PLA Blog

Driving back to Brooklyn after our week-long intensive strategic planning course in Cleveland afforded me some much needed time for reflection. I drove with my sketchbook in my lap, jotting notes, steering with one hand, doing my best to see the lines on the road through the water kicked up by the many enormous trucks crawling up the inclines and barreling down the slopes. Not safe. The rainy, sleepy drive delivered me to a rural hotel with a hallway reminiscent of a horror movie, and then the next day took me through mountain passes and a misty, picturesque overlook by the Delaware Water Gap. Mental note: get that iPhone app that makes my phone into a voice recorder, this sketchbook/driving thing is a bad idea.

All week, there was a thought-thread tying together the trip and the workshop, and I had a hard time putting my finger on it. I’m closer now. Here’s my set of five observations.

1) In Pittsburgh, I went to the Andy Warhol Museum. Andy Warhol coined a phrase that we now think of as a cliché, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” The huge collection of original Ronco and Popeil gadgets on display is a shining example of case after case of laughable, tired, tarnished, gimmicky 15-minute time slots of consumer culture. There’s an adaptation of Warhol’s famous quote that social network and bloggy people like to throw around: “In the future, everyone will be famous to fifteen people”. After seeing display cases of ghostly, dated, decrepit quarter-hour product spotlights, this updated version of the phrase begs further consideration; it gives me Gibsonesque visions of virtual scrapyards of services, profiles, personas, and groups. At least that scrapyard isn’t environmentally appalling- but it is sort of psychologically appalling, and that must have cultural ramifications of its own.

2) A second instance of accelerated culture hit me while I sat in the back of Nelson and Garcia’s panel multitasking, lamenting the fact I was missing CMJ week back in New York. Ben Sisario from the NY Times Arts Beat blog wrote brief little entries he calls Four-Word Reviews of the bands he saw, and my impression was that he was pretty right on. The way people consume music has changed so much in the last few years because of the blogosphere and file hosting services like RapidShare and Mediafire. I had a conversation with a music junkie friend a little while ago, and he said that if a song has been played 3 times in his iTunes, then it may as well be a classic. Sisario’s brief but accurate reviews of live shows and my ability to download 4 albums in 4 minutes 4 free on the internet is significant, and it certainly has bearing on future library service priorities.

3) Picking up where I left off with “4 albums in 4 minutes 4 free”, we saw David McCullough speak at the Ohio theater last Wednesday night, and one of the subjects he picked up on was the demise of the English language and the shrinking vocabulary of the average American. I can’t say I disagree with any of that; it is a statement of fact. I own this wonderful old book from the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The eloquence with which the writers describe building interiors is truly sufficient to build a model of the building based on the description, and all the while it conveys the beauty and emotion present in the architecture and the crowd. That said, having successfully used Twitter with 5 other people to take networked notes at Nelson and Garcia’s strategic planning workshop, I can look back at our terse, abbreviated notes and conversation and have a very good idea of the space, the content, and the mood over a period of time. I’m not ready to condemn the way we communicated, even though there was probably not a word more than 8 letters long uttered all five days.

4) In the workshop itself, the whole group showed considerable interest in ‘taglines’ for their libraries, rather than the clunky, non-descript mission and vision statements many of us publish. The tagline, much like a Four-Word Review, offers a catchy, memorable statement. It gives your library a branded identity that resonates with patrons or users in a manner that a boring old mission statement never could. A marketing strategist would tell you that your library’s success lies in channeling and steering attention toward your services. Less can be more when you define your library services, just as less can be more when you review a concert.

5) Our final exercise in the strategic planning workshop had us in small groups looking at a floorplan for a truly miserable fictional public library. Each group was given a different service priority; my group was asked to rearrange the building to support the priority “provide students with the information they need to succeed at school”. Each group then put up drawings with different colored post it notes illustrating a revised building program. The result was a set of clear images spelling out the fact that library facilities cannot be cookie-cutter style clones of one another. Instead, every facility needs to support the service priorities determined by working with the community. In a large branch library system, this would result in a diverse ecology of services. I’m interested in the way that people relate to architecture, particularly in libraries because they are some of the few true public spaces in America. There’s a school of thought that says that public space is something that is truly produced by its users and participants; that architecture doesn’t exist without people. In our workshop, the theme of specificity (ie, addressing your service priority) directly conflicted with flexibility and spontaneity. My feeling is that public space must be flexible, especially now that we’ve moved from Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame to more like 15 seconds or the even weirder 15 people. How can we address library service priorities and include flexibility in our program?

Its good to be home. Back to my library tomorrow, where I hope to use some of what I learned this week.

