Are You Hooked Yet?

I stumbled across this interesting new service today and I thought it might be of interest.

The nation’s first center dedicated to the treatment of internet addiction opened this week.  There is huge irony, of course, if you are learning about it here.  I assume you’d have to be a desperate case indeed if your internet addiction were so strong you’d rather read this blog than get on with your life.

reSTART is located outside of Seattle where many telecommunications and computing companies such as Microsoft are located.  While in treatment, addicts spend 45 days in this residential detox center where they receive counseling and psychotherapy and go cold turkey from the all computing, internet, email, texting and electronic games.

The day I visited their website, yes, irony is abundant in this story, there were 65 other people visiting at the same time.  They also have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Linkedin.  Their website has a lot of information about their program.

Like most recovery programs, restart offers the tool below to help you determine if you might need their services.  Good luck if you do need them.   The fees are pretty steep.  The 45 day residential treatment program is $14,500.

11 signs of Internet addiction

Signs of Internet addiction, according to Hilarie Cash, executive director of the reSTART center for Internet addiction near Seattle. Three of the following symptoms suggest abuse, five or more addiction:

_Increasing amounts of time spent on Internet

_Failed attempts to control behavior

_Heightened euphoria while on Internet

_Craving more time on Internet, restless when not there

_Neglecting family and friends

_Lying to others about use

_Internet interfering with job and school

_Feeling guilty or ashamed of behavior

_Changes in sleep patterns

_Weight changes, backaches, headaches, carpal tunnel

_Withdrawl from other activities

Library Careers

I was talking to one of the librarians on our staff last week and she told me one of our library success stories.  A patron got laid off from his job and came to the library looking for help.  He attended our series of employment workshops and decided he needed to change careers.  Our librarian helped him research possible new careers and he came back in to thank her for her help because he was excited about being accepted into an education program for the new career he had chosen through his research at the library.  Cool!

If you are at that point in your life where you are choosing a career or considering a career change there are a lot of resources available at the library to help you.  There are tools that analyze you and recommend careers based on your preferences.  There are tools that analyze future business markets and employment trends and recommend careers based on anticipated growth.  Consider the US News and World Report article:  30 Best Careers in 2009.  One of the 30 best careers for 2009 on the list is………LIBRARIAN!

Here are some excerpts from their overview of the job:  Forget about that image of librarians as mousy bookworms. More and more of today’s librarians must be clever interrogators, helping the patron to reframe their question more usefully. Librarians then become high-tech information sleuths, helping patrons plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records, often starting with a clever Google search but frequently going well beyond……Librarianship is an underrated career. Most librarians love helping patrons solve their problems and, in the process, learning new things……That effort to land a job will be well worth it if you’re well suited to the profession: love the idea of helping people dig up information, are committed to being objective—helping people gain multiple perspectives on issues—and will remain inspired by the awareness that librarians are among our society’s most empowering people.

It never hurts to be reminded of why I love this job.  Our success stories show why you might love it too.

Traffic: Why we drive the way we do (and what it says about us)

Are you a good driver? Of course you are. I know I am. Driving is one of those things. We all do it, we think we know all about it and we all think we are good drivers. It is those other drivers out there that are the menace.  Those other drivers are what can make driving so scary.  Am I right? It is this overriding confidence we have that made me pick up Traffic: Why we drive the way we do and what it says about us by Tom Vanderbilt. I just had to see if anybody could explain what the story is with those incompetent drivers I keep encountering. Why can’t they all be excellent drivers like me?

I wasn’t disappointed. This book is so interesting you may enjoy it even if you don’t drive. Tom Vanderbilt has put together an exhaustive collection of information about driving and traffic generated by engineers, scientists and researchers from all over the world and has assembled it in a highly readable package. The thing I enjoyed most about this book was learning that so much of what I thought was true about traffic and driving is incorrect. Our driving is dominated by false impressions.

