My Beef with the Bibliotech "Library"...

My problem with Bibliotech, "The nation's first bookless library," is quite simply two-fold.  The tagline is a complete misnomer.

It isn't completely "bookless," but it sounds "cooler" and "hipper" to say that it's the first [insert adjective] library in the nation.  It does have books, just not in paper format, or do we not count e-books as books anymore?  Instead of paper and pulp, the words are in 0's and 1's.  "Bookless" makes it sound edgy, like it's really a more pioneering endeavor.  A library with no books means we put the cool back in the library.  What can be more attention-grabbing than a headline with a contradiction.

While it may be funded from the library portion of the budget, let's keep it real, it is a tech-lab.  Other libraries already have tech-labs; some with video equipment and some with maker-bots.  I doubt that they make their staff wear polo uniforms.  They wanted to recreate an Apple store, so they did.  Do you know the last thing I think of when I walk by an Apple store, the library.  Why do so many libraries want to be an Apple store??  Again with the wanting to appear hip and relevant, how about you just focus on being a library.  I must admit, this rant might be influenced by my intense dislike of Apple in general.

If this is the future of public libraries than this is just sad because if I wanted to wear matching polo's to work, I would work for an electronic store and have a job title with "Geek" or the ego-inflating "Genius" in it.  To all you public libraries that what to one-up Bibliotech to get some media attention, here's the next future evolution of the public library.  Build a room with tables, chairs, electrical outlets (throw in some USB charging ports to let the public know that you're really with it), and wi-fi.  That's all you'll need and you can bill yourself as the first ever 'bookless, staff-free library.'

We could argue the semantics of the word "library" for days on end and we could argue the merits of it evolving with constantly changing technology and patron needs.  It reminds me of one MLIS class where the professor started the lecture by posing the question, "What is information?  Is [insert noun] information?"  This led to the majority of class going back and forth about what they thought information was while the professor just sat behind the desk without saying a word and watched us argue.  I could only assume that the professor thought that after an hour and a half  spent arguing would lead us to walk out of the room reaching the zenith of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Self-actualization.  But it only left me frustrated because I walked out realizing I just wasted my time and gas driving to campus to listen to my classmates argue for over an hour without any input or guidance from the professor.  Wow, I really went off on a tangent there.



TL;DR: Bibliotech is not bookless: the books are digital, Bibliotech is not a library: it's a tech-lab.  This is NOT the future of public libraries.  I don't want to wear polo uniforms to the library, although it would lead to less ironing...

::last minute edit::
I don't have anything against libraries creating and offering tech labs or maker spaces or creator crevices, whatever.  I do not like the misinformation that this is the future of the public library, that the next evolutionary step in public libraries is simply a room filled with just computers is depressing and this is coming from a self-proclaimed non-reader.

Google can't replace Librarians because Patrons don't go beyond the front page.

Last week on the info desk, I got a call from a paralegal 1,000 miles away.  She was referred to the library and my branch specifically from someone she talked to at the "county clerk's office."  I could tell that she only phoned us out of sheer exasperation and she didn't expect me to really help her.  She lead in with, "I don't have much information, but I just wanted to see what you can find," --- Challenge accepted.

She was calling from some law firm and she only had a first and last name, with a partial address and phone number.  It was basically the same information you would get if you Google someone's first and last name and are shown a bunch of sites that promise to give you that person's complete information for a nominal fee.  You know what I'm talking about, don't act like you haven't Google-stalked someone before!  Well, this is obviously the farthest she tried herself before she called the county clerk's office.  Her phone call to the clerk's office was unfruitful and I honestly thought to myself, "If they couldn't find anything and they have all that info, I'm not sure what more I can do."   I don't know why she called my branch, there are three other branches that were closer in proximity to the partial address, I can only narrow it down to kismet because quite frankly, if she got any of my other coworkers, they probably would not have offered to go as far as I did.

She asked if I could check any of the phone directories we had.  It honestly took me a second to remember where they were located, they don't get much use --- shocker.  I wasn't able to find anything in them and again sounded like she expected that result.  I told her that I would be off the desk in 5 minutes and would be more than willing to search further for her and the response I got was equivalent to, "Sure, kid, if you want to give it a try, go ahead."  No lie, it took me about 5 minutes to find the person's full address and phone number using several sites on the internet and the county's public information on land taxes.  To break it down, 2 minutes to find the information and 3 to verify it.

