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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation Strategy and Roadmap Assignment Blog, on the site 4 days, 1 hours ago
Hi @samfeta27! First, I just wanted to say that your presentation was adorable; it was visually engaging and fun to click through. Second, I think that your program concept is spot-on. Older teens/emerging adults are such an underserved group in most libraries. It’s like we don’t quite know what to do with them, so we just don’t do anything. I…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Reflection: Hyperlinked Communities, on the site 5 days ago
That’s so awesome! Thanks for sharing!
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Checking In, on the site 1 weeks ago
Hi @michael! Thanks for always checking in with us! Summer semester has definitely been fast and furious for me (taking 3 classes). But, I am excited to be visiting Northern California for a vacation soon. I used to work at a library near where I am vacationing, so I also get to revisit some old haunts and see some old coworkers. Hope the summer…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Reflections on new horizons: (Google) Glass half full?, on the site 1 weeks ago
Hi @nicole287! Your blog post had me cracking up and nodding my head. I don’t have children, but I think your reflections on the intersections of parenting and technology are really inspiring (and funny)! There is so much to be worried about when it comes to the ways that technology is changing things for younger generations. But, as you consider,…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme wrote a new post on the site Rachel in Hyperspace 1 weeks ago
The literacy of listening
Reflection #4 – Listen up (the literacy of listening) Audiobooks, StoryCorps videos, TED talks, Radiolab, This American Life, Ol […] -
Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation Strategy & Roadmap: Student Library Interns, on the site 1 weeks, 1 days ago
Hi Frenchie! I really love this idea. When I was in high school, we called this type of program “student service learning.” For my last two years of high-school, I spent time working in a middle school media center. It solidified my love of libraries and taught me a lot of great skills that I was able to put into use in public libraries and other…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation strategy and roadmap: The library labyrinth, on the site 1 weeks, 2 days ago
Thanks for the ideas @alexisljohnson! Creating that sense of safety is so important for all of us, but especially when working with kids and teens!
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, New Models Reflection, on the site 1 weeks, 5 days ago
Hi Isabel! I connected with your exploration of the various ways that libraries use our physical spaces to directly benefit our communities (outside of the books we collect and the people that we employ). I think that the idea of us as a safe location (for someone getting away from a bad home situation, or someone riding out a storm) is a…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Hyperlinked Job Description – Creativity!, on the site 1 weeks, 5 days ago
@michael I saw this job posted this past week for an “Engagement Consultant” that had a lot of the hyperlinked components we have talked about throughout this class. The job description specifically mentions “a vision for 21st century library practices” and specialization in “trending services.”
Here it is if anyone wants to take a look:…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Library as community living room, on the site 1 weeks, 5 days ago
@caroline for sure! Got to love a library that helps people even when it is closed. Finding ways that libraries can truly be service-oriented and community-minded means we need to broaden our ways of thinking.
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation Strategy: Intergenerational Playtime, on the site 1 weeks, 5 days ago
I definitely agree! One of our branches is in a single integrated facility like that. Another of our branches is on a newly-built “campus” environment with an early childhood education center, a playground, a quad, and an elementary school. These integrated facilities/campuses seem to offer so much opportunity for libraries to grow outside of…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme wrote a new post on the site Rachel in Hyperspace 2 weeks ago
Library as community living room
Reflection #3: Let’s really be community living rooms What’s your favorite part about your living room? Is it your huge TV? Is it the fac […]-
Hi @rcsyme – Yes to libraries that really *are* like communal living rooms! I share your support of libraries that provide services for the community 24/7, not just during open service hours. And as someone who has been thru-hiking and also just lived without wifi (and admittedly occasionally poached wifi from the confines of my vehicle while parked within signal range of a local cafe that did not turn their wifi off in the evenings), I likewise share your appreciation for before/after hours service availability. Yay for making the interior spaces functional for the patrons rather than fixed and tidy for the librarians, and yay for keeping the lights and wifi on for those who need it just outside.
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@caroline for sure! Got to love a library that helps people even when it is closed. Finding ways that libraries can truly be service-oriented and community-minded means we need to broaden our ways of thinking.
