In that vein, I am going to present to you a summary of their top ten benefits of tough economic times in reverse order;

10. Refresh Your Organization- This is the opportunity to look at the positions in your organization to see if the needs can be met through making positions more diversified or by changing the roles and services provided by the positions. You should be asking yourself if there is a need for the position, how else it can be filled, what else can be done? How much of the work is really relevant and how much is just filler? Its important to make the positions more fulfilling and satisfying by utilizing the talent that the employees.

9. Developing Staff Skills – Tough times can give libraries the opportunity to learn and grow from each other. Instead of paying for coaches and consultants, you can utilize the knowledge of your staff to train other staff members. Its important to allow staff to cross train other staff in a various roles and positions to give them the opportunity to grow and help people on multiple levels. Allowing staff to work together to teach each other can also help staff work more effective in teams, improve moral, or to work more collaboratively.

8. Make New Friends- In the good times, all these good friends existed out there but we weren’t talking to them. Now, in the hard times, we need to renew these friendships and make new friends. It’s important that you rely on local organizations and that you encourage them to rely on you for the resources that both can share. For example, the library can supply the community space for a food or hunger organization and the organization can provide the program.

7. Finally Write That Grant – Get someone who has an affinity for writing, has attention to detail, and most importantly has an interest in writing a grant. It would be helpful to get someone on your staff to help review state and federal grants so that they get trained (for free) about the grant writing process. You can also utilize volunteers who are looking to keep their work experience solid while they are unemployed to write grants.

6. Say It Better (Improve Communications) – good old fashion face-to-face communication. These times we have gone through have created so much fear and libraries are relearning the importance of communicating effectively to staff. Simple things, like leaving your door open, can help staff change their perception of you.

5. Kill Mission Creep – The most important skill a manager has is to demonstrate confidence with a clear message and knowing what they want. You want staff to get behind your initiatives and know where the library is headed. It’s important to revisit the strategic plan to make sure that all staff is working towards the same goals. Bad things start to happen if the only thing your working towards is keeping the doors open. Figure out what is it you really want to do and do it really well instead of trying to do to many things part way. In order to accomplish this, you should figure out how to say no to things that lie outside of goals of the strategic plan.

4. Enjoy Spring Cleaning (Leaner Facilities) – There is a lot you can do to fix up and change your facility for little to no money. Take this opportunity to clean out and throw away what you don’t need and to create a leaner space. Remember the adage, there is a place for everything and everything in its place and having too much “stuff” around the building leads to less efficiency. Explain the why’s of why a leaner space is a better space. For example, decrease the number of flyers on the desks and teach staff to be better salesman with face-to-face interactions.

3. Weed’em and Reep – Many libraries are weeding significant portions of their non-fiction collections to make room for more computers and chairs or other resources that patrons may need at a higher level. Perform a turnover analysis on all of your collections and anything that is low should be considered for downsizing.

2. Meet New Needs and Create New Users – Its important to have fun and change with the needs of the community to gain a new set of users. If people had an experience that is relevant to their lives, its more likely that they will vote in favor of the library when it comes time to go to the taxpayers for funding. We have created many rules to preclude patrons from using the facilities and we should be starting to change to more welcoming spaces.

1. Adjust Your Attitude – A fish stinks from the head down. Managers and leaders who are up against the challenges of the economic downturn and are negative will not inspire staff to rise above the challenges to solve the problems. By solving the problems from a positive space the manager creates a sense of team and comradely. Even if you’re not in a leadership position its possible to lead through your attitude towards staff and situations.

Said Orr, “the world doesn’t care about our excuses.  If you can work through your procedures and get your turnaround time down, you can work just-in-time instead of just-in-case.”  She encouraged technical service managers and staff alike to be proactive about acquisitions – to know what is going to be popular BEFORE it is published, get records for titles into the catalog in advance of publication so patrons can place holds on it, ordering sufficient copies to meet anticipated demand, and get new titles on the shelves on the ‘street date’, when it is first available in bookstores and Amazon.    This approach, she says, ‘makes public services staff look like geniuses.  When a patron asks about a soon to be published title, even if the reference staff has never heard of it, it comes up in the catalog and delights the patron.

