ALA New Orleans

This year’s national American Library Association meeting was held in New Orleans. Attendance was reported to be down about 22%–not surprising with the economy and the assault on library budget nationwide. Despite the lower attendance, the buzz, as usual, was positive. Librarians are so dedicated to making things better–and are literal vacuum cleaners for new information and trends. Here are some of the ideas and trends I gleaned from attending the conference:

• Librarians are hungry for information on how to deal with the shifting landscape of digital content delivery. With new developments like 24symbols (an online, $5.00 per month book delivery system modeled on Netflix), there is a continually shifting landscape on how to get content into the hands of the consumer. Some librarians see this as great; others as a threat to their long-standing model of deciding for the customer. The librarians that are into game-changing understand that proactively understanding and meeting the needs of their customers is the only way to survive.
• Some folks are a bit fed up with the “whining” about the competitive e-landscape. One librarian said ” we have to focus on what we do: help people navigate, learn and connect–and not whine about the rapidly disappearing printed page. However, there was considerable debate about this “disappearance.” In the OCLC ”worldcat” there are about 135 million unique titles–and of those 35 million are now available digitally. This is rapidly changing. Trends like “pottermore”  – Rowling’s control of all digital editions of the Harry Potter materials (managed behind the scenes by OverDrive) are further fracturing the publishing business. Speculation on the impact of 3 billion publishers–individuals taking control of their own content through digital publication–was hot and heavy. How will librarians “curate” a world of publication when there are an exponentially increasing number of publishers?
• The conference was short on architectural offerings. I held a program on the impact of the digital world on physical space. It will likely be repeated in Anaheim in 2012. Key issues discussed include: a) making space for human interaction, b) acknowledging that digital formats will reduce physical collections, c) reference and entertainment media are already disappearing fast, d) libraries that do not understand the behavioral underpinnings of their customer are doomed, e) the have-nots are still important and must be accommodated, f) the fight of digital delivery is all about the money (follow the money to follow the story,) g) the physical library is more important than ever–just for different reasons. The program was standing room only.
• Money: loss of funding, loss of hours, loss of staff positions, reductions in collection budgets, shifting collection budgets to e-content were all hot topics. In some systems, up to 25% of the print collection budget has been shifted to e-content.
• In Norman Maas’ program entitled “Where the Wild Things Are” some important ideas about service to the 0-3 year group emerged: a) provide for gross motor play, b) have nothing with a screen or battery in the section of the library for this age group, c) 75% of cognitive development happens by age 3, d) the more complex the design and activity the less that is possible in the learning arena (simple is best–because kids have imagination,) e) understanding behavior is crucial in designing for this age group.
• See this link for my report on the social media program.

Report from the Field: Seriously Social

Live report from  ALA Annual Convention in New Orleans by Jeffrey Scherer, FAIA

Program: Seriously Social-Leveraging Social Media

Key Points from the Presentation; Kolene Allen @suckahpunch (Grand Rapids Public Library): 

• Definition of Social Media: just an ability, through many formats, to talk to each other. Conversation can be off-topic, not organized and off topic. It can also be fun, intelligent and meaningful.
• Start to listen to what they want instead of talking to them. Join the conversation they are already having. Not simply “announcing things.”
• If you are not on social media, you are not on the internet.
• 456 tweets per second (when Michael Jackson died); 4000 tps when Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed
• Twitter used for keeping up with information; answer reference questions; what you are already doing with your “followers.”
• Follow your followers. Need to follow someone “back.” It is respectful–showing that you care. Repeat “nice tweet” with friends. @mentions allows you to keep track of what people are thinking and saying.
• Direct messages for personal information. Some people will not come to your library; they will only interact with Twitter.
• # tags is the way to keep the information organized.