Think of those people who race up alongside and ahead of the merging traffic and cut in at the last second. Rude jerks who inconvenience us all? No! They are actually helping the traffic move faster by ensuring that the highway gets used in the most efficient manner possible. If we all drive like that we’ll get where we are going faster. The roads with the most accidents? They would be the ones with the most safety features. Stay in the crosswalk is good advice for pedestrians, right? Sure, but it is where most of them get killed. Drunk driving is bad, no doubt. Poor visibility and bad road conditions are dangerous too. But by far, most drivers and passengers are killed on clear dry roads with good visibility and no involvement with alcohol or drugs.

Prepare to be jolted as many of your beliefs about traffic and driving are disproved. Read about the city that took down all road signs and traffic control devices.  Examine the case of the country that switched all driving to the other side of the road.  Recipes for chaos?  I’ll let you read the book and find out what happened. Irondequoit residents take note: there is an excellent section on the modern application of traffic circles and why they have become so popular with highway designers.

The key findings are that despite our best attempts to engineer roads and vehicles for safety and efficiency, much of what happens behind the wheel is because of psychology and perception. It turns out the biggest influence on traffic and safety is the factor that is most difficult to engineer, human nature.  We are all bad drivers.  The intersection of our psychology with the task of driving makes certain that it will be that way.   Even more startling is the inescapable conclusion that this also causes most attempts to improve safety to eventually fail.

I like non-fiction that doesn’t just inform but brightly illuminates while keeping the reader entertained. Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt is such a book. Give it a test drive today.

Volunteers Paint the Evans Branch

Money is a bit scarce at the library this year but we’re still working on making some needed repairs to the Evans Branch. We replaced the leaky roof last year but we still needed to fix the water damaged walls in the children’s department. Thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteers from Sherman Furniture Rentals organized by Irondequoit resident Peter Kelderhouse Sr., the job has been completed at no cost to the library. Take a look at some pictures snapped last Saturday as the project was in progress. The day before the project the library staff removed all the books from the shelves.  On Saturday, the shelving was unbolted and moved away from the walls. The damaged wall sections were then scraped and patched. When the repaired sections were dry they were sanded. Then the walls were washed and then painted. All this was done in one day.

Thank you to Peter and all our friends at Sherman’s!

Click on the thumbnails below to see the other shots from the project.

Please VOTE on Tuesday

Make the time on Tuesday, February 24^th to vote. 9AM to 8PM at the Town Hall. Get informed on the issues related to the proposed move of the Senior Center and vote. The town website has a description of the situation. The editorial section of the most recent issue of The Irondequoit Post has letters and columns from all sides. The Post has articles describing the issues on their website as well.

Of course, all of it can be seen at the public library. Make us your headquarters for informed voting. Study the issues, talk to your neighbors and friends, and then vote. What matters the most is that we have an involved community with residents that make informed decisions about the future. Few things have more impact on the daily quality of your life than local government decisions. A large voter turnout will lend weight to the results whatever they are. What matters most is that you vote. Be part of the future. It is the way we do things in America. No excuses. Just get it done!

Support Your Library

Those 3 simple words say it all. Despite the fact that library use goes way up during times of economic distress, they often mean financial belt tightening for public libraries. The Irondequoit Public library hasn’t been spared. So, if you want to help support your library we’ve made it easy for you. Click on the Support Your Library button at the top of the library home page and multiple options for helping us are displayed.

The newest option is our Amazon.com Wish List. It works just like a bridal registry. On the Wish List are items the library would like to offer but cannot afford to purchase. If you purchase any item from the Wish list, it is shipped to the library for immediate processing. We then make it available on our shelves for borrowing. If you’d like to dedicate the item to any person or cause such as a memorial to a loved one just let us know your wishes by checking the gift options box before going to the checkout. During the checkout process, type your dedication information in the message box and we’ll do the rest. Your gift to the citizens of Irondequoit may be eligible for a tax deduction.

Thank you!

