Assignment X: Nonstop Dreaming of a Hyperlinked Future

“In fact, if I keep my head down and accomplish my goals, I won’t add the type of value I’m capable of. I need to browse. I even need to play. Without play, only Shit Happens. With play, Serendipity Happens” (Levine et al., 2009).

• Why does this theme stand out to you?

Is it pointless to dream?

“Second, business hierarchies are power structures only because fundamentally they’re based on fear” (Levine et al., 2009).

Recently, I’ve been thinking about my career. I’m working towards my MLIS, and I like the idea of working within libraries, but, in some ways, I still feel deeply dissatisfied with my potential future. I love drawing as much as library work. I want to be a musician, but also study marine biology. When pursuing a single path is what’s expected, what’s “professional”, how do you live the life you’ve always dreamed of?

I dream of a better life for everyone. I agonize over things I think are wrong and obsessively plan ideas to fix them. I wonder if I care too much. Worry too much? Dream too much? I flip between trying to preserve my sanity and accepting the truth that I’d never be comfortable ignoring what’s happening around me. Currently, I am unable to act on these ideas, so they exist as nothing more than a dream. And so often it feels indulgent and wrong to dream. Dreaming is something that kids do, and adults leave behind.  I think this is why Stephens (2019) question, ”Are you dreaming?”, resonated with me.

“Why? We have the potential to bring about the next big thing. We have the potential to be the leaders as we all move toward a seamless information and knowledge environment” (Stephens, 2019).

My tendency to daydream, something I worry might be distracting me, could actually be a foundational skill necessary for improving and advancing libraries? Dreaming is, rather than useless hoping, a tool of creative thinking, innovation, and problem solving, which, when utilized, can ensure libraries are always looking forward and finding new ways to better serve their communities.

• What are your initial reactions or questions?

“Have you had the chance to dream at your library job? Have you had the opportunity to stop for a minute in the buzz of your routine and think about the future? Are you encouraged to innovate?” (Stephens, 2019).

Are you dreaming? allowed me to connect my dreams to the frustration I have felt in school. I started excited to use my skills to help my community in a way that felt meaningful and fun. I saw a TikTok from a librarian that discussed all the specific work: planning, service, and outreach, that goes into working at a library, and all I could think was, “I want to do that.” I want to contribute in that way. I have since realized that librarianship is filled with imperfect people who may be resistant to change. It’s a space that feels much less innovative than I expected.

Libraries have always provided services and support to those society may overlook and disregard. Everyone can benefit from libraries, but they are especially important to marginalized populations. Frequently, though, I find that the theory being taught talks around these groups. They exist, we should help them, it’s our job, but we don’t seem to talk about the very real issues: poverty, racism, disability, etc., that are barriers to library access. Sometimes it feels like I am being taught what it takes to succeed in the library industry and not how best to help people.

“The company provides me with all the information I need to make good decisions. In fact, this information is selected to support a decision (or worldview) in which I have no investment” (Levine et al., 2009).

• How might this idea shape your perspective on libraries, learning, and community?

“Third Places provide opportunities for a community to develop and retain a sense of cohesion and identity. They are about sociability, not isolation” (Leferink, 2018).

Echoed within these various readings is pushback that people-focused work, the hyperlinked library model, and participatory service aren’t new. I don’t presume to know more or better than my teachers, but I can’t stop the feeling of missing something crucial in my education. If libraries are supposed to be “a safe place, an oasis, a refuge, and an inspiration” (Stephens, 2016) that fosters social engagement, why is the critical librarianship framework not being taught as a foundational core in MLIS? For me, “neutrality” is a privilege. If the goal of future libraries is, as Klinenberg states, an “open, accessible, and welcoming public places where residents can congregate and provide social support during times of need but also every day” (Mattern, 2014), then we have to acknowledge the library as a power structure capable of perpetuating epistemic injustice, and work to provide new, transformative, and equitable services and spaces.

