As usual in the fall, I attended the annual conference of the New England Library Association. Here's a summary of the sessions I attended and what I learned. I'm including a sentence or so on takeaways, which are specific ideas I got from the session and things I just don't want to forget about later.
Don't Forget the T: Serving Transgender Patrons
This discussion was led by my coworker who runs our Queer Book Group, and has been partnering with our local council on aging to present an international film series called Reel Queer. We also have some gender-neutral bathrooms in our building. So we are pretty much at the forefront of LGBT issues when it comes to public libraries. Anyhow, I was already pretty informed about these issues but it was still a great, informative discussion.
Takeaways: include a "preferred name" field in patron library records for those who use a name other than their legal name; "Please bring it back" basket idea to let people borrow certain books without checking them out; A Kind of Justice by Renee James is a mystery novel about a transgender hairdresser.
Making Connections Across Town and Time
This was a 2-part session. The first presenter discussed the Haitian Revolution as rich source material for displays, historical fiction, musicals, etc and wondered aloud at how untapped it still is. It was such a unique event in history, and it's still a very interesting place. Facts learned: 80% of Haitians with a college degree live outside of Haiti; over 1/3 of citizens are under the age of 15. The second presenter told us about an international program she ran in a Boston neighborhood where seniors and teens worked together to create a community quilt.
Takeways: do a display on the Haitian Revolution cuz it is fascinating; look into a book called Soft Circuits for the library collection and for my own curiosity. (Electronics in fabric? What?!)
Biblioboard: Engage Your Local Creative Community
This was a vendor demo for a product we pay for that I knew almost nothing about. He talked specifically about the SELF-e program where local authors can publish and promote their books. He mentioned that self-published ebooks account for 45% of purchases on Amazon.
Takeaways: This is something lots of our patrons will be interested in! Since we have a local author event coming up soon - and some NaNoWriMo Write-Ins, I requested some promotional materials about this service. Through a module called Curator, the library can upload photos of art in the library, which might be useful for us.
Getting Your Library Noticed: The Art of the Integrated Campaign
Two representatives from the MA Board of Library Commissioners talked about running an organized marketing campaign. They use something called a Creative Brief, which is basically an outline of your goals and your plan. It's an organizational tool and a checklist that covers everything from what you're hoping to achieve to a calendar for deliverables and social media posts. The idea is to create consistency throughout your campaign while adapting to a changing landscape.
Takeaways: The Creative Brief, other materials available at the MBLC site including ready made social media posts.
Keeping Up With Social Media
Three librarians took turn presenting, though they *all* talked about Instagram. This is disappointing because that's the one major social media platform my library doesn't use (because we can't do ALL the things.) The program description should have mentioned it was all about Instagram, not social media in general, or maybe the presenters should have talked to each other and realized they were all discussing the same thing. But they had some great ideas that could be used on other platforms, like book spine poetry and bookface.
Takeaways: Maybe we should be using Instagram; do some book spine poetry, bookface, meet the staff, and bookalike (books with similar covers.)
Community Use in Libraries: overcoming obstacles to safely sharing space
Here's another where the description was a bit misleading. This session was very specifically about using library space during a time the library is usually closed, and when partnered with another town department or organization. Although this is not something we do the presenter, an attorney, had some great information about liability.
Takeaways: We're not actually liable if someone is hurt on our property; the issue is the fear of having a lawsuit initiated. It's very hard to prove liability, but it will still eat up time and money so nobody wants anyone to even try to sue them.
Reader's Advisory Panel: Christian Fiction, Library Reads, and Book Spoilers
I already knew about Library Reads and Spoilers, Sweetie, but I'm very weak on Christian Fiction. Unfortunately, that presenter wasn't able to make it which, honestly, was a bit of a relief since I'm not interested in the genre and never get questions from patrons about it. It was kind of nice for a refresher about Library Reads, and to learn that Spoilers, Sweetie replaced the "red flag" designation with "sticky topics." I had visited the site once and saw a book that had a "red flag" because of a gay character. "Sticky topic" is a little better, but it should be more neutral, like "You might want to know..." but more concise. Because you might actually want to know for reasons that are positive, not negative. I digress.
Takeaways: Peter Heller has a new book coming out! (Celine. And I still haven't read The Painter!) Also, revisit Spoilers, Sweetie, check out the Worst Bestsellers podcast and the We Need Diverse Books app.
Better Graphic Design for Libraries: Improving Your Visual Communication
A self-taught graphic designer gave us lots of specific and useful advice about how make our promotional materials look eye-catching and professional. This was probably my favorite and most useful session I attended. Or maybe I was just so enthused because I've gotten on a hand-lettering kick and this seems to fit in.
Takeaways: She gave us handouts with specific free tools, fonts, image sources, etc that we could use for our materials. Also a handy step-by-step workflow that I will probably forget is in my notes and never look at.
Developing Your Own Readers' Advisory Roundtable
I always look enviously at the emails about our region's readers advisory meetings, but I can't ever go because of the day of the week they are scheduled. The presenters talked about what makes these meetings different from a regular book group (discussing appeal factors rather than opinions about what you liked or didn't like), sources for genre study, LSTA grant for doing all this, and doing it locally at your own library rather than with a larger group.
Takeaways: Take Joyce Saricks's online class through ALA since I have a membership; try to talk coworkers into having our own Readers Advisory Roundtable. (You know, in our spare time.); Display idea: men without shirts (I don't recall how this came up, but it's a good one!)
So there we have it. Hopefully highlighting the takeaways will help me remember them, and act on them!
Showing posts with label new england library association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new england library association. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
NELA 2014
Hey! It's time for my annual summary of the New England Library Association Conference. Here are the sessions that I attended this year.
Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom
This was sort of what it sounded like. The presenter began by telling us that YouTube has been blocked in Pakistan for two years and showed a video of Pakistanis hugging a YouTube mascot and begging it to come back. She talked about the assumption that technology makes everything more democratic and open, and the reality that democracy is eroded by surveillance. This was an interesting topic and she was a good speaker, but the session began at 8:30 and I'm afraid I wasn't quite awake enough to appreciate it as I should have.
