The Ubiquitous Librarian

When does a leader become a leader?

There is lot of anticipation throughout the building about our new Library Dean. It is only natural that people would be concerned when change is ahead. This prompts me to wonder: when does a leader become a leader. Obviously once she starts drawing a paycheck she owns the title, but in a philosophical way, when does she become the leader of the Georgia Tech Library. Does she have to reorganize? Does she have to launch a renovation or a big project? At what point does the crossover occur? When and how does she go from being “the dean from that other school” to “our dean?”

 

Her second day on the job will be our CeLIBration event… hopefully it won’t be our last one.

Be like Emeril: my response to Steven Bell

A few weeks ago Steven Bell posted about librarian careers on the ACRL Blog. He urged us not to worry about where we are professionally- that careers are like marathons. He described the ebb and flow of the hills and valleys that we encounter and instead of getting caught up in the spotlight, encouraged us to think strategically about how we can position ourselves for the next five to ten years.

Well spoken for his generation, however my generation only cares about celebrity. Turn on CNN and you’ll probably see something about Britney Spears within ten minutes. Flip to MTV and you’ll see 16 year old princesses crying because some second-rate band won’t play at a party. Open the New York Times and you’ll read about “hip” librarians.

We’ve become a culture of instant success; Sartre’s nightmare of fashion above all else. The American Dream has shifted away from a good job, a white picket fence, two kids, and a dog--- and is now about prominence, contempo-organic living space, and 15 minutes of reality TV fame.

And the thing is… I would not want it any other way.

What the library profession needs are transformative personalities. Emeril Lagasse is a perfect example. Before he came along my diet was microwaveable, and cooking shows were horribly boring. Martha Stewart is my grandmother’s brand. Emeril brought style, flair, showmanship, along with expertise. He opened the doors for others like Bobby Flay, Jamie Oliver, and even Rachael Ray. If you look at the Food Network demographics over the past decade I’m sure you’ll see a dramatic increase in male viewers, and it’s not all just because of Giada.

Emeril transformed cooking; he made it cool, popular, and approachable. The same can be said for Howard Schultz and coffee. Before Starbucks the town I grew up in had one coffee house where lots of wanna-be pretentious artist types hung out, along with the wanna-be wanna-be’s like me. Growing up no one talked about coffee, that was something our parents drank. Now there is coffee shop on every corner and someday there will be one in every library.

Emeril and Schultz have had a tremendous impact not only on the food and beverage industry, but on our society. Why don’t librarians think like that? Why don’t we talk about experiences instead of transactions? Bell urges us to ford the river, but I say build big bridges.

Happy New Year everyone.

The Library Student Journal is too cool for me

Was I ever this presumptuous?

“Library Student Journal believes that in many ways the average LIS student today understands the average user better than does the average LIS professional.”
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If I ever sounded like that, I sincerely apologize.

CDW-G - tell us the story

CDW-G missed out on a branding opportunity. They feature our library in a recent Chronicle advertisement (and of course they had to sneak the cliché books in to make it appear scholarly) yet they don’t mention Georgia Tech. They should have connected it to our ACRL award and something along the lines of their equipment serving a dynamic community and could even drop a number like over one million pages are printed each year, etc.

They should have devised a story rather than just a photo of some random students at some random library. Why not feature several different libraries throughout the year and link to case study material online about how great their printers, computers, and electronic accessories work. Show how easily they can be configured, and how users love them. Make it easy for campus and library IT staff to adopt successful systems. Tell us the story, give us examples, explain why a library should use your products. Let me compare my setup with others to see if would be beneficial to switch.

Learning to think on your feet—advice?

Ok, so I answered a few questions for the Chronicle today and totally botched it. The reporter wanted it to be off the cuff to get a “fresh” response, but I feel that my answers were insufficient. I don’t think I mentioned experience or engagement-- two of my big themes—at all. When the piece comes out, I plan to post more thoughtful responses, but so what? Faculty and admin read the Chronicle and it would have been nice to come across as more articulate for the sake of academic libraries in general. The questions were terrific, but my answers were so watered-down and uninspiring. It’s embarrassing.

So how can I fix this, or can I? Is it a personality trait or something that can be developed? I like public speaking in general, when I have control of the content, but quick responses to questions like what is the future of academic libraries or what comes next after the learning commons—those leave me tongue tied. When I think about concepts like these, I go into a long stream-of-conscious, very abstract processing mode and then eventually spit out 3 or 4 concise tactical bullet points. Yet some people I know have the gift of the gab. I’ve watched some of our admin answer questions on-the-fly like skilled politicians. The corporate types I’ve seen are aces at this too.  So how does one gain this skill? Giving presentations is one thing, but answering interview questions is a whole different ballgame. I'm fine with job interviews, but dealing with the press is intimidating. I am much more image-conscious and conservative. Advice?  Thanks.

Post #100 - A Recap

Post #100. Not bad for a year and three months, however I know many other bloggers hit that number every other month. So, if you've been around since the beginning, I thank you for sticking with me. If you are a new reader, thanks for checking this out. And… if you are a random web searcher who stumbled in—sorry to waste your time.

I decided to change the look around a bit— fresh things up. And since this is a milestone, I offer some of my favorite posts. Let's stroll down memory lane:

Am I Too Commercial?
You get an ALA book deal and they call you a sellout. Ya gotta love the wannabes and the never-beens.


