Professional Development

Thanks to those who responded to the querry I posed within my first NCLA post. I look forward to discussing your answers with each of you. I hope others as you get a chance will consider responding as well. Thursday morning of NCLA featured several of our LAMS sponsored programs. Beginning with Dr. Larry White, Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Science at East Carolina University presenting an overview of challenges facing libraries as they implement “Assessment Planning.” According to White, little is found in the literature on assessment planning for the whole organization and that most libraries don’t build their strategic plans around data collected from assessment efforts. Traditional models of assessment look at efficiency rates, effectiveness, return on investment and educational outcomes. White then suggest a revised approach where we look at our stakeholders, our intangibles, our resources and our knowledge experiences. Libraries need to align their major library services with those associated closest to our stakeholders. Assessment should connect your community to what you are doing, therefore it is so important to involve your customers in every facet. Don’t just let him see you asking for data, or counting only numbers, turn around and show the customer what those numbers mean. Broadcast and share these numbers to your community. Showcase them in a way that conveys the value of the services rendered.

Our second session was a preview of the NCLA 2010 Leadership Institute. Institute facilitators shared the guiding principles, outlined expectations of the four day retreat as well as the application and selection process. Much of this information was shared in my fist NCLA posting earlier in the week. The 2010 institute will be held in November in Asheboro, NC.

The LAMS luncheon featured Waffle House owner of seventeen stores, Gary Fly. I don’t believe he owns any of the Winston Salem stores. He spoke frequently of the Greensboro, High Point, Hickory and Mt. Airy locations. Fly encouraged attendees to view their libraries as he does, through the eyes of the customer. Waffle House mission for their stores include: delivering a unique experience to each customer, providing a welcoming environment, great food, reasonable prices and friendly attentive services. Most of their business comes from repeat customers. How does a store like this compete when the landscape of fast food, just like libraries, has changed so drastically over the last decade? First he took the time to study the landscape and he’s well aware of what these changes are. His approach, is deliberate. It is a “cheers without the alcohol.” Employees seek to offer a unique fun filled experience. The keys to each Waffle House are buried in the parking lot on opening day as a symbol that they are always there for you. The busiest day of the year is Christmas Day. Staff are encouraged to learn the customers names, call them out as they enter the building, remember what their favorites are and give them what they want in a 22 minute turn around time. They use other customers in creating this unique experience.

As a customer of the Library, Fly would like to see libraries offer a Barnes and Noble approach, comfortable furniture, good signage and a warm friendly environment. Amazon like service with customer reviews of books read and suggested reading lists. A Netflix model - here are the titles you pre-selected as those of interest; just send them back and your next ones will arrive via campus mail. Below are ten steps Fly offers to help libraries on their way to success:

1. Employ friendly greeters - encourage them to smile.

2. Communicate frequently your service priorities.

3. Does your staff appear attentive?

4. Is their order and structure in place?

5. Communicate the mission statement!

6. Build strong, lasting relationships.

7. Promote your brand.

8. Hire the best and brightest folk- with a unified system of training in place!

9. Know what your value is.

10. Work really hard to deliver what your customers expect.

“The Library Diversity Committee: Serving Knowledge, Serving You,” was a very well organized and thought provoking session . Representatives from UNC-G, NC State, UNC- C and ECU shared strategies for the library based diversity committees. Each representative shared details surrounding their individual successes. Most had a recurring theme of acquiring the right personnel, offering the right type programming and building greater collections of available resources. The general consensus of the group was not to label programs offered as “diversity.” Something about the word made folk think someone was trying to shove something down their throat. Choosing other topics that not only focused on race but other areas of discrimination also boosted interest. I plan to look at the representative websites for their goals and objectives, it could be that the timing may be right for WFU. I was particularly interested in the film series that some of the schools offered. Perhaps if we loose the word diversity in the committees name, we might find a happy medium for this type strategically planned programming here at ZSR.

My final workshop of the conference was entitled “Library Workforce Challenges in North Carolina.” This session reviewed findings from a comprehensive study of career patterns on graduates (1964 onward) from the 4 NC LIS programs and also the Central Piedmont Certification program. The WILS study was conducted via a survey. I have listed just a few of the highlights discussed in the session, but for a clearer and more detailed presentation and summary look here - http://www.wilis.unc.edu.

Survey responses were about 2627 or 35%. 82% were female with an average age of 50. 11% were non white. The average salary was 51,952. 33% work in school libraries, 20 % in public, 31% in academic and 16% in special.

How many are likely to leave the profession in five years or 2013?- 49%

How many of them are likely to have left already? - 12 % of the workforce.