Mixing It up for Millennials: Programming for 20- and 30-Somethings
Representatives from three different libraries shared stories of successful programs for younger adults. The Nashua, NH public library hosted A Night Out for 20-somethings, an after-hours event in which lots of vendors and organizations set up tables and the library made their space atmospheric with dim lighting and a piano player. The vendors included visual arts groups, music schools, a fabric/yarn store, a church singles group, and a sports shop. The library had a booth with information about downloading ebooks, a chocolate tasting, and Cards Against Humanity. It sounded like a great event that would be especially helpful to new post-college folks moving into the area.
The Haverhill, MA public library shared several programs they organized, but the most interesting is their Get Lit book group, which takes place at a local bar. It's pretty well known so I had heard about it before and it was great to learn more about it. They use social media pretty heavily and have had a lot of success reaching out to authors on Twitter, and even have lots of Get Lit swag. Libraries tend to shy away from alcohol-related events, which I kind of think is a shame. There's an assumption that any booze will lead to extreme drunkenness and problems, but this is not the case with this group.
Finally, a librarian from the public library in Peabody, MA told us about a whole wealth of programs they put on. Many were instructional, like beer brewing, coffee roasting, and meditation, but they also have a film discussion group and several book groups. They rely a lot on the talents of their staff who can teach lots of interesting skills, but they also do a lot of grant-writing. Interestingly, they have an adult programming advisory board, which I think is a fantastic idea. Most libraries have advisory groups for teen programming, so why not for adults as well?
NERTCL Luncheon with Peter H. Reynolds
This luncheon was sponsored by the section focused on children and teens, so it was no surprise that I was unfamiliar with this author and illustrator of picture books. But now I will be checking out some of his books for sure. He shared one call The Dot, in which a kid is convinced that she can't draw, but when pressed she makes a dot, and then decides she can make a nicer dot, and so on until she feels confidently artistic. It's pretty great! He was also just a funny, dynamic speaker. (I can't say much positive about the food, unfortunately.)
Reconnect with Readers' Advisory through LibraryReads
My library supports LibraryReads, in that one person in my department has been maintaing a LibraryReads display, so I thought it was high time I figured out what this was all about. Also, I know (and admire) one of the presenters and was especially interested to hear her speak. LibraryReads publicizes a list of ten new books every month that librarians are excited about. In this session, we learned how to get involved by requesting advance copies, nominating titles we love, and writing blurbs. They also talked about how LibraryReads benefits us when we participate, which was what I really needed to hear. I already had an Edelweiss account but have never ever requested a book through it, so I'm very happy to now be reinspired to use it.
Stand Up & Shout: The Youngish Leader on Changing Direction
A lot has changed in library leadership recently, and the path from newly-minted librarian to director can be short and swift. Two young library leaders shared their experiences and provided valuable advice about taking on a leadership role when you feel unprepared for it. I'm not necessarily interested in being a library director (nor am I especially young anymore) but again, I knew one of the presenters and was especially interested in what he had to say. My biggest takeaway from this session is that you are never ready for a director job until you are in it - no other library job is like it, so there's just no way to prepare other than just to do it. The presenters do advise to use experiences like committee work to help build skills, and to "fake it 'til you make it." The two guys presenting met during leadership training and make a great team. They were funny and inspiring and full of good advice. I don't think I'll be applying for any director jobs soon - I really like my job - but it doesn't seem so impossibly out of the question anymore.
This year I attended NELA for just one day, which I don't like as much as staying for the whole thing. I had to get up super-early, and didn't have the benefit of a nearby hotel room for emergency cat naps. And of course I missed out on all the after-hours fun. But I learned a lot, got inspired, and met up with some librarians who I really like a lot but rarely get to see.
It was a little bittersweet, because my library director recently announced that he's moving out-of-state. He's very involved in the profession and well-known around here, so of course everyone I talked to at the conference asked me about his departure and the open position. There are very many open library director positions right now, so I've been a bit worried about our ability to fill it well. Although I'm still sad that he's leaving, it was very heartening to hear that our library is such a desirable place to work and there seems to be a lot of interest in that job. Hopefully that means we'll get another great director!
Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom
This was sort of what it sounded like. The presenter began by telling us that YouTube has been blocked in Pakistan for two years and showed a video of Pakistanis hugging a YouTube mascot and begging it to come back. She talked about the assumption that technology makes everything more democratic and open, and the reality that democracy is eroded by surveillance. This was an interesting topic and she was a good speaker, but the session began at 8:30 and I'm afraid I wasn't quite awake enough to appreciate it as I should have.
Mixing It up for Millennials: Programming for 20- and 30-Somethings
Representatives from three different libraries shared stories of successful programs for younger adults. The Nashua, NH public library hosted A Night Out for 20-somethings, an after-hours event in which lots of vendors and organizations set up tables and the library made their space atmospheric with dim lighting and a piano player. The vendors included visual arts groups, music schools, a fabric/yarn store, a church singles group, and a sports shop. The library had a booth with information about downloading ebooks, a chocolate tasting, and Cards Against Humanity. It sounded like a great event that would be especially helpful to new post-college folks moving into the area.
The Haverhill, MA public library shared several programs they organized, but the most interesting is their Get Lit book group, which takes place at a local bar. It's pretty well known so I had heard about it before and it was great to learn more about it. They use social media pretty heavily and have had a lot of success reaching out to authors on Twitter, and even have lots of Get Lit swag. Libraries tend to shy away from alcohol-related events, which I kind of think is a shame. There's an assumption that any booze will lead to extreme drunkenness and problems, but this is not the case with this group.
Finally, a librarian from the public library in Peabody, MA told us about a whole wealth of programs they put on. Many were instructional, like beer brewing, coffee roasting, and meditation, but they also have a film discussion group and several book groups. They rely a lot on the talents of their staff who can teach lots of interesting skills, but they also do a lot of grant-writing. Interestingly, they have an adult programming advisory board, which I think is a fantastic idea. Most libraries have advisory groups for teen programming, so why not for adults as well?
