LAMA MAES is sponsoring the pre-conference workshop “Living the Balanced Scorecard” Friday, June 27, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm during the ALA Annual 2008 conference in Anaheim. The workshop will feature Joe Matthews, Director of Mathews and Associates and author of the soon to be released Scorecard for Results (Libraries Unlimited, May 2008, $45 retail cost).

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is an organizational tool enabling library management to develop a method for focusing on customers, understanding their needs and demands for library services, and demonstrating accountability for using public funds. The BSC provides library management with supporting data needed to implement data driven decisions.

Attendees will receive as part of their registration a copy of Scorecard for Results at no extra charge. Using case studies as examples, presenters will guide workshop attendees through how to develop strategy, performance measures, targets and initiatives, and then how to integrate these results and communicate them effectively. Other presenters are Susanna Pathak of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA and Kathryn Robinson of the Orange County Public Library System in Orlando, FL.

We invite you to register and learn more about how to practice the Balanced Scorecard technique, a valuable tool for your library’s assessment needs!

Please click this link to go directly to the list of Anaheim preconferences and look for the listing for LAMA and then “Living the Balanced Scorecard.”

As you prepare for the upcoming days of advocacy, here is a message from ALA president Loriene Roy:

Although you may not be able to join the hundreds of librarians and library supporters across the country in visiting legislators in Washington, D.C., you can support your colleagues and all types of libraries by adding your voice through participation in “Virtual Library Legislative Day!”

As you know, in tough times libraries and librarians are needed more than ever!

On May 13, I will send you a message asking you to join thousands of librarians, library workers, trustees, and library users supporting your colleagues on Capitol Hill.

It only takes 10-15 minutes with ALA’s Legislative Action Center to compose your own personal message and send it to “all” of your representatives. The Action Center will provide you with talking points and sample messaging that you can incorporate into your own voice.

The ALA Washington Office has also created a helpful podcast highlighting the major issues.

Let’s make sure Congress hears us!

Sincerely,

Loriene Roy
ALA President

Whether you’re visiting your legislative representatives in person or communicating with them digitally, be sure to go prepared! The ALA Washington Office presented two webinars hosted by advocacy “guru” Stephanie Vance that you can review before you begin voicing your concerns for your library:

• Video: Advocacy Webinar #1 & [Congressional] Visit Packet (March 14, 2008)
• Video: Advocacy Webinar #2 (April 17, 2008)

You can also review Stephanie Vance’s podcasts on Advocacy: Part 1 and Part 2.

Let your voice be heard!

Blog posts are loaded with resources and links on subjects like, legal rights when police make “homeless sweeps,” the right of the homeless during weather emergencies, rights and liabilities connected with found property, and much more.

Nanci Milone-Hill (bookwoman ) and Nann Blaine Hilyard () co-edit “Perspectives.” In response to several requests, we’ve determined the topics for the next year. Essays can be 900-1200 words. Depending on the topic, photos may be submitted. If you’re interested in submitting an essay, e-mail the appropriate editor. Copy is due 2-1/2 months prior to the cover date. (For example: October 15 for the January/February issue.)

Sept/Oct 08: Branch Libraries – send questions and essays to Nann
Whether you’re in charge of all the branches, or work in just one: what’s going on? How do you coordinate your branch’s operation with the larger system? Do you have separate Friends or Foundations? Do staff rotate among branches? We’re seeking essays from urban, suburban, and rural multi-site public libraries.

Nov/Dec 08: Meeting Rooms – send questions and essays to Nanci
What issues have you faced with your meeting room? Have you changed your policy as a result? Examples could be use by religious groups seeking a place for regular meetings; or hate groups that want to hold a public meeting.

Jan/Feb 09: Outreach – send questions and essays to Nann
Library outreach can entail long-term, citywide programs. It can also mean a single program or series of programs on a much smaller scale. What is your library doing to extend services beyond the walls of the library building? Have you tried electronic outreach?

Mar/Apr 09: ALA’s Spectrum Scholars – send questions and copy to Nanci
ALA’s Spectrum program was established in 1997 to recruit librarians from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Are you a Spectrum scholar? Have you hired a Spectrum scholar? We’d like to know your story!

