FrontlineLibrarian

The recent collection of photos growing at This is What a Librarian Looks Like have convinced me once again that librarians are both weirder and more incredibly normal than you would expect. How did such a diverse group of people wind up in the same profession? I added my photo to the group – I’ll leave it to you to decide whether I push the mean toward weird or toward normal. One thing is for sure. Whatever their path to librarianship, these are not the stodgy, boring librarians of the overused stereotype.

My path to being a librarian probably really began when my dad remarried. My mother had died months before following a five year battle with cancer. I was nine years old when my dad married Shirley, who happened to be a librarian. It is not much of an exagertion to say that this event saved my life. Or at least my academic life. In fourth grade, I was in the “turtle” reading group for the third year in a row (and they think kids don’t understand these clever euphemisms . . .). I was reading at a first grade level. When my step mom found out about my reading problems, she marched down to the school office and let them have it for never having had me evaluated for a learning disability, and insisted they give me some extra help. Then she sat down by my bed every night to read to me (can you say “As you wish?”).

This. Was. Heaven.

One night, as she read Sid Fleischman’s Chancy and the Grand Rascal, she got to a very exciting part of the story and abruptly put the book down.  “If you want to know what happens, you’ll just have to read it yourself.” I was horrified! I couldn’t read that book! But my stubbornness was short-lived. I could not wait to find out what happened to Chancy. I began to read. I read book after book. I read faster and faster. Soon I was begging her to bring home a stack of books every week. My test scores showed my reading levels skyrocket from first to 12th grade in the span of a year.

Although I became a voracious reader, I was not a stellar student. In fact, my Junior High librarian banned me from the school library for my entire 8th grade year. Unfortunately, the punishment didn’t faze me at all since I had my  very own “supplier.” I had even started my own fledgling library of books. My mom hosted an author day every year at her school district, and children’s authors would come and speak at the various schools and attend an evening banquet. Most years I took the day off school to ride around with the authors – what a treat! I still have signed books from Scott O’Dell, Theodore Taylor, and Sid Fleischman and memories of being with them for the day. And of course I told them I was going to be an author some day, too!

In college I majored in English and worked at the college library all four years. There was an update to the cataloging rules not long after I started working there, and the card catalog needed correcting. I was able to refile cards “above the bar,” the librarians would check my work, pull out the bar, push the cards down and slide the bar back in. Those were the days! Processing a book was a sticky, tactile affair. We typed our own pockets and cards, used a hot iron pen and transfer tape write the call numbers spines, used book tape with abandon, and stamped each book very with ridiculous precision. It was an art. And it took forever.

Somehow in spite of these experiences, I did not see the handwriting on the wall. Me, a librarian? That was way too boring for me. And yet, somehow I just kept finding myself in libraries and surrounded by books. I worked for a book wholesaler for 12 years, making sales calls on libraries all over California. Then I spent nine years homeschooling my daughter, enjoying the resources of local libraries. It was on one of those trips to the library – at the Wayne Branch of the Indianapolis Marion County Library system – that I had an epiphany. I should go back to school and become a librarian! I thought this was a revolutionary idea, but everyone else just rolled their eyes at me. “Of course you’re going to be a librarian” as if to say “about time!”

As for me, I am still amazed that I am a librarian. I am still more amazed to be a director - I didn’t see that one coming. I was worried that I would not enjoy being in administration, since it does take you away from being a frontline librarian. I loved working with patrons. I love hearing their stories, helping them apply for jobs or learn new skills, and helping them find that essential bit of information that would make their day. And yet, being able to protect that work and ensure that it will continue – that is also very satisfying. I love my job.

*  * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once upon a time, a librarian sat down by the bedside of a little girl who didn’t yet understand the magic of stories. Story after story, the magic seeped its way from the books to the imagination of the little girl until she dreamt of becoming an author . . . or a librarian.

