eReaders; SLP School Visits; Snow Day storytime kit

News &; Views, December  2010  (mp3 file;  5.2 MB; 5:32 min.)
eReaders; SLP School Visits; Snowy Day storytime Kit



‘Tis the season for giving eReaders, it would seem.   I’ve been getting lots of questions about ereaders, both in relation to WILBOR, and outside that context.   More eReader devices are popping up in the market every day, and we know you’re getting questions from your patrons.  You don’t necessarily want to be recommending any particular device, because it is very much a personal choice, but you will want to be prepared to provide them with information to help them choose--or even to just know the questions they need to be asking as they’re looking at devices.

One of my favorite sources for helping people to choose is a post on the Dear Reader blog, which asks the question, “What eReader should I buy?”   While the post pre-dates some of the eReaders that are now on the market, I think its approach to looking at eReaders is a good one:  what do you want to do with it, what things are going to be most important to you.  If you want to do be able to do this, take a look at these eReaders....It helps people to think about what they need to asking about, and looking for in various eReaders.

I also have a wiki on which I’ve posted some information about the ereaders that I own; for each I’ve included some specs about the device, such as weight, size, special features.   I’ve also included some purely subjective observations about what I like and what I don’t like.  They’re often personal things--something I find important may not matter to another person, and what I find annoying may not bother the next person.  

So, providing information about eReader devices is just like providing any other consumer information--we can help them form the questions and find information so they can make choices.

And, don’t forget that I’ll bring the Gadget Zoo to your library (or county meeting) to give you some hands-on experience with various devices.  Just give me a call or drop me an e-mail and we’ll set up a date in the New Year!

Links from today's podcast:

• eReaders, eTc wiki
• Dear Jane::  Which Reader Should I Buy?  (Dear Author blog post)
• Katie's Delicious bookmarks about eReaders
• E-reader Reviews.com    For a list of some of the ereaders on the market
• Books to help plan SLP school visits for "One World, Many Stories:"     
     Shake-it-up tales, by Margaret Read mcDonald
     Len Cabral's storytelling book    
      More ready-to-read tales from around the world
• Early Childhood Literacy storytime kits page

E-services; Superior Performance; Thanksgiving ECL kit

News & Views, November  2010  (mp3 file;  4.5 MB; 4:47 min.)
E-services; Superior Performance; Thanksgiving ECL Kit

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk lately about the demise of libraries, in light of increasing availability and use of ebooks, online databases and other electronic resources.  Now, we all know that libraries are about much more than the resources inside our walls and most of our patrons who use the library know that, too.     but, as we add more and more “e” to our resources we want to think about how we might also add “e” to our services--the services we’ve always provided, but now have the opportunity to provide  for electronic resources and in electronic delivery methods.


Promotion of the e-resources is key.  Most of you provide EBSCOhost for your patrons, but how many of them know about it?  When people ask for information, you can suggest EBSCOhost and perhaps even show them as you do a search on their topic.  If you do a newspaper column or newsletter, you could do an article on it, including some examples of relevant topics--consumer reports on snow blowers, or holiday recipes, or financial planning, or whatever.


You do reader’s advisory all the time, when people ask you for a suggestion for a good book--or, you just know that Mary will like a new title that just arrived.  You can do that for audiobooks and ebooks, too.   If you write reviews in a newspaper column or newsletter or blog, try throwing in a review of an audiobook or ebook, too.   If you have a list of new books, include a list of the new audiobooks  (and soon, ebooks) on WILBOR.   And if you’re helping someone find a good book, consider not just read-alikes for him, but also listen-alikes and view-alikes--and readalikes in electronic format.


So, don’t forget the “e” when you’re delivering services--you’ve worked hard to get those services for your patrons, let’s help them to use them!

References in today's podcast:

Greenberg, Gary.  "The war on unhappiness: goodbye, Freud, hello positive thinking,"  Harper's Magazine, September 2010, p. 27-32.


