See you at CIL – Innovation & Change

Moderator:
Helene Blowers, Director, Digital Strategy, Columbus Metropolitan Library

Helene Blowers, Director, Digital Strategy, Columbus Metropolitan Library
Tony Tallent, Director of Youth & Outreach Services, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC)
Innovation has become such a bandied word these days that in some organizations it’s now an expectation for library staff to be innovative from the ground up. So, where does “innovation” really come from? How do we kickstart something that is, by its very nature, connected to ever elusive waves of creativity? The answer: Innovation starts with “I.” This session will explore how I, YOU, WE are involved in responding to the needs and desires to innovate and change. We’ll delve into emerging library management practices, philosophies and staff programs that have allowed libraries to blossom through innovative practices. We’ll also provide tips and insights for front line and supervisory staff to help YOU lead the way. 

Michael Casey, Division Director – Technology, Gwinnett Public Library
Michael Stephens, Assistant Professor, Dominican University
Integrating technology, change management and planning, this session focuses on making the right choices for social software, staff training, and the creation of a user-driven environment. Our two leading librarians explore what makes a library transparent; offer a to-do list of strategies to make your library transparent, open, and hyperlinked; and offer a list of best practices for Web 2.0 tools, implementation, and evaluation. 

Barbara Tierney, Science Reference Librarian, University of North Carolina
This session examines the Information Commons as an arena for testing innovative ideas in technology, staffing, and scope of service delivery. It traces the evolution of the Information Commons as it has been driven by changes in user needs, pedagogical theory, technology, and society (from computer lab, to Information Commons, to Learning Commons, to Teaching/ Research Commons). It discusses the vision of the Information Commons as the preferred learning environment for the digital age and looks at “lessons learned” from selected academic libraries as they steer their respective commons into their second Iterations. 

Matt Gullett, Emerging Technology Manager, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC)
Greg Schwartz, Library Systems Manager, Louisville Free Public Library
This session features libraries that are creating virtual and physical spaces to test, play, work, create, develop, and innovate with the assistance and involvement of their publics. In an age of participative media and software our publics have an increasing desire to take part in creating the library experience for themselves and others, and this provides a great opportunity to work with other community, organizational, and corporate partners in innovating services and programs and creating new experiences. Gullett discusses his library’s game, learning and media lab initiatives that are creating physical and virtual lab spaces for several core experiences, and Schwartz talks about his innovation lab that has created a virtual interactive space that is shared with the library’s public in an effort to test new ideas, software, and services. 

Gina Millsap, Executive Director, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library
David Lee King, Digital Branch & Services Manager, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library
Millsap explores the digital divide between administration and staff and looks at how leadership is the key and technology the tool. She shares strategies for leading with technology, not in spite of it. King focuses on why libraries need to make time for Web 2.0; why they need to learn about and experiment with new tools; allowing staff the time needed to play with these tools; making time for Web 2.0; and facing change.