NERTCL Luncheon with Peter H. Reynolds
This luncheon was sponsored by the section focused on children and teens, so it was no surprise that I was unfamiliar with this author and illustrator of picture books. But now I will be checking out some of his books for sure. He shared one call The Dot, in which a kid is convinced that she can't draw, but when pressed she makes a dot, and then decides she can make a nicer dot, and so on until she feels confidently artistic. It's pretty great! He was also just a funny, dynamic speaker. (I can't say much positive about the food, unfortunately.)
Reconnect with Readers' Advisory through LibraryReads
My library supports LibraryReads, in that one person in my department has been maintaing a LibraryReads display, so I thought it was high time I figured out what this was all about. Also, I know (and admire) one of the presenters and was especially interested to hear her speak. LibraryReads publicizes a list of ten new books every month that librarians are excited about. In this session, we learned how to get involved by requesting advance copies, nominating titles we love, and writing blurbs. They also talked about how LibraryReads benefits us when we participate, which was what I really needed to hear. I already had an Edelweiss account but have never ever requested a book through it, so I'm very happy to now be reinspired to use it.
Stand Up & Shout: The Youngish Leader on Changing Direction
A lot has changed in library leadership recently, and the path from newly-minted librarian to director can be short and swift. Two young library leaders shared their experiences and provided valuable advice about taking on a leadership role when you feel unprepared for it. I'm not necessarily interested in being a library director (nor am I especially young anymore) but again, I knew one of the presenters and was especially interested in what he had to say. My biggest takeaway from this session is that you are never ready for a director job until you are in it - no other library job is like it, so there's just no way to prepare other than just to do it. The presenters do advise to use experiences like committee work to help build skills, and to "fake it 'til you make it." The two guys presenting met during leadership training and make a great team. They were funny and inspiring and full of good advice. I don't think I'll be applying for any director jobs soon - I really like my job - but it doesn't seem so impossibly out of the question anymore.
This year I attended NELA for just one day, which I don't like as much as staying for the whole thing. I had to get up super-early, and didn't have the benefit of a nearby hotel room for emergency cat naps. And of course I missed out on all the after-hours fun. But I learned a lot, got inspired, and met up with some librarians who I really like a lot but rarely get to see.
It was a little bittersweet, because my library director recently announced that he's moving out-of-state. He's very involved in the profession and well-known around here, so of course everyone I talked to at the conference asked me about his departure and the open position. There are very many open library director positions right now, so I've been a bit worried about our ability to fill it well. Although I'm still sad that he's leaving, it was very heartening to hear that our library is such a desirable place to work and there seems to be a lot of interest in that job. Hopefully that means we'll get another great director!
Saturday, October 26, 2013
NELA 2013
Whoops - thought I posted this days ago and here it is sitting in my drafts. Well, better late than never!
Hello! The reading - and reviewing - is going pretty slowly, partly because I was just at the New England Library Association conference for a few days, where I presented about my Not-So-Young Adult book group. It was held in Portland, ME, one of my very favorite places. For those interested in librarianish things, here's my rundown of the conference.
Sunday
Extending the Harwood Practice to Libraries
The Harwood Practice was introduced in the keynote speech by Richard C. Harwood. I missed the keynote, but thought I'd get at least the basics at this session on how to apply his ideas. Unfortunately, it was mostly Q&A about the keynote so I felt like I walked in to the middle of a conversation. It's an interesting conversation though, because Harwood's aim is to end divisiveness and acrimony in favor of focusing on shared goals for the community.
Working with Trustees and Friends
I almost didn't attend this session because I felt it would be more relevant to library directors, but it turned out to be quite interesting. Panelists included a library director, a long-time trustee, and the MA Board of Library Commissioners' liaison for Trustees and Friends (who also happens to be a friend of mine.) All panelists were good speakers with interesting things to say about the sometimes complicated relationships between all these parties.
Annual Banquet
I always attend the Sunday night banquet at NELA, even if I don't know the featured author. This year the featured author is retired Maine game warden John Ford, author of Suddenly the Cider Didn't Taste So Good, and This Cider Still Tastes Funny. His books are stories about his experiences as a game warden, and this guy is really funny! I grew up in Maine and he reminded me of so many other older Maine guys who tell crazy (and likely embellished) stories that tend to revolve around things like hunting and fishing. He was a very good speaker and kept everyone laughing. The food was unusually good for a conference too.
Monday
BYOD: Supporting Patrons' Devices in the Library
Two presenters discussed the ways in which they provide information and support for patrons having trouble using various devices, especially trying to download ebooks from the library. A third presenter talked about using old computers as dedicated catalog stations, which was a little technical for me and didn't quite fit in with the other subject matter. In general, it was a pretty good session though I kind of wish I had instead attended Library Trends: Pew Research which was apparently fantastic.
Not Your Average Book Group
Really great, fantastic session! Ok, I was a presenter so maybe I'm biased. I spoke about my Not-So-Young Adult book group, where adults gather to talk about YA books. Another presenter has one about cookbooks and she demonstrates a few recipes from each one, which sounds like a TON of work but she has amazing attendance so I'm sure it's worth it (plus she likes to cook.) The third presenter talked about her adult summer reading program, which is a great thing to remind people about - every library does summer reading for kids, and usually for teens, but not necessarily for adults. And we deserve fun prizes too. Finally, our fourth presenter discussed his nonfiction book group, which is totally something we should have at my library but I think we all have a full course load already. But I'm always surprised how often book group members request nonfiction. It was a fun and popular session and people seemed to really like it.
Community Makerspaces: How Libraries Can Help
Clint Crosbie from the Port City Makerspace in Portsmouth, NH discussed what makerspaces are, how their goals are similar to that of libraries (sharing, community) and how libraries can integrate these ideas even if you don't have a permanent space of budget. Holding classes and workshops, mini maker faires, or even having small semi-permanent spaces like one library that has an area for 3d printing. He gave a special shoutout to my local neighborhood makerspace, Artisan's Asylum, which he said is the best out there and exactly what other makerspaces strive to be. Yay, Somerville!
How to Make Those Challenging Relationships Work Better and Easier
I'm always a sucker for this kind of thing. Presenter David Lee talked about how to bring your best self to conversations and help others bring their best selves. He stressed that we have no control over others, but can control our own attitude and reaction to situations. A lot of what he talked about wasn't new to me (in fact, some of it is coming up in The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, which I'm reading right now) but it's exactly the sort of thing I need to be reminded about. Lots of great ideas and tips that I'm trying to keep in mind every day. Hopefully they'll stay in my head, because this is useful stuff.
