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.

What do I read next?

Librarians lay it on the line every day. Every day we offer reference desk service where we try to answer any question on any subject from anybody who stops by, calls or emails. We try to provide an answer from a reputable, authoritative source or refer the customer to the next best place to try. It takes a good long while to become confident enough in one’s own skills and knowledge to handle reference desk duty with aplomb.

For many of us the most challenging question a customer can ask is, “can you recommend a good book to read?” We call it reader’s advisory. This has always been a tough one for me. Chances are I don’t know you or what you like. I can’t tell by looking at you what you like to read. I feel like I could undermine your confidence in the library with a dumb answer. I usually try to interview you just to have a shot at giving you a good recommendation. I might ask, “Tell me about the last good book you read” or “who is or your favorite author” and work from there. If we are communicating well I might take a chance and recommend a book I recently enjoyed (see previous posts in this blog tagged “What I’ve Been Reading”).

Where am I going with this? People seem to love recommendations. Consider the success of Oprah Winfrey’s book club. People are willing to give a book a chance if somebody they know or respect has recommended it. As soon as Oprah adds a new title to her book club list our phone starts ringing.

Here at the IPL we have collected all of our online reader’s resources and put them in one place called “For Readers”. Please feel free to explore the links there and, of course, tell us what you think. Please take special note of the IPL staff recommendations hosted on the web site librarything.com and our subscription to the book recommendation database NoveList.

Librarything is a wonderful place where book lovers and readers gather to exchange their views about books. Some represent libraries, some are just readers. If you love reading good books and want to share that enthusiasm with other like you, this is your place.

NoveList is an amazing product that helps you find books to read by determining what you liked about books you have already enjoyed and finding others like them. It also has lists of the winners of all the book awards and prizes and many other features. If you find something you like in NoveList, click on the “Check Library Catalog” button and you can find out if our library carries the item. If you visit from home you may need your library card to log in.

Remember, if you can’t find something you like using any of these online resources you can still stop at the library and talk to us about it. If you enjoy something we suggest, please come back and tell us. Reader’s advisory may be difficult but when we know you liked the book we recommended it is all worth it!

Who uses the library and why

Let’s get 2008 started off right with some interesting data on who uses public libraries and why.

For a long time now, some folks have been predicting the demise of the public library. Here in Irondequoit a few people have told me to forget expanding the library because the Internet and information technology will soon render it obsolete. Our response, in addition to citing steady increases in borrowing and visits, has been that there are still a lot of people who don’t have Internet access or are clueless about technology and really need our help.

If there is truth to the assertion that the Internet is replacing the public library it seems reasonable to assume that the age group most comfortable with the Internet and information technology would be the first to abandon us and the library would be most heavily used by those without access or without the expertise to use it effectively. Recent research shows that none of the above ideas may be correct.

The University of Illinois, working with the Pew Internet Research Group, conducted an extensive survey of public library users. They found that young adults are the most frequent library users. By that they mean that a larger percentage of this group (ages 18 to 30) indicated that they turn to the library for information and problem solving than any other age group. They are, the numbers show, more than twice as likely as other age groups to do so. This, of course, directly contradicts the widely held notion that young adults don’t use libraries much anymore because they are so well integrated into the information saturated on-line world.

To what can we attribute this surprising news? The researchers theorized that because young adults had such great access to information and information technology it made them hungry for more and they know that libraries are the place to go for it. Indeed, folks who indicated that they use the library most often cited the presence of high quality information technology and resources plus a knowledgeable staff as their reasons. Researchers also reasoned that the subjects the young adults indicated they most often researched at the library, jobs, education, financial aid and health were all things libraries do very well.

The research shows that libraries are attracting young adults because they have free broadband Internet access and computer resources. The great surprise for librarians in this report is that reliance upon the library for information and problem solving was lowest among people with the least financial resources and slow or no Internet access. We could call this group “The People We Thought Needed Us Most”. We have always marketed ourselves aggressively toward this segment and assumed and even bragged that we were drawing these folks to the library for those reasons.

The message to public libraries is clear.

1. Technology isn’t ruining the library it is extending and revising the mission.

2. Our well-informed and most tech savvy citizens most heavily use and respect the library.

3. The financially and technologically disadvantaged, despite our claims to the contrary and our best efforts to attract them, are not such heavy library users. We must redouble our efforts at reaching those who need us the most while continuing to earn the respect of the most tech savvy segment of the population.

