Recently in change Category

This post at Digital Book World is the best summary I have seen of the best presentation (in my opinion and the opinion of the post's author) at the Ebooks: Libraries @ the Tipping Point virtual summit that many of us watched and discussed last month.

Read If Libraries are Screwed, so Are the Rest of Us by Emily Williams for a taste of what Eli Neiburger (@ulotrichous on Twitter) had to say at the summit. Don't be deterred by the title. The message is hopeful! And helpful.

Here is my favorite soundbite:

It’s these unique things that don’t exist anywhere else, and that matter more to our own communities than anyone else, that have the future for libraries. It’s not just data about the community, but also creations of the community that libraries can enable by giving patrons access to production tools, event venues, and – most importantly – a permanent, non-commercial, online home for our patrons’ creative works...
- Eli Neiburger

In her post Emily responds to an assumption of many participants at the summit--that publishers will not work with libraries to find a fair, sustainable model for sharing digital content.

This kills me. Seriously. The idea that we [publishers], the book people, would allow our libraries to wither from lack of access to content, with the impoverishment that implies for our communities and our children and our democratic society… if we get to a place where libraries are no longer about the books…then I believe we all are screwed, because then it’s only a matter of time before we run out of passionate readers... If libraries can get creative about how to stay relevant in the digital world, surely publishers can figure out new ways of partnering with them to connect their books with readers.
- Emily Williams

The Ebooks summit was chock-full of thought-provoking content, but if you have time to check out just one session, make it Eli's. Sarah Houghton-Jan has summarized several of the other Ebook summit sessions over at Librarian in Black.

OWLS members: If you want to access the full archive of the summit, contact Bradley. It's only available until the end of the year!

I've written about Seth Godin in Carpe Hootem before. I subscribe to his blog and read his books, because he inspires me to challenge myself. I recently read his latest book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (also available on OverDrive) and loved it, so I was thrilled to find him talking about tribes on TED.com. (BTW, TED.com has loads of other inspirational videos on a huge variety of topics. Take a look!) Here's the blurb for Godin's video:

Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human
social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values,
tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us
to do so.

Sound interesting? Take a look at the video:



Who is your tribe? What is your passion? Who can you inspire to support and engage in your services today?

> contributed by Beth

Governing Magazine has again published two must-read articles about libraries.  Revolution in the Stacks talks about how libraries are changing roles in our changing world.  The article features libraries that have reinvented themselves by creating teen spaces, embracing Library 2.0, serving as community gathering spaces, and facilitating the creation of content.  A companion article, Getting in the Game discusses whether video gaming belongs in libraries.  I recommend that library workers and trustees read these articles, not only for their interesting content, but because local governmental officials are reading them.

> contributed by Rick

ALA distributed a pamphlet at the annual conference entitled, “Libraries transform communities: ideas and inspiration for transforming your library.” The publication takes a brief look at four libraries that risked change and transformed services by identifying and meeting challenges and promoting new programming and opportunities through marketing strategies. Also included is advice these institutions would give to other libraries contemplating transformation.

Here are the ten tips included in the pamphlet for creating change:
1. Be passionate about libraries
2. Think strategically and create a vision to guide the future
3. Step outside the box
4. Never stop learning
5. Be willing to take risks
6. Become the change you want to see
7. Build a culture that welcomes and rewards change
8. Think all library, all the time
9. Raise the library’s profile
10. Believe that everything is possible

The publication also includes tools to get started, marketing tips and a bibliography with resources broken down by library type. Additional information on library transformation from the ALA conference sessions are on the conference Wiki. If you would like more information about this publication, please contact me.

"Change is inevitable except from vending machines."

>> contributed by Holly