An experience like Boot Camp takes a while to process. The best kind of workshop is the kind that gives you new ideas and insights and renewed enthusiasm for the profession. I feel like my brain has been filled to capacity, but in a good way. I’ll probably be writing about my experience in dribs and drabs for the next few weeks.

Friday’s wrap-up session, with the theme "Just Do It," required us to apply the concepts that we learned this week to a case study at our favorite fictional library, the Elm Branch of the Tree County Public Library. (TCPL’s tagline: You Got Served!; our logo, to be designed by the PLA Blog’s own Nate Hill–and yes, we hope that t-shirts will eventually be available.) Now that we’ve eliminated handcrafted puppets, bulletin boards, and gratuitous dotting from our branch, we’re ready to monitor progress towards our goals. Our final case study asked us to look at one goal and determine how it could best be monitored.

Monitoring is being aware of progress towards the goals on your strategic plan. If you’re serious about implementing your strategic plan and making your library as customer-friendly as possible, you need to monitor your progress to make sure you’re getting to where you want to be. To be completely and 100% as crystal clear as I can be, monitoring is NOT micromanaging. Monitoring does not require you to watch your staff like a vulture watches an especially tasty carcass. It does, however, require you to solicit appropriate information from them, and to get them into the habit of reporting their progress in a usable way on a regular basis. For some goals, this might be weekly progress; it should be at least monthly. At the Champaign Public Library, we use a wiki for our strategic plan monitoring, but our Assistant Director only prepares a full report on the plan for the board every six months.

What’s changed for me after the discussion of monitoring is how often I will monitor my department’s specific objectives and activities. Though I only have to report progress to my supervisor every six months, if I monitor those pieces that "belong" to my department on a more regular basis (some weekly, some monthly), I’ll have some long-term data that can help me tweak processes in my department. We are always trying to work smarter and more efficiently, and monitoring effectively can help us achieve that goal.

There’s still more to discuss, and I have a couple of posts brewing in my text editor, so this won’t be the last time you hear from me about Boot Camp! I’ll probably have even more to say once I start putting some of my new ideas in motion at work over the next few weeks, so watch this space! I know that the blog administrators really want to see the PLA Blog grow into more of a community (complete with discussions in the comments section), and I’m looking forward to seeing that grow and to doing my part to contribute to the conversation.

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A couple of teeny-tiny statements before I wind this post down:

For the record, I don’t think that Sandra feels that staff happiness is completely unimportant. I think she feels that staff happiness shouldn’t be a driving force behind why and how we get things done in our libraries. I do think that staff united behind common goals and service priorities can be happy once they get past some of the uncomfortable changes that will need to be made to get there. I am personally much happier when I don’t feel boxed in by the status quo, and I know there are many others out there like me who feel the same way.

Also for the record, I agree that we were a fantastic group who worked well together and learned as much from each other as we did from our fabulous leaders, June and Sandra. I thoroughly enjoyed both the formal activities and the casual conversations that I shared with my colleagues at Boot Camp, and I feel like I’ve made some good friends who will go beyond mere "conference acquaintances." Anne, Claire, Nate, and Leslie–you are especially awesome, I’m glad I met you, and I look forward to seeing you at Midwinter and beyond!

Here’s a question from Emily Nichols, The Head of Children’s Services at the Beverly Public Library in Massachusetts. Emily wrote to the blog hoping that the readers would be able to workshop her question, so don’t be shy, lets use our collective knowledge to offer Ms. Nichols some suggestions!

Hello PLA folks,

I’ve been avidly reading the discussion of strategic planning from the Results BootCamp and hope the blogosphere can help me with a design/service problem. I’ve attached photos of the circulation/reference desk in our children’s room. My opinion- It takes up a HUGE amount of floor space and I can’t see the children over it and it is not moveble or adaptable at all. Not to mention the sharp marble corners at the precise height of an average nine year old’s eye. However, by my uneducated guess it probably cost at least $15,000 to custom build in the midnineties. And as my teenage page put it “You can’t change it! It’s the reference desk! It’s perfect! It’s been here my whole life!”

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library has an amazing range of very appealing signage, most of which doesn’t look very typical of libraries.

Several of us took the opportunity to check out the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library while we were in the area. They’re doing some really innovative things with reference, such as replacing the reference desks with these small stations and replacing lengthy reference shifts with a variety of short shifts spent at these small stations, on phone/IM duty (at a staff desk in a non-public area), or roving. Food for thought!