Her name is Andrea Dautovich, and she is a librarian. I first heard her story early one morning when I was awake, stressed about my library and the many fronts on which we are fighting to save it. I turned on the BBC to take my mind off of my worries, and heard this story from the about the Sarajevo Museum Library and National Library. During the seige of Sarajevo, one of the first things attacked was the National Library. How better to destroy a culture than to incinerate 2 million volumes containing their history? They cut off water to that part of the city and set it ablaze. It burned for three days. It is known as the largest book burning in history. Across town, Andrea and her co-workers protected the Museum Library, braving the completely exposed road known as “sniper alley” as they made their way to work each day. Andrea was interviewed recently by the BBC at the library where she still works. Today, the library is under a different sort of attack. The staff have not been paid for six months – and still they work. Their funding situation may close their doors within weeks. In a fractured government, political agendas don’t need fires to destroy cultural heritage. Before we comfort ourselves that the days of mass book burnings are over, consider the many ways we now can silence voices, cultures, and classes.

The items that Andrea and her co-workers saved include the oldest known edition of the Jewish Haggeddah and other lesser known works of Bosnian and Serbian heritage. My library does not own any unique world treasures. Most of the items, save a few local historical items, are available in other libraries as well. Are we worth saving? What would be lost to us if public libraries ceased to exist?

Our treasure, the thing that must be protected, is our unique role as the free access point to education, enrichment, and empowerment for our residents without regard to the dollars in their pocket or the color of their skin. Free access to technology for research, job searching, banking, and a thousand other tasks we all take for granted is a necessity, not a luxury. Free access to children’s literacy programs to support school age school success and kindergarten reading readiness is a necessity, not a luxury. Free access to enriching programs for individuals and families is a necessity, not a luxury. The information provided by the public library of today is not limited to the content between the covers of physical books – we now function as the public concierge – guiding each resident to the information they need, in whatever form it exists. We even provide training to access that information, if needed.

It may be getting old, but I’m going to say it again: A community is as strong as it’s weakest member. We level the playing field for every member of our community.  Access to technology seems so widespread when you are as fortunate as I am, sitting here with my laptop and my iphone. But for thousands of our neighbors these things are out of reach. Without access to the tools of the public library, we risk leaving a good portion of our community unable to compete in today’s world. Unable to compete for jobs, unable to equally prepare their children to succeed in school, and without the kind of empowerment you gain from having a resource where you can get your questions answered.

All I have to do is walk through our library and look at the faces of our patrons to know why we must survive. Tax funding continues to decrease for libraries at the same time that demand for our services is increasing. Decreasing tax dollars seemed a far off threat until our library found itself in serious trouble, but the margin for all libraries is very thin right now. Even relatively well funded, stable libraries are having to make big adjustments as they take a look at the five year forecast.

The BBC reporter asked Andrea why she and her co-workers did what they did. She said that they risked everything to save the books. And that in retrospect it was maybe crazy, but she thought any professional librarian would do the same. We don’t have snipers shooting at us as we go to work, but we have long hours and days ahead of us, and we are just as passionate as Andrea about what we have to save.

I just spent two days at the Director’s Summit and attended one day of the Internet Librarian conference . . . and I freely admit that I am writing all of this up more for me than for you.  It was a lot of information to digest.  The Director’s Summit was packed full of presentations (probably too full) which mostly addressed the big picture for libraries. The attendees were about 50 directors from Academic, Public, and Special Libraries (with 1050 attendees to the larger Internet Librarian conference).

While it was useful to hear from librarians across the disciplines, it would have enriched the experience for me to have had at least some focused discussion with other public librarians. I did talk with several of the public library directors over those two days, and the discussions were interesting. The PLs ranged in size from large metropolitan library systems down to . . . me. There was one other director serving a community about our size (28,000). Some of the PLs were unionized and staff problems in general seemed much more complicated under those conditions.  Most of the library directors, regardless of type of library, talked about the problem of motivating staff for change. Some of the speakers I heard had solved the problem of inflexible staff by “cleaning house” at their institutions – it was quite eye-opening. Have I said lately that I love our library and our staff?

Rather than regurgitate everything I heard, I thought I’d give you a short list of the best speakers and their topics so that you could follow them via their blogs, session notes, streamed presentations, etc.  Some of these I had already been following, but others were new to me.  I’m including links where I can. You can also search twitter for #IL2011 and many of the tweets have links for more information. It’s an endless trove of information!