Key Points from the Presentation: Facebook (David Lee King from Topeka Public Library)

• Edison Research found 51% of Americans 12 and older are on Facebook; 50% log in everyday; 130 friends; 8 request a month; 40 times a month; 23 minutes each visit; connected 80 community events and groups; 90 pieces of content per month; 30 billion pieces of content per day.
• What to do : facebook.com/page. Create your organizational page. Shorten your name (like Topeka Library)
• Status Updates: news, events, fun information, fun research questions (useful information for free.) Interaction allows to understand what customers want. Discussions tab is not used much–mainly use comments on status updates.
• Blog post and twitter can be fed to the Facebook page. Facebook tracks impressions–allows one to understand how many people are seeing content posted. Top referral site is Facebook–not the main website.
• Facebook is primarily for “engaging your customers.”
• Plans and strategies: who will do the work and assign it (and it goes in their annual review); use a team; who will answer the questions; set one year (short term goals) like how many fans in one year; establish audience and type of content; set content to the demographic; like button is important–on a blog because it goes to all “friends.”
• Facebook insights: shows trends, daily active users, breaks down by sex and age, cities, who is clicking on places on FB, external referrers, impressions by post with feedback.
• Important: 1) actually tell people about your page, 2) post things are designed to encourage conversation, and 3) remember who you represent (you represent the library not yourself.)
• Nothing is private–if it is on the web it is public. If you can no say it to someone’s face don’t say it.
• Facebook and Twitter is real work–be prepared to have staff assigned; it is important work (most important conversation tools in use today); real training is important. Work on engagement.
• Real return on investment. It is fun! It is the “real library.”

Traci Lesneski: Landmark Libraries Webcast

 MS&R principal and head of interiors Traci Lesneski served as a panelist for Library Journal’s live webcast tour of four Library Journal New Landmark Libraries—including the MS&R-designed Ramsey County Roseville Library renovation and expansion.    The webcast is now archived and available for viewing on the Library Journal website.

Why Libraries Matter to Traci Lesneski

My earliest memories involve being in our small-town public library. As one of three kids of a divorced mom struggling to make ends meet, the library was a major source of entertainment. One could pretty much bet that if we weren’t outside playing, we were at the library – or holed up somewhere reading the spoils from our latest trip to the library.

The library itself was very small, and shared space in the City Hall building just off of Main Street. It had a low ceiling, dingy vinyl tile flooring, tall shelves, one storefront window to the street and next to no seating. The only cue that there was a children’s area was a felt board claiming that this was the children’s area, and sometimes a little hand-made mobile hanging from the ceiling, depending on the season. But that didn’t matter to me in the least. I can still remember the anxious anticipation I had when I arrived, wondering if I would get the beanbag chair (there was only one). Sometimes I picked out books without even looking at them just to guarantee I would get that bean bag chair. But mainly I remember the excitement of picking out whatever books I wanted and – gasp! – taking them all home! It was such a feeling of freedom, and of gratitude, and of being a grown-up.

This week my own kids are starting their first Summer Reading program, and I have been thinking about the excitement of sign-up day, and seeing my school friends signing up too. I remember still the pride I felt when I completed each level and got the prize. The prizes were so silly, really – an eraser, or a certificate – one year it was a pencil with longish yellow fuzzy “hair” on the eraser end that would splay out when I quickly rolled the pencil between my hands….which I did endlessly.

My kids love going to our library as much as I did. I love that they don’t even notice all the trappings – they zip right past the computers with the games and the stuffed animals and head straight to the window seat with a book, demanding that we read together right then. And like me and my bean bag chair…they are always disappointed if “our” seat is already taken….but they are always thrilled when they get to leave with an armload of books: for free.

Why Libraries Matter to Steve Bellairs

Steve, in our Maryland office, states why libraries matter to him:

Our local public library is crucial for us to enable our seven year old to access reading and project information for his school curriculum and project work, as well as nurture an interest in reading for leisure. The school library is not able to provide the level of resource of our public libraries, and when they do visit the school library as part of their class activities it is focused on computer work or book sales by publishers marketing their wares. While this is a great resource to have in a school, the range of applications and uses is much more limited (like the hours) than our public library. I really like Rhys’ comment about about the ‘room’ in the library. This really does apply, for us, to the whole public library: a ‘room’ we can feel at home in away from home.