K. Anders Ericsson is the author of The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance and other works.

Serving Families, Dialogic Reading, "Mmm Good Food" ECL Kit

News & Views, October  2010  (mp3 file;  4.5 MB; 4:47 min.)
Serving Families; Dialogic Reading; "Mmm Good Food" ECL Kit


One of the things you noted in our discussions at ‘The Future and Your Library” is that families are changing and that, especially, they are becoming busier.  In the continued discussion online last week we talked about some things you might do in order to better serve those families, and the individuals in them.  Here are a few ideas:

For those students who come to the library after school because their parents aren’t home, consider providing programming for them:  start a mentoring program with other community agencies, talk with the school and teachers about providing homework help (or subscribe to a homework help service), think about changing your program hours so they coincide with when you have kids already at the library.

Take programs out to where the kids and families already are.  If parents and siblings are sitting at ball practice, take some books and programs out to the ball field, or to the swimming pool.

Review your hours. Are you open, and offering programs, at times that are convenient for the families in your community?  Are you offering family programs, in a family-friendly environment?

Families have many activities to attend; instead of trying to “compete” with them, join them--collaborate with other agencies to provide joint programming. “Sit at the table” when events are being planned and make sure the library is included.

If you have programs for kids and teens, do you also have programs for parents and grandparents?    What support do you have for self-directed and lifelong learners?

Those are some ideas to think about, but you know what will work in your community--talk to families, think outside the norm, and try something new to serve families, of all kinds.

Links from today's podcast:
Dialogic Reading:  Hear and Say Reading flyers

The Future; 2011Summer Library Program preview; "The Big Turnip"

News & Views, September  2010  (mp3 file;  4.79 MB; 5:06 min.)
The Future; 2011 Summer Library Program Preview; "The Big Turnip"



At subcenter meetings last month our discussion focused on the the future and how libraries can continue to provide good service to patrons during the changes we’re seeing now and into the future.  We noted that people are increasingly mobile--in more ways than one; that information and resources are more digital, that the concept of “community” is changing, that families are changing (and they’re busier than ever!)   We discussed the impact on libraries, and ways that we can begin to meet the challenges of these changes.

The changes and the future will require us to continue being good stewards of the money appropriated and granted for providing services, and finding ways to make that money stretch even further.  Staff will need to be ready, informed and skilled to make good use of the technologies that will be available, and that means time to keep up and to learn new things and skills.  It will require us to keep listening to, and learning about, our communities--in the many ways that “community” is now being defined--so we can develop our services around their needs.  It will require us to communicate in new, as well as traditional ways, and to balance our services between traditional and new.  

We’re going to continue the conversation, especially about things we can do, large and small, to meet the challenges of the present and future, in an online session on September 30 at 9:00 in the SWILSA classroom  Please plan to join us, and add your voice to the discussion and ideas.

 

eBooks, eTc.; Dinosaurs Storytime Kit

News & Views, August  2010  (mp3 file;  4 MB; 4:17 min.)
eBooks, eTc.;  Dinosaurs Storytime Kit



The library and publishing worlds are all abuzz about eBooks.  I’m hearing questions from librarians who have questions themselves, or are getting questions from patrons.  What eReader should I buy?  Where can I get eBooks?  Should libraries loan eReaders?

We discussed all of that in an online class last month and librarians from all sizes and types of libraries attended.  With many small libraries in Iowa, naturally the question of resources comes up.  How can a small library with a limited budget hope to provide this new service to its patrons? (For that matter, how can a large library with limited resources offer this service?)

I think there are at least two ways that a library of any size can help its patrons.

First, be familiar with resources that can help them make decisions about which eReader they might want to buy.  Even among the most popular 3 or 4 there are enough differences that what is perfect for one person won’t work for another person as well.  Check the blog for some links to resources.  And become familiar yourself with the factors that they will want to look at--you don’t even have to be absolutely current with the features of all the readers, just be able to suggest that they might want to consider font sizes available, or the quality of the display, or if they want 3G or wi fi access to download books.  If they want to download books from NEIBORS or WILBOR or netLibrary then some eReaders will work and some will not.