John Seely Brown: John gave the opening Keynote and did a one-on-one with the directors right afterwards. His topic was Information and Learning for the Future. He talked about the ways in which learning and the acquisition of knowledge have changed, and how that impacts libraries. Knowledge is now so fluid and changes so quickly that learning is best accomplished with play rather than rote memorization. Play allows for the freedom to fail, room for imagination, and moments of epiphany. Libraries that create an atmosphere where play is fostered and encouraged will draw in the entrepreneurial learner.  Collaborative learning is also important in the new process of knowledge acquisition, something the public library can foster. Collaboration of various sorts continued to be a buzz word throughout the conference.

John’s Website Video of his Keynote
Slideshow from Presentation

Helene Blowers did several sessions, two of which I heard. One was on reframing our thinking about how libraries function. For instance, instead of being in the business of acquisitions, we need to be in the business of fulfillment. Instead of being about service, we should be about experience (i.e. Disney). Not all of her concepts were radical, but Helene is one to watch because she is so positive about libraries, and she is so willing to turn the traditional library upside down and see new futures. Her second workshop was “Inno-play-ion” which was really about using play to get people to think creatively outside the box. Helen is one I knew about before the meeting and her upbeat and engaging style keeps me reading. Now if she would just get her blog up to date. She works at Columbus Public Library and they are about to launch a new website that is customizable for each user – she compared it to Google plus. Curious to see it.  Twitter: @hblowers

Helene’s slides –Her slides from other presentations are there as well. Good food for thought.

Lee Rainey is from the Pew Research Institute. I sent his presentation around to all of our  department heads last week because I felt it was so helpful. Lee is a journalist by trade but now works for Pew, watching trends and relating those trends to the future of businesses and organizations. He has become a fan of the Public Library after realizing how much Public Librarians used Pew data as they compete for grants and seek to understand their audience. The Pollyanna in me loves him for his optimism – and the librarian in me loves that his optimism is research based.  Twitter:  @leerainey

Lee’s slides
Lee’s presentation
Lee also highly recommended this report by ALA titled Confronting the Future: Strategic Visions for the 21^st Century Public library

Elizabeth Lane Lawley is from the Lab for Social Computing at Rochester Institute of Technology. She makes my list for being rational, cautious, AND optimistic. Plus she’s 4’10” and wears awesome boots. My favorite Liz moment was when she talked about the need for us to make our libraries places people want to be. That we should work on helping our patrons feel successful and happy when they leave our libraries. The technology needs to fade to the back (it is a tool, after all) and the face to face interactions are what counts. I love this. She was on a panel and so there isn’t a power point on this one, but she does have a website and blog of sorts. If I get a chance to hear her speak again, I won’t miss it. Twitter: @LizLawley

Sarah Houghton, San Rafael Public Library, Librarianinblack.net
I have read Sarah’s blog/column for a while, although once in a while I vow to stop reading her  because she can be so . . . umm . . . blunt. But that trait is also why I love her. There were a lot of rumblings at IL2011 concerning the future ebooks and libraries. Sometimes they were more than rumblings. The night before I attended an ebook panel discussion, I watched Sarah’s somewhat profanity laced rant on the subject.  If you’re not squeamish, give it a listen. The reason I will continue to follow Sarah is that not only is she an idealistic rogue librarian who always says what she thinks (even if it gets her into trouble) but also because this rogue is now the Assistant Director at a small public library. When idealism hits the limitations of an old Carnegie library in a small community and stays idealistic . . . it gets interesting, and things change.

Librarian in Black – Sarah Houghton    Twitter: @TheLiB

Michael Porter, aka Libraryman.   I have followed Michael for a while but had not closely followed his Library Renewal plans. I liked what I had read of him previously, but I was very, very impressed at the ebook panel where he thoroughly and fairly represented the concerns of libraries on this issue. His Library Renewal plan has significant merit. His goal is to cut out the middleman (such as Overdrive) and connect Publishers and Libraries to the advantage of both. If it is possible, and he gains funding, I believe it could be a game changer and protect the ability of libraries to own and loan electronic content.