Could a non-librarian have found the info, yes.   Anyone could have if they knew how to research properly.  With the glut of information on the internet and some search results equating to hundreds and hundreds of page results, patrons rarely make it past the front page.  In my email to her, I told her how I went about finding and verifying the information --- the whole teach a person to fish proverb.

After I got her response telling me how "great" I am, I was almost half tempted to ask if they were hiring...

Old Librarians vs. New Librarians, What about the Middle?

I only thought that a few select readers visited my blog, because quite frankly, this blog is generally all over the place.  My personal thoughts and views mostly come off as negative and snarky, and the majority of librarians/library workers disagree, sometimes vehemently, with me.  So it was a nice surprise to see a reply from Miss Gina Milsap about a post I made about her comments when she was running for ALA Presidency this past year.  I really do believe there needs to be more open discussion and debate within the profession if it is to make any progress in the digital world.

I wanted to make my reply a post instead of a comment to bring this to "The Front-page" so to speak.  Seeing as how comments on this blog are open to the public, I'm going to repost the comment here [edited to insert line breaks]:

"Sorry to be so late to the party. I just found your post. With respect, you've misinterpreted what I meant. That's the problem with not having a real conversation and not seeking clarification. In my library, we've created a cohort of librarian leaders. None of them are in formal leadership at this time, but we are investing in them with training and assignments to be leaders and to demonstrate the value of librarians within the institution and in the community. I had wonderful mentors as a new librarian and I'm paying that forward with less colleaguesin my own library and around the country.

 Here's what I meant with my statement about new graduates moving into management. Look at the data --- we are graduating more entry level librarians than there are positions available. So, what does a new graduate do? He or she either seeks a job out of the profession or seeks a position for which they may not have all the qualifications, specifically experience. My point was that we need to look to library education to help prepare newly graduated librarians for the reality of the workplace they're coming into. If the only job available is supervisory, how do we help them improve their chance to stay in the profession?

That is what I'm seeing as a library administrator with 35 years of experience in the profession and 16 years as a public library director. Not all librarians will make good managers, regardless of their tenure in the profession. The goal should be to identify those folks whether they're already in libraries or in library school and make sure they're prepared to lead and manage effectively. Thanks for the opportunity to comment."

First off, thank you for the reply!  Better late then never and thanks for the dialog.

Okay, I wish I had more library mentors.  I have latched on to my supervisors and more experienced librarians and I constantly pester them with questions and bug them for their opinions about the library and the profession as a whole.  I love that they all have completely different backgrounds; ie, not an English or History major, worked outside of the public library realm, etc.  

I still have to disagree with the idea of hiring newly minted MLIS grads with library management positions, and this is coming from a recent MLIS grad (Dec 2011)!  Even if there were drastic changes made to MLIS curriculums, which I doubt would ever happen, it would be foolish to do this.  I know this isn't a direct comparison, but you don't see recent MBA grads stepping into CEO positions.  Book smarts =/= Branch smarts.  I never believed that a MLIS grad could go from the classroom straight to the info desk successfully and efficiently.

Personally, I believe there are many issues with the current state of MLIS schools; letting everyone in and graduating everyone.  There are A LOT of MLIS students who have no experience working in library, I am not saying that they don't belong in MLIS school.  It is just that they have no idea how the library day-to-day goes.  Okay, so we both agree that there is a deluge of MLIS holders and a drought of entry-level jobs.  Even if there are only supervisory positions open, what about those who aren't technically "old librarians" nor "new librarians."  There is black and white, but there's also a lot of gray in between.  It's not like MLIS schools haven't been continually pumping out MLIS's.  There has always been a steady stream of graduating librarians every year.  There are a lot of librarians with between 5 and 10 years of solid working experience in the library.  I am sure that some of them would be excellent for these supervisory positions.  It would be a huge disservice to this select group of qualified librarians to not promote them.  Especially after all the crap they've gone through with the recent and on-going budget cuts, changing hours and procedures, trudging through this "new normal" and "doing more with less."  I was with the library before it all hit, I have seen staff morale take a nose-dive.  How much more damage will be done when you bring in a new graduate to supervise older, more experienced librarians?  Or does library management not even care about its greatest asset --- the employees, not the branches or collection.