Outreach to Queer Communities: Successes and Challenges
I'm not the only one at my library with a cool book group - one of my coworkers runs Queer Book Group (QBG) and she spoke about it in this session. This is a fairly new book group but she's been thinking about it for a while. She shared some very sad stories about teen suicides in our library's town (not necessarily of LGBT kids) and talked about making people feel like they have a safe space. She's a very good speaker - both conversational and dynamic. Another presenter spoke about the Vermont Queer Archives, and the third, the president of the Vermont Library Association, talked about Que(e)ry Party. They all had interesting stories and great points about the importance of outreach to the LGBT community.
Tuesday
Trends in E-Books
I was especially interested in this because there's a statewide ebook project in Massachusetts that aims to empower libraries through a new model of ebook lending. The goal is for us to be able to purchase content (right now we are basically leasing it) and have more control over the platforms and user experience. My library is going to be a pilot in this project, which was one of the subjects of this panel. We also heard about a library system that uses the 3M Cloud Library and has had a good experience. A third panelist talked about ebook accessibility for vision-impaired patrons. It was interesting, but obvious that we still have a long way to go before ebook lending is more streamlined and easy for patrons to use.
Urban Library Success Stories: Engaging Your Community in Positive Change
Panelists from three different urban libraries spoke about their success stories. Two were from my old library in Somerville, MA, which just built an awesome new teen room, and I was mostly there to hear them. They were really good, speaking in a conversational way and showing a couple of photos of the teens and their space. There were also people from the Portland, ME and Springfield, MA library talking about their projects, but honestly they were very PowerPoint-heavy and I find that sort of presentation difficult to focus on. But I was happy to hear positive stories from the Somerville Public Library. Even though I don't work there anymore, I still live in Somerville and want the library to do well.
Those are all the sessions I attended, but of course I also got to catch up with other librarians, some of whom I only see at these conferences. I also won a raffle sponsored by the Maine Library Association (co-sponsors of the conference). My prize was an L.L. Bean backpack full of really great hiking and camping supplies like a guide to Maine trails, L.L. Bean socks, a first aid kit, emergency blanket, water bottle, water purification tablets, knife, compass, protein bars and a ton more. Of course, I also came back with lots of inspiration and a ton of ideas!
For now though, I'm exhausted. I need to get some rest and catch up on my reading.
Hello! The reading - and reviewing - is going pretty slowly, partly because I was just at the New England Library Association conference for a few days, where I presented about my Not-So-Young Adult book group. It was held in Portland, ME, one of my very favorite places. For those interested in librarianish things, here's my rundown of the conference.
Sunday
Extending the Harwood Practice to Libraries
The Harwood Practice was introduced in the keynote speech by Richard C. Harwood. I missed the keynote, but thought I'd get at least the basics at this session on how to apply his ideas. Unfortunately, it was mostly Q&A about the keynote so I felt like I walked in to the middle of a conversation. It's an interesting conversation though, because Harwood's aim is to end divisiveness and acrimony in favor of focusing on shared goals for the community.
Working with Trustees and Friends
I almost didn't attend this session because I felt it would be more relevant to library directors, but it turned out to be quite interesting. Panelists included a library director, a long-time trustee, and the MA Board of Library Commissioners' liaison for Trustees and Friends (who also happens to be a friend of mine.) All panelists were good speakers with interesting things to say about the sometimes complicated relationships between all these parties.
Annual Banquet
I always attend the Sunday night banquet at NELA, even if I don't know the featured author. This year the featured author is retired Maine game warden John Ford, author of Suddenly the Cider Didn't Taste So Good, and This Cider Still Tastes Funny. His books are stories about his experiences as a game warden, and this guy is really funny! I grew up in Maine and he reminded me of so many other older Maine guys who tell crazy (and likely embellished) stories that tend to revolve around things like hunting and fishing. He was a very good speaker and kept everyone laughing. The food was unusually good for a conference too.
Monday
BYOD: Supporting Patrons' Devices in the Library
Two presenters discussed the ways in which they provide information and support for patrons having trouble using various devices, especially trying to download ebooks from the library. A third presenter talked about using old computers as dedicated catalog stations, which was a little technical for me and didn't quite fit in with the other subject matter. In general, it was a pretty good session though I kind of wish I had instead attended Library Trends: Pew Research which was apparently fantastic.
Not Your Average Book Group
Really great, fantastic session! Ok, I was a presenter so maybe I'm biased. I spoke about my Not-So-Young Adult book group, where adults gather to talk about YA books. Another presenter has one about cookbooks and she demonstrates a few recipes from each one, which sounds like a TON of work but she has amazing attendance so I'm sure it's worth it (plus she likes to cook.) The third presenter talked about her adult summer reading program, which is a great thing to remind people about - every library does summer reading for kids, and usually for teens, but not necessarily for adults. And we deserve fun prizes too. Finally, our fourth presenter discussed his nonfiction book group, which is totally something we should have at my library but I think we all have a full course load already. But I'm always surprised how often book group members request nonfiction. It was a fun and popular session and people seemed to really like it.
Community Makerspaces: How Libraries Can Help
Clint Crosbie from the Port City Makerspace in Portsmouth, NH discussed what makerspaces are, how their goals are similar to that of libraries (sharing, community) and how libraries can integrate these ideas even if you don't have a permanent space of budget. Holding classes and workshops, mini maker faires, or even having small semi-permanent spaces like one library that has an area for 3d printing. He gave a special shoutout to my local neighborhood makerspace, Artisan's Asylum, which he said is the best out there and exactly what other makerspaces strive to be. Yay, Somerville!
How to Make Those Challenging Relationships Work Better and Easier
I'm always a sucker for this kind of thing. Presenter David Lee talked about how to bring your best self to conversations and help others bring their best selves. He stressed that we have no control over others, but can control our own attitude and reaction to situations. A lot of what he talked about wasn't new to me (in fact, some of it is coming up in The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, which I'm reading right now) but it's exactly the sort of thing I need to be reminded about. Lots of great ideas and tips that I'm trying to keep in mind every day. Hopefully they'll stay in my head, because this is useful stuff.