How many are likely to leave the workforce in ten years or 2018? - 63%

Salary, career progression, support for continuing education, mentorship, recognition and a more flexible work schedule were each attributed as keys to retaining and motivating librarians and library workers.

A panel of representatives from across the state then spoke on how these findings might impact our course of action with regard to workforce relations in North Carolina Libraries. Susan Nutter shared the NCSU story. Hire the best and pay them well. Her fellows are paid well and given top responsibilities right up front. Sometimes libraries fail with new graduates because they watch and teach them to death. As young graduates many are eager and full of passion. Don’t treat them to be so cautious. Are you the employer of choice?

This was a great discussion and a great note to end the conference workshops on. The closing session featured Barbara Armstrong White, management consultant from UCAN Educational Services of Fayetteville NC who shared “Service Strategies that transform and Move us Forward.” White reminded the audience that from economic and other disasters humanity is brought to the forefront. Train yourself to think of the other personsjourney of life has been. We owe our communities our attention!

I am down in Greenville, attending the North Carolina Library Association’s 58th Biennial Conference themed, “NC Libraries: Serving Knowledge…Serving You. “Tuesday was a day for morning travel eastward on a most rainy and dreary day to conference headquarters for a Library Administration and Management Section (LAMS) sponsored pre-conference that outlined strategies and goals used in the 2008 Leadership Institute. It was a most welcomed pleasure to see our own “Lauren Pressley” highlighted as one of the institute MVP’s! Institute leaders Mark Livingston and Kem Ellis shared core principles and beliefs of the institute in a session entitled “Leadership: It starts with you, but it’s not about you!”Included were these beliefs:

Authentic Leadership starts with your unique passion and purpose - Lead with purpose and authenticity.

The Ultimate test of your leadership is earning, keeping, and growing the loyalty of employees, customers and key stakeholders - Strengthen those relationships.

Libraries provide significant value and can make a measurable difference in the communities they serve - Focus on the total library experience.

Here are a couple of suggestions that were of particular interest to me.

Designing an agreed upon and accepted by each service point, a consistent plan for delivering customer service.

Informing your customers as they enter your building what they can expect their experience in your library to be. For example:

You may expect — a warm welcoming environment, personalized service and attention to your specific needs.

During the NCLA Executive Board dinner the group sang Happy Birthday, this was the extent of my birthday celebration along with all the folks who wrote on my facebook wall.

This morning I worked the registration booth from 7:30 a.m. until 10:00. This was great preparation for my next role (or shall I say our role) planning the next biennial conference. We had quite a few onsite registrations. Not sure what our final numbers are, but I’ll find out and report later. In addition we had several issues with the lack of wireless access for our vendors. I think the convention center might find beneficial a little refresher on the “customer services” angle as well as what the effects ofcondescending tones has on relationship building.

Keith Michael Feils, ALA Executive Director was our opening keynoter. Even though it may be discouraging at times for libraries, we are still the best bang for the buck! Here’s what he suggest libraries get busy doing.

Determine how technology will impact us.

Work to serve all, overcome issues of poverty and race.

Lead the world in diversity.

Preserve the rights of Library users.

Fight to keep information free.

Continue to attract the best and brightest.

Lead the world in international relations.

Work on funding for Libraries.

Document the value of Libraries.

Lunch was fun! Jane Bozarth of the NC Office of State Personnel/HRD Group led a very light hearted discussion centered around enjoying life. The luncheon was a popular choice of some 45 librarians. I read this to be an indication that even in difficult times, people look for an opportunity to wind down.The session entitled, “Thank God it is Monday: Enjoy Your Job, Enjoy Your Life,” invited attendees to focus more on the little pleasures. Our first assignment was to list five green light experiences. You know how you feel when you make all the green lights coming down through town, or get that parking spot near the library. How does this make you feel? My list included being greeted by a co-worker with a welcoming smile; hearing my favorite song before I exit the car; and of course a good hot drink.

Key principles to enjoying your job included liking what you do, being good at it and believing what you do has meaning. Ok for a little test. If you’ve read to hear send me an email listing these three things:

A) What you like most about your job? B) What do you think you are really good at? And C) Do you believe what you do has value, if so what?

Just testing - I hope you’ll all respond to me. I really want to hear. Brownw@wfu.edu

My afternoon session, “A Crises is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Reinventing Your Library During Challenging Times,” featured David Singleton, Director of Library Experiences at the Public Library of Charlotte. He discussed secrets for thriving during turbulent times, embracing change, brainstorming for success, looking at programs, services and staffing in strategic ways that make sense in today’s reality. Singleton’s view of reactions to challenging times is mostly emotional to staff. Some don’t feel valued, only focusing on the present and in dire need for someone to communicate with them both openly and honestly about the situation. Don’t assume that all will act the exact same way. Other tips included:

Leadership is the key to striving during challenging times.