It’s over! This week has been simultaneously very long and quick as a whirlwind. As with most intense experiences, it’s going to take me some time to process. Sandra and June summed up a lot of things for us today:

• Before you can get started, you need to convince your board and staff that it is worthwhile for you all to go on this journey. You’ll all be in it together, so you need to get on board from the get-go.
• If the board is reluctant to form a community planning committee, argue that it would be better to have a more representative group demographically (than your board, which is more than likely not a demographically representative group). There is an increasing distrust in government. The way we avoid that is to reach out to the community, engage people who we want to support us, and create new advocates. Planning with the community is a perfect opportunity.
• Whether you realize it or not, what you’re doing now is a conscious choice to continue on a particular path. You have the ability and control to do something different if you make the choice. Sandra and June are encouraging us to make that choice within the framework they’ve provided, a framework that puts users first. (Often, the path we’re on is set up to put staff, or just some staff, first.)
• It’s important to remember all the little things when you plan to make changes in the way you spend money on collections. When do your database subscriptions come up for renewal? What standing orders do you have? Work the ability/timing to change these things into your plan.
• It should become a habit to link all decisions to the plan. If you let the plan slip from your memory, the entire process will have been a waste of a lot of people’s time.
• There is little to be gained from slowly changing things. Plan to get things done efficiently.
• We need to intentionally rob Peter to pay Paul when reallocating resources and match new with eliminated and modified activities.
• We’re talking about providing the reference service that people really want, not the reference service that we want them to want. This means that our definition of reference must change.
• The idea of reference resources we hang on to (print especially) “just in case” is outmoded and does not make sense. We need to let go! As far as electronic resources go, we must be looking at the cost per use for everything. Set a standard/threshold that you commit to adhere to and then get rid of things that don’t meet it. Then reallocate the money to something your users actually care about. It doesn’t matter how librarians like to find information if the library’s users like to find it another way. We need to adapt to them, not the other way around.
• It is important to monitor timelines and deadlines - did X service get eliminated by X date? Also very important: what happened after we made the change?
• Lack of monitoring translates to the staff as a lack of commitment from management - why should I care if no one’s keeping track?
• Do you monitor daily - weekly - monthly - quarterly - semi-annually - annually? Set yourself up for success: monitor monthly toward targets in the objective. More regular updates/discussions about implementation are appropriate.
• Implementation and organizational competencies: date-based
• Progress toward targets in the objectives: target-based

Sandra and June were very cognizant of how overwhelmed (with opportunity) many of us have been feeling this week. We can see that we have so far to go, and for many of us middle managers, organization-wide change might seem out of reach. They offered us this advice: Start! Move forward with your successes. At the very least, start looking at what activities are effective, how staff are spending their time, what might be more effective. Even if it’s just within one department, you can start to better serve your users a little bit at a time. While you’re at it, you can work on getting the entire organization on the road to planning with users in mind.

I feel very lucky to have been able to take part in this boot camp. Not only have I learned so much, which has helped develop me as a professional and will end up helping my library and my community, I’ve become a part of a network of dynamic, creative people I’ll be able to continue learning with into the future. I’m so excited to see what we can do.

Now, I’m the not the lucky owner of the teeny, tiny computer so many of us asked about this week. Margaret from New Mexico is who you all talked to about her laptop that was about 8″ or so. Very cool. I’m posting the info on her behalf for all those who inquired. It is made by ASUS and it is part of the Eee PC series. You can find them on cdw.com, cdwg.com or overstock.com. Take a look and see if it is something your library might use (or for your own toy collection!).

So, it is mid-day Friday and the conference is over. In many ways it has been such a long week with everything we talked about and accomplished. In other ways though, the week went by so quick. Either way - it was a GREAT week. We evaluated boot camp for a few minutes just before we left and everyone in the room had so many great things to say about the week. Thanks again to Sandra, June and Linda, and also to Greta Southard, the Executive Director of PLA for allowing this to happen and putting it all together. For those of you non-campers following us along this week, I encourage to attend Boot Camp 5 next year - it will completely be worth your time and money!!!

Alright, I have to finish my lunch and catch a shuttle to the airport. Safe travel and successful planning to all!

PLA Boot Camp, Day 5

It’s over! In some ways it is hard to believe that 5 days have passed. While it was definitely an intense process, this group kept its high energy and enthusiasm until the end.

Bottom line: Implementation: Just do it! Start looking at your plan. Start looking at your activities. Start ENGAGING STAFF. Start with where you are. Just start! Monitor progress and with each accomplishment ask, “Is this the result that we wanted?” Celebrate your successes.

Boot Camp 5 is being planned as we speak. It will be in October 2009 and probably on the West Coast. Recommend Boot Camp 5 to your colleagues. www.pla.org has information on a New Leaders Travel Grant. Check it out.