Secondly, if patrons are looking for freely available books to download and the library can’t afford a subscription to an ebook service such as Overdrive or netLibrary, consider joining WILBOR consortium, which will soon be offering eBooks as well as audiobooks.  If that is still beyond your library’s resources at the moment, there are many sites that offer free ebooks to download.  Many of them are classics that are in the public domain, but publishers and authors are now beginning to offer new titles in digital format, and for free.  (Yes, often they are doing it to get you hooked on a new series, but a free eBook is a free eBook!)  You could keep a list of those sites and providers for your patrons who have eReaders or want to read books on their computers.

There are currently debates about many things about eBooks and ePublshing and libraries and I’ll leave those debates to a different venues.  Ebooks are in libraries, and patrons are reading them in increasing numbers.  They are yet another format and service that we can offer them.  If you’d like to join the mail list of Iowa librarians learning about and discussing eBooks in libraries, join the ebooks mail list!

Links from Today's Podcast:

• Archive/Recording of eBooks class
• Resources on eBooks, ePublshing, eReaders (on the LSA U class resources page)
  

Customer Service; "Slow Reading"

News & Views, July  2010  (mp3 file;  6.8 MB; 7:15 min.)
Return to Customer Service; "Slow Reading"


You probably have noticed, as have I, that there are some weeks when you have many experiences of both very good and very bad customer service.  I--and the rest of my family--had just such a week when we traveled from various places around to the country to celebrate Dad’s 90th birthday.  I won’t go into all the details of all the experiences--there were some humdingers--but I found that I learned a lot from both kinds of experiences.    Because I’m very interested in customer service (and recognize that I always need work on myself to improve it) I pay close attention to it, both good and bad.   I observe 3 things:  what service situation or occasion caused the experience (either good or bad), how did the service provider respond to the customer’s experience and reaction, and how did the customer--and “innocent bystanders”-- react to that response (because customer service seldom occurs in a vacuum!)  

it’s usually pretty easy to find an analogous situation or cause in a library.  If the experience was not good, what might the provider have done to prevent the bad experience in the first place?  Are there similar kinds of things in my library that are unclear, or unfair, or annoying, or stupid--and what might I do to change that before any bad experiences arise?     If the experience was good, again, what are some of those same kinds of things that I might apply in my library to create good experiences from the beginning.

How the provider responds to a customer’s experience is key, of course, and is the focus of much of the customer service training we see.  There’s no need to try to recreate all of that here, but I have learned so much from just watching responses and thinking about how I would have responded, how the provider might have responded better (unless it was really good--and I have plenty of instances of amazingly good responses), and learning from the experience, tucking away phrases or approaches or attitude that made the situation better.  (Conversely, if it’s a bad response you can tuck away notes to self to NOT do that.)   How did you *feel” when the provider responded.  Everyone wants to feel important and heard; I try to listen and watch for what brings that to people in those situations.   For example, during our trip we heard everything from “Sorry.  Good luck with that” sort of response from a car rental company to a perfectly splended 3 hour display of courtesy, calm and caring during a 3 hour, well, siege is about the only way I can describe it, by an airline agent trying to manage a mess of flight delays and cancellations.

During that week I was particularly attuned to how the people around the customer service activities responded to what was happening to someone else.  We are pretty good at recognizing the importance of the customer service with the person directly involved but, particularly in a public place such as a library, much of customer service is done with an audience.   And that audience is paying attention, so what we do is every bit as telling to the bystanders as it is to the person directly involved.  I watched people trying to get flights changed calm down as the agent dealt with each calmly, kept everyone informed, and worked with a smile.  I heard the auto club service responder become incensed along with me when I explained why we were calling them instead of the car rental agency--and you can bet that that person won’t be renting from that agency in her lifetime.   I intervened on behalf of a stranger when I was standing in line in a store, when the response to an issue was not at all acceptable (and I knew not in keeping with that company’s customer service policy).

Now this is not  to say, by any stretch of the imagination, that I’m the greatest customer service person around--quite the opposite, in fact.  All of these experiences that I observe, or am a part of, are constant reminders to me of the importance of customer service, and learning experiences as I watch masters of customer service, and tuck away those things I learn to help me get better.  Real life experiences and observations are good teachers--I have little mini-workshops around me all the time!