Library Renewal
Libraryman Blog
Twitter: @Libraryman

Stephen Abram, Gale Cengage Learning. I have read Stephen Abram’s blog for a few years and have heard him speak once before. He’s a brain. He has an excellent grasp on library innovation and the way forward for librarians in the digital age. My takeaway question from him this conference was “what are our five most commonly asked questions in our library, and what do they mean for our service model?” His presentations are included in his blog.   Twitter: @sabram

Conference Overview

During the director’s conference, the word “crossroads” was frequently used to describe the changes libraries are facing. Everyone would like to believe that at some point, it will be simple again like it used to be, and the new road will be clear. But instead, the rate of change is ever increasing, and constant change IS the new normal. I admit I was hoping someone at IL2011 would have a crystal ball for me, but no one did.  The best we can do is to be flexible, responsive to our community, and strive to stay relevant. And, I think we’re doing it. Even though we don’t have all the answers, here’s just some of what we do right:

• We listen to our patrons
• We brand our programs
• We work to become technology experts. We instruct in technology.
• We collaborate with our community, with the Friends, with the Library School.
• We use electronic tools (wikis and google pages) to manage library tasks
• We have a creative, energetic staff who understand and value imagination
• We welcome change (mostly)
• We see new technology and see how we could implement (i.e. QR codes)
• We do much with not much
• We are diversifying our funding (as fast as we can!)

As I left my office today, I took the long way around the upper floor. Every single table in the library was full of individuals or study groups with laptops open. People wandered the stacks and used the OPAC to find books. The public computers were comfortably full, and our TAB teens were leading an overflowing teen program. Families checked out materials at the desk and teens waited for rides outside by the waterfall. This past Friday night we had 1700 people come through the library for Monster Mash, with about 30 local businesses making friends and handing out candy. We are doing some things right.

Sure there are hazards in the road ahead, and we can’t even see all of them from here. Is cloud computing really safe? Will libraries really own ebook content? How will we pay for it all as tax dollars decrease? But maybe Liz Lawley is right – when we offer connection to our community, make our libraries inviting, and help our patrons feel successful when they leave -maybe that’s where we set ourselves apart and secure our future. Sure looked that way to me today as I left the building.

If you haven’t seen the documentary Note by Note, which tells the story of how a Steinway Piano is made, put it on your list now. In an unremarkable building, dozens of employees bend over their work. One stains and polishes, one strings, one tunes – Each contributes their bit of excellence as a piano is created. They feel they are a part of making something worthwhile and real. Something they have touched, impacted, and changed – and which they know will touch, impact and change others. They are not all educated, and they are not all talented musicians. They come from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds, but are united by their love of the beautiful instrument they create. The wood is bent, sanded, and stained, the wires are crimped and tightened, and the hammers are perfectly adjusted. Love is poured into this inanimate object, and music pours out.

What if our libraries could be like this? Each employee passionate about the product they are creating and confident that their particular part of the process matters, and contributes to the final product. Everyday, they would be able to see the result of their work in real and tangible ways. Managers and administrators would reward and encourage individual talents and allow space for excellence to grow. What would it take for this to happen in our libraries?

Celebrate the product

Walking through the Steinway plant, you hear the sounds of industry. But drifting through it all are the notes of pianos being tuned and tested. Snippets of simple tunes, played by calloused, rough hands. In the showroom, concert pianists, performers, and fortunate prodigies sample the masterpieces, looking for the tone and touch that will make a Steinway their very own. Each moment of the day the workmen are reminded of the beauty they are helping to create. They feel lucky to be there.

What is our product? We don’t manufacture a widget, but we do have a product. It is the child who has been through storytime and is now ready to read in Kindergarten. It is the fifty-something unemployed adult learning computer skills in our classes. It is the student finding resources and personal attention while struggling through their homework. It is the teen hanging out with the teen advisory group or learning to edit videos in the lab. It is the parent, checking out stacks of books with their children after a long day of work.  They are all part of our “product.” And while every interaction with patrons should remind of this, it doesn’t always. Public service is also full of complaining, entitled, and difficult patrons who can distract us from seeing the beauty we are creating.