Dexter and the Dark Passenger

Bored with the run of the mill murder mysteries and thrillers? Suppressing yawns over the prospect of yet another serial killer novel? Do not despair. I have the answer. Dexter Morgan. Who is he? He is a talented forensic scientist for the Miami Police Department and the most unlikely hero you’ll ever meet. Dexter isn’t like the folks on CSI. Yes, he’s good looking, well dressed, sarcastically funny and very polite but something about him isn’t quite right. In his spare time Dexter is also a serial killer. The catch is that he only kills evil folks who have slipped through the cracks of law enforcement. Folks who really deserve to die slowly and painfully. Dexter makes sure they get what they deserve.

Jeff Lindsay’s third book in the series, Dexter In The Dark, released in September, continues the disturbing, suspenseful and often funny adventures of this completely atypical protagonist. Dexter’s life is complicated. He carries out his forensic blood spatter work and his “hobby” while trying to avoid detection from colleagues. He struggles to fit in with normal human beings and tries to live up to the expectations of his family, all cops. Dexter also must heed the murderous voice within himself, his Dark Passenger.

Throughout, the reader is kept smiling by Dexter’s observations about everything around him and nobody skewers modern society’s folkways like a comedic sociopath. Nobody turns the serial killer sub-genre on its ear like Jeff Lindsay. If you are looking for something different, this is it. Try Lindsay’s first book Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I’m not afraid to admit I’m a fan of this serial killer. If you give him a try, I think you’ll join me. I suggest you read them in order for maximum enjoyment.

What we do best

Recently a national opinion poll revealed many people don’t realize the extent of the services available from their local public library. The service most overlooked is access to electronic databases. This is unfortunate because databases are one of the things we do best. We’re not talking about what you’d find in Google. We’re way better than that.

Did you know that our customers can easily search, view, print, download or email current and back issues of the Democrat and Chronicle, Irondequoit Post and well known magazines in full text through our NewsBank service? How well known? Do Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Money, Fortune and People qualify?

Did you know that through our databases such as InfoTrac OneFile and Ebsco MasterFILE Select you can easily search, view, email or print millions of full-text articles from hundreds of the best known magazines, journals and newspapers? How well known? How about the New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports to name a few?

An individual would have to pay thousands of dollars for access to the millions of articles represented by the three products mentioned above. Your cost for access through the public library? ZERO. Yes, ZERO. I know, I know. You are asking: “How do they do it? With their shrinking budget how can they afford to deliver such amazing value?”

We do it 2 ways. We use the buying power of the large consortiums of which we are a member such as the Monroe County Library System (MCLS) and the Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC) and negotiate great deals when we buy as a group. Also, The New York State Education Department negotiates great database deals and licenses them for all public libraries in New York through the NOVEL program.

We believe easy access to magazine, journal and newspaper articles is vital. It is the key to obtaining the latest information on any subject. Google can’t cut it. Many web sites are of dubious origin and contain inaccurate or biased information. Even the latest books have information that is at least a year old. Do you want to make important decisions about investments, health or major purchases using old or inaccurate information? I don’t think so!

To review: All the resources I have mentioned have 3 things in common:

1. They are very expensive.

2. You cannot find them for free on the internet.

3. We provide them free for our customers.

Can’t get to the library? No worries. Go to our website, visit the “Find An Article” page and work from home or anywhere you access the internet. But, have your library card handy. A deal this good is only available to our customers.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you have about this or any library services. Click on “About” for my contact information.

Dodge City Irondequoit Style

The blogosphere can be a rough place. Just take a look at the Democrat and Chronicle’s town blog for Irondequoit. It is a veritable Dodge City of verbal bullets and brickbats flying from every direction. My sympathy to Joanne, the long suffering moderator or any innocent reader who might pop in to see what people in Irondequoit think about current topics. Almost any posting for the last 6 months that includes mention of town government is accompanied by a large number of comments that I have to call both ridiculous and appalling.