An oldie but a goodie

What are you doing Wednesday night?

May I suggest you attend the next meeting of the Irondequoit Public Library Board of Trustees? If you are interested in how things get done at the library you owe it to yourself to attend one of our board meetings and see the wheels of library administration turning. Have a look at the Library Board’s web page which is now under construction. It includes minutes from previous meetings and information about your library trustees. Just like the Town Board we have a public forum at the beginning of the meeting so you may ask questions or state your views on any library related issues. If you wish to speak at the public forum please call the Evans Branch at 336-6062 and sign up. The Board of Trustees meets at 7 pm at the Evans Branch, 45 Cooper Rd, on the third Wednesday of each month. We’d be delighted to see you at the next meeting!

Shape of things to come?

One of the interesting things about monitoring new developments in information technology is that they often don’t go in the direction we expect. The demise of books in favor of downloadable electronic books or e-books read from handheld devices used to be the favorite vision for people who were certain that the end of books and libraries as we know them was right around the corner. Instead the book has shown remarkable staying power as a preferred literature delivery system. New ways of buying and obtaining books fueled by advances in IT have grown quickly and the often heralded e-books, although growing in popularity, are still rarely seen.

For example, print-on-demand services such as lulu.com have been around for a while now and they have revolutionized the book publishing industry. Books are preserved digitally and printed on demand when somebody orders a copy. When the book is ordered it is printed, bound and shipped the same day. As you can easily surmise, this has completely altered the landscape for users of rare books, self-published authors, vanity presses and small presses.

Now, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, customers at the University of Michigan library will be able to use a sort of vending machine to order print-on-demand copies of books from the university’s collection. The Espresso Book Machine, a book-printing machine described as “the ATM of books” will be available at the U of M’s library October 1st. The machines are going online at college libraries and bookstores all around North America.

Just about any digitized, out-of-copyright book from Michigan’s collection can be printed and bound on the spot. Printing takes five to seven minutes, and the cost is about $10 per book. Users will also be able to print books from online sources such as the Open Content Alliance. The Espresso’s manufacturer, On Demand Books, wants to create a network of machines in libraries and bookshops around the world, allowing users to print books from collections anywhere.

What do you think? Given the consumer’s lack of enthusiasm for e-books, is this the way information technology will most rapidly affect the world of books, libraries and maybe bookstores, through a totally new model for delivering good old fashioned books? Or, is this just another technological dead end?

Public Libraries and the Economy

Public libraries face a conundrum today as much of our nation grapples with economic hard times. Those hard times extend to the public sector as well with increased pressures to hold down spending as revenues dry up and operating costs increase. The irony for us is that public library use goes up, way up, every time the economy takes a downward turn. (Albany NY Times Union, March 27, 2008.) Studies conducted by universities, media and the American Library Association show that just when the resources that support the library are tightest, the demand for them is highest. (New York Times, August 1, 2008; ALA and University of Illinois, April 18, 2002)

Why? Families also are seeking ways to reduce their spending in the face of increased costs. The public library fills their budget gap. Why pay for books, music, movies, games and entertainment programs when they are available at the library for free? Eliminate that monthly broadband internet bill. The PC and internet access are available at the library (we just increased our available bandwidth) at no charge.

Libraries also get busier in times like these due to an increasing number of folks visiting the library because they have lost their jobs. Savvy workers know that the public library is your one-stop shopping spot when unemployed. At the library we can assist you with preparing a resume, applying for jobs online, locating education and training opportunities, changing careers or starting your own business. The price is right for those on reduced incomes. It is free.

This year, the Irondequoit Public Library is an excellent example of this economic effect. Our numbers, which were flat for a while, have risen dramatically. This summer, we have had the highest numbers of items borrowed and the highest number of visitors in the library’s history. PC use is up. Participation in the Summer Reading program and all other library activities is up significantly. Regular visitors have remarked upon this phenomenon as the upsurge in customers is quite noticeable. Fewer parking spaces, longer waits for PCs, more people everywhere and the resulting increase in clamor and hubbub have all been remarked upon by our regulars.