So how do we celebrate our product? We tell our story. Take great pictures of your programs and blow them up – show those happy faces in your hallways and on your walls. Gather feel-good stories from staff and solicit feedback from patrons. Save these stories, and use them. Create photo albums, wikis full of stories – whatever format works for you. Tell those stories to all of your employees. Let them hear the music you are creating drifting through the library.

Hire the right workmen

John Maxwell’s now common admonition to “get the right people on the bus” is anything but cliche. Once the library knows what its product is and how incredibly valuable it is, management can then focus on hiring people who are passionate about that product and have talents to contribute. Talent is a key ingredient here. Someone may know how  to use a power sander, but can their fingers feel the character of the wood? Can they make the connection between their task and the tone a musician is looking for?

There are a lot of people looking for jobs. A lot of librarians and plenty of people ready to work in any spot you have open. Wait for the right one. Determine the particular talents you are looking for – if you hire someone who is merely qualified, you have settled too soon. There are many, many qualified job candidates. Degrees, experience – these are cheap. If you haven’t thought through the differences between education, experience, and talent in hiring, I highly recommend First Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham. Anyone can read a book to children, but how do you find that librarian who will be a rock star to your smallest patrons? Anyone can check out a book, but how do you find that person who will make real and lasting connections with your patrons and make them feel valued? If you want a masterpiece, you need master craftsmen at each step of the process.

Expect excellence and give it room

Steinway’s plant is anything but a typical production line. At each stop along the way, the workmen take the amount of time they need to do their job just right. In fact, to do it perfectly. There isn’t anyone breathing down their neck, looking at their watch. Micro-management isn’t needed with these guys. Their motivation is the ability to look at the roomful of sleek black instruments upstairs and to know they’ve touched each one and made it better.

It is difficult to motivate existing employees for excellence. The truth is that you can’t legislate it or impose it – for excellence to really thrive it has to be “caught” by the employee themselves. The best you can do is to create a contagious atmosphere where it is encouraged. As you begin to hire the right people, be aware that the existing employees might resent their drive for excellence, and division will destroy what you are attempting to build. Be inclusive. Encourage the talents of each employee (and yes, they all have them), no matter how minor their role. Allow creative innovation to flourish and celebrate it. The quickest way libraries kill this is with policies. Maybe it’s part of being a public institution, but we do love our policies, and the larger the library, the more passionately we seem to love them. Don’t let policies turn your library into a production line of segmented tasks. That will kill the music faster than anything else.

There are so many jobs that must be done for a library to produce a great product. Librarians are the visible part of this. They sit behind the reference desk and have the mysterious ability to find the answer to any question. They sit in the big chair and entrance children with a different voice for each character. But the circulation staff, bookkeepers, IT people, and technical services staff are vital to creating our product. Keep that product in front of each employee – let them hear the music and feel a part of making it.

Maybe if we can hear the music we are creating, our communities will hear it, too, and fight for the song to continue.

“I feel out of the loop.” These are my six least favorite words.

I don’t know about your library, but here at Frontline library we have a lot of employees. We have casual part time, regular part time, full time, professional, para-professional, clerks, secretarial, managers and administrators. And at one time or another I have heard that phrase from many of them.

The reason these are my least favorite words is because they immediately imply that on some level I’ve failed with communication, and darnit, I’m a good communicator! So I mentally revisit the many lines of communication we use internally. We have mailboxes full of communication, flyers, memos, e-mails, posters, wikis, intranet, instant messenger, and good old fashioned meetings. Our website is up to date and effective and we’re even on facebook and twitter. What more do these people want from me???

More. They want more.

But it’s not really about communication – or not all about it, anyway. It’s about that second word: Feel. If the communication is well taken care of and they still feel out of the loop, then you have to believe it is still a problem for them. It is their perception.  And you can’t argue with that. Really, don’t argue.

So what to do? The decidedly complex answer I’ve come to is as follows:

1. Listen. The best place to start is always listening, which means you do not bring your own agenda to the conversation. It’s not time to jump in with a quick fix, or defensiveness, or an angle. Just. Listen.

2. Rule out a true communication problem, and have a conversation to determine how they would most like to receive communication. Not everyone “hears” the same way.