Embrace optimism.

Be courageous.

Focus on the organization, both internally and organizationally.

Focus on customer service excellence.

Work towards continuous innovation.

Remove barriers; empower staff.

Plan for the future.

I have a lot more notes I took during this session. So if you’d like to hear more, stop by I’d love to talk with you. More later…Wanda

I began this conference day with a 9:00 a.m. appointment at the Bank of America directly across the street from my hotel. BCALA officers gathered to have account signature cards changed and signed according to specific instructions as given to our treasurer by his New York branch of Bank of America. So there we stood all five from five different states equipped with identification. In less than five minutes we are informed that Illinois laws are different that New York’s and that we would need a copy of the minutes of the meeting that installed these folks as officers. I happened to have my folder which had last night’s meeting agenda on BCALA letterhead that listed all of the current officers. In addition, three of the required signatures were already on the account and no real changes would be required. Needless to say I was not a happy camper.I asked for a follow up meeting to be rescheduled for 12:30 p.m. and stressed the importance of meeting directly with this agent since he was familiar with our case. And then 12:30 came, we returned with all the necessary items to find our little agent out to lunch and all of us waiting for the next available agent. Now all of our schedules are interrupted. I miss my free OCLC luncheon and must hurry to make our 1:30 session. There is absolutely no business that can’t benefit from applying the principles of good customer service.

In between these two bank trips, Roberta and I conducted part - 2 of our NCAAL conference planning committee meeting. During this time we continued working on the proposed conference themes and tracks. A lively discussion took place amongst the 20 or so librarians centered around the topic of Black librarianship. Some felt we should embrace this topic, while a few others felt we should center our language around multicultural and changing demographics etc. I was asked if this was our conference or not.Differing views and opinions were everywhere. A part of my push for conference design is to have as many programs as possible that will attract a wide range of attendees resulting in a most diverse audience. I think inclusion is the way of today and tomorrow, the only way we will all succeed. I think we settled on a middle of the road approach. The call for papers and proposals will be issued soon.I hope you’ll give me your opinion.

BCALA co-sponsored a program entitled “Mentoring Minority Librarians” with some of the other ethnic caucuses, REFORMA (Hispanic), AILA, the American Indian Library Association andCALA, the Chinese American Library Association. The four panelist shared stories of successful and/or unsuccessful mentoring programs of which they had each participated. Significant praise and encouragement was given to the less formally structured programs.Some minorities, according to panelist, tend to shy away from being forced into relationships. An audience attendee reminded the group that culturally people respond differently. A wise mentor seeks to understand the mentee and works hard to build a solid relationship. Lack of communication, lack of genuine concern and lack of patience were offered as keys to failure in any mentoring relationship.I added to this list the lack of adequate training.

“Hiring the Best: Looking for Experiential Learning in MLS Students and Asking the Right Questions,” sponsored by ALA Governance was somewhat different than I expected.Both presenters spoke only to potential hires at public and school media systems. The heart of the workshop was based on a survey administered to some 54 MLS students, 181 public librarians and 167 school media personnel.The survey asked how well supervisors felt recent MLS hires or graduates were prepared overall, in regards to technology, ability to do reference work, handling difficult patrons and understanding intellectual freedom. Results were as expected huddled around “somewhat.”The pros of new hires were seen as enthusiastic, energetic and “cheap. “The cons were exactly the opposite, as in inexperienced, unfamiliar with the culture and unable to leap forward without specific handholding. The suggestionsoffered the panelist for internships and interviewing techniques were almost identical to what we currently have in place.

BCALA literary awards program held tonight honored the following authors:

Fiction - Diane McKinney-Whetstone - Trading Dreams at Midnight

Nonfiction - Paula J. Giddings - Ida: A Sword Among Lions

First Novelist - Carleen Brice - Orange Mint and Honey

Fiction Honor Book - Pearl Cleage - Seen It All and Done the Rest

- Jesmyn Ward - Where the Line Bleeds

Outstanding Publishing Citation - Debra Willis and Kevin Merida - Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs.

I have one last program tomorrow morning. It’s the 40^th Anniversary Celebration of the Coretta Scott King awards breakfast. After that I hope to finally get to see the exhibits. See you all on Wednesday.

