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Congratulations to Nancy Ledeboer and her colleagues in Southern Arizona who have been selected for the First Annual Keeping It Real Tour. Come August we’ll be visiting, speaking, training, consulting, and generally trying to stir things up at public libraries in Apache Junction, Tucson, Nogales, Tombstone, Bisbee, and Sierra Vista. We look forward to seeing the sights and enjoying the food as well!
Thanks to all the libraries that applied; it was a real challenge to choose just one trip from so many enticing itineraries. And just so you know, we aren’t kidding about this being the “first annual” tour – maybe we’ll be wheeling your way next year!
Joan and George
We’ll be participating in “Consultants Giving Back…to You,” a new project offered by PLA and coordinated by our good friend and colleague Paula Singer. We’ll be available for half-hour blocks of free consulting on just about anything you want to talk about on Saturday morning, June 26, from 9 to noon in the Independence Room of the Washington Hilton.
If you want to sign up for one of our time blocks, just email us at hello@georgeandjoan.com.
Joan and George
It’s not too late to submit an itinerary for the First Annual George and Joan Keeping It Real Tour. Some lucky group of libraries will win a week of FREE consulting from yours truly. Proposals are due May 15. Click here for all the details.
–George and Joan
Periodically I catch myself using terminology that reinforces a notion that I am otherwise trying to update. Here’s the latest example: I am going to try to stop talking about “customer service” and substitute the phrase “customer experience.” OK, since I’m not so crazy about “customer,” probably “visitor experience.” This aligns somewhat with what interface designers call “user experience” – UX for short – but has implications beyond information seeking tools, technologies, or behaviors. In library parlance, customer service has come to signify all the things that staff do when they interact with the people who visit the library. In other words, it’s all about us and the transactions we mediate. Once you start to see this issue through civilian eyes, you see how limited that definition can be. Dirty bathrooms, out of order equipment, or confusing terminology are seldom discussed as part of customer service, but they certainly are a pass/fail part of the customer experience. Let’s look beyond what WE do and take responsibility for improving what THEY do – with or without us standing right there next to them.
–Joan
Last week at the Public Library Association conference, we announced the first annual Keeping It Real Road Trip. July 1 will mark the first anniversary of our joint venture, and we want to give back to the library community we love, so we’re offering to do a week of no-fee, expenses only consulting in July or August for a selected group of libraries.
We’re asking groups that are interested in this offer to make us an interesting proposal and submit it by May 15. We’ll judge based on a combination of need, itinerary, and fun potential.
We’re defining “consulting” very broadly here. We could do:
- Consulting re: library services, facilities, staffing, planning, marketing, governance, or funding
- Training, coaching, advising, or just talking with your staff
- Assessment, evaluation, or customer service secret shopping
- Public speaking, including staff day presentations
- Board retreats or study sessions
- Meeting facilitation, interviews, focus groups, or public forums
- Weeding, shelving, or furniture rearranging
- Bartending
- Something else you need that we forgot to list here
So, gather a group of congenial libraries, come up with your best ideas, and send your proposal to us by May 15 at hello@georgeandjoan.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
George and Joan
We speak and train in lots of different venues, and our hosts invariably distribute some kind of evaluation form, either online or in hard copy. In my estimation, one of the most revealing questions you can ask someone who’s participated in a continuing education event is “Did you discuss the ideas that were presented in this session with your co-workers, friends, or family?” If the evaluation must be completed on the same day as the event, you can ask “Do you think you will discuss…?” It doesn’t matter whether attendees LIKE a new idea; further conversation, pro or con, is still an indicator that they have taken something away from the training and begun to internalize it.
–Joan
I’m always on the lookout for signs that assist customers by
(a) providing information at the point of need,
(b) framing that information from the customer perspective, and
(c) speaking to outcomes whenever possible.
Here are two recent examples:
The sign at a hospital driveway near my house now says Chest Pain Center instead of Cardiac Care Center. The patient no longer has to make his own diagnosis before choosing a parking spot. By that logic, would Reference be re-labeled Curiosity? Would Circulation be re-labeled Ready to Check Out?
The trash cans at the California Academy of Sciences are arranged in banks of three and labeled Recycle, Compost, and Landfill. Not Trash, or Garbage – Landfill! What a great way to get people to think about the consequences of their actions. With this approach, Reference might become Assistance, or Answers, maybe even something like Information Insurance.
I mentioned these ideas to a colleague at ALA Midwinter and heard that the reference librarians at her institution are fine with a sign that says Questions, but are very uncomfortable with one that says Answers. Interesting. Maybe that particular desk should be labeled No Guarantees.
–Joan
If you are reading this message, you are invited to attend the Blog Salon at ALA Midwinter.
On Sunday, January 17, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Stone Room at the Westin Waterfront in Boston, OCLC will host its semi-annual event for bloggers (both writers AND readers), tweeters, and anyone with an interest in Web/Library 2.0 experiences. Enjoy a nosh and a cold one, while chatting with some of the most interesting people at the conference. No RSVP required, just show up. See you there!