3.  Make decisions that are inclusive. Part time professionals have a lot to offer, don’t overlook them. Para-professionals may not have an MLS but they have unique skills to bring to your mission. Use them. If people feel valued, they rarely have time to think about loops.

4. Break down divisions between departments, starting at the top. Sounds so easy, right? Not! You may feel powerless in this regard, but no matter your position in the library, you do have a sphere of influence. Use it to build connections with your co-workers.

5. Work hard to be transparent. The fewer secrets you have, the less gossip there will be. The less gossip, the fewer loops there are to be out of. Obviously, you have to be ready to be transparent – that’s topic enough for a separate post altogether.

When you do hear my six least favorite words, the most important thing  is to swallow back that defensiveness and (back to #1)  listen. If you are dismissive, you’ve proven their point by treating them as not important enough to be heard. The ‘felt needs’ your employee expresses may not be the root cause of their problem, but it is where they are starting. Start there with them, and listen.

This is a complex problem and the more often you are hearing those six words, the more work you have to do. Even worse, there will be times when even though you’ve done all you can do, the dreaded loop still rears its ugly head. But the more you pursue the steps above over time, the more your organization will change – the culture will shift. You’ll hear those words less and less.

Go ahead, call me an idealist. If you’ve read Frontline very much, it probably won’t be the first time you’ve hurled that epithet. And I’ll admit that Frontline Library isn’t there yet. But we’re getting there. One decision, one conversation, one relationship at a time.

Ronald McNair (October 21, 1950-January 28, 1986)

In 1959, when McNair was just 9 years old, he famously made a scene at the Lake City Public Library. Residents stared the African American boy down and watched as he walked to the main counter and attempted to check out books on advanced science and calculus.

The librarian refused to release them and told him, “We don’t circulate books to Negroes.”

The passionate young man wouldn’t budge, and instead hoisted himself onto the counter and said he wasn’t leaving without the books. Library patrons laughed as McNair’s feet dangled off the counter while he waited and the librarian called police.

Two police officers arrived at the scene along with McNair’s mother, Pearl. They determined the boy was not causing any public disturbance and Pearl convinced the librarian she’d pay for the books if they were not returned. The librarian gave in.                                                   ABC News

Over fifty years later, that same Public Library was renamed for the spunky nine year old kid who just didn’t “get” the limitations people would put on him, and later became Doctor Ronald McNair, the astronaut. On the 25th anniversary of the Challenger accident in which McNair died,  NPR highlighted his story as told by his brother in their Storycorps series, and it is a treat to listen to. It’s not a story about libraries in particular, but it gives us a glimpse into the way in which libraries have always reflected the communities and times in which they serve. Still, I couldn’t help but cringe when the librarian tries to send away that little boy. I so wanted the librarian to be his champion. To see past the societal prejudices that influenced her and take a chance. To tell the staring patrons to take a step back, and let the little boy with the books through.

When I went to work in my midwest suburban library six years ago, it was pretty darn white. The community had a small but growing Latino population, but they did not use the library. Since then, our community has changed dramatically. A glance around the floor today reveals  about 40% of patrons as non-native English speakers. At one computer, a Latino family gathers around to view Christmas photos from family in Mexico. At another, a Seikh woman fills out a job application. Snatches of conversations in different languages can be heard along with the slang of several different cultures. This is not the library world of 1959, and I feel fortunate to work in a community that, in spite of its recent bland waspishness, does pretty well at welcoming boys and girls of all colors and religious persuasions (and their parents, too). But the librarian at what is now the Ronald McNair Memorial Library made me think.

Who in your community needs a champion?  Depending on where your library is, skin color may still be a factor in answering this question. Or maybe it is the homeless, the mentally ill, the elderly, the unemployed, or the working poor. If libraries have a place at all in this new world, it is to make sure that everyone has equal access to information. And if we didn’t know it in 1959, I hope we know it now.

And . . . if we are not their champions, then there’s no reason to hope that our communities will champion our continued existence.

Change is afoot at the frontline.

Into every static organization a little change must fall, and evidently it’s our turn. An administrator is retiring, and established roles are changing. Seats are being traded, and each player is processing what it means for them. Change is afoot, but progress is the goal. Hopefully we’ve laid the ground work for progress, and now we have to navigate the rough waters of chaos with care. I’m headed away from frontline library service, and I’m clinging to the tiller for dear life.