Outreach to Queer Communities: Successes and Challenges
I'm not the only one at my library with a cool book group - one of my coworkers runs Queer Book Group (QBG) and she spoke about it in this session. This is a fairly new book group but she's been thinking about it for a while. She shared some very sad stories about teen suicides in our library's town (not necessarily of LGBT kids) and talked about making people feel like they have a safe space. She's a very good speaker - both conversational and dynamic. Another presenter spoke about the Vermont Queer Archives, and the third, the president of the Vermont Library Association, talked about Que(e)ry Party. They all had interesting stories and great points about the importance of outreach to the LGBT community.
Tuesday
Trends in E-Books
I was especially interested in this because there's a statewide ebook project in Massachusetts that aims to empower libraries through a new model of ebook lending. The goal is for us to be able to purchase content (right now we are basically leasing it) and have more control over the platforms and user experience. My library is going to be a pilot in this project, which was one of the subjects of this panel. We also heard about a library system that uses the 3M Cloud Library and has had a good experience. A third panelist talked about ebook accessibility for vision-impaired patrons. It was interesting, but obvious that we still have a long way to go before ebook lending is more streamlined and easy for patrons to use.
Urban Library Success Stories: Engaging Your Community in Positive Change
Panelists from three different urban libraries spoke about their success stories. Two were from my old library in Somerville, MA, which just built an awesome new teen room, and I was mostly there to hear them. They were really good, speaking in a conversational way and showing a couple of photos of the teens and their space. There were also people from the Portland, ME and Springfield, MA library talking about their projects, but honestly they were very PowerPoint-heavy and I find that sort of presentation difficult to focus on. But I was happy to hear positive stories from the Somerville Public Library. Even though I don't work there anymore, I still live in Somerville and want the library to do well.
Those are all the sessions I attended, but of course I also got to catch up with other librarians, some of whom I only see at these conferences. I also won a raffle sponsored by the Maine Library Association (co-sponsors of the conference). My prize was an L.L. Bean backpack full of really great hiking and camping supplies like a guide to Maine trails, L.L. Bean socks, a first aid kit, emergency blanket, water bottle, water purification tablets, knife, compass, protein bars and a ton more. Of course, I also came back with lots of inspiration and a ton of ideas!
For now though, I'm exhausted. I need to get some rest and catch up on my reading.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
NELA, Day 3
My last post for this conference! Day 3 was short, and I only attended two programs.
Displays on a budget
I'm always eager for advice on making good displays. I'm not very creative and I'll admit I'm a little lazy about this, but I think displays are important and work really well in promoting our materials. I got more than I bargained for here: the presenters shared advice not only on temporary displays but on long-term merchandising strategies.
In addition to particular displays and their setup we got some good general advice, like displays don't have to be in the building. Cambridge Public Library once had some books displayed on the T. I imagine there are other opportunities in the community for this type of thing. We are always saying we need to get out into the community - what better way than to attract patrons with our shiny sparkly materials somewhere they didn't expect?
We should be looking at the outside of our buildings too - what can patrons see through the windows? Do we put up banners on the outside of our buildings? What draws people inside? And once they get inside, what do they see? Apparently, studies have been done on how people enter buildings, and have found that people don't usually see anything in the first 10 feet because they are trying to orient themselves. So all those signs plastered on the front doors and in the foyer go unread. Paco Underhill and his books, such as Why We Buy, were recommended for his expertise in this area.
I have my own philosophy on displays, in that I think we should change them very frequently and, therefore, not spend too much time and effort getting them just so. But the reality is that most libraries do leave displays up for weeks at a time, and there are situations in which I would deliberately do so too. Lots of great advice and inspiration at this session!
Checklist for digital divide readiness
with the lovely Jessamyn West!
Her checklist is as follows:
1. Statistics: 21% of people still have no internet at home, and the rate of adoption is slowing.
2. Know your area. In many rural areas broadband is not available.
3. Know the divides: Are they economic, usability, or empowerment divides?
4. Outline YOUR problems. What do people in your community need?
5. Check yourself - who's responsible for the digital divide? (Librarians are pretty much it - who else is going to help people get online and up to speed?)
6. Evaluate your offerings. Is your website standards-compliant? Can blind people read it? Do you have books about technology?
7. Take good care of patron computers. These are the only computers many of them have. Clean them.
8. Offer clear information, clearly presented.
9. Play "what if." What's your responsibility in awkward situations when they need more help than you would normally give? What if there's a crisis?
10. Celebrate successes!
She is an engaging speaker, and more funny than I expected. I've read her blog for a while, and though I find it informative her incredible sense of humor doesn't come across. This session was a great way to end the conference! If you want more information she has her presentation and lots of additional resources here.
Altogether a great conference! Usually I feel like there are some strong sessions and some I would have been better off skipping. But every single session that I went to this year was good - I got something out of each one of them. That's a success to celebrate!
Displays on a budget
I'm always eager for advice on making good displays. I'm not very creative and I'll admit I'm a little lazy about this, but I think displays are important and work really well in promoting our materials. I got more than I bargained for here: the presenters shared advice not only on temporary displays but on long-term merchandising strategies.
In addition to particular displays and their setup we got some good general advice, like displays don't have to be in the building. Cambridge Public Library once had some books displayed on the T. I imagine there are other opportunities in the community for this type of thing. We are always saying we need to get out into the community - what better way than to attract patrons with our shiny sparkly materials somewhere they didn't expect?
We should be looking at the outside of our buildings too - what can patrons see through the windows? Do we put up banners on the outside of our buildings? What draws people inside? And once they get inside, what do they see? Apparently, studies have been done on how people enter buildings, and have found that people don't usually see anything in the first 10 feet because they are trying to orient themselves. So all those signs plastered on the front doors and in the foyer go unread. Paco Underhill and his books, such as Why We Buy, were recommended for his expertise in this area.