Library Closing Announcement
Hands-down the best closing announcement in the ARL. You disagree? Post yours.


Charging for overdues is insulting!
The age old question—should or shouldn't libraries charge overdue fines? The highlight for me was being called “a lazy, irresponsible git.” Ya gotta love those Canadians!


The CeLIBration Posts (multipart series)
The Georgia Tech Library's annual welcome event.


The LibQUAL+ posts: satisfaction tool (free download) & ARL Analytics (my review) & niche


When Hollywood takes over your library
Shannyn Sossamon, enough said!


Sin, Death, and Resurrection
An epic tale of redemption from the land of facebook.


Modern Knowledge Spaces (video)
A student documentary about our commons. I was very impressed by their sophistication and perception.


US vs. UK Libraries
Round 1: (patron satisfaction) goes to the colonies. Next up we battle Canada . Coming for you Paul !


Second Life: Lessons from Woodbury
Featuring the screenshots that I must have stolen from The Chronicle

So there you have. Thanks again for reading.

And oh yeah, Elsevier— I'm still waiting on that check . Maybe you guys should donate it to worthwhile charity instead?

Incoming Students vs. Current Students: The Battle for Library Space

I'm conflicted on this one. I am very sentimental toward incoming freshmen-- we definitely want them to have a positive experience during the orientation process. All of our incoming students use the Library to register for classes, giving us great exposure: they get to see all the computers, the cafe, the space, the possibilities.

In the past we've closed a portion of our main lab to accommodate this process, however next week we're closing our entire lab to current students in favor of incoming students. Sure there are other locations on campus as well as within the Library for current students to use computers (and technically they are required to own computers) but I hate displacing them. Next week is the week before finals, so you can imagine they will be a little stressed.

It's an interesting question of priority. Do you favor the incoming students, making sure that their initial experience on campus are very positive, make them feel welcomed, be accommodating, or... do you take care of the students who are already here, who are in class, and who have already paid tuition?

We'll see how it shakes down. Last week we closed half of our main lab for orientation and the side designated for current students was filled-- so I anticipate many students feeling slighted in favor of incoming freshmen-- it's a matter of seniority, and this time baby brother won out. This is what Tech students commonly refer to as "the shaft" -- the administrative fabric of the campus (including us) purposefully aiming to make the experience as difficult and inconvenient as possible.

Like I said, I'm pretty torn on this decision. One thing I do like though is that when students go to register they keep parents away-- all those Helicopter Parents just want to cry as their son goes off on his own-- it's kind of fun to watch actually.

Time Management – a query

I’d like to hear from people who’ve written books (Steven, Meredith, Walt, Michael, Susan—or people who write and present often) on how you organize your workflow. I’m struggling right now and have to take a month of vacation time this summer just to get away from the day to day. We don’t have tenure, but sometimes I wish we did so that I could take a sabbatical. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Next Gen Librarians & a lack of fusion

I was invited to join a Next Gen Librarians facebook group, but the thing is, I don’t really consider myself Next Gen (NG). I mean, maybe to a Boomer I am NG but to me, NG are the kids in 6th grade right now. That’s the generation that will have real breakthroughs. Those of us in our 20’s and 30’s are really just taking baby steps, we’re doing things now that the real next gen will consider a joke in 10 years. Like that “aw, at least they’re trying” attitude.

I guess it’s a matter of perception. The NG Librarians probably feel they need a badge of distinction. I get it. I used to feel that way too. But honestly I know a lot of Boomers that are light years more progressive then many Gen X and Y, at least in terms of libraries. Originality counts BIG in my book and my peers are BIG on imitation. Now, don’t get the wrong impression. There are many Boomers that will let you down with their conservative values, lack of passion/vision, and fear/inability to do something new, exciting, or BIG. But my point is: the real radical ideas I hear don’t come from my peers but from cool Boomers.

So ACRL in Baltimore is approaching. I will be pretending to be a Next Gen Librarian talking about the future of reference. It should be good show. If you’re up at 8:30 am, check it out on the Friday. I wish that there were more interesting excursions though. I mean, the Aquarium? Elsevier’s chocolate strawberries? Yawn. Where are the Emo Librarians who are going out to see bands like Thursday, TBS, or a very good Wash DC group? Sign me up for that!

Speaking of music, I watched KoRN unplugged (commercial free!) this weekend and it was interesting to see them collaborate with Robert Smith. They did a Cure cover, but re-invented it. And that’s the thing lacking in library job ads today: fusion. They blended the melodic, melancholy of the Cure with the dark driving edge of Korn, together with Japanese ritual drummers, and an orchestra wearing pagan animal masks. I’m not a big KoRN fan, but the spectacle was compelling enough to grab my attention for the entire show. Fusion Librarians, that’s what we need to see. Loosen up those job descriptions. Hire good talent and let them do what needs to be done. I’d rather see an ad that says: come work here and you’ll get a chance to do lots of innovate projects and we won’t just pigeonhole you into the same old thing. 6th graders, set us free.

Am I too commercial now?

Walt Crawford wishes his readers were as passionate as mine!

Here is a posting by someone on my YouTube account.

I guess you've 'made it' once they start calling you a sell out. I thought I was still fringe, but maybe I've become too mainstream? I'll have to work on that.