Institutional Knowledge and Library Snapshot Day

This upcoming week, the California Library Association is sponsoring Library Snapshot Day. California Libraries are being asked to take a "snapshot", basically show a day in the life of a library. We will be gathering statistics and taking pictures, and if you come into the Huntington Beach Public Library on Tuesday, October 5, you may be asked a couple of questions about the library. We hope to give a good picture about what goes on during a regular day here at the Huntington Beach Public Library. It should be fun, and by involving all the libraries in the State, I think we will create a fascinating picture of what modern libraries are like.

All of this is happening while the HB Library is undergoing a lot of changes - today, we are losing 8 full time staff members to retirement. I am very happy for all our retirees (and all the others in the rest of the City of HB), but I got to thinking the other day about what this represents. We will be changing a lot of things, because we have to and it is a good time to look at how we do things, focusing on what our community wants and needs. But we are also losing a lot of amazing talent, skill and energy from the organization. In all, our 8 retirees represent 165 years of institutional memory and knowledge. That is pretty amazing.

Each of our retirees has made a lasting impression on the Library and the services we provide. I honor their dedication and thank them for their years of service.

Things will definitely look different starting tomorrow - the Library Adventure continues, but we will miss our outgoing colleagues.