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@rcsyme Your trail hiking example perfectly illustrates why we should offer 24/7 access to wifi… and not be deterred by the fact that folks mihgjt loiter! Greeat photo too from the trail.
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation Strategy: Intergenerational Playtime, on the site 2 weeks ago
Hey @caroline! I think this is an adorable idea that could bring joy to a lot of people. I particularly like your extension suggestion that caregivers/kids could have meals at senior living centers. This seems like it could meet multiple needs, providing companionship for seniors who might not have any family to visit them, while also helping…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Reflection Blog 2: Goodbye Dewey, on the site 2 weeks, 1 days ago
Hi @nicoler! I think this is a great example of a library being responsive to its patrons needs. Instead of getting wrapped-up in the history of our profession, these librarians made a big change to help their community get the most out of their library! Our library still uses Dewey (and Cutter numbers, which feel truly ancient). But, I look…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation Strategy and Roadmap, on the site 2 weeks, 1 days ago
Hi @carlys I really appreciate that this program combines technology, creativity, and community. I think it could really benefit the current students to be able to hone their video skills and gain practice with production/editing. But, my favorite part of this project is the fact that it engages in proactive school community building. I think…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation strategy and roadmap: The library labyrinth, on the site 2 weeks, 2 days ago
Thanks @alexisljohnson! When I taught a similar program with Girl Scouts, we generally had a few kids who hung back at the start of the program. Sometimes they were shy, or just tired after a long day at school. As a facilitator, I am always fine with a slow start. By the end of the program, all of the girls wanted to try new designs and walk each…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Innovation strategy and roadmap: The library labyrinth, on the site 2 weeks, 3 days ago
Thanks for your kind comment @ayeouest! Now I can definitely see that I missed a key Bowie-related opportunity in my slides; I’ll have to do better next time! I’m glad you liked the idea. I taught a smaller one-time labyrinth program to middle school girls and it was a fun, beautiful program. The kids connected with mindfulness in a new way being…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme wrote a new post on the site Rachel in Hyperspace 2 weeks, 5 days ago
Innovation strategy and roadmap: The library labyrinth
Link to my innovation strategy & roadmap: the library labyrinth Mindfulness, mental health, and a feeling of belonging are enduring […]-
Wow, Rachel. This is an absolutely incredible plan. It of course had me placing mentally placing David Bowie into all the labrinth images for obvious reasons but this plan is beautiful, creative, and necessary. I love your emphasis on mental health for teenagers and this is such a creative way to connect them. I also loved the future plans section about how you could connect with mental health organizations to build on this emphasis. I think this really represents a “learn by doing” or “connect” in the chaos mentality. Thank you for this detailed approach to your roadmap, I am inspired.
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Thanks for your kind comment @ayeouest! Now I can definitely see that I missed a key Bowie-related opportunity in my slides; I’ll have to do better next time! I’m glad you liked the idea. I taught a smaller one-time labyrinth program to middle school girls and it was a fun, beautiful program. The kids connected with mindfulness in a new way being able to design and guide each other through their creations. I think that scaling this up to a system-wide project would make it even more impactful.
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Rachel, This is incredible! This is so well-planned, and I think it’s beautiful how you’ve connected the effort with the community’s mental health. I have found firsthand with my kids that “play” is such a beautiful, healthy, human thing for the soul. In your real-life experience with a labyrinth program, I’m curious if anyone was shy about getting started or if the kids were eager to jump in. As a shy kid, I would be totally engaged once something like this was in progress. But I would be afraid to be the first to start setting things up. And I always wonder (because it’s my personality–it’s a self-healing pondering!) if there’s a way to make getting started easier in group collaboration for those with more introverted personalities. I think that quieter group might benefit most of all from feeling like they belong and are connecting with others in a social project.
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Thanks @alexisljohnson! When I taught a similar program with Girl Scouts, we generally had a few kids who hung back at the start of the program. Sometimes they were shy, or just tired after a long day at school. As a facilitator, I am always fine with a slow start. By the end of the program, all of the girls wanted to try new designs and walk each other’s creations.