Things at frontline library have been humming along fairly well. We’ve made great progress in the last few years. Our team has solidified, new ideas and new technology have taken root, and resistance has lessened. But we’ve reached our limit. With the current resources, there isn’t much more can do except get burned out. Change was needed, but anytime you drop a rock into a calm pond, the results are hard to predict.

Introduce change, and you can expect a period of chaos to ensue. You can call it reorganization if you want, but it’s really chaos.

Compared to comfy status quo, chaos is sticky. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid chaos by merely resisting change. Without change, the system will begin to break down and degrade. A group or a system becomes less of itself the more it resists change. Resist change enough, and you begin to organize yourself around what you areagainst, instead of what you are for. Libraries are very good at resisting change.

How do you manage change? Specifically staff changes? Jealousy, fear, anxiety, excitement – the range of possible responses in the team are endless, shaped by their own life experiences. The rock (or boulder) dropped into the pond sends out waves, the boat rocks, and everyone interprets that motion differently. Some believe the boat will capsize, and fear for their jobs. Others believe the movement is exciting, and eagerly await the future.  If your highest priority is for everyone to be happy about the change, you’re going to have a very difficult time of it. Listen to their fears, their anxieties, and don’t react negatively. Remember that these initial reactions are just that – reactions. Give them time.

Give yourself time.

Being a librarian is what I trained to be. It’s what brought me back to school and to a new career. But now, a few promotions into the game, I’m suddenly faced with the realization that moving up is taking me further and further away from the desk, from reference transactions, favorite book conversations, and the shy smiles of patrons as they come in the door. I have been focused on the big picture: Fundraising, sustainability, community relationships – but I never thought it would take me away from the simple pleasures of the reference desk. Those moments suddenly seem very important to me.

The problem is that as you invest in your patrons and become more committed to  their service, you realize that management is a place where you can help shape the character and values of your library . . . and so with a gulp you sit in that chair. Then it’s just a short hop and a skip from the management chair to administration. Or maybe it’s a slippery slope. Am I going to become a bureaucrat? I hope not. Is it possible to administrate the nuts, bolts, and details of a library and not lose passion for the individual stories that make the library live?  I hope so. We’ll see.

I try not to rant, really I do. But tonight I’m a little  . . . annoyed. I’ve talked before about the Digital Divide; the gap that exists between the technology have and have-nots. The digital divide is where the library lives . . . we are the bridge.

There is a seventh grade teacher somewhere in our community who single-handedly made quite a few kids and a number of parents panic this evening. The assignment was given today, and is due in one week. It wasn’t a bad assignment, really, but an honor student with a computer in their room at home would still probably take four or five hours to complete it – at best. Every step of the assignment required a computer. Several parents were at the library after their day of work, helping their children, but one group of girls was obviously struggling. When I went to help, I found one of the girls in tears. She did not have a computer at home, her parents wouldn’t let her have a library card, and she was limited in how long she was allowed to be at the library. The teacher did not allow the kids to work on the assignment during class. The other two girls were managing to complete their assignments – maybe not well, but it looked like they’d get it done. The final step was to create a power point of their research, complete with pictures and sources cited.

The rush to digitize our world is leaving people behind. Adults who have spent the last ten years in non-tech jobs, elderly who thought they could avoid it, the poor who can’t afford it, and now children. But here’s my question. How can teachers assign homework that requires a computer when not all the children have one? Someone asked me that exact question the other day and at the time, I answered along these lines: “Well, this is how the world is now. It’s hard, but they’ll just have to adjust.” In the same way, I have thought it extravagant when elementary schools write grants to give each child a laptop for the year. Shame on me.

And shame on schools that assign work and then tell the kids to “deal with it.” The girl at my library this evening had no adults to help her – no mother, father, or grandparents taking care to see that she succeeded. Quite the opposite. Her home was filled with conflict and stress, which was one of the reasons she fell apart so completely this evening. Even though her friends were watching wide-eyed. Even though other adults passing through stopped to stare. She felt alone.

