Nice to get to know each of you a little better as we get started! My name is Donovan, and I’m communicating from Central California.

     Before I begin, I’ll share a few photos. The first is of me outside of the former Key Arena (today named Climate Pledge Arena) in Seattle during a summer vacation. The SuperSonics once existed, and I hope some day they will again! Seventeen years has been long enough. Secondly, I’ll share indeed a “favorite place,” the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where I once sat in the very front row for a Raiders game. We have very real problems in this world, and needs for our public money. Both Seattle and Oakland, of course, realized this more than most; hence why both of the teams pictured left both cities. Nonetheless, the pictures capture great memories. Both stadiums, while decadent and unmonetized by contemporary standards, when filled, were rockin’ & rollin’ full of soul. They were places of community, both real and imagined, leading to banter, debate, and attempts to deepen understanding, and built bonds between generations of family members, friends, neighbors, and strangers. Their teams offer(ed) an unquantifiable psychic value. Lastly, I’ve included a photo of my pet, Eddie, a senior stray who chose to move in. He brings good luck, no matter what anyone else says!

     I chose this course mainly because, from what I understand, it will delve quite a bit into the future of library spaces, callings, and offerings, exploring various ideas concerning what they can become. This appeals to me because, in the words of Billy Beane in Moneyball, “Adapt or die.” A couple of years ago, right before I was about to start the MLIS program, a respected coworker remarked to me, “I’m surprised libraries haven’t modernized.” I will admit: at first, I felt somewhat wounded by his comment. Was he not aware of some of the wonderful things going on all around the world? But upon more consideration of his remark, I’ve elected to remember it with empathy and as a charge. What has, or rather, hasn’t, he experienced, in our field(s), to lead him to feel that way? How can we change his feeling, if possible? If modernization has happened or is happening, do we just simply need to do a better job of communicating our offerings? Rather than recoiling at such perceptions, I want to attempt to change them over time, and I hope that this course will help provide some tools and direction with that in mind.

     I’m excited this semester to learn about ways libraries are being reimagined in 2025 and beyond. How can we “future-proof” ourselves in a landscape which is increasingly in demand of eBooks, streaming options, and audio/video consumption? As I’ve progressed through the program, I’ve left pages in my notebooks compiling “out-of-the-box” ideas related to library futures, so I have some notions about how we may do this, but I’m interested to supercharge these thoughts. For a quick example amongst many, one of the … well, coolest, things I’ve seen offered in a library space in recent years is how the L.A. Public Library now provides a podcast recording studio for patrons. Additionally, one of the projects I’ve been most proud of through my time in the MLIS program was a position paper arguing that more video games belong in more libraries (with some stunning examples from Texas to Germany). A small, rural library near me now offers gardening and farming equipment for checkout. How cool? This is where we should be going during a time of corporate greed, inflation, a widening wealth gap, shrinking access to toys and tools among most people, and a diminishing amount of free public spaces. We need to become THE community space where people go to be productive, have fun, gather, make connections, learn, or just exist because they simply don’t have another place to be when it’s overly hot or cold. In addition, middle-aged men, in particular, don’t seem to give a second thought to libraries these days (exemplified, for instance, by the aforementioned friend). How do we get them back? Or how do we become a welcoming and healthy alternative to the oft-toxic “manosphere”?

     I have three strong interests in the LIS world. The first interest is in archives and special collections, especially pertaining to vintage newspapers and similar documentation. I regularly use newspaper archive databases to add to and edit Wikipedia articles as a hobby (most of which are maintained by LIS systems), and being able to work in a capacity related to such collections would be a treat. (My profile avatar here is a picture I took of a file cabinet of decades worth of Santa Maria Times newspapers in a public library close to my hometown. A treasure chest!) Secondly, I’m interested in academic libraries in contexts of access services, research assistance, outreach and instruction, and even cataloging and metadata. I’ve had great experiences with all of these areas as a community college and then CSU student, and I think landing in a career along these lines would also be rewarding. Thirdly, I’m intrigued by the concept of city and public library systems evolving in the manner and directions referenced; helping to push in those directions also seems fulfilling and exhilarating.