Other tips from Orr and Ensor:

- have your vendor deliver records for titles you’ve ordered with street dates in them, rather than simply the year of publication (patrons will know when to expect it to be available)

-have the records in the catalog pre-publication

- have policies that maintain holds as long as necessary  (do your holds policies support holds placed today for a title with a street date of November, 2010?)

- think through the whole process, not just your part of it (Tech Services needs to be creative and  involved in marketing and display of new titles)

- have good selectors that will identify what will be hot and get it ordered

According to Orr and Ensor, assuring new titles are on the shelf when patrons are looking for them will put Tech Services back in a key, central position in the library.  Session handouts include a great checklist of questions to ask as you evaluate your technical services work flows.

Nancy Pearl presents “Book Buzz”
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 10:30am – noon
Join Nancy Pearl and assorted friends from the world of publishing as they talk about some of the best upcoming books. Pearl recommends books regularly on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” as well as local public radio stations in Milwaukee, Seattle, and Tulsa. Her books include Book Crush: For Kids and Teens: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest and Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason. This session is open to all registered conference attendees.

Nicholas D. Kristof to Keynote PLA Conference Opening Session
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
For over twenty years, New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Nicholas D. Kristof has been at the forefront of world issues, from his coverage of the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square to his recent reportage of the genocide in Darfur. His recent book (which he co-wrote with wife Sheryl WuDunn) Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide charts the oppression of women in developing countries and serves as a call to action to combat these issues. This session is open to all registered conference attendees.

Thursday’s Adult Author Luncheon to feature Scott Turow
Thursday, March 25, 2010 Noon – 1:45 p.m.
Scott Turow made a huge splash in the book world with his debut novel Presumed Innocent and has continued his streak of acclaimed best-selling books ever since. He has won a number of literary awards, including the Heartland Prize in 2003 for Reversible Errors and Time Magazine’s Best Work of Fiction 1999 for Personal Injuries. His latest novel, Innocent, will be published in Mary 2010. This event requires an additional fee.

Thursday’s Young Adult Author Luncheon to feature Virginia Euwer Wolff
Thursday, March 25, 2010 Noon – 1:45 p.m.
Virginia Euwer Wolff has made an indelible impression on the YA landscape over the past twenty years, all the more notable considering she spent the first half of her career as an English teacher. Her books include the Make Lemonade trilogy, Bat 6, Probably Still Nick Swansen, and The Mozart Season. Each of her books has been named either an ALA Notable Book or ALA Best Book, and she received the National Book Award for True Believer. This event requires an additional fee.

Audio Publisher’s Dinner
Thursday, March 25th, 2010 6 – 8:30 p.m.
Some of the best mystery authors writing today will converge at the Audio Publisher’s Dinner. This year’s speakers include Chelsea Cain, who has gained prominence with her Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell series; Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Milhone mysteries; Tony Award-winning actress Judy Kaye, who voices Kinsey Milhone on the audiobooks; and Marcia Muller, recently named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. This event requires an additional fee.

Friday’s Adult Author Luncheon to feature Luis Urrea
Friday, March 26, 2010 Noon – 1:45 p.m.
Author, poet, and essayist Luis Alberto Urrea was a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist and was recently inducted into the Latino Literature Hall of Fame. Powerful and evocative, Urrea’s writing has concentrated largely on the Tijuana border culture and sheds light on a too-often forgotten people. He has written eleven books including The Devil’s Highway, The Hummingbird’s Daughter (based on the life of his great-aunt Teresita, often labeled “The Mexican Joan of Arc”), and, most recently, Into the Beautiful North. This event requires an additional fee.

Children’s Author Luncheon to feature Kadir Nelson
Friday, March 26, 2010 Noon – 1:45 p.m.
Kadir Nelson began his career as an award-winning illustrator of many children’s books, including Thunder Rose and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. His authorial debut, We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, was a New York Times bestseller and won the Sibert Medal among many other awards. He has recently created a book called Change Has Come: An Artist Celebrates Our American Spirit about the historic election of Barack Obama. This event requires an additional fee.