Everybody has the right to opine. Blogs are a terrific way to publicly collect and share opinions. They are a great example of how information technology can create completely new ways to communicate effectively. When I first visited I’d spot a blog topic that concerned town government with 50, 100 or 150 comments and I would think that a constructive and informative discussion of the topic was happening. Not anymore. By now I have learned that what is usually happening is a nasty, mean spirited exchange of thinly veiled insults, threats and other weirdness between a handful of folks, many clearly emboldened by hiding behind pen names, who quickly veer off the posted topic and return to a few tired old rants and bitter accusations. Often the commenters have laughable factual errors or gross misunderstandings that all the other cranks who agree with them amplify into fact. Joanne valiantly strives to keep order and a sense of decorum but it is an uphill battle. One can only guess but I can’t see how this wouldn’t make a terrible impression on anyone who reads it.

Yes, there are some folks who try to take the high road. Even some town government staff will occasionally post comments to explain a policy or situation. But the vast majority of comments are from this small group of folks who drag the level of discourse down to the basest level. I can discern no single party or interest group at fault. It seems to come from all portions of the political spectrum but it is truly an unfortunate situation. I haven’t looked exhaustively but I don’t see this volume of downright meanness on the other town blogs. Even a potentially explosive subject like religion and public prayer was discussed on the Greece town blog with much more civility. Why so mean here?

Am I exaggerating? You be the judge. Here are a few examples. You’ll find many more just by looking at the comments attached to town government stories on the Irondequoit blog in the last 6 months or so.

1. On July 21st Joanne posted a query about the dump type area near the I-590 and Route 104 junction. Note how quickly the comments became a series of accusations and attacks. By the evening of the 24th the same few cranks were posting minute by minute insults into the wee hours of the morning despite the repeated requests of the moderator to stop. The next day they started right up again. Childish and useless to anyone seeking rational discourse.

2. How about the comments on this July 5 post about the 4th of July parade? Who knew that the Fairport Savings Bank was a force for evil? At the library we are usually quite happy when we can get a sponsor to help pay for something. This is usually done by giving that sponsor some high visibility as a thank you for the assistance. Again, it doesn’t take long for the same handful of crackpots to start a week long mean fest over a seemingly innocent event.

3. This is my favorite. The feel good news in the July 17th post about the library being awarded a large grant is quickly dampened by the comments which become a forum for the usual grouches. Nothing like accusing the library staff of inventing the roof leak as a publicity stunt to achieve a new low. We actually had a good laugh here imagining ourselves on the roof in the dead of night with our electric drills. The phenomenon of blog anonymity leading to boorish behavior is nothing unusual anymore but this is rock bottom.

The most regrettable thing in this whole bunch of ugliness is that a tool that reasonable people could be using for the rational and constructive exchange of ideas has been hijacked by a handful of unfortunate souls who cannot resist trying to have the last word, no matter how mean it is.

I suppose I could end up regretting this as I might be setting myself up to be the next target. But the library stands for the free and open exchange of information, ideas and reasoned opinion. We also pride ourselves on embracing useful new technologies, like blogs, to achieve that end. Instead, I think you’ll agree that an unprecedented opportunity for using the blog for constructive community dialogue is being missed. I encourage you all to read and post civil and reasoned comments on the D & C Irondequoit blog. Tell us what you think about the community center and library proposal. Maybe we can take back our local blogosphere and still have reasoned and civil discourse.

Read for yourself and please tell us what you think?

Change

People who know me know I’m a dedicated golfer. I await the end of each winter with great anticipation knowing that the golf season is about to begin. This year I’m playing with a new set of golf clubs. The clubs have all the latest game improvement technology and are custom fit to me and my golf swing. Most of my golfing pals are shocked.

Until this year I had been playing with the same set of clubs for 20 years. They were a beautiful set of Titleists made in 1970. They used to belong to my father. I inherited them when he died and played with them exclusively until this year. For me they symbolized him and the wonderful game he taught me. I fell hard for the game as he had and we spent countless afternoons practicing, playing and always striving to do better. In an era when it seemed like my father and I battled over everything golf was our one good connection. The length of my hair or the policies of the government never came up on the golf course. In the years following his death, with each round I played with those clubs, I felt the connection both to him and the great game I learned from him; a game of honor and integrity.

I’m not a great golfer but I have always been able to hang in when playing with my golfing pals. But in the last few years the game has experienced dramatic changes. Technological advances in club design and manufacture have given all golfers a huge boost both in distance and accuracy. Eventually, as all my friends upgraded their equipment, they were bombing their drives past mine and hitting them straighter too. “The game has changed. Time to modernize”, they would say to me.

