Category: Summaries

Trust. Be Curious. Transform. And Don’t Do it Alone

In some of the stories Michael has shared it’s apparent that some libraries and staff still struggle with viewing users almost as adversaries or challenges. When we find ourselves asking something like ‘how do we protect the library from users?’ that signifies a fundamentally flawed relationship to our user-base. To break out of that way of thinking we have to (1) understand what it means for the library to belong to its users, and (2) respond with curiosity and compassion.

At least some of the pressure libraries feel comes from trying to do everything, all at once, and trying to do it alone. We live in a society where we view abundance as coming from the top of the social-economic hierarchy and flowing downward. Large companies “create jobs and opportunities” for workers, billionaires engage in philanthropy, charities provide for the ‘needy’. Therefore we see the library as a provider and therefore — unfortunately — as being above our most vulnerable users. Then we run into issues with trying to pour from an empty cup. That view is false. Workers create value for companies through their labor and it’s the people on the ground that make the biggest difference. Value flows UP in our society regardless of what the CEOs and billionaires say, which means the abundance actually lies at the bottom.

When we see our users and our community as allies and partners we open up new possibilities for both our users and for the library itself. Instead of trying to be every solution, be the vehicle for the solutions the community has to offer. Ask people what they need, what would make their lives better. Then ask people what solutions they have for the issues their community faces. Bring services to them where they are. Make it easier for them to come to you. Ask them for help and partner with groups in the community to expand services. The library doesn’t have to do it all or be the only answer, but it plays an important role in making these things happen.

I was really moved by the Wash & Learn program because not only was it bringing library services and supports to people when it would be convenient for them, it was also run by young volunteers who no doubt gained skills and insights about what their community needs. Libraries belong to users, so they should be tools that help users and communities help themselves.

Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash

I think part of the solution displayed here is thinking about users as more than library users. They are also teachers, parents, singers, hosts, designers, and so much more. They are also drivers, eaters, shoppers, and just people who need to do laundry so they have clean clothes to wear next week.

For my own work, I was really excited to learn about Commons in a Box created by CUNY. It is exactly the kind of tool that I’ve been looking for or thinking about building to help communities connect and create together. I have two projects where I would like to try to implement this and I am so excited to learn more about how to create and support communities through platforms like this through experimentation.

Foundations of the Hyperlinked Library – Readings

I find it useful to summarize my takeaways from readings, so I’ve decided to post my summaries here to share, and I invite you to share with me some of your reflections from our readings as well.

Buckland, M. (1999). Redesigning Library Services: A Manifesto.

Libraries have been built around objects that contain knowledge. Technology changes what is possible. Instead of only asking how we can do things better, we should also be asking what else is possible? That way we seek not only to modify but to evolve.

Casey, M. E., & Savastinuk, L. C. (2007). Library 2.0: A guide to participatory library service. Medford, N.J: Information Today.

Library 2.0 is about embracing the reality that is constant change, and engaging in intentional and purposeful change through collaboration and participation with everyone involved (vertically and horizontally), and through constant re-evaluation and further change. Nothing is sacred, anything can be evaluated and changed if it no longer serves the community.

Mathews, B. (2012). Think Like A Start Up.

Libraries must focus on their users and not on information or services. It’s not about how we can make a service or collection better, it’s how we can serve our users, our community, and their goals better. We have to think bigger and more long-term. We have to be willing to break away from everything we know. For that, it’s not enough to want to change, we also have to be prepared for change on a cultural and structural level. That means being built for experimentation and iteration. Try things, learn, adapt, try again. Try many things all at once. Don’t get attached. Start with the smallest version of an idea and test it in the field. What works somewhere else may not work here. Understand your own library and build for it.

Stephens, M. (2016). Chapter 1: “The Hyperlinked Librarian: Skills, Mind-Sets, and Ideas for Working in the Evolving Library” in The Heart of Librarianship: Attentive, Positive, and Purposeful Change

“Above all, librarians entering the hyperlinked arena must be curious and creative.”

We must be prepared to rethink everything about what a library is, to play with new ideas, to rebuild from the ground up, and problem-solve across issues, departments, and disciplines. We cannot resist this reality: that everything is connected.

Stephens, M. (2019). Chapter 1: “Past Is Prologue” in Wholehearted Librarianship: Finding Hope, Inspiration, and Balance

Libraries must become the resource people turn to automatically, must be present and accessible, but they must also be human and not another faceless resource. The Web has made accessing knowledge from people instead of “authorities” easier than ever. Libraries are in the perfect position to be familiar and trusted curators of the non-stop flow of information that overwhelms our users and communities everyday. We must build structures and shapes and environments where people can interact with information critically so that our users can be agents and knowledge workers too, not just consumers of information.