—George
Several days ago, a public library director of my acquaintance asked for my opinion about the value Library Leadership Ohio. I’ve mentored seven times for these leadership institutes (Library Leadership Ohio three times, Snowbird twice, and Canada’s Northern Exposure to Leadership and California’s Eureka once each) so I’m a real advocate. Here’s what I told him:
I’m delighted to (recommend Library Leadership Ohio).
The goal of the program is twofold: self-awareness and an understanding
of basic tenets of leadership. Much of the coursework revolves around
helping students assess their own basic working styles, and to help
decide if that style is a good match for a leadership role. Using a
personality assessment tool called the Enneagram
(http://www.enneagraminstitute.com), which is something like the
Myers-Briggs, students discover some of their own attributes that may
help or hinder their success. And they also learn how to use whatever
style they may favor to lead effectively.
Another aspect of the program is learning some basic ideas about
leadership, especially by comparing and contrasting leadership with
management. Using role-playing and reading assignments, students get a
feel for how to use different techniques at different times. The class
work also covers leadership from any position, from circulation clerk to
board chair.
The best candidate for these programs, in my opinion, is someone who has
a few years of experience, who may be looking for his or her next
assignment, and is still psychologically able to change course. The best
candidates comes into this program with an eagerness to learn more about
themselves and how the world works, and are able to handle challenging
course work and clashing personalities.
The worst candidate is someone who is sent (sometimes involuntarily) to
the program for remediation, or someone who is so stuck in a working rut
that he or she can’t see over the trench, or someone who is
psychologically frail.
The most interesting candidates are the people who are already cocky
about their leadership abilities but have never really had them put to
the test. They tend to come in thinking they are going to show off, and
then learn that humility is also a part of leadership!
I’ve seen new leaders blossom in six days out of this program. I’ve seen
people find the strength within themselves to move out of bad
environments or to make significant changes in their works sites. I’ve
also seen people in tears because they couldn’t take the pressure; some
of these ended up being the class stars, others decided that
“followership” may be a better fit for them than leadership.
The program also seems to work: If you look at the leadership of OLC
right now, I think you will see an number of Library Leadership Ohio
graduates, who have used this experience to reach their potential. And
graduates of Snowbird, Eureka, Tall Texans, Northern Exposure to
Leadership in Canada, and other similar programs are now directors at
public and academic libraries across North America. Mark Winston, one of
the mentors I worked with at Snowbird, wrote an article on this, although
it’s a bit dated now:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/events/pdf/winston99.pdf.
Thanks for asking…as you can tell by the length of my reply, I’m
passionate about these programs!
—George
Here is another post from the “This I Believe” essays written by students in Nancy Lensenmayer’s Foundations of Library Science class at Kent State University’s Columbus program. This essay was written by Cassie Lewis.
—George
This I Believe
When I graduated from the Ohio State University in 2004, I wasn’t quite ready to go on to graduate school. I knew that I needed some time to find something that spoke to my heart, that I believed in doing.
I weighed many options, and many of them felt like just another hungry, empty quest for the almighty dollar. Then I began to research library science. Suddenly, my mind was filled with memories of myself as a little girl searching the tall stacks of books for Roald Dahl and other fantastic fiction, or anything I wanted to read and learn about. I remembered the small building that was our rural library in Mechanicsburg, Ohio and the friendly librarians that I have known since I was that little girl. There are thousands, even millions, of those little girls and other people from all walks of life that need those friendly libraries and librarians.
That is why I am here, in library school. I believe that being a librarian isn’t just another job, another paycheck. It is helping any person, anywhere, anytime with the greatest asset to our species and civilization: knowledge.
Education is more than just going to a school, it is the initiative and empowerment to engage in the process of learning on one’s own, to explore this vast wealth of knowledge with curiosity and wonder. It is the excitement of discovering something new. I believe the library is the “instrument of universal education, and assembles together and freely distributes all the tools of education and disseminates knowledge with their aid. (Ranganathan 1931)” Therefore, I believe that everyone should have access to a library, from bustling major cities, to quiet rural towns. Using experience, our own education, and the desire to serve, I believe librarians should teach and provide the inspiration for libraries as an American value, supporting this universal education from science to history, philosophy, and beyond.
Aside from the vital importance of knowledge, let us not forget the equally important vast world of imagination. From J.R.R. Tolkien to Jules Verne to J.K. Rowling, I believe that librarians can facilitate the amazing journeys to be had through fiction for both the young and old. These literatures, as well as works of art, works of poetry, and works of music abound in our culture, and librarians should lead the celebration of our ability to create.
In these worlds of knowledge and creativity, I also believe that this includes all knowledge and creativity. Libraries and librarians refusing to censor and instead promoting intellectual freedom contribute to a healthy society, something I believe we are currently sorely in need of. Promoting intellectual freedom serves as an example to educate people that what feels right for them may not necessarily be right for others, and that limitations of ideas only promote discord, not democracy.
All in all, I believe my future as a librarian is a bright one. I greet and embrace my new profession with hope, optimism, and devotion. Most importantly, for as many walks of life that I can possibly reach, I believe I can be among those friendly librarians that inspired me as a little girl.
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