Stop in and see for yourself. We’ll save you some money too!

Where do we go from here?

It appears that it will take more time to resolve the issue of library expansion. I thought I’d stick my neck out and give you my take on the current situation with the library branch buildings. Please remember this is my blog and reflects my views alone. No matter the outcome please be assured that we will continue bringing you the best possible library services we can. Our staff are dedicated professionals who make it easy for me to say that we love our jobs and enjoy serving you.

As a library director I describe my job as trying to arrange the best possible conditions for successful delivery of services. Right now, the conditions are substandard. We don’t have enough room to provide the programs and services that our customers ask for, that other town libraries offer and that our staff would love to deliver. Perhaps this is why, when Irondequoit residents use public libraries, almost 20% of the time they do it in other towns, a number that grows each year. The majority of our customer complaints can be attributed to the friction that results from too many people trying to do too many things with too few resources in way too small of a space. We will continue to do as much as we possibly can with what we have. We will continue to make repairs and do maintenance when we must. Investing in big repair projects when we don’t know how or when the situation will be resolved is difficult.

There are so many possible ways the building situation could be resolved. I only want to reject two of them. I just cannot take seriously the claims from some that everything is just fine and nothing needs to be changed about the library buildings. By all objective measures we have outgrown our buildings and they have become ill-suited to deliver modern library services. I also reject the even more ridiculous assertion that we will soon be irrelevant due to the easy availability of information, electronic delivery or some other technological reason. We have evolved, as all smart organizations do, to the point that we are often the agency that leads in the adoption of new technologies and the first place citizens encounter and grow comfortable with them. As the pace of this change accelerates we find a steadily increasing demand for services that connect people with the exact same technology some claim will replace us.

I have always said that one of the best things about working here is that people in this town obviously love their library. This has rightly caused many residents to propose solutions to our space problems. One of the amazing things about some of the plans we hear is how little their proponents seem to care what their librarians think. It leaves me slack jawed to encounter some elaborate plan or some loudly proclaimed opinion from some person or group who never bothered to ask their librarians what works best. Would you choose new squad cars for the police without consulting them? These buildings are our tools. We use them to serve you. We know what works best. It is not just a matter of square feet. Configuration, layout, adjacencies and lines of sight are just some of the vital components to a successful library building plan. If you don’t bother to find out what we need don’t be shocked when we don’t enthusiastically embrace your solution. Please, before you bring us any more “solutions”, ask us what we need to serve you better. Is it so hard? We’re longing to be asked!

As financial pressures force government leaders to cut departmental budgets including the library, consolidation of services that are duplicated just 2&1/2 miles apart seems a reasonable way to increase library space and expand library services while keeping operating costs down. If you do not favor this approach then you must decide what you are willing to pay for. Are you willing to pay millions to just to rehab the existing library buildings without enlarging them? Are you willing to pay more to duplicate library services at sites so close together? I believe the library operation is as lean as it can be and still deliver high quality, professional services. There is very little left to cut or economize on. If consolidation takes place we can offer much more of what people are demanding including increased hours of operation with no need to increase staff which is by far the largest component of our operating costs.

It is easy to talk about what you want without looking at cost implications. Then the tax bill comes and people get upset. Now more than ever town leaders need to hear your opinions on how much more you are willing to pay to get what you want. What are you willing to pay to meet our need for increased space for facilities where all town residents can easily access services? Just the cost of the status quo is high.

I believe town government officials are eager to work with open minded citizens to seek solutions. I believe the library and what it adds to the quality of life in the community is too important to not challenge each and every one of you to propose solutions that we can all point to with pride and will improve library services for every resident, no matter where they reside.

As always, I welcome your comments.   Also, feel free to contact me about any library related topics.  Just click on ABOUT to see how.