I know you all are much better at customer service than I, and observe it around you all day.  What can you share about providing excellent customer service?  What really excellent customer service experience have you observed recently?

References in Today's Podcast:

• "The case for slow reading," by Thomas Newkirk. Education Leadership, March 2010.
• "Reading in a whole new way" by Kevin Kelly. Smithsonian, August 2010.
  Online:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/40th-anniversary/Reading-in-a-Whole-New-Way.html

Technology; "Just Ducky"

News & Views, May  2010  (mp3 file;  3.4 MB; 3:37 min.)
Technology Projects; "Just Ducky"


We continue to have questions about technology from all of you, and in response to a couple of questions, especially, that have come up frequently we have begun a couple of projects.

First, as I was out and about visiting libraries this week several librarians asked me about technology they could be considering for their libraries.  You and your boards are thinking about how to keep the library in the technology game in order to be able to anticipate and meet your patron's technology questions and needs--good for you!   Katie from Southeastern Library Services and I have been putting together a list of things that you might consider for your wish list.  You likely won't want all of them at this point, but it's a starting point for your consideration and your prioritizing.  You can find it at www.swilsa.lib.ia.us/techwishlist.htm

Secondly, several of you have talked with me about self-paced learning for yourselves and for your staff, and particularly in the area of technology.  While many of you attend workshops and webinars we know that sometimes you need to be able to time and pace your learning to your own schedule.  The question began to come in just as WebJunction was finalizing their "Competencies Index," which included technology competencies.  Starting with those competencies, and adding a few suggested by Andrew in Clarinda, we are building a wiki with links to resources to help learn about, and acquire competency, in 6 general technology areas:  e-mail, application software, hardware, operating systems, Internet and social media.

  Each section will include a pre-evaluation to help you assess the specific competencies on which you might want to focus, and a post-evaluation to help you "test" what you've learned.   The e-mail section is nearing completion, though I don't expect any of them will ever be complete as we find more resources and update the links.   We invite you take a look at the wiki, try out some of the links, and give us your suggestions.  You can find the wiki at:
librarytechcomps.pbworks.com

Links from Today's Podcast:
Library Technology Wish List
Library Technology Competencies
Early Childhood Literacy website

The Usable Library;

News & Views, May  2010  (mp3 file;  5.1 MB; 5:23 min.)
The Usable Library; Storytimes for SLP; Rainy Days Storytime Kit

When I was doing a quick scan of blogs and twitter feeds  a couple of weeks ago--one of my primary means of keeping up with what's going on in libraries--I found reference to a site called 'Usable Libraries."  It's a very simple site, but not simplistic--it just cuts to the heart of the matter.  The site includes an 8-1/2" x 11" poster to download and print, and the poster is right next to my computer where I see it all day, every day.  Its message isn't a new concept, it isn't one that we need to be convinced is good and right.  It's just a frequent reminder to me:  "Every decision we make affects how people experience the library.  Let's make sure we're creating improvements."

It's not that I haven't always tried to create improvements, it's not that I don't know that what we do here at SWILSA affects how you all experience the LSA, it's just that it's good to have that continuous reminder, always in the periphery of my vision--EVERY decision we make affects it.  And it's the same for you--I know that you try to create improvements (I see that they're happening!) and you know that what you do affects your users.   Somehow, thinking of it in terms of every decision helps to bring me always back to baseline, bottom line.  A decision might be something fairly large, such as planning a new program or service, or as basic as whether to take a few seconds to shift focus from what I was doing to smiling as I pick up the phone.

"Experience" is an essential part of this simple, powerful reminder--people don't just come to the library, or just use the library, they experience it.  We have a great deal of influence over HOW they experience, and that can seem overwhelming if you always see it through the lens of everything that goes into that experience.  There is a time for that macro view but there is also a time; rather, there are LOTS of times for the micro view: every decision.  If we make all those decisions, even the smallest ones, with improvements and a good user experience in mind, they will add up to the best experience the library can offer to people.