I have also seen several of these "middle librarians," for a lack of a better term, jump ship to other places because library management is doing nothing to retain and nurture them for their positions.  I am extremely worried that libraries do not seem to have a solid succession plan in place for when this "greying" takes place, nor do they care to seriously consider it.  They seem to be more obsessed with the right now and not about the near future.
Now, I'm not saying that just because someone has worked in the library for x amount of years that they should automatically become a manager.  I'm saying that the odds of finding library management material already within the library ranks is astronomically higher than someone sitting in the classroom right now or in the future.  I also believe that current library management is to blame for the lack of entry-level librarian jobs because they are the ones who have begun hiring paraprofessionals instead of librarians.  Is this the future plan for libraries now?  MLIS holders for management only positions and paraprofessionals for the info desk.  But that is another blog post for me to rant in.

I admit that I'm only a lowly info desk worker who doesn't know what upper management does during the day.  But I see first-hand how their decisions affect the bottom-line.  Again, I really am grateful that you responded, it is nice to hear from upper management, I doubt that my library director would have been so open to discussion. Thanks again Miss Gina!

Public Libraries and Facebook Don't Mix...

"You Can't Make Me Like You."

Okay, let me get this out of the way, I hate Facebook, I detest it.  People get too comfortable on it and they gain a false sense of entitlement from it.


Someone on my SLIS school's listserv blasted everyone with a request: "Check out my library's Facebook page and make sure to 'Like It.'"  Why?  Begging for FB-likes is an endless circle jerk in the hopes of feeding an asinine need for online "popularity."  Libraries love their stats: door counts, circ's, program attendance; it's their number one asset in the yearly battle of budgets.  Keeping track of FB-likes means NOTHING.  Budget Committee: "Ooooh, the library has 239 likes, well here's more money!"

I know libraries are trying to be "hip and cool" and "where the patrons are at."  But libraries being on FB just because is much worse than not having a presence at all.  Now libraries are adding their catalogs to their FB pages.  What the hell.  That's what the library webpage is for.  Every single library has their own webpage, USE IT.  When FB goes the way of Myspace/Friendster/Hi5, libraries that have neglected their own webpages will be scrambling to sign up for the next ALA session on "Revitalizing Your Library's Webpage."  If you rely more on FB for interacting with your patrons than the library's own webpage YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

My biggest problem with FB should seem like any public library's as well, but in their vain attempt to remain relevant, whatever the hell that means, they seem to throw caution to the wind when it comes to privacy.  Just 10 years ago the ALA and libraries were circle jerking about how they were the last bastions of user privacy in a post 9/11 world.  Do you know what FB completely sucks at?  Yeah, so I guess libraries are hardcore when it comes to sticking it "To The Man" (government), but sell out when it comes to "The Other Man" (corporations), even though it is harder to distinguish one between the others nowadays.

Numerous patrons have asked me if the library kept records of their checkouts, much to their relief I answered, "No."  Did I suspect these patrons of wrong-doing, no, they just respect their privacy.  The library can't have it both ways, you cannot claim to be on the patron's side in the fight for privacy when you are on a website that continues to violate user privacy (FB now scanning "private chats").

If you use a "free" service that doesn't charge you anything, than YOU are the one being sold.

Libraries are Obsolete: an Oxford-Style Debate

It's an entertaining video, albeit long: 1 and a half hours. 


Here's a summation/ TL:DR : Libraries are Obsolete
Proponents: Technology
Opponents: Digital Divide.

Damn, Google Ads, why are you so on point??

Google never ceases to amaze me.

The browsers on all of the PC's at the info desk have a tab with the branch location on Google Maps.  It's been pretty helpful for me to help those directionally challenged patrons who call me lost on the road.  I'm still getting acquainted with the area my damn self.

This Google Ad popped up for the library's location and it couldn't have been any more on point.  It has been discussed with my friends who work for other branches, that I have ended up working at the richest one out of all of them.  When I emailed this pic to them, they replied thinking that I was signed in under my account, so Google was just basing the ad on me and not the library's location.  I'm not bloody a chav!

To those that say that only the poor use the public library have no idea what they are talking about.  Look out at the parking lot any day and you'll spot the latest luxury cars, and these patrons aren't in the library just to use the internet to update their Facebook statuses either, they, you know, read books and stuff.


I also found out last week that the local Giant has valet... really Giant!!?
Welcome to my bougie branch!

Library Fallacy #1: "There is no such thing as a stupid question at the Info Desk"

My friend got a call last week from a patron asking about her branch's storytime schedule.
The patron wanted to know if it was 10:30 AM or 10:30 PM...
Yes, the library has late night, after-hours storytimes.