tests work, I can see this happening soon.

Do you have a Kindle? Do you want one? Would you want the Library to have books you could "borrow" on the Kindle?

I’d love to hear what people think about the new readers.

Our Main Street Library

There has been a lot of wild talk recently about the Main Street Library –

People have been signing petitions, staging rallies and talking about needing to SAVE the Main Street Library.

I am pleased that the Main Street Library has such strong support .

I would like to put everyone’s mind at rest. The Main Street Library isn’t going anywhere. It isn’t about to be torn down.

The City is updating the Downtown Specific Plan and the Library and the Library site are included in the plan area. The plan mentions a possible concept for the Main Street location, that would create a cultural overlay district in this section of Downtown where art and culture would come together.

The concept that is mentioned in the plan is just that – it is one concept. It isn’t an actual plan or project.

Before any project could even be considered there would be meetings to gather public input and lots of public discussions about how to create a cultural district or commons area at Main Street that would meet the needs of residents and enhance the Downtown environment.

We have just started to talk about what it would take to provide a real 21st century library at our Main Street location. The Library and Library Board of Trustees will be involved in any discussion about the Main Street Library and we will want to hear from everyone in the neighborhood about what they want and need.

I believe that Libraries are amazing places of transformation and growth, and my job is to ensure that all of the Huntington Beach Public Library locations provide the kinds of services that make that happen. I want to make Main Street the best possible library it can be – this may eventually mean some changes will have to be made, but the Main Street Library isn’t going anywhere.

I am happy to talk to anyone about Main Street and how we can make the library better.

Libraries, Books & Gadgets

The Apple Iphone 3 Gs is a big hit, with lines of people waiting to pick up the new smart phone. Blackberry and Palm have both introduced their new touch screen smart phones and more applications are being developed for these new phones.

The appeal of a smart phone is clear – you have one device that acts almost as your own personal manager/laptop. You can check e-mail, look at Facebook, text message friends and family as well as find out where you are with GPS information. One small device can carry your calendar, your contacts, serve as your phone and e-mail/text device. You can even read a book on the IPhone, with a special application developed by Amazon.com.

Libraries are watching the new technology and looking for ways to make it easier for smart phone users to access library services. Library catalogs, like the Huntington Beach Library catalog are available online and can be searched on a smart phone.

Some libraries are introducing IPhone applications for their catalogs and looking at additional ways to make it easier for smart phone users to connect to their library.

We are looking at ways to get the Huntington Beach Library out where our library patrons are – we will continue to look at adding new features and technology that can help people find what they want and need.

Even with budget cuts, we are looking at more Ebooks, both audio and text – both of which work on smart phones. We hope to figure out how we can provide whatever form of content that our library patrons want. If you have an IPhone, a Pre or a Blackberry, it shouldn’t matter – our library services should be “device agnostic”.

But don’t worry - a “device agnostic” library also means a book friendly library, where you can still find that old friend the Book.

The Value of Libraries

Libraries are incredible returns on investment -

This month we launched our new HBPL website with a whole new look. I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight an important new feature - our Library Value Calculator.

The Library Value Calculator shows you the value of the various services that we provide.

Just go to the calculator and enter the number of books, cds, DVDs, etc. that you check out each month, and the calculator will show you how much that is worth if you were to purchase the same items from any retailer.

You’ll be amazed at how much you save just by coming to the Library and taking advantage of our services.

Across the country, libraries are doing studies on the return on investment for library services. A Community Library gives back at least $4 for every dollar invested in the Library. You can’t beat that.

So come on in and visit your Library. The best deal in Huntington Beach.
We hope to see you soon.

New! Take our Library Survey

We need your help! We are trying to find out what you think about the Huntington Beach Public Library.

We have designed a few short surveys on different services that we offer here at the Library. These are online surveys and they are short and sweet.

Please take the time to go to our website, www.hbpl.org and click on the survey buttons. If you fill out the survey and give us your contact information, your name will be entered into a random drawing for a free DVD rental at the Library.

Your feedback will be incorporated into our strategic planning process, to help us determine the direction for the Library over the next few years.

This is your library. Let us know what you think.

My first “official” blog post

Hi, I am Stephanie Beverage, the Director of the Huntington Beach Public Library and this is my first official blog post here!

I’ve been working in public libraries for quite a while and one of the most interesting new trends I’ve seen is the increase in communication between libraries and their supporters. Blogs, Wikis and other Web 2.0 technologies really let us hear from you, our library patrons and customers.

We have a really terrific library here in Huntington Beach and I want to make sure that the library just keeps getting better and better. To do that, I know I need to hear from everyone in the community, to find out what you want, what you need and how we might be able to make your lives better and easier.

I also see this blog as a way for me to let you know about the new things we are doing or trying and to talk about trends and developments in libraries that we might want to explore.

One of my most important roles as a Library Director is to serve as a Change Agent and futurist for the Library. What will libraries look like in 3, 5, 10 years from now? What kinds of services will we offer? Are there new ways to connect people to reading and information that can make things easier and faster? What can we do to improve and better meet your needs?

These and other topics will be some of the themes in my discussions in this blog. But I nothing is written in stone. That is one of the great things about blogging – we can talk about whatever is hot, whatever is of the moment. We can talk about details or we can talk about philosophy.

All in all, it should be fun!