Are Libraries an endangered species?

It has been a busy January so far - lots of news, and much of it bad on the library front. Budgets are tough, and they got tougher when Governor Brown announced his new budget for next year. His proposal hits public libraries in California hard, and will have a direct impact on what we can do and the services we provide.

Earlier in the month, the American Library Association Midwinter meeting was held in San Diego. Seen on the conference floor and in the ALA Store was a new T shirt showing Libraries as endangered, like the Polar Bear and the Panda. I am a bit of an optimist (or at least try to be...), so my initial thought was "Really? Isn't that a bit over the top?"

But after further thought, I think the T shirt is spot on. Here we are, in tough times, when libraries are booming and we are helping people connect to the Internet, find new careers, apply for job benefits, help their children get ready to learn, and all of the many other things we do at the library, and our funding keeps getting cut and our ability to respond to the needs in our community goes down.

If you love your library, consider joining the Friends of the Library, volunteering your time, or donating books. Talk to your elected representatives and tell them how much you love your library and what it means to you.

If you love the idea of libraries, a cornerstone of our democracy, then I invite you to come in and see what we can do for you now. I think you will find that we have something for everyone.

And if you think we don't need libraries any more, I also urge you to come in and take a look around. Or check out our website. I think we will surprise you with all the things we have and all the things we do.

I firmly believe that the public library is an anchor institution in the community - the public library is the most democratic institution in our nation. Everyone is welcome. In most communities, like Huntington Beach, the Library often predates the incorporation of the town. Creating a public library is one of the first things that a community does when it comes together as a community. It is a public manifestation of the importance of education, knowledge and opportunity for all. It reflects all that is best in our country. I believe we must do everything we can to ensure the survival of the public library.

So here's the question - how do we do that? How do we ensure that the public library is no longer an endangered species? I'd love to hear what people think.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

As at the beginning of every year, there are lots of articles on predictions and other musings about what the New Year holds for all of us. Some of the predictions are interesting, some not so much. For a short while I considered trying to craft some sort of prediction post for us here at the Huntington Beach Public Library, but then my thoughts went off in a different direction as I thought about what libraries do and where we are headed in the new decade.

American Libraries recently published a list of 12 reasons why Libraries are good for the Country and as I considered the list, the more I liked it. It is a good advocacy starting point.

Here's the list -
Libraries sustain democracy
Libraries break down boundaries
Libraries level the playing field
Libraries value the individual
Libraries nourish creativity
Libraries open young minds
Libraries return high dividends
Libraries build communities
Libraries support families
Libraries build technology skills
Libraries offer sanctuary
Libraries preserve the past

(if you'd like to read more, check out the rest of the article)

More and more, especially as we work through the current economic conditions, Library advocacy is crucial. We have to get the message out about all the things we do - how we foster democracy, inspire creativity, function as economic engines for our communities, helping our residents learn, achieve and grow.

So how best to get the message out about libraries? This is something I need to work on for our Library in the coming year.

Library Spirit?

Brian Mathews, the Ubiquitous Librarian, had a very interesting post today, about Library pride and Library spirit. I find Brian's take on the User experience in libraries to be spot on, even though we work in different library realms - his academic environment vs. mine in public libraries.

He was talking about what he wants to accomplish by engaging his students and what his marketing and outreach efforts are really about - generating a brand and inspiring a sense of pride in the library. (And I have to admit that his reference to college football and bowl season resonated with me, avid football fan that I am.)

In many ways, that is what I want for the Huntington Beach Public Library too. I want everyone in our community to be proud of their library - proud that they live in this amazing place, with a fabulous library.

So how do you generate library spirit? How do you generate pride? These are some very interesting questions to ponder as we look ahead into the new year.

The Holidays, Ebooks and Google Books

The Holiday season is here, and I feel like I am suffering from a strange form of attention deficit disorder. My thoughts and energy are all over the place, as I am sure it is with most people. So I apologize for any strange tangents or jumps of subject matter in this post.

This holiday season, I expected that there would be a lot of buzz and talk about Ebooks and Ebook readers, and there is. As you know, I have a Kindle and I do take it with me out in the community - it is often my reading choice for lunch time. This is garnering more and more interest - it used to be that I'd get odd looks and the occasional "Excuse me" inquiry. Now, it is an attention magnet. People come up (sometimes more than 1 or 2) and immediately ask how I like it, what I think about it, etc. And like Kathy Gould, the Director at the Palos Verdes Library, I am asked what do I think about Ebooks and is the book going away?

I have developed a kind of standard response - I like my Kindle, especially for travel, where it is much easier carrying the one device that gives me access to a bookstore anywhere I am, that I think there are still things that can be improved with the reading experience and that sometimes I still like the feel of a real hardback. And how I don't think paper books are going away anytime soon.