Sarah Vowell to Keynote Closing Session
Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Sarah Vowell is the author of four bestselling books and has been a contributing editor for NPR’s “This American Life” since 1996. Vowell’s Assassination Vacation is a hilarious and haunting road trip to tourist sites devoted to the murders of presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Her latest book, The Wordy Shipmates, a history of American Puritans, was published in 2008 and she is currently at work on a history of 19th century Hawaii. This session is open to all registered conference attendees.

Offered biennially, the PLA National Conference is the premier event for public libraries, drawing librarians, library support staff, trustees, Friends and library vendors from across the country and around the world. The conference includes nearly 200 top-quality continuing education programs, preconferences and talk tables, plus several social events and networking opportunities and a bustling exhibits hall. PLA 2010, the PLA 13th National Conference, will be held March 23-27 in Portland.

For more information about PLA 2008, visit the National Conference Web site, www.placonference.org. For more information about other PLA events and programs, contact the PLA office at or 800-545-2433, ext. 5PLA, or visit PLA’s Web site at www.pla.org.

Lucky for me, I was speaking with these folks:

A great presentation from Monica Harris and Mandy McGee from Oak Park Library (IL).  I’ve spoken of their awesomeness before on this blog, but do check out their innovative programming for 20 & 30-somethings.  Word is they’ll be presenting at the ALA Annual Meeting in Chicago as well….

After a swell lunch with Michael Spelman and Christine Schonhart of Boston Public Library (down in Brooklyn we call that the other BPL), I dropped in on the technology trends discussion where I wisely kept quiet about the New York Yankees.  For me, there were two stars of that group. The first was Scott Colford (Web Services, Boston PL), who shared some interesting tools: Prezi as a presentation tool that totally smokes the widely-hated Powerpoint, and Bumptop as a 3d desktop space (if you are on a PC).  Also great was Bonnie Pierce of the Dover Town Library.  Bonnie is a champion of QR codes and other 2d barcode systems, and she clearly sees the opportunites associated with linking objects and physical spaces with information and virtual spaces.  Check out her site. Expect to keep hearing about this technology- Bonnie has something exciting brewing in Dover, and I’ve got a QR code project in the works down in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Finally, here’s another futurist gem for you.  I got home a few hours ago, still sort of buzzing from the interesting HCI stuff that Scott and Bonnie got me thinking about, and stumbled into this video of an electrostatic gestural interface found via Create Digital Motion which was in turn found via Kicker Studio.  Enjoy.  Thank you to all of the kind people at the Massachusetts Library Association.

3D Computer Interface from Free Flow on Vimeo.

Presented by PLA and 3M, a PLA partner, the Leadership Institute is a daylong preconference focused on developing leaders and encouraging change within the library profession. Participants will learn how to set a strategy for change, how to handle various challenges and what innovations will best implement, drive and define change. The preconference will be held on Tuesday, March 25, preceding PLA 2008, PLA’s 12th National Conference in Minneapolis.

Registration is limited for this free event. Submit your application today to have the best chance of being selected for this special opportunity from PLA.

Costs to attend the Leadership Institute are covered by 3M, including registration fees for the day, conference supplies, transportation from the Minneapolis Convention Center to 3M’s “Innovation Center,” lunch, snacks, and an evening reception. PLA 2008 registration costs and travel expenses, such as airfare and hotel rooms, will not be covered by 3M and are the responsibility of the participant.

A limited number of participants will be selected to attend the Leadership Institute. Applicants must be PLA members registered for the 2008 National Conference, and have at least five years of experience at a supervisory and decision-making level within their organization. Participants must submit a 250-words-or-less essay on a substantial change to be made, their role as change agent, and the effect that this change would produce for their library. An online application form is available at www.pla.org.

The deadline for applications is November 1, 2007. Candidates will be selected by PLA leadership and are not the responsibility of the sponsors 3M. Applicants will be notified by the end of November. For more information on PLA 2008, visit www.placonference.org.

