Thinking Like a Start-Up
In his white paper, then associate dean for Learning and Outreach at Virginia Tech Brian Mathews (2012) challenged libraries to “think like a start-up” to meet our primary goal in answering the question: “How do we help the individuals at our institutions become more successful?” As technology continues to evolve and transform society, adopting a start-up mindset allows information organizations to keep up and even move ahead of the curve. By evolving and staying informed, information organizations can help their communities build resilience and adapt.
Immediately, a recent CodeSignal article came to mind. In the article, CodeSignal discussed their 2026 Report of data-based university rankings which measured both general and industry coding skills of their graduates. CodeSignal’s assessment results revealed that the graduates of San Jose State University (SJSU) Computer Science (CS) program scored in the 66th percentile, ranking them number two compared to graduates from over 594 other universities throughout the nation. How did the SJSU CS program climb 49 spots from last year’s report? The department’s thinking and acting like a start-up may play a crucial role in effectively helping their students become successful coders. Dean Kaufman attributes the success to the program’s alignment with current industries based on faculty experiences and network, emphasizing the importance of the college’s proximity to Silicon Valley’s technology hub (Team CodeSignal, 2026).
| “Our academic programs have industry advisory councils which provide direct input to departments regarding industry needs,” Dean Ehrman explains. “Most of our lecturer faculty are part time and hold day jobs in the tech industry, so they’re able to include real-world perspectives in our courses. Many of our full-time tenure-line faculty also have industry experience and current collaborations with industry partners” (Team CodeSignal, 2026). |
(CodeSignal, 2026).
Seizing the White Space
Thinking like a start-up includes “seizing the white space” – the white space consisting of everything that has not yet been done or considered (Mathews, 2012). I wonder: what would it look like to transcend traditional library boundaries?
- What would a partnership between SJSU’s academic library and its CS program look like?
- Could libraries facilitate programming where CS faculty provide workshops for faculty of other departments?
- Could SJSU’s academic library partner with industries to support the university’s other departments in preparing their students for future employment?
Encouraging the Heart
A distinct difference between thinking like a start-up and being one is that information organizations put humans first. I believe that every library should strive to be the heart of its community as discussed in the Hyperlinked Library, Participatory Services & Transparency lecture (Stephens, 2025). To be the community’s heart means to encourage it: “satisfying the needs and wants of our users” and providing “a space where users connect, collaborate, create, and care” (Stephens, 2011). A wonderful example of a library being its community’s heart is Fayette County Public Library’s program where teens connect, collaborate, and create comics with published comic artists. This accessible program is rooted in care.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYmnHkoDZuu/
I am reminded of two other relevant examples that are not necessarily rooted in information science but absolutely could be applicable to the hyperlinked library due to its richness in community, connection, collaboration, and care. Last Spring, Continue reading Library as the Community’s Heart: Ponderings and Possibilities