Since interest is growing, I thought it would be important for all of my staff to know more about the hot new reading devices, so we've done a couple of mini "crash courses" on the iPad and the Kindle. This gives our staff the opportunity to look at the devices, learn the basics and ask questions about the gadgets - so they can answer more questions from the public.

Just to make things more interesting, Google Books opened this week. Google has scanned LOTS of titles and you can now buy this e-content for a variety of devices. Google's bookstore is different than Amazon and iTunes, and they are actually working with Independent booksellers, like Powells Books of Portland OR. So it is another interesting addition to the whole Ereader/Ebook landscape.

Still no discernible library model out there - though I did read about an idea for "ungluing" ebooks and creating a kind of open ebook collection at the Go to Hellman blog. The more I think about the idea of "unglueing" digital content, the more I like it. Sooo... how do we get this started?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and as we all gear up for the holiday, I thought this was a good moment to pause and consider what I am thankful for here at the Huntington Beach Public Library.

As a librarian, I am thankful for all my colleagues that inspire, challenge, encourage and engage me. If it wasn't for the greater library community, I would not be nearly as good a library director as I (hope) I am. I find new ideas, think about things differently and find new solutions from conversations and ideas that my peers and colleagues share.

As a Library Director, there are so many things to be thankful for that I could go on for quite some time. I am thankful for my staff who continue to amaze me with their resilience, creativity and dedication. We've gone through some major changes this past year, really in just the past few months, and everyone keeps surprising me. Their willingness to look at things differently, talk about what we do and how we can do it differently but efficiently and still maintain our service standards is remarkable. Each and everyone of my staff make a difference everyday in what we can do for the community.

I am also immensely thankful for our amazing community supporters. Without the strong interest and support of our library patrons, Friends and volunteers, the library would be a much less vibrant and exciting place. Thank you all for making it possible for me to work with you to make the Huntington Beach Public Library a truly transformational place.

I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving!

E Readers - is it the Kindle?

Wired magazine reported that out of all the e book reading devices, it looks like the winner is... The Amazon Kindle.

As a Kindle owner, this makes me feel good about the decision to buy the device. The Kindle is the most popular device for reading e books right now. HOWEVER only 7-8% of Adults are actually reading e books.

Whenever I see another Kindle reader out in public I do feel like I'm a member of an interesting club. I've had more conversations with strangers because of my Kindle than I can count, so there is definitely buzz and interest.

Even though I really enjoy my Kindle, as a librarian, I keep coming back to what does the Kindle mean for libraries and the profession?

I think some of my online colleagues, like Kathy Gould and Genesis Hansen, have it right. We have to start really looking at things differently. Start blowing things up, as it were. :)

The big thing for me with e books, especially with the Kindle is the essential problem of the economic model. The book and the device are conjoined - BN does allow very limited borrowing on their Nook, and it looks like Amazon plans to follow suit, but again, 1 loan per title, and only some titles will be available? And why the restrictions? Because someone could lose money?

I do feel like I'm sitting on my hands, waiting for everything to shake out, but by then it may be too late - we will be on the outside looking in.

Why is it so hard for us to make our case to the industry about the value of what we do? Do we need the American Library Association or IMLS to have a publishing summit, where libraries have a seat at the table and can make some contribution to the development of the digital publishing market?

Maybe we need to find someone close to Jeff Bezos...

Simplicity, service and libraries

October marks the beginning of a new Fiscal Year here in the City of Huntington Beach, and this new budget year has brought LOTS of changes to the Library.

We have completely rearranged our public desk schedules, to adjust to new staffing levels (8 full time staff members retired on September 30. A BIG change!). When you are dealing with big changes like this (a 22% decrease in full time staff) questions come up tied to what you do, how you do it and why you do it. Maintaining the highest quality service possible is essential, but how do you do this with fewer people, in a busy library?

Simplification is important - we are trying to figure out ways to make the library simpler to use. How do we do this? Do we need to do everything we've done in the past, and do we need to do it the same way? Can we change it? What do our patrons really want anyway?

Should we try and implement self service checkout? People often think that Self Service connotes NO service. But is that really the case? I don't think so. Think about all the things that we do for ourselves - banking with ATMs, self service kiosks at the grocery store, self service ordering at Fast Food outlets, online shopping, etc. Some online businesses give better service and provide a better experience than on ground stores. Zappos is a good example of an online business that makes it easy to get what you want, when you want it and makes it easy to send things back or make changes.

Personally, I like the choice - I can choose to use the online store for some kinds of shopping and then on ground, in person for other kinds. I get to choose my experience. And isn't that really what service is all about? The experience? Sometimes you want or need more care, more time and attention. Sometimes you just want to get in and get out fast. Both are satisfying, both meet your needs, and it really just depends on your circumstances, doesn't it?

So we are grappling with some interesting and complicated issues, as we try and make things simpler and easier for our patrons. I think as long as we keep asking the questions, and working with each other, we will be headed in the right direction. It certainly will be interesting.