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.

Consumer Reports: Public Libraries Recommended!

'Consumer Reports' May 2013, Vol. 78, page 17

This afternoon I was browsing through the latest issue of Consumer Reports through our online database when I came across this public library shout-out in their "101 Secrets from our Experts" article:

"Need help with research?

The public library is a resource many people overlook. 

Libraries subscribe to databases you undoubtedly don't,

and librarians can find information not easily

available with a Google search

or to a person without a library-science training."

On behalf of all public libraries and librarians, THANK YOU CONSUMER REPORTS!  

Libraries suck at marketing themselves and their available resources.  So it is nice to see someone other than a library-targeted publication talk about our usefulness/relevance.  

9 out of 10 patrons are completely surprised when I tell them that they can access 'Consumer Reports' online, from home, 24 - 7, with their library card.  Pretty ironic/meta that I would come across this article using our online databases recommending our online databases.  

The Marginalization of Librarianship.

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm not saying that this is happening at EVERY library.  I do not have a finger on the pulse of the nation-wide public library realm.  Granted, what is going down in my library is only known to those in the system, so who knows what is really happening in any neighboring library system.

Also, your library might be on the right track and has not given up on real librarianship and maybe your MLIS school isn't selling out to fill in the seats.  Good for them, honestly, no sarcasm in that statement.  It is just that those seem to be the minority in the library world and no one seems to care that the profession is being sabotaged from within: library management and library schools.

There has been some debate within my library system about the shift to hiring paraprofessionals.  This is just one of the many issues at my library.  The justification for not needing Librarians is that the job has changed and patron needs have changed.  B#llsh*t, the job only changed because the positions have been marginalized to glorified paper jam clearers.  There is so much more to librarianship, but admin can't see it because there aren't any numbers to justify it.  It is easy to say that degreed librarians aren't needed when you limit what a librarian can do on the job.  Just to be clear, I am in a paraprofessional position, I am not saying that my coworkers in the same position cannot do the job.  It has gotten to the point where these positions could be filled with anyone with enough training.

I believe that this affects what library schools teach or don't.  Let's be real, public libraries are the biggest employers of librarians and MLIS schools reflect this.  Unless you are taking a specialized course related to school media or archives, the public library is the "course du jour" for lectures.  Personally, I saw a strong disconnect between what professors taught and what actually happens at the public library.  In fact, in my reference services class, I honestly believe that that professor had never worked the information desk.

And then there is the ALA who absolutely DOES NOTHING while this all goes down.  Sure, maybe they'll jump on the latest bandwagon of whatever is in the media spotlight in an attempt to get some attention thrown their way.  But overall ALA sucks.  You would think that they would have a heavily vested interest in fighting for librarianship.

While I'm on a ranting rage, library marketing SUCKS.  The library only seems to be concerned about the patrons it currently has, what about the potential ones that make up the majority of tax payers?  Every year it's a survey about "What can the library do better?"  And every year the responses are always the same because the only people who take the time to do the surveys are current patrons.  Why not engage the people who say that libraries are pointless and are a waste of their money?  Why not prove them wrong, sure some can be convinced while others will remain staunch to their own biases.  I have tried bringing this up but it falls on deaf ears, sure my peers at the branch level agree with me but try talking to upper management and you'll find them in their ivory tower.

And another thing about upper management, they too have a strong disconnect about what actually goes down in the branch.  How are they to say what duties should be done at the branch level when they only base their decisions purely on numbers?  They also cannot grasp the fact that each and every branch is different.  "Same ish, different library" holds true, but each branch has their own way to deal with said ish.
The amount of cronyism and yes-people-ing that goes on in management and admin is disgusting and one of the reasons why so many people are looking for outside jobs.  The only way to get promoted is to drink the Kool-Aid.  A true Good 'Ole Boy system.  Voice an opinion that goes against the mainstream and you're met with fierce retaliation or being ignored for the rest of your career.

It is incredibly sad to see the system implode upon itself and not be able to do anything.  By the time fall rolls around, I will have worked for the library for 7 years.  I love the library and I have worked with some amazing people.  I cannot even imagine what the library will be like in the next 7 years.  Library management seems to be "leading us" in the wrong direction and it worries me that other libraries might follow this trend.

Oreo Library Commercial... Best Super Bowl Commercial Ever??

So this was my first time watching the Super Bowl with my library people, this was also their first time watching a game this season...  Needless to say, there were a lot of side conversations like, "Why did that guy run into that group of people, why didn't he just run around them?" "Why didn't he catch the ball it was thrown in his direction?"  Thankfully, I wasn't extremely invested in the game, alcohol does that, so it turned out to be a good time.

But the instant this commercial came on, the whole room was quiet.  It was instantly agreed upon that this was the best commercial of the night.

My Super Bowl Supplies

Public Libraries trying to be Everything to Everyone...

"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time"...

Libraries are trying awfully hard to maintain an unnecessary facade of "relevance," and it shows.  Libraries are losing focus on what they truly are and have been ever since their existence.  The latest attempt at wanting to be "the cool library" Pole dancing lessons at the library.  The reasoning for offering such an absurd program: "The pole fitness session is a fun and interesting way of encouraging more people into our libraries, trying out all the services on offer and ultimately borrowing more books."  If there's anything that pole dancing enthusiasts don't realize they're missing, it's library card with access to bucket loads of library databases.  I'm not going to discount every single out of the box idea that comes out of the library world, it really all depends on the demographics of the library.  But enough is enough, put the time and effort into something that will get a real return on investment and not just a higher door count for a day.  If management would like to get some fresh and unique ideas, my suggestion would be to talk to your front line library workers.  They are an untapped and often overlooked resource of good ideas and opinions.

I came across the perfect visualization of how libraries come across when they try too hard.  This is Qualcomm's Keybote at the 2013 CES, yeah, they really know their customers...

Welcome to the Library Circle-Jerk: Banned Books Week

From one librarian to another --- You're awesome,
now spread the word outside of The Library...

 
If there is one thing I have learned about librarians, it is that they are pro-fresh-shun-owls when it comes to talking about how great libraries are and how undervalued librarians are... TO EACH OTHER. The library's intranet blog is full of stories submitted by library staff on articles about the "greatness" of the public library which happened to be posted on a library-specific website which only reaches a specific group of readers: library staff.

This week is the high point of library circle-jerking: Banned Books Week. 
"Libraries the defenders of everyone's right to read, unless it's 50 Shades of Grey."  Of course everyone who is usually all rah-rah about Banned Books Week were no where to be found or heard from when a public library said that they weren't going to carry that horrid book.  Of course the library system  caved when media picked the story up. --- yay, public library ridiculousness! 

Now, if only The Library was as good as getting the word out to the general public, maybe we wouldn't be in this annual tooth and nail fight for every single budget dollar.

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.

To Save the Library You Must Trick the Public...

Not sure why I'm just coming across this video now, it should have been plastered everywhere library related.  But it's a pretty damn good example of what can happen when someone successfully markets the library.

So I can get life-saving
surgery at the Library?

I never liked the phrase, "Cutting Libraries During a Recession is like Cutting Hospitals in a Plague"... No it's not, it's not even close.  Hospitals and libraries are not equal entities.  Unfortunately, some used this as their battle-cry which only works for those who already believe in libraries. Any normal tax-paying citizen will look at you like you're some nut.

It's bad enough they don't support the library and all that it does, trying to scare marketing them by referencing one's health and well-being is not a step in the right direction.  It won't catch anyone's attention, well, at least those outside of the library realm.