Jessamyn writes: I try to keep “who to vote for” politics pretty well off of this blog and prefer to discuss politics in general and better and worse strategies for promoting libraries in whatever political climate we happen to be in. People acutely interested in high level politics in the US who also work in libraries may be interested in this Time magazine article about Sarah Palin. I was very interested in this paragraph. [Former Wasilla mayor] Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go […]
Categories Advocacy
84 posts
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590041.html So if you’re a member of one youth division in the American Library Association (ALA), then you can’t read the literature from the other divisions, much of which might be highly relevant to your work. Unless, of course, you join the division; take out a subscription; get a friend to send it to you, like we did in the old days; or have access to the right subscription databases. I’m surprised ALA—which brought us $259 preconferences—hasn’t created a way for its members to buy articles from the other divisions, but it’s probably just a matter of time. Go deeper and the […]
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens When did it become an acceptable customer service response to try and push out an entire age group of users? Never, but that’s happening at too many libraries. Can we remain transparent, open, and focused on the core value of access and still tell young people to find another place to be social online? MC: I still get emails from librarians who endure meetings where administrators bemoan having to accommodate teens. One even said her director thought stats showing lower senior citizen library use reflected the increased teen presence. Banning MySpace MS: My hometown […]
Tweet from a librarian colleague that made me think: “It amazes me that organizations skimp on the cheap stuff (disk space) and expect us to use our labor hours to tweeze through our inboxes.”
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens The most difficult part of 2.0 librarianship is not the creation of new services nor even the job of convincing those in charge to let you try those new ideas. No, the hardest part is often the reexamination of ideas. It’s a key factor of any library service and part of the definition of Library 2.0 that sometimes gets overlooked. The evaluation of newer and existing services is critical for any successful library. It can be accomplished via vertical teams or a mix of internal and external evaluators; either way, you must look at […]
100_3532 | Originally uploaded by freerangelibrarian Fascinated by Karen Schneider’s Flickr set from IA Summit 2008.
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens We’ve been writing the Transparent Library for a year, so it’s time for some thumbs up and thumbs down. Cheers to the widespread librarians, library staff, administrators, trustees, and others from libraries small and large who have participated in localized versions of Helene Blowers’s Learning 2.0 program. As we write, the entire state of Minnesota is running the program for all interested parties, reinforcing the idea that inclusive, self-directed learning applied to emerging tools can bring people together and get them talking. Cheers to the State Library of South Carolina for its engaging, personalized […]
Excelent piece from John Berry at LJ. He mentions that he teaches at Dominican (!) and sums up very well what I’ve also observed in library school and in our realm here: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6515838.html Like those who came before them, the current cadre of librarians bring new tools for the job ahead, technologies that make access to information much easier but just as corruptible. They bring that vitality and spirit that, in themselves, are enough to force change and even shape its outcome. At first, those in power will hang on, as they did decades ago. Ultimately, if we remember the […]
Great post at “Manage This” about library policy: http://managethis.informationcentre.ca/?p=50 Barbara Kelly shares some thoughts about Starbucks and libraries: So what am I saying here with these little Starbucks’ vignettes (other than wow, am I ever a demanding customer)? Well these situations bring to mind that: Policy guides us in what we do to serve the community, such as how hot the coffee should be and what to do with well meaning donations of National Geographic Policy guides our decisions when we are faced with situations such as using the wrong coffee bag or extending internet time Policy serves our mission […]
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/ Via the ALA Marginalia blog: http://discuss.ala.org/marginalia/2007/12/10/ola-the-first-100-days/ ilovelibraries.org, an advocacy website launched in June 2007, continues to develop. On average, the site receives over 60,000 page views monthly–and in September, ilovelibraries drove more traffic to Booklist Online than Google™ searches! As a result of efforts by the Chapter Relations Office and the Chapter Relations Committee, 25 state chapters are now using Capwiz advocacy software, which allows viewers (members and the general public) to contact state and national legislators via Ilovelibraries.org. Special 2010 funding will allow the remaining chapters to use this software. Further discussion among Chapter Relations, Washington Office and […]