Pundits, planners, problem solvers – we’re librarians on a mission! Teaming a futurist (Joan) with a strategist (George) lets us dream big but stay real. We focus on what non-library “civilians” really want, what libraries can do to stay ahead of their communities’ changing needs and expectations, and how we can all maintain some perspective and retain our principles so that moving forward doesn’t get us down.
Living proof that recruitment can’t start too young, we both worked in our teens as public library pages. Since then we have spent a combined 70+ years tackling a variety of library jobs, doing everything from testifying at Senate hearings to emptying the book drop. (Guess which one of those was more fun!) In 2005 we began co-presenting about library trends and topics, and that collaboration has grown into our consulting venture, georgeandjoan.com. Now we’re doing everything we can to help libraries.
George’s credits include a number of high profile management posts, including State Librarian of Michigan, Executive Director of the Public Library Association, Director of Member Services of the Ohio Library Association, and Library Director of Fairfield County District Library in Lancaster, Ohio. He is also part of the executive team at OCLC, a nonprofit library service and research organization and the world’s largest library consortium.
Joan has worked as a successful librarian, consultant, vendor, designer, trainer, and evaluator of library services. She is an internationally recognized library futurist, with a special emphasis on innovation and emerging library trends.