Friday
I arrived at the ALA Annual Conference on Friday afternoon. After checking in, getting my badge holder, and bag of conference materials, I sat down and became acquainted with the materials and where all of my events were going to be located. As this was my first time going to events other than just visiting the exhibits, I decided that going to the Conference 101 sponsered by ALA NMRT at 4:00 pm that evening was a very good idea. I was glad I did. It was very informative and gave me much information that has been helpful as far as navigating not only the conference events, but also the materials given at check-in. From this I also noticed in my program guide that my alma mater, University of South Florida, had a booth at the exhibits and was going to be at the Library School Reunion Event on Sunday evening. One more fun activity to go to and to hopefully see some old professors and classmates. From there I went home, since I live locally, and got myself prepared for my exciting first full day.

Saturday
Saturday I arraived bright and early to the Convention Center at around 8:30 am. I had my rolling bag with me so I was all prepared for going through the exhibits. I moved my way over to the The Stacks area and waited for the exhibits to open up at 9 am. I wondered up and down each row looking through all the different booths of interesting products to buy, both personal and for libraries. Even after wandering around until 12:30 pm, I still hadn’t seen everything there was to see. So loaded down with my goodies, I went to my next program I wanted to attend during the conference. At 1:30 pm I attended the Electronic Databases: Training that Works presented by RUSA MARS/RSS over in one of the conference rooms at the Grand Hyatt. It was a very easy walk on such a beautiful day. At this program I saw Marty Onieal, Margaret Mohundro, and Michelle Y. Roubal each present ways that their library systems went about training their staff on different databases that their systems had available. I came out of there with many ideas to take back to my library to help with training our staff on the different databases that we have available. When it was completed I returned to The Stacks to try and look at the booths I didn’t manage to see before the program I attended. So all in all it has been a good conference so far and I am looking very forward to another full day on Sunday.

I spent most of Friday at Webjunction’s Rural Libraries Sustainability Forum at the Embassy.  I am one of the lucky 185+ librarians from around the U.S. who won an all-expense paid trip to ALA 2007, compliments of Webjunction and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is no way I, or my small library, could afford to pay for this trip without Webjunction’s support. This is true of the four other Wisconsin librarians who joined me at yesterday’s forum. 

I have long been impressed with and inspired by the whole Webjunction concept. Their website is full of resources on a large variety of topics, including fundraising, library advocacy, marketing, and technology. I’ve gone to download curriculum materials when designing computer instruction courses for my patrons. I’ve gone to the discussion boards for advice on solving a particular problem. And sometimes I go to rant about someone or something (stress on the job, tight purse strings on the part of public officials, etc.) with folks who, I know, are in similar situations and will understand my frustrations. 

As was made clear when we all introduced ourselves at the forum, sometimes small-town librarians are working in very isolated situations. We are often the sole voice in our communities advocating for libraries in the wilderness of municipal politics and tightening belts.

You couldn’t listen to all the stories about the creative and resourceful ways librarians are surviving, and even thriving, in these tough budgetary times and not be inspired. They are making a genuine difference in their communities.  I am always so darn proud of my profession when I attend things like this.

I’m attaching some photos from the Webjunction forum, as well as from last evening’s premiere of The Hollywood Librarian. What a treat that was! What an absolutely wonderful film!  Director Ann Seidl spent years raising the funds and building support for this project; she is clearly passionate about this project, which features librarians working in a variety of situations – from prisons to school media centers – and juxtaposing them with the myriad of librarian images, both good and bad, in American film.

For me the most moving segments of the film were the interviews with librarians and patrons in Salinas, California, where a financial crisis temporarily closed down three community libraries.

I’ll have much to to say about this inspirational documentary, but for now I just wanted to share some of the images I’ve been able to gather so far.  

Free wifi is also available at all of the District of Columbia Public Library branches.

Tonight I attended the NMRT Meet & Greet. I am the Leadership Director with NMRT, and it’s a great roundtable for all new librarians (besides PLA, of course!). The 3M/NMRT Social is Sunday night, and I invite any librarians (or library school students) to come and see what NMRT is all about!