I have my own philosophy on displays, in that I think we should change them very frequently and, therefore, not spend too much time and effort getting them just so. But the reality is that most libraries do leave displays up for weeks at a time, and there are situations in which I would deliberately do so too. Lots of great advice and inspiration at this session!
Checklist for digital divide readiness
with the lovely Jessamyn West!
Her checklist is as follows:
1. Statistics: 21% of people still have no internet at home, and the rate of adoption is slowing.
2. Know your area. In many rural areas broadband is not available.
3. Know the divides: Are they economic, usability, or empowerment divides?
4. Outline YOUR problems. What do people in your community need?
5. Check yourself - who's responsible for the digital divide? (Librarians are pretty much it - who else is going to help people get online and up to speed?)
6. Evaluate your offerings. Is your website standards-compliant? Can blind people read it? Do you have books about technology?
7. Take good care of patron computers. These are the only computers many of them have. Clean them.
8. Offer clear information, clearly presented.
9. Play "what if." What's your responsibility in awkward situations when they need more help than you would normally give? What if there's a crisis?
10. Celebrate successes!
She is an engaging speaker, and more funny than I expected. I've read her blog for a while, and though I find it informative her incredible sense of humor doesn't come across. This session was a great way to end the conference! If you want more information she has her presentation and lots of additional resources here.
Altogether a great conference! Usually I feel like there are some strong sessions and some I would have been better off skipping. But every single session that I went to this year was good - I got something out of each one of them. That's a success to celebrate!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
NELA, Day 2 (Part 2)
Howdy Partner!
A library consultant shared lots of great advice on partnering with community organizations such as other libraries, schools, non-profits and businesses. She emphasized good planning - well-thought out partnerships can solve real problems and result in new resources and services. Libraries are desirable partners because of our expertise, resources, and our reputations - we are trusted and valued in our communities. But be selective - your partners should support your strategic goals, share a mission and core values. They should compliment what you have, not duplicate it. They should have a good reputation, adequate resources, be well-managed, and understand win/win. Libraries are often taken advantage of. Davis also highly recommended having a signed agreement, and recommended the book Partnering with Purpose for more good advice.
Interestingly, she cautioned against the most common type of partnerships - that between libraries and local schools. They seem like obvious choices because of a shared mission of learning, but frequently fail because of the vast difference in policies, cultures, and rules.
Much of the session was an open discussion of participants' partnership examples. There were some great ideas such as a library that holds an open mic night at a local coffee shop, and customers who show a library card get a discount on their orders. Another library secured an LSTA grant for a One Book program centered around Last Child in the Woods. They partnered with some local conservation groups - all parties planned programs, and they were all promoted jointly.
But I was troubled by some of the so-called partnerships some of the librarians were sharing. For instance, one library described an attempted partnership with a large business. Librarians submitted an application to the company and in return they were supposed to get $500 and some volunteers to help run a barbecue the library was sponsoring. They depended on the money to be able to execute the event, but at the last minute the company said they couldn't drum up the 5 needed volunteers and so the library lost out on the volunteers AND the money. In another instance, a bank offered up a table to a local library so they could promote their wares, but when the library called to follow-up, other bank officials insisted they only offered such tables to businesses. In another instance, a library shared this "partnership": they gave us money and we put their logo on all our stuff.
I asked a question: I understand why we would partner with businesses, because they are part of our communities just like other organizations. But how can we do so without crossing a line into something else? If a company gives us money and we in turn put their logo all over our promotional materials, isn't that just advertising?
The speaker's answer was "You know, there was a time when we could take the high road but these days..." I tried to clarify. I asked for examples of library/company partnerships that were ACTUAL partnerships, but the speaker appeared to think my question was rhetorical. I may have come across as though I was criticizing the very idea of partnering with businesses, but I honestly wanted to know the answer.
After the session was over, I talked about it with a colleague. We tried to come up with ways in which a library and a business could partner within the constraints the speaker had outlined, but honestly how many businesses have a shared mission and values with public libraries? I think the coffee shop open mic night was a good example, and I could see partnering with a bookstore, but it seems like the very idea is fraught with ethical as well as practical issues.
I'm not criticizing the speaker, only her answer to that one question. I truly enjoyed her presentation and found her advice invaluable and the discussions inspiring. I'm only troubled by this one issue I'm struggling to understand.
I'm really interested in investigating this: do you know of any successful partnerships between public libraries and private businesses? If so, I'd love to hear about them!
(And for the record, I believe we can ALWAYS take the high road.)
A library consultant shared lots of great advice on partnering with community organizations such as other libraries, schools, non-profits and businesses. She emphasized good planning - well-thought out partnerships can solve real problems and result in new resources and services. Libraries are desirable partners because of our expertise, resources, and our reputations - we are trusted and valued in our communities. But be selective - your partners should support your strategic goals, share a mission and core values. They should compliment what you have, not duplicate it. They should have a good reputation, adequate resources, be well-managed, and understand win/win. Libraries are often taken advantage of. Davis also highly recommended having a signed agreement, and recommended the book Partnering with Purpose for more good advice.
Interestingly, she cautioned against the most common type of partnerships - that between libraries and local schools. They seem like obvious choices because of a shared mission of learning, but frequently fail because of the vast difference in policies, cultures, and rules.
Much of the session was an open discussion of participants' partnership examples. There were some great ideas such as a library that holds an open mic night at a local coffee shop, and customers who show a library card get a discount on their orders. Another library secured an LSTA grant for a One Book program centered around Last Child in the Woods. They partnered with some local conservation groups - all parties planned programs, and they were all promoted jointly.
But I was troubled by some of the so-called partnerships some of the librarians were sharing. For instance, one library described an attempted partnership with a large business. Librarians submitted an application to the company and in return they were supposed to get $500 and some volunteers to help run a barbecue the library was sponsoring. They depended on the money to be able to execute the event, but at the last minute the company said they couldn't drum up the 5 needed volunteers and so the library lost out on the volunteers AND the money. In another instance, a bank offered up a table to a local library so they could promote their wares, but when the library called to follow-up, other bank officials insisted they only offered such tables to businesses. In another instance, a library shared this "partnership": they gave us money and we put their logo on all our stuff.