May/June 09: The Big Read – send questions and copy to Nann
The National Endowment for the Arts established The Big Read grant program to take community book discussions nationwide. If your library has been a Big Read recipient, tell us about your experience. What programs did you plan? What was the response? How did the Big Read differ from previous book discussions?

Thank you for your interest in contributing to PERSPECTIVES!

Nanci and Nann

On Wednesday, April 16, advocacy “guru Stephanie Vance will host the Washington Office’s second Advocacy Webinar. (The first webinar was a huge success.)

The webinar comes just as National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) approaches, when our advocacy skills need to be honed to a razor sharp edge. Librarians, friends, trustees and enthusiasts from across the country will be participating in NLLD on May 13 and 14, 2008. Some will be coming to DC to meet with their Members of Congress, while others will be participating in Virtual Library Legislative Day by calling and writing their elected officials from the safety of their own offices.

How can you best prepare for and be effective in these communications? How can you be sure legislators and their staff will hear your message and pay attention? What kinds of federal policy issues should you talk about?

Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now.

The Ridgedale Library building not only houses the library, system headquarters, and centralized technical services processing of books, but also an office of motor vehicle services, local courts, a coffee shop, and a library book store. From the very entrance of the library, you can tell that the children’s librarian values early literacy, starting with the counting steps (apparently, you hear kids count those steps every time they come in), and carrying through to the rest of the library:

It was really good for me to see how their self-checkout stations are set up, one for adults, one for kids, since we’re planning on launching a similar self-checkout setup at my library in July. As for check-in processes, I got an inside look at their “high I.Q.” Automated Materials Handling (AMH) system (my apologies for the shake on the video!):

After meeting more of the staff and seeing more interesting behind the scenes workings at the Headquarters and the Ridgedale branch, we were off, heading back downtown to the Central Library. I must say, if you’ve heard anything about the wondrousness Hennepin County Library Minneapolis Central, it’s all true.The architecture is beautiful, all that light wood and glass. This was the truly whirlwind part of my tour (I was playing hookey, trying to get back in time to host the Virtual Happy Hour for the Virtual Conference), so I didn’t get to visually document everything that was cool. Like, say, the elevators that, as they go up and down, form words and letters in lights that spell out the titles of recently checked out books. Or how each floor has a uniquely-designed fireplace, complete with art (the giant “burned matches” were my favorite). Or even the beautiful lighting on the different media shelves, and the interactive touch-screen map systems that help people find things. The even have an ATM machine, not far from the coffee shop and book store. Make the trip to Minneapolis to see it in its full splendor, it’s worth it.

I did, however, get a comprehensive-yet-quick tour of Teen Central. Teens from all over the city were involved very early on in the development process, so the entire space is customized to the audience. Teens said they wanted a space of their own that didn’t look like the rest of the library, where they could eat, drink, hang out, listen to music, meet. As a result, Teen Central is a completely enclosed area within the library, complete with a meeting room that has dry-erase board wallpaper, cool flat speakers installed in the ceiling hooked up to a sound system that supports iPods but also plays CDs, excellent comfy seating near the windows, and vending machines (in the only area of the library where food is allowed). And the red-dyed wood for the shelves is *gorgeous*.

Next time I’m in Minneapolis, I’ll spend *way* more time at the library ;). Thank you so much to Meg and all of the staff at the Hennepin County Libraries for your hospitality!

My wife is a public-sector (ie. government) change management consultant for a little company called IBM, so this is a topic I know a little bit about, and I was interested to hear how people went about it in the public library world. A lot of what I heard was pretty basic stuff about empowerment, encouraging risk-taking, removing the fear of failure, and soforth. Nothing that amazing, although there were two little bits I thought I’d share.

The Director of the St. Louis system emphasized the need to give people the tools and chance to be a part of the change, but then if they didn’t buy into it, the necessity to get rid of them. That’s a huge problem in my own system, where unionization makes it very difficult to get rid of the “dead wood.” I guess the solution is that managers and administrators have to be willing to face the hassle of documentation and endless procedure required to dismiss unionized staff.