I hope that I only heard one side of the story. I  hope that her teacher offered every resource she would need and that she just didn’t take advantage of it. But I don’t think so. I heard from so many kids this evening, so many parents. Jumping through hoops for a grade, with very little real learning in the bargain.

Libraries have stepped up to be the bridge across the divide for the adults, and we serve many children, teens, and their families as well. But the schools must be the bridge for their students. There are no easy answers here, I  know. Do teachers hold back on challenging assignments for the few who cannot compete? Children and teens don’t always ask for the help they need. Schools are short on resources and staff. Families are a mess and children often don’t have any help at home, a problem which predates computers.

But shame on us if we don’t see it, or if we discount it. Yes. The world has changed. Yes, we all must deal with it. But we must not all deal with it alone.

I’ve been away from Frontline for too long! And to make it worse, I actually left a question hanging in the air way back in August. Not exactly a cliff-hanger, but a little like “Shave and a hair cut” without the “Two bits!”

The Rise of the Bureaucrat was a rant against managers and administrators who sell the vitality of public libraries down the river in order to save their all important positions. Protecting your library against them is difficult, and if they are already entrenched, you may just want to spruce up that resume. However, if you are a manager or administrator at a library where they have not yet sprouted, you are in luck . . .

Every day you have a chance to immunize your organization against bureaucratic infection. Of course, you have to be willing to infect it with something else.

Vision. With the proliferation of management and leadership books, vision has become an overused word, along with its partner: Mission.  This is unfortunate. Over exposing a word inevitably leads to its shallowest interpretation. So try, if you can, to see this idea anew.

Take a walk through your library. Watch the people and notice how they interact with each other and with your resources. Then go into your office, close the door, and close your eyes. What do you wish for your library? How would it feel to walk into your library if it were all you think it could be? Don’t get hung up on money – in fact, don’t even think about money at all, one way or the other. What would the feeling of the place be? How would it look to new eyes?  Write a paragraph that describes it. This isn’t something you’ll publicize necessarily – this is mainly for you. If you, as the manager or administrator, don’t have a vision of what your library could be, it will never happen. Think big!

I wrote this a few years ago when I was new to the job. I have written a few others since then, but this impulsive paragraph still does a pretty good job  of capturing the idea of a vision – in this case for a department.

Every patron, no matter their age, will be warmly greeted as they enter Adult Services. Bright, creative displays will draw their attention. They will hear, not silence, but the hum of work being done at the computers and the low murmurs of study groups. They will find a host of programs and classes on topics of interest to them as well as print and electronic resources they need. The excitement of staff and visibility of our resources will create serendipitous moments where new treasures are discovered and needs met. As a result, the number of ‘regulars’ will increase. The level of program involvement will increase, and our visibility in the community will increase.

I posted it where I could see it, and it became the standard by which decisions were evaluated that year. I set goals by it, and we made good progress . . . until the economic downturn. Then it felt like we hit a brick wall. We had to lay off employees and cut the hours of our part timers. Staff who were committed to our organization felt betrayed, somehow. But somewhere in those first sad weeks after the layoffs and cutbacks I found my second wind. I realized that the library in my vision paragraph did not depend on a flush economy. It had to do with who we were and what we valued, not merely what we had. It would be more difficult, and the tight budget would affect what kind of projects we undertook, but we could still carry out the spirit of the paragraph I had written.  I realized then that the Godfather had it backwards: It wasn’t business, it was personal! As important and foundational as the budget is, it is not the bottom line. The people are the bottom line – the staff, the patrons, and the community.

So in practical terms, how do you innoculate your library against the rise of the bureaucrat? You work to create an organization that is so committed to the vision of a healthy, vibrant library that anyone who would believe it is only about the budget would be laughed out of town. It can’t just be you. The entire library, from administrators to clerks have to believe that your organization can make a difference – no matter the circumstances. Not easy stuff. Hiring becomes more important than ever. Your personnel are the most powerful resource you have. If cynicism gets out of hand or if you allow an us/them attitude to develop between management and staff, that powerful resource is diminished. But if your staff is gracious, committed, helpful, hardworking, and positive, the bureaucrat won’t have a chance. It’s possible, one step at a time.

It’s not business, it’s personal!