I couldn’t do it. I loved those old clubs and everything they represented to me. As my game fell farther and farther behind I continued to deny that there was any need to change equipment. The bigger the gap between our golf games the more I abandoned logic and denied that there was anything wrong with the old clubs. I’d say, “Why would I want to switch away from these wonderful clubs? I don’t want to hear how great the others have it.” I was comfortable with what I had, feared any change and was in denial about how the game had changed without me. The more obvious it became that the logical thing to do was upgrade my equipment the deeper I retreated into emotional arguments against it.

One day, a close friend told me about his father-in-law. The guy made custom fitted golf clubs as a hobby and had recently made a set for my friend. He was so enthused about the new clubs he insisted I let him make me a set too and practically dragged me over to his workshop. Before I could politely get out of it I was being fitted for new clubs. In a few days I had them. As we often played together it would have been an insult not to use them. My game improved dramatically. I never went back to the Titleists. I still have them, in my basement.

It is embarrassing to admit that I had let my emotions and fear of change cloud my thinking for so long. I have talked about how much golf meant to me. I now see that I was dishonoring it by not trying to play my best. I missed out on the chance to improve because I couldn’t admit that I had to change with the times. Of course, now I realize that golf still has all the things that make it a great game. The changes in the game brought about by technology didn’t take away any of those great qualities. I just needed to face facts, let go of my fears and admit that there might be a better way.

Now Is The Time

Have you been paying attention to the town wide discussion about a new community center and library expansion? I hope so. If you haven’t, please review the materials available under the Library Expansion link at our web site and on the town website under the Community Center link. Then, please let your elected officials know how you feel about this proposed project. You can find contact information for all town officials on the town website under the Contact Us link. Your opinions are important. Now that there is an actual proposal for moving ahead with a specific project you need to let us know how you feel about it. Now is the time!

The Irondequoit Public Library Means Business

It may not be obvious to everyone but the public library is an important part of the local business community. How? Perhaps I can illuminate this best with a top 5 list. Here are……..

The top 5 reasons why the IPL means business

 

1. We can help you start your own business. We are the one stop shopping center for business startup advice. They say the best person to work for is you. We can help you choose which business to start, learn about franchising, obtain financing, write that all important business plan or find startup capital.
2. We can help you strengthen your existing business. We can find advice for you from experts on improving any aspect of your operation such as marketing, human resources, accounting or management. We can help with improving customer service and understanding the demographics of your customer base. We’ve got advice on taxes, legal issues and more. Many of our subscription databases and electronic resources are invaluable business tools and too expensive for many small businesses. Many can be used from home or work. The price is right too. Free!
3. We support sales. We can help you find new sales leads, understand your customer’s needs and refine your sales techniques and strategies. Trying to expand to new areas? We can help you identify businesses in any part of the country that need your products. Expanding to foreign markets? We have language instructional materials tailored specifically to meet the needs of businesses. Whatever you are selling we can help you talk the talk AND walk the walk.
4. We help investors. Is investing your game? We have many of the best known sources for investment advice and analysis. We won’t cut into your earnings either because they are all free.
5. We bring people to the area. With over half a million library visits annually the IPL can attract more customers to your business. Chances are that if your business is near the library our customers are your customers too. Let’s work together to keep them happy. However, you don’t even have to be located near the library to benefit. Many of the nation’s most successful businesses partner with public libraries because they know the value of connecting with our customers. Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Barnes and Noble, Old Navy and Taco Bell all partner with us. A few local businesses such as Cam’s Pizza, House of Guitars, Cooper Deli, Seabreeze Park and Encore Chocolates partner with us as well. To learn more about how we both can benefit from some cooperation, contact me!

 

More Friday Fun

Here is another fun quiz I stumbled across while helping a customer search for information about historical costume. The magazine Entertainment Weekly has a website ew.com. On it are some pop culture quizes. The one I found serendiptously was “Who Wore That Oscar Gown?”.    If you are an awards show person like some of my friends are, give it a try. If not they have others. Try identifying celebrities from pictures of their mustaches (male celebrities only). Or, look at a picture of a sound stage set and try to name the TV show. Oodles of fun!