The other thing I liked was the idea that if you raise a problem or an issue in your branch or system, you should also offer three solutions at the same time. This isn’t to say that one of your solutions will be used, but demonstrate that you’re thinking about the complete cycle of change needed, rather than just pointing out a problem for someone else to solve.

So that’s it. My conference is done. I’m using the last little bit to blog then I’m off to dim sum with friends — no Paula Poundstone for me!

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions/comments that fall outside the realm of this forum, feel free to email me at !

– Tony

            Home for a while – Using Literature to Understand foster Teens

The literature covers the three themes of Guilt, where kids feel responsible and have remorse; Impermanence, due to lack of a permanent home; and Resilience. The good news was that kids find wells of resourcefulness from within, due to experience making them grow up beyond their years. We as librarians can make available the materials written about their experiences, then they do not need to feel so alone. Books written about and by foster kids can inspire us to develop services that will make their lives better.             Navigating the Labyrinth: Explorations in Service with Foster TeensLibrarians can be of service to both the teens and the adults who help them. We need to develop a policy and also lines of communication with agencies and the teens themselves. We can offer life skills information, opportunities to volunteer but mainly a welcoming, safe place to be.             Seeking Their Voices: Explorations in Service to Foster TeensLibrarians need to get involved, establish community connections, offer the services libraries are so good at. Make a special effort to welcome all kids. Give out your business card to establish personal contact. Give a fresh start by clearing fines. Show how to look for jobs, write a resume, and prepare for an interview. Look up the 10 Steps to begin Outreach to foster youth and organizations available on the PLA website.  I made new friends waiting for something to drink between sessions and went with them to Superhero or Serial Killer: Librarians in Literature.You really had to be there - we had to stifle much of our laughter not to miss the next hilarious comment! We all agreed it is better to be a librarian now than in earlier times when several were killed through horrible means. Librarians certainly come from all walks of life – at least in literature! I am already missing the energy of PLA and hope I will be back to make more connections in 2010.

Thank you to everyone who attended for being so nice and polite and friendly to me!  And thank you to all the presenters for making my eyes sparkle with possibilities.

Thank you, John Wood, for showing us how simple it can be to make a difference.

Thank you, Nancy Pearl, for being my rock star and being so gracious about my giddiness.

Thank you, Sarah Weeks, Brian Selznick, Avi, and Pam Muñoz Ryan, for a phenomenal preformance.  I could watch your Reader’s Theatre every day.

Thank you, Paula Poundstone, for making me laugh until I had to leave the room or make a mess on my chair.  Thank you, also, for making me the envy of pretty much everyone I know.  Because I got to see Paula Poundstone and they didn’t.

Thank you to everyone who smiled at my exuberance and told me that my excitement was infectious.

Thank you for reading this blog.

And most importantly, thank you all for being librarians.  I’ve never known a nicer people!

Me and Nancy Pearl

Originally uploaded by Small Fox in a Big World

Friday was my day. I won an unbelievably good prize at the exhibits and I arrived to the Nancy Pearl Young Adult Luncheon an hour early and therefor got to hang out with Nancy Pearl herself for about 45 minutes. It was probably the most “star struck” I’ve ever been. I’d be surprised if she didn’t think I was a complete idiot, but come on! It’s Nancy Pearl. She’s probably used to inciting idiocy, especially around librarians. She’s pretty much a rock star. At least in my book.

I had never heard Nancy speak before, but I just had a feeling I was in for a treat. She prefaced her talk by warning us that she is uncomfortable with crowds and public speaking. I say, if that’s true, the woman deserves an Oscar. She was eloquent and funny and gracious and sweet and kind and I don’t mean to keep fawning over her, but it’s pretty hard to do anything else without lying.

I’ll conclude with a few little nuggets that I thought were especially grand:

• “[Librarianship] is an opportunity to do good in this world.”
• Carnegie libraries have stairs because he believed you must ascend to knowledge. (I particularly liked this bit, because I work at a Carnegie library.)
• “In this world, we are given one life; but through books and reading, we can have any number of lives.”
• “Validate what kids read and be genuinely interested in what they choose to read.”

Nancy Pearl made my PLA!