In the past, I usually did not try to make people participate, since I think that kind of engagement tends to happen organically as the kids see one another get excited. Also, some of the kids were less interested in building the labyrinths and just wanted to jump in when it was time to walk them. I think that having activities that engage multiple skill sets, or offer different times/types of engagement, usually helps introverted people find a place to jump in. However, I am such an extrovert, that I am not sure I am the best one to decide what would help make more introverted patrons feel comfortable contributing. Do you have any suggestions?
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Hi @rcsyme,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. That’s a great point about there being a warm-up time at the beginning of an activity, but by the end, everyone is engaged. You have me reflecting now, and I believe that’s exactly right about introverts. I think there’s a desire to feel welcome and safe in any activity, which does organically happen over the course of observation–and I appreciate you don’t force anyone to participate right away 🙂 You sound like a great facilitator.
I think other tactics to engage shy kids would only be necessary if, for some reason, they at no point engaged or if you needed them to engage somewhat quickly. In different forums, I’ve seen various approaches be effective. E.g., in a brainstorming environment, I’ve seen post-it notes be passed around for a facilitator to collect written ideas instead of spoken ideas; this allowed introverts to share their ideas without needing to interject. In a participatory digital whiteboard environment, I’ve seen facilitators give everyone a simple starter task of interacting with the whiteboard so they were comfortable with the tool and participating (it kind of “broke the ice” of interacting).
Any efforts to re-affirm “your contribution is welcome here” and “you’re safe to proceed” would set anxious, shy personalities at ease.
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Thanks for the ideas @alexisljohnson! Creating that sense of safety is so important for all of us, but especially when working with kids and teens!
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Design with Service in Mind: Within & Beyond the Walls – Hyperlinked Environments (blog 2), on the site 2 weeks, 5 days ago
Hi @caroline, I absolutely loved your heading “we thought of you when we made this.” I feel like this phrase epitomizes the ethics of care that I hope we can bring to librarianship. It seems like it represents both our desire to serve our communities and our own humanity, since our thoughts, judgements, and best guesses are often involved in what…[Read more]
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Rachel Syme commented on the post, Reflection Blog: Hyperlinked Environments, on the site 2 weeks, 6 days ago
Cassie, I appreciated your consideration of how the 1-hour limit on your library computers seems to stand in opposition to other libraries embracing a faster pace of technology innovation. It reminds me of my own library, which turns off building wi-fi after closing so that people are not encouraged to “loiter” around the library. In our case, I…[Read more]
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@rcsyme I really appreciate your focus on listening for this post. I also just read another post about the importance of listening. You make a very good point here regarding the skill of listening. I really don’t recall any sort of staff training we had on listening to each other whenj I was at SJCPL, but I’m sure it would be very useful.
Great thoughts here, @rcsyme.
This is just one idea — the concept drew a connection in my mind to what in the entertainment industry we call “screening” a program vs. watching it. It’s a distinctly different experience. Screening is when you pay attention for a specific reason–you could be a network exec screening for overall quality, a Standards and Practices lawyer screening for language, or a digital producer screening to see what scene “lifts” you’d tell your editors to pull later. The important thing to know is that when someone screens something, they are paying close attention and on purpose. “Watching” something is seen to be a less active role. It’s correlated with pleasure, relaxation, and entertainment. You may or may not get something out of that experience, whereas with screening, you must come away with a perspective.
I think a similar distinction could be made for types of listening–one version more relaxed and casual, the other actively engaged on purpose. What makes screening so effective is that the watchers know exactly what they’re looking for. I think for really engaged listening, giving someone a broad assignment could really help in some scenarios. In the humans as books article, they mention readers could “ask questions, seek advice, learn about alternate perspectives, and find common ground.” That’s a lot to potentially happen in a conversation. However, if someone gave the direction, “listen to find out what kind of advice you could seek from this community member–then seek that advice from them,” that could help increase engagement if someone was unsure what to listen for.
Of course, just listening well to hear what might be said is a lovely thing to do, too. It can take a bit of skill. I think people differ in their ability to focus, comfort with eye contact, vocabulary, etc., which can affect their ability to listen. But I also love the idea that we could all be better listeners in general and that these skills could be taught. No matter where we start, we can improve. Learning how to ask great questions to dig deeper feels related. (Like keeping the speaker centered when you ask a question, etc.)