It’s been a great week. Thanks for reading,

Reeba Lynn

I’m posting for yesterday even though it is Friday morning and we will be starting our last day soon. Yesterday we talked about the cost of our resources and how monies are allocated toward serving our library’s service responses or objectives. Not surprisingly, not one of us (77 folks) specifically knew the percentages of our budgets that are allocated to children’s services, adult services, etc. Not just collections, but staff, facilities, and technology as well. We all need to be more educated in the areas of allocation. We need to know what value each and every activity brings to the end product (our service responses). If we eliminate or modify ineffective activities, we can reallocate resources toward those that are essential to meeting our priorities. While cutting out activities that take only “a minute,” when multiplied by 4,000 (or whatever number) because of repetition, we are talking about a lot of minutes that can then be applied to new activities.

After the conference yesterday, I too, went to the Cleveland Heights Library and really enjoyed the “referenceless-desk” operations. Following that I went to Playhouse Square and saw the production of A Chorus Line. It was great and I actually got a good seat. Some interesting trivia: Each cast member kicks his or her legs a total of 36 times (18 kicks each leg) in the final kick line of the show. In 1975, A Chorus Line won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best New Musical. All together, the cast of the 2006 Broadway production of A Chorus Line had spent 472 years in dance training with 637 teachers!

Expect one more post shortly,

Reeba Lynn

During lunches this week we have had the opportunity to have “table talks”. Topics were recorded on a big list and if there was interest in a topic you could sit at a certain table to discuss it during lunch. Thankfully there were also “no talk tables” where there was not an assigned topic so you didn’t have to talk shop if you didn’t want to. Because the days have been so intense, those tables grew as the week went by! The last two days I sat at one of those tables and somehow the topics always ended up being food! Yesterday we all discussed various local cuisines and what our hometown was known for or what we had that you couldn’t get elsewhere. The main things in St. Louis are Gooey Butter, Pork Steaks and Toasted Ravioli. Most people say “huh?” when you ask them if they’ve ever had one of them.

About 8 years ago when I lived in Chicago (born and bread St. Louis, I lived in Chicago for 2 years) was when I first realized that for some unknown reason, Gooey Butter was not known outside of my world. Starting that day on January 14, 2001 it became my mission to spread the “Gooey Butter Word”. Since then during my many travels across the country and when I come across non St. Louisans, I make sure to educate them about Gooey Butter. So, for those of you at lunch yesterday who wanted this (and everyone else out there - I promise, you’ll want it too!) - here it is!!!

Gooey Butter

Mix the following: 1 box yellow cake mix; 1 stick butter (or margarine) melted and cooled and 1 egg; press into a lightly greased 13X9 pan.

With mixer, cream 1 8-oz pkg softened cream cheese; add 2 eggs (1 at a time) and 1 tsp. vanilla. Slowly mix in the majority of a 1-lb. box of powdered sugar. When well blended pour over crust and bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool; lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!! My recommendation is to cut it into small pieces and put on platter (then you can enjoy some before you present it to others!). Yellow cake mix, powdered sugar and cream cheese are staples in my house and always on hand! In fact, I’ll be making Gooey Butter and Old-Fashioned Cheesecake for birthdays this week at work! Speaking of work, I’ll guess I’ll get back to that topic

Yesterday, Nancy Levin, Director of The Heights Libraries here in the Cleveland Area kindly invited us to tour The Heights Library where they had, among other wonderful things, Roving Reference. It was great to see - they had 2 staff members staff information desks (1 on each floor) so someone was always available and then other staff roved the library. They had reference stands to work from, but they were of course, not tied to them. One of the neat things was that there were phones around the library, so if a patron had a question, they could just pick up the phone. The phone rang to all of the staff on the floor and someone would immediately go to that part of the library to assist the patron. They had a “call center” for the reference questions that came in over the phone since the floor staff was not at a desk.

This library was completely renovated 2 years ago and had such wonderful signage. It was a large library (compared to my library) but it still seemed very welcoming and intimate. The Children’s Area had a wonderful Story Room and 2 child-size doorways which were so cute! The book cover art around the round story room was very impressive. Of course one of the other cool features was the bridge across the street to the community building which housed Heights Arts and the Heights Parents Center - 2 community organizations. Such wonderful partnerships!!! That building is still under development and will eventually house a community theater (Dobama Theater) too. Again - wow and how wonderful! Thank you Nancy for inviting us in and letting us in and sharing with us. Thanks too for introducing us to Anatolia Cafe where we had great Greek food - the Baklava was to die for!