I asked a question: I understand why we would partner with businesses, because they are part of our communities just like other organizations. But how can we do so without crossing a line into something else? If a company gives us money and we in turn put their logo all over our promotional materials, isn't that just advertising?
The speaker's answer was "You know, there was a time when we could take the high road but these days..." I tried to clarify. I asked for examples of library/company partnerships that were ACTUAL partnerships, but the speaker appeared to think my question was rhetorical. I may have come across as though I was criticizing the very idea of partnering with businesses, but I honestly wanted to know the answer.
After the session was over, I talked about it with a colleague. We tried to come up with ways in which a library and a business could partner within the constraints the speaker had outlined, but honestly how many businesses have a shared mission and values with public libraries? I think the coffee shop open mic night was a good example, and I could see partnering with a bookstore, but it seems like the very idea is fraught with ethical as well as practical issues.
I'm not criticizing the speaker, only her answer to that one question. I truly enjoyed her presentation and found her advice invaluable and the discussions inspiring. I'm only troubled by this one issue I'm struggling to understand.
I'm really interested in investigating this: do you know of any successful partnerships between public libraries and private businesses? If so, I'd love to hear about them!
(And for the record, I believe we can ALWAYS take the high road.)
NELA, Day 2 (Part 1)
I began day 2 of NELA with Zumba at 7am, which was surprising even to me. This is the first time I've gotten up early for what they call Limber Librarians, but I've been wanting to try Zumba for a while and it was absolutely worth it. (Plus I woke up at 5:30am and couldn't get back to sleep.)
Rudyard Kipling in Vermont
Jackson Gillman, Kipling re-enactor and storyteller who works Naulakha - the house where Kipling spent four years in Dummerston, VT - spoke about Kipling's life and stories and performed a few of the stories. He was quite good, though I'm not a Kipling fan.
Net Neutrality and Intellectual Freedom
I went to this session because I know that net neutrality is a really important issue and I don't feel like I understand it. I still don't, but I know more than I did. The speaker was Lauren-Glenn Davitian from CCTV who gave a thorough overview of the history of the issue and laid out a 5-point plan:
1. Understand the issue
2. Protect yourself (updating your Facebook settings is a good start)
3. Spread the news
4. Pay attention to the FCC and FTC
5. Develop a local/regional security plan
There was some great discussion about the collection and use of our data. Many things to think about! It was kind of a downer as the situation feels a bit hopeless, but education is empowerment, right?
Over There: Wisdom from Social Media Mavens Across Disciplines
Shay Totten from VT newspaper Seven Days and Seth Mobley from VCAM (VT Community Access Media) shared advice about using social media.
From Seth:
- redundancy is a plus and consistency is a must - use the same or similar bios and avatars across various social media
- pay attention to how people in your community use social media and incorporate this
- there are thousands of social media experts out there - feel free to ignore them!
From Shay:
- keep some of your inner Luddite happy
- have people behind everything you are doing online - don't just have your twitter feed set up as an automatic feed from your blog, for example
- young people aren't on Facebook
- use TweetDeck to focus, schedule tweets, and keep yourself organized
- use categories you already have (for libraries: reference, young adult, children, etc)
- ask yourself what matters to people in your community who are using these tools
- follow relevant local hashtags
Part 2 to come
I attended one more program on the second day, but I have a lot of thoughts about it and rather than make this post even longer, I will address it separately.
Rudyard Kipling in Vermont
Jackson Gillman, Kipling re-enactor and storyteller who works Naulakha - the house where Kipling spent four years in Dummerston, VT - spoke about Kipling's life and stories and performed a few of the stories. He was quite good, though I'm not a Kipling fan.
Net Neutrality and Intellectual Freedom
I went to this session because I know that net neutrality is a really important issue and I don't feel like I understand it. I still don't, but I know more than I did. The speaker was Lauren-Glenn Davitian from CCTV who gave a thorough overview of the history of the issue and laid out a 5-point plan:
1. Understand the issue
2. Protect yourself (updating your Facebook settings is a good start)
3. Spread the news
4. Pay attention to the FCC and FTC
5. Develop a local/regional security plan
There was some great discussion about the collection and use of our data. Many things to think about! It was kind of a downer as the situation feels a bit hopeless, but education is empowerment, right?
Over There: Wisdom from Social Media Mavens Across Disciplines
Shay Totten from VT newspaper Seven Days and Seth Mobley from VCAM (VT Community Access Media) shared advice about using social media.
From Seth:
- redundancy is a plus and consistency is a must - use the same or similar bios and avatars across various social media
- pay attention to how people in your community use social media and incorporate this
- there are thousands of social media experts out there - feel free to ignore them!
From Shay:
- keep some of your inner Luddite happy
- have people behind everything you are doing online - don't just have your twitter feed set up as an automatic feed from your blog, for example
- young people aren't on Facebook
- use TweetDeck to focus, schedule tweets, and keep yourself organized
- use categories you already have (for libraries: reference, young adult, children, etc)
- ask yourself what matters to people in your community who are using these tools
- follow relevant local hashtags
Part 2 to come
I attended one more program on the second day, but I have a lot of thoughts about it and rather than make this post even longer, I will address it separately.
NELA, Day 1
There was so much great stuff at NELA this year, that instead of an overview of the conference I decided to post about each day. I had hoped to do it during the actual conference, which I realize now was completely unrealistic. So two days later, here's my rundown of day one.
Killing Librarianship The keynote address was delivered by R. David Lankes, director of the library science program at Syracuse University. He spoke about how recently there are a lot of little ideas - some examples were particular types of online services - but there haven't been any big ideas in a long time. He talked about 3 big ideas: innovation, participation, and democracy. He said that when you add up those three things, you have librarianship.
He reminded us that the mission of libraries is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in our communities. We work with our communities to determine what it means to "improve society" in that community. In terms of innovation and change, he says that what we've done in the past was important to get us here but it may not take us where we need to be in the future.
Although I didn't come out of this session with specific ideas, it was very inspirational and motivating and a good reminder of our big picture.
Social Media at the New York Public Library
Lauren Lampasone gave a great overview of the social media that NYPL uses, including blogs, twitter, facebook and some really cool crowdsourcing projects like menus.nypl.org and and maps.nypl.org.