I walked over to see Lynn receive her most deserving award early yesterday morning and the weather was absolutely beautiful.After the award program I ran out to serve on a focus group hosted by PROQUEST to discuss the future of microfilm.I joined representatives from eight other universities, includng Duke an NCCU, each enticed to share with the promise of a $35 Amazon gift card.From the conversations, it appears that most of those represented had stories very similar to ours. Stories that reflected a declining need for microfilm, a slight resistance by just a few faculty members and graduate students to let go, frustrations in finding new homes for there old collections and moral issues over discarding items that libraries initially paid mega dollars for.Here’s a sampling of the questions we discussed .

What would you say is the state of microfilm in your library?

What kind of content is most appropriate for microfilm?

Do you feel that the standards of digitization are appropriate and agreed upon by all?

What should be the future of microfilm?

What would you say are current hot research topics on your campus?

My committee meeting required a shuttle ride, but fortunately I had plenty time to get there.The ALA Committee on Library Advocacyis chaired by Carol Brey Casiano.We spent most of our meeting time hearing an update from our ALA liaison.Her latest registration numbers for this conference exceeded 27,000 when another 7,000attendees did onsite registrations.Exhibits unfortunately, but to be expected, were down aboutfrom last year.The ALA Office for Library Advocacyhad a busy spring and summer jumping to the aid of libraries in Ohio and Connecticut as state officials were insisting on enforcing major cuts to libraries in those states.Other projects in the works include issuing a recommendation to ALA Standards concerning advocacy as a part of library education, continuingto updaethe advocacy university website and planning for our next steps.

On my waydown to the convention center and in need of lunch, I and another Librarian found our way to a nearby Burger King for a modest lunch.This need for thrift was brought on by convention center pizza prices @ $11 a slice.While waiting for my next session the Management Mix: Mentoring Librarians for the Realities of Management to begin, I finished my lunch and began a mental game.The three presenters Kimberly, Terri and Mimi, were in the room preparing audio, etc.I could not see there name tags but decided I would guess which was one was which.My rationale Kimberly would be tall and lean, a Terri would be short and petite, and Mimi could be the more mature of the group.I was tickled as I got them all right.It made me wonder what people think of when they hear Wanda.I chose this particular session to hear about the mentoring components.Each presenter had a slightly different take on it but each agreed that mentoring goes well beyond training, it enhances leadership development, it benefits both the mentor and the mentee, and most definitely strengthens the organization as a whole.Effective mentoring requires an investment in training for both the mentor and the mentee.The Ohio based program shared by one presenter, was similar toour NC Leadership Institute.The second presenter took the viewpoint of manager as mentor.She stressed the importance ofday one on the job and how on that day the supervisordemonstrates how much she cares about his/her success in their new role.Also the leader lays out the grand plan for this position and finally how confident he/she is in their ability to get it done. The final presenter targeted public libraries and branch orientation.

My final sessionwasentitled “Improving User Services Through Open Source Solutions: Potentials and Pitfalls. Featured amongthe panel of open source experts was Joseph Lucia, Villanova University,who spoke concerning the need for open source,benefits to libraries and why it is a most viable but necessary option.Randy Dykhuls shared insights on the Michigan Library Consortium’s implementation of Evergreen.John Garino, St John”s University focused his remarks on the WALDO Library Consortium’s selection of Koha as their open source option for their 15 member libraries.The final panelist I did not hear as I had to leave early for a Random House sponsored dinner with Carlotta Walls Lanier author of “A Mighty Long Way, My Journey to Justice at little Rock Central High School.”

Dinner was very nice but rushed for me as BCALA had a memorial tribute for Dr. E. J. Josey its’ founder and library activist, pioneer in the pursuit of African Americans and their inclusion in the American Library Association. Dr Josey was funeralized in NC on Saturday.

This morning after reading the BCALA schedule of weekend activities I noticed that an update on the 7^th National Conference was to be given at an 8:00 a.m. session entitled “Orientation to the Black Caucus.”I quickly offloaded my free breakfast to Susan and proceeded to the session.I was really glad that I did.Participating in the session were 6 new recruits to our profession, 5 of which became new BCALA members also.One was a recent 2009 graduate, while two of the others were currently enrolled in an MLIS program.It was exciting for me to see their joyous faces filled with interest, energy and enthusiasm towards our profession.One even compared her first ALA conference to the first day of kindergarten; a youngster eagerly seeking someone to be her friend.It was from this session that I felt validation towards my support of BCALA and its’ mission to support new librarians.