“Modern business almost universally has chosen a particular type of togetherness: a hierarchy. There are two distinguishing marks of a hierarchy: it has a top and a bottom, and the top is narrower than the bottom. Power flows from the top and there are fewer and fewer people as you move up the food chain” (Levine et al., 2009).

• Can you connect it to your past experiences or future goals?

Stephens (2016) says that professors and librarians should work with students to create a greater community through new and consistently evaluated models of service. I worry about my preparedness for librarianship after graduation, but I continue to dream of what I can do and offer. To address this, I have used my classwork to speak up on these issues and plan ways to address them.

“Sometimes it’s a good exercise to do some future thinking about our services. Gazing into the crystal ball might give us insights as we plan for what comes next” (Stephens, 2019)

What is my crystal vision? I feel it is quite similar to @michael ‘s hyperlinked library model. In Info 285, I wrote about how the integration of fandom practices combined with critical librarianship can create third spaces that support community engagement, literacy, and learning. This is a continuation of an earlier Idea, which explored how fandom spaces and practices offer librarians ways to better connect with their patrons.

“This librarian understands that the future of libraries will be guided by how users access, consume and create content. Content is a conversation as well and librarians should participate. Users will create their own mash-ups, remixes and original expressions and should be able to do so at the library or via the library’s resources” (Stephens, 2006).           

 I envision a space both in person and online, facilitated by the library, where patrons of all ages can safely engage with media and literature, create and share their own fan works, and have said works displayed and shared within the library. Fandom is becoming more and more mainstream, and libraries can potentially offer a safer, healthier, and more informed way to practice than most online spaces. The goal is not to retreat from the web but to utilize it to foster a safer, stronger community.

“Many readers may recall the mantra of Erik Boekesteijn, Doklab consultant and senior advisor to the National Library of the Netherlands: libraries should keep stories, share stories, and make stories” (Stephens 2019).

“We might also see libraries in partnership with some of the content vendors to deliver media to library users, but I’m doubtful we’ll ever see blockbuster titles and new releases via Anytown Public Library’s servers” (Stephens, 2019).

I recently wondered if libraries would be able to provide access to movies right when they come out. I appreciate services like Kanopy, but I wish I could still watch and support new films. In the same manner that checking out electronic books and watching movies on Kanopy helps libraries, why can’t we allow new movie showings at libraries as well? This idea could drive further participation in my fandom-infused critical librarianship program idea.

“But, then, as the old saying has it, you can’t make an omelet without nuking the existing social order” (Levine et al., 2009).

• Where do you see this theme showing up in practice?

“There’s too much to know, so all important decisions are, to some extent, random. By being free to make errors, you can try more paths until you stumble on one that takes you somewhere interesting (albeit probably not where you at first thought — mistakenly — you should be heading)” (Levine et al., 2009).

After completing my reading, I’m happy knowing I’m not innovative. Others have dreamed of better library service and involvement and are working to make it happen. I feel hope knowing I’m not alone. Library 2.0, the hyperlinked library model, zones with heart, the four space model, and Story Corps are all different ideas working towards the same goal.  Not all may be fully adopted into the curriculum, but in the real world, they are being put into practice. I may not be able to take action right now, but I will continue to dream, to think, to innovate in the ways that I can. I‘m happy my dreams aren’t useless, but a fundamental tool that can be utilized to further strengthen libraries into pillars of the community.

“The traditionalists bring foundational thinking—what libraries have always done and what mission we serve—while the futurists cite current trends and evidence from recent studies to illustrate the need to incorporate new ideas such as a mobile site, tablet support, or gamification”  (Stephens, 2016).

References

Leferink, S. (2018, January 24). To keep people happy … keep some books – OCLC Next. OCLC Next. https://blog.oclc.org/next/to-keep-people-happy-keep-some-books/

Levine, R., Locke, C., Searls, D., & Weinberger, D. (2009). The cluetrain manifesto (pp. 86–123). Basic Books.

Stephens, M. T. (2016). The heart of librarianship : Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. Ala Editions, an Imprint of the American Library Association.

Stephens, M. T. (2019). Wholehearted librarianship : finding hope, inspiration, and balance. Ala Editions.