Fun cpd23 note: she apparently used Prezi for her presentation and I thought it was very effective. It was interesting, well planned, and since it was about social media there were a lot of visuals including screen shots and video.
Some of her advice for posting in social media:
- Ask questions so people will respond
- People love quotes
- Have a social media policy.
- NYPL also has a crisis plan in case of a bad PR event.
- They have training for staff, ongoing support, even mini-conferences.
And of course they take reference questions via email, chat, text, twitter, anywhere!
Touch My Junk
Yes, it was called that. This was a panel discussion from NELA's ITS section about patrons bringing their own devices to the library asking for assistance. Do you touch their stuff or take a hands-off approach? There was, of course, disagreement among the panel. I'm more in the "talk the patron through it as THEY do the actual touching" camp.
The discussion moved in related areas, like: What defines a reference question? How much technology should we have to know? At what point do we become free tech support and how do you tell if you're crossing that line? There were some comments of the "why do we have to know this?" variety. As I have said before, I don't think we can decide what is and is not a reference question. This is our new reality. (Indeed, the conference theme was "Navigating the New Normal" and this absolutely spoke to that theme.)
Another cpd23 related note: there were positive reviews of Jing as a screencasting tool, as well as Screencast-o-matic, which does not need to be downloaded.
Takeaways and thoughts from this session:
- Make appointments for patrons who need more time-consuming help
- Staff should be able to do the things patrons can do in the library
- If the question involves library resources and/or information/digital literacy, it is in our purview and we should help
- One panel member says if there's a staff member who won't/can't learn technology he schedules himself on the desk with them for a few weeks so that when technology questions come up they can work on them together
- One panel member has created helpful handouts for patrons including one of keyboard shortcuts
- Various people mentioned having staff-only blogs or wikis to share tips and information
- One library had B&N come to the library to show patrons how to use devices
- Another library has an ongoing technology petting zoo, with various devices locked down but available to use
- I want staff competencies. We should have a list of things we should be able to do in our jobs, and resources to help learn those things. How can we provide good service to patrons if we can't even do the stuff they need help with?
Dinner banquet with author Frank Delaney
I've never read Frank Delaney's work but he was a great speaker. He talked a little bit about his books and mentioned that he'll never again sign a contract that requires his books to be a certain length. He spoke a lot about other authors and books, which I really enjoyed. He's doing an interesting project - every week he airs a podcast about one sentence in James Joyce's Ulysses, estimating that it will take something like 25 years to complete. Regarding the project, he quipped, "There are many ways in which to go mad. I think this is one of the more pleasant ones."
My main takeaway from this event was that I really want to re-read The Great Gatsby.
I'll post about NELA Day Two soon!
Killing Librarianship The keynote address was delivered by R. David Lankes, director of the library science program at Syracuse University. He spoke about how recently there are a lot of little ideas - some examples were particular types of online services - but there haven't been any big ideas in a long time. He talked about 3 big ideas: innovation, participation, and democracy. He said that when you add up those three things, you have librarianship.
He reminded us that the mission of libraries is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in our communities. We work with our communities to determine what it means to "improve society" in that community. In terms of innovation and change, he says that what we've done in the past was important to get us here but it may not take us where we need to be in the future.
Although I didn't come out of this session with specific ideas, it was very inspirational and motivating and a good reminder of our big picture.
Social Media at the New York Public Library
Lauren Lampasone gave a great overview of the social media that NYPL uses, including blogs, twitter, facebook and some really cool crowdsourcing projects like menus.nypl.org and and maps.nypl.org.
Fun cpd23 note: she apparently used Prezi for her presentation and I thought it was very effective. It was interesting, well planned, and since it was about social media there were a lot of visuals including screen shots and video.
Some of her advice for posting in social media:
- Ask questions so people will respond
- People love quotes
- Have a social media policy.
- NYPL also has a crisis plan in case of a bad PR event.
- They have training for staff, ongoing support, even mini-conferences.
And of course they take reference questions via email, chat, text, twitter, anywhere!
Touch My Junk
Yes, it was called that. This was a panel discussion from NELA's ITS section about patrons bringing their own devices to the library asking for assistance. Do you touch their stuff or take a hands-off approach? There was, of course, disagreement among the panel. I'm more in the "talk the patron through it as THEY do the actual touching" camp.
The discussion moved in related areas, like: What defines a reference question? How much technology should we have to know? At what point do we become free tech support and how do you tell if you're crossing that line? There were some comments of the "why do we have to know this?" variety. As I have said before, I don't think we can decide what is and is not a reference question. This is our new reality. (Indeed, the conference theme was "Navigating the New Normal" and this absolutely spoke to that theme.)
Another cpd23 related note: there were positive reviews of Jing as a screencasting tool, as well as Screencast-o-matic, which does not need to be downloaded.
Takeaways and thoughts from this session:
- Make appointments for patrons who need more time-consuming help
- Staff should be able to do the things patrons can do in the library
- If the question involves library resources and/or information/digital literacy, it is in our purview and we should help
- One panel member says if there's a staff member who won't/can't learn technology he schedules himself on the desk with them for a few weeks so that when technology questions come up they can work on them together
- One panel member has created helpful handouts for patrons including one of keyboard shortcuts
- Various people mentioned having staff-only blogs or wikis to share tips and information
- One library had B&N come to the library to show patrons how to use devices
- Another library has an ongoing technology petting zoo, with various devices locked down but available to use
- I want staff competencies. We should have a list of things we should be able to do in our jobs, and resources to help learn those things. How can we provide good service to patrons if we can't even do the stuff they need help with?
Dinner banquet with author Frank Delaney
I've never read Frank Delaney's work but he was a great speaker. He talked a little bit about his books and mentioned that he'll never again sign a contract that requires his books to be a certain length. He spoke a lot about other authors and books, which I really enjoyed. He's doing an interesting project - every week he airs a podcast about one sentence in James Joyce's Ulysses, estimating that it will take something like 25 years to complete. Regarding the project, he quipped, "There are many ways in which to go mad. I think this is one of the more pleasant ones."
My main takeaway from this event was that I really want to re-read The Great Gatsby.
I'll post about NELA Day Two soon!
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