On a high from that session, I made my way to the ACRL Personnel Administrators & Staff Development Officers Discussion Group only to be totally taken aback when the round robin reports given by the Librarians in attendance showcased doom and gloom for most.The schools able to still post and fill vacancies, reported receiving record numbers of applicants.Such as 350 applicants for an entry level Reference Librarian vacancy; 150 applicants for an Archivist vacancy, and a 150 applicants for a Manuscripts vacancy.One Librarian reported a 25% cut in academic programming at her institution, while yet another reported a 12% cut to her library budget or 3.6 million a year.Several reported required furloughs and pay cuts.The University of California system had the saddest of all stories with a proposed 700 million dollar cuts; a possible mandatory 8% cut in salaries and up to 21 days of forced furloughs. Most in attendance were optimistic however that after this season of economic constraints is over,there libraries would be somewhat smaller but stronger.I am most appreciative of what we have here at WFU.A conversational theme arose around an observation thatappears to betrendy as it is somewhat true for us as well.Most of the libraries represented were electing to not fill the vacated support staff positions as such, but were creating instead new Librarian positions.

Leaving this discussion I headed over to have lunch with EBSCO only to hear there story of budget cuts as well.It seems that as libraries feel the economic pinch, it simply gets passed along to others within the assembly line. EBSCO’s plan of action included cuts in their marketing and advertising,eliminating all direct mailings and sadly a reduction in sponsorships.These efforts have savedthem about 20% across the board.They are also committed to seeking creative ways of addressing the budget constraints faced by libraries.This was a so called free lunch and of course you had to hear about new projects on the horizon.I’ll just list a few and if any spark your interest, consider contacting them for more information.

Art & Architecture complete

Historical Abstracts

Political Science Complete

Public Affairs Index

Historical Digital Archives

American Theological Library Association Historical Monographs & Serial Collections

Coming in Dec 2009 - EBSCO Discovery Service.

Following yet another BCALA Conference planning session, I taxied over to the Hilton where ALA President-Elect Camila Alire hosted a retirement party for ALA’s outgoing Director of the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, Satia Orange.Satia has worked closely with BCALA since her arrival at ALA almost 20 years ago.Few may remember her days here in Forsyth County as the Head of Children Services at the Forsyth County Public Library (FCPL).Joining me at the celebration were a couple of other former FCPL librarians, Cal Shepherd of Lyrasis and Jackie Beach now in New Bern, NC.

More later.. that’s it for today.

I arrived in Chicago on Thursday just in time for a 2:30 p.m. meeting with my co-chair, Roberta Webb who is actually located right there in Chicago.Roberta and I are tasked as conference planning co-chairs for the 2010 Conference of African American Librarians to be held in Birmingham, Alabama. We had a most productive session as we outlined the agenda for our 1^st joint planning committee meeting to be held on Friday night.

Friday of the annual conference began with the executive board meeting of Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) .I had the privilege of speaking to our newly elected board members.I chose to focus my remarks emphasizing the importance of genuine commitment, timely follow through, active participation, frequent and clear communication and responsiveness.An organization is only as great as those who serve it.I was really excited to see that one of my Presidential initiatives came to fruition as the announcement was made concerning the hiring of JamaneYeager as BCALA’s first organizational assistant.

News from the American Library Association presented forthcoming changes for BCALA in it‘s reporting status.Previously governed by the Office of Literacy and Outreach Services, effective July1^st, BCALA will have a formal association through the Office of Diversity.Implications from the change are uncertain at this time.ALA general membership is down 2.8%.The only division of ALA that has seen an increase in membership is the Young Adult Library Services.Annual conference attendance estimated at 20,500 is down from previous years but up from what ALA had projected.

Friday nights’ meeting of the conference planning committee chairs and other interested volunteers showcased an arena of excited librarians.Drafting the conference planning timeline, detailing beginning components of the conference budget and planning for a Birmingham site visit were highlights of the evening.The group collectively agreed to propose the following conference theme: Culture Keepers VII: Bridging the divide with information access, activism and advocacy.

Inspiration, Innovation, Celebration, an entrepreneurial conference for librarians planned by several librarians from UNC-G and Mary Beth, Mary Scanlon and myself from WFU. Mary Scanlon introduced the concept of using google docs to store the many discussion ideas, program proposals and other detailed planning documents. She graciously served as the groups official note keeper throughout the planning process. A debt of gratitude also goes to Kevin Gilbertson for designing the conference webpage and to Mary Beth for working so closely with Kevin transferring the planning groups ideas and suggestions. Together they were instrumental in showcasing the conference to the world. Please take a look if you haven’t already. http://blog.zsr.wfu.edu/iic/ Mary Beth was also a key designer for the layout of the conference program.Craig Fansler also had a hand in designing the covers. Join me in thanking them for a job well done.The conference captured the attention of about seventy eight attendees, representing 15 different states and even one attendee from the UK. Each was eager to hear and share their own entrepreneurial story. It was clear in the planning stages of the conference that everyone had a different take on just what the concept of entrepreneurism meant within libraries. As imagined the celebration brought together a rainbow of themes and concepts.

Joyce Ogburn, opening keynoter brought together risk and entreprenership. Ogburn compared risk to water. Either you like it or you don’t. For certain you must learn to swim to survive, you can only tread for so long. Jump in the waters just fine. A few of her strategies for dealing with risk included:

Fast track decisions

Be ready for opportunities

Reinvent and reinvigorate

Experiment, shift and adapt

Assume more risk, but manage it

Partner with others

Plan in shorter time frame

I really enjoyed meeting and hearing WFU’s own Jon Obermeyer, our featured luncheon keynoter. I am not sure which I enjoyed more his stories concerning the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and how they can reproduce a bladder in about 6 weeks or his recommended six topic area approach used to describe concisely the viability of a new product or service. His ease and style of delivery both caught my attention and lead me to conclude that he would be an excellent presenter for us here at ZSR and on the WFU campus. Copies of presenter speeches and handouts will be placed on the conference website. When they are, you’ll want to check his out.

I was assigned the task of monitoring Cone A during the conference. I had the joy of hearing some very interesting sessions. One of which was Jennifer Calvo from NCSU libraries.This entrepreneur shared how NCSU launched the Learning Commons After Dark programming. With an average 10:00 p.m. gate count of 700 students, they asked the question,how can we keep this relevant and fresh? Their solution involved using innovative services, dynamic programming and actively engaged staff. They created a series of events, each was to expose the library’s collections, raise awareness of the late hours and foster and further develop the learning commons student community. Some of the events shared included playing a series of older board games, guitar hero, gaming night competitions and a night of making sock animals. Calvo’s shift begins at 9:00 p.m. and ends at 3:00 a.m.

My next session featured Kem Ellis, Director of the High Point Public Library and Mark Livingston, President Transformational Library Partners. This dynamic duo was instrumental in planning the 2008 North Carolina Library Associations’ Leadership Institute. There session entitled “Developing Entrepreneurial, Customer-Focused leaders” was a recap of the founding principles they applied to creating the week long event. They designed the institute using these three beliefs and practices.

Beliefs:

Authentic leadership starts with passion and purpose.

Libraries offer significant value and can make a measurable difference in the communities they serve.

The ultimate test of leadership is earning and keeping the loyalty of employees and customers.

Practices:

Think and act “Outside in.”

Strengthen relationships and loyalty.

Focus on the total Library experience.

Lead with purpose and authenticity.

On Thursday the final day of the conference, I did not feel well and left the conference early. However before leaving I was able to hear Anita Norton share Johns Hopkins University’s story of entrepreneurism. For a fee (not disclosed to the audience) Johns Hopkins provides the library resources needed by the faculty and students at Excelsior College. Together they integrate both library services and resources into their online courses.Librarians from John Hopkins join forces with instructors and course developers to create the structure and content of the classes offered. They have collaborated on 63% of the courses developed.

Planning this conference was a wonderful experience, one I truly enjoyed. I would love to see us do it again and this time have Wake serve as host!

My second day at SAMM lasted only until noon, but was full of several interesting sessions. I began the day hearing Jason Battles from the University of Alabama, share insights on “Building Environments and Tools to Engage Library Users.” The problem as he states it is that libraries wait until new products, new web pages and new programs are 100% ready before they share them with their users. Users need to be engaged in the production stages. Battles feels that marketing is the first step in engaging users, you must publicize the existence of new products and demonstrate how useful they are. He suggest using the google labs concept and Code4library programming to create databases where users are informed, engaged and invited to share opinions in the production stages. Battles used code language created by Vanderbilt University and has developed it for sharing. AJAX functionality was added to creat the comment box and ratings field have been added. The only glitch is that you must have an Intel based Mac for development. Here’s the link to the test sight at Vanderbilt. http://testpilot.library.vanderbilt.edu/

My next session featured Kathleen Imhoff of Lexington Public Library, Kentucky who spoke on the importance of allowing “Creativity in the Workplace.” Upon entering the room all participants were given a fuzzy, shiny or brightly colored pipe cleaner. Our first assignment was to build something and share it with the group. We then answered most of the following questions. What color is a wish? What color is imagination? How does purple taste? What is the texture of a whisper? What color is today? These questions were examples of how supervisors can challenge staff to look at things differently. These are also options for making worklife more fun and for eliminating fear. Fear distorts perception. Our second assignment was to find one other person and create an object with our fuzzy pipe cleaners. My partner and I created a flower. Our final assginment was done in groups of four. This time my groupcreated three dogs and used the final pipe to walk the three dogs. These activities supported the concept of one works well, but sometimes two or more can be much more produtive. Our projects were all more complex and came with stories as more people joined the group. Imhoff concluded that libraries need to identify their most creative and also find ways to change attitudes so all are looking forward to the future.

“Trending Toward Lyrasis” was the topic of choice for Dr. Richard Madaus the closing keynoter. Madaus reviewed the path of libraries. The first mentality of libraries was to “search and locate.” Then with web 2.0 we became the ones to “find and deliver.” To be effective today we must equip others to “click and know.” Eighty-five % of our users are not in the building and will probably not come. How are we meeting their needs. How are we engaging them? Have we gained their support? Do we know what they are? Where is the library’s place within the google world? Have you ever noticed how often google repeats its mission. In every new product they release within their labs, they share their mission and how this particular product helps them tomeet it. Have libraries who dismiss Wikipedia as unreliable, noticed how much library terminology they have chosen to use?

If you have ever heard Madaus, you know he is famous for introducing new technology. He spoke of “Wolfram Alph” which is thought to be the google killer. Tonight at 8:00 pm. it was to be released. Its focus will be to make the world’s knowledge computable….? Universities will purchase Kindles for their students, download textbooks and and sell them for the price of the actual books. Madaus thinks our reference areas should have these type computers. http://www.digitaltigers.com/zenview-trio20pro.asp

What is the value added by the library to the knowledge research process? Who are we? If we cling to the printed book we are in an ever shrinking box. Information is no longer site bound. The world is boldly moving into the “twisted network of strangers.” Strangers who visit a restaurant decide is wasn’t to their liking, post that and cause a multitude of folk to not eat there. Strangers assuming the role of those in the know. Libraries should be the strong voice for authenticity in information, realizing that they are a business as well as a service provider. Libraries need to move beyond our traditional comfort zones and actually stop giving costly services and activities that fail to add value. We are not who we are by the stuff we know, but by the choices we make.

The final SOLINET annual meeting is being held in Atlanta Thursday and Friday morning at the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center. The SAMM 09 conference entitled, the Changing World, Changing Libraries featured as open keynoter the Executive Director and Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute, Dr. Tom Frey. Frey thinks our society is always looking backward to move forward. Frey soon shifted his thoughts to a hand held device that could be used as a shopping aid. Whenever someone you see with a cool pair of boots you could simply just point and click. Your handheld device finds it, in your size and if you choose to, it could be delivered to your door. Or how about a musical devise attached to your glasses inserted near the ears. This device selects the type of music you need to hear based on your mood and your reaction to previously played songs. In 2059 what form of payment will be used? Will it be from a chip on your finger or will it be from a scan of your eyes? In what year Frey ask, will the last book be printed? He predicts the kindle will sell for about $20 within the next few years. He thinks that libraries should become electronic outpost, equipped with multi searching stations and staffed with roving librarians.Within the next twenty years libraries will contain no books. The model for education will be completely revamped. It will be more of an itunes model. The transition will move away from teaching towards actual learning. This year MIT Open Course ware offered 1800 courses and Moodle 2,918,000 consortium courses. Courseware will be developed everywhere, real not just in an online environment, less dependent on teachers and schools. Libraries should become laboratories for the creation of new courses. They should embrace their role as the search command center, a place where folk come to get help identifying the appropriate databases to search in. Communities in the future will be developed around ways people can meet other people, empires of one.

Forty five million people currently are doing all or part of their jobs at home. People who work at home suffer from two things, isolation and distraction. Suppose libraries were designed to serve folk who work from home. What might they have? Well for one thing, perhaps day care centers or remote office space, art studios, mini planetariums and recreation centers. I must admit I loved the walk station. A computer with a treadmill attached. With this device you can type away on your computer while you get your twenty minute workout. Libraries could also offer expert series. This is a panel of experts formed to discuss and answer questions on a particular topic. Libraries should be about reaching out to communities and extending influence. Frey suggest using weekly online newsletters to acquaint the community of the library receipts, statistics and upcoming events.

For my second session I choose the Mass Digitization Collaborative. Designed to assist cultural heritage institutions with their digitization needs this initiative was a featured product from the legacy PALINET offices. It provides a service wherein libraries may ship off items to one of several scanning centers and have them digitized at a low cost. The cost of which could not be shared with the audience.

The luncheon speaker, author of Full of Grace, Dorothea Benton Frank shared humorous reflections on how she began her writing career down in Sullivan’s Island South Carolina. After lunch I attended “A Perfect Marriage: Advocacy & Fundraising.” Though the presenters asked for a show of hands of those representing academic libraries, they still choose to focus most of their message to public librarians. I did enjoy hearing 3M’s Dave Pointon, share with the audience their philosophy on service. They believe that the more successful libraries are the more successful 3M will be. The better libraries do in the community where we work and live, the easier it is to improve the quality of life around us and it also increases 3M’s ability to attract and retain a qualified workforce.

The final session of the day was the Lyrasis business meeting where Kate Nevins and others retold the path for SOLINET and PALINET to Lyrasis. They each spoke on the Lyrasis vision, to be more than what they each had been, offering improved library leadership, expansion of digital services, open source, cooperative collection management and re-energizied library operational planning. OCLC conducted a series of studies that showed that regional groups each had varying levels of service and pricing. They concluded that libraries needed more options and direct relationships. As a result of this, OCLC will offer libraries a choice, remain an affiliate of the regional groups such as Lyraris or go directly through OCLC. The first evidence of this new relationship was seen when OCLC dropped the service charge previously instituted by SOLINETfor pricingrelated to cataloging and interlibrary loan. In addition OCLC reduced compensation changes to the networks by almost 70%. The future seems most uncertain for Lyrasis, but if their commitment to member librariesremains at the highest levels and they continue tooffer the local touch, I think they will succeed.

This session, as were several during the conference, was paired up with similarly tracked themes, though I have to wonder how the previous session such a positive and encouraging one, was paired with the session entitled, “Bullying or Mobbing: Is It Happening in Your Library? The presenter identified bullying as repeated mistreatment especially snide sarcastic remarks. Mobbing is a specific type of bullying where a majority of people emotionally abuse and bully an individual. Advice to the audience included the need to document, stand up for yourself and avoid HR. The overtone here was more negative than I personally wanted to experience.

It was easy to move on to the next session on undergraduate student assistants and how they perceived their work experiences in the academic library as contributing to their social and academic integration in college.

Student use in libraries can be tallied up as about 50% academic and 50% social. How then can libraries use the statistical data obtained from observations of student patterns and behaviors to plan and strategize for facility design and services. This may be an untapped resource.

Recruiting and Retaining the Library workforce of tomorrow was a sharing of results on a joint research project conducted by North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of LIS, Barbara Moran and South Carolina’s Paul Solomon. Together they surveyed LIS graduates from 1964 to 2005 and provided information beneficial to both recruiting and retaining librarians in academic libraries. All of the graduates were from North Carolina LIS programs The study sought to find out why they came and then if they left, then why. A web survey was administered to some 7,566 former students. Thirty five percent responded. NC graduates are currently working in all 50 fifty states and in 14 foreign countries. For the question why did you choose this as your profession?, the following answers came:

Good fit with my interest - 93% —-Wanted to make a difference - 66%

Like working with people - 68% —-Flexible career options - 56%

Worked in a library - 55%

The question, why did you leave? produced this list of varying reasons:

More opportunities for growth —Challenging projects

Salary —-Moved —-Working environment

Benefits —-Management issues —Technology

Working hours

In summary it appears that even in a working career, “variety is the spice of life.”

Facilitator for the luncheon roundtable discussion I chose to attend, Michael Pasqualoni sought to re-envision efficiency and outcomes during the Academic librarian search process. Topics covered addressed the need for library search committees to accept their role in selling the library to the applicant, how to gain enough information relative to the applicants skills, experiences and visions and how to write job descriptions that match the Library’s mission yet broad enough to not box the applicant in to one tiny area.

The afternoon featured several of our ZSR librarians in the spotlight. I tried to catch them all. Lauren P. spoke on career planning, knowing where you want to be in your career and then mapping your path there. Lynn shared details on the “Replication of the OCLC Perceptions Study” that WFU and UNC-G conducted together. Roz talked about the wonders of Google Docs. Each topic was well received, attracting great attendance and curious responders filled with lots of questions. I was mighty proud!

But there was time for one more final session. For this paper the authors choose to examine statistical data collected from NCES and ARL to see if budgeting trends matched some of the ACRL top ten assumptions. ACRL assumptions compared were #1, Libraries will become increasingly more digital; #2 more non MLS professionals; #3 more dollars will be spent on purchasing digital content and #7 libraries will see a shift from traditional services. Among their findings were numbers indicating that reference transactions are down by 35 %, circulation numbers declining by 10% and gate counts up by 14 %. Presenters sparked my interest and I can hardly wait to do more comparative analysis on the data ZSR has collected. I have more notes on all and am happy to share.