If you would like a copy of the poster for your library you can find it at usablelibrary.com   I would love to see at least one poster in every library. Use it as a reminder that we're here to create improvements, but also as a reminder to yourself at the end of the day that you HAVE created improvements--and give yourself (and any staff you might be fortunate enought to have) a "well done!"

Links from today's podcast:
The Usable Library
SWILSA Youth Services Page

Learning Communities: SLP Ideas; Mother Nature ECL Kit

News & Views, April  2010  (mp3 file; 5.1 MB; 5:27 min.)
Learning Communities;SLP Ideas; Mother Nature ECL Kit

I was privileged to be part of a presentation on webconferencing at the Public LIbrary Association conference a couple of weeks ago, and to hear what my co-presenters had to say about what they're doing in their states and organizations. Cindi Hickey, from the Kansas State Library, told us about several "cohort" groups of librarians getting together to attend virtual classes (or view the archives) and then discuss, both in person and online.   And that started me thinking....a few years ago we tried a pilot program in which we helped librarians develop ILPs, or individualized learning plans.   It wasn't a huge success but the idea still seemed viable.  Now, with much more technology and many more tools available, an amalgam of several forms of learning and collaboration is an idea with some potential, I think, especially in bringing together librarians who are geographically isolated from colleagues, or even those who are next door.   They would be "communities of learning," or perhaps "communities of practice," or both.

You, the librarians, would come together based on common interest or need--we want to raise money for a building project, or we want to work on marketing, or we want to explore social media and the library.  SWILSA would facilitate in any way we  could, or you needed us to--identifying librarians with a particular interest, bringing them together in a classroom or in person, helping you to find resources, setting up ways to share information and ideas--whatever you need, in whatever creative ways we can imagine.

I hope many of you will find this an intriguing possibility for sharing with your colleagues, helping each to learn what you need to learn, and getting whatever support and assistance SWILSA can give you.  You'll be hearing from us soon as we begin to build these learning communities.


Links from today's podcast:
SWILSA's SLP 2010 Ideas
SLP 2010 Bulletin Board

Connecting with Facebook; new early literacy materials; Napping House apron kit

News & Views, March  2010  (mp3 file; 5.1 MB; 5:27 min.)
Connecting with Facebook; new early literacy materials; Napping House apron kit


As I've been working with libraries to set up connections with their community through Facebook pages I've been watching the posts that libraries make, and how patron fans respond to various posts.   I wanted to share some of those observations with you, and invite you to participate in the conversation about that: what sort of posts seem more useful, or seem to best engage your fans?

Posts seem to fall into 3 general types:
first, pushing out information, such as upcoming programs or new books;
second, inviting input about library operations or policy; and
third, inviting fans to share their own likes, interests, or opinions.

None of these is any better than the other; they each serve a purpose.  Which you use, and how often, will depend on the purpose of your Facebook page.  Facebook's 'Insights" will give you some measures that they think will help you to determine post quality but those numbers are based on interactions on the page, notably comments made on posts.   Those numbers can be useful if you're aware of how they are derived, and keep that in mind when evaluating the success of your Facebook presence.

Most libraries push information, which I think fans find useful, but they also create posts that invite fans to participate in conversation--connecting with the library and with each other in the virtual world, and in a way that is more informal and conversational than a website.  It's another face for the library, showing that the library is a friendly place, and that it cares about what its users are thinking and doing, and wanting to "meet them where they're at," and all three types of posts contribute to that.

Each week I send to our libraries on Facebook a reminder to post to their page, and give them an idea for a post.  It's interesting to follow many Iowa libraries to see what they post, and I'm particularly interested in those that generate the most comments. Recently I've seen libraries post questions about potential library building sites (and the board chair made sure she responded to each comment), library hours and which would be most useful to the community, what type of book do you like to read on a snowy day, and trivia questions and quizzes around events such as the Olympics or the Oscars or a movie release.    It may take some trial and error to find out what most engages your community, but it's fun to see the comments, and which posts most engage the fans.

Facebook posts are a great way to push information, but Facebook is social so think about all the ways in which you might take advantage of that--and use them!  A quarter of the libraries in SW Iowa now have Facebook pages; if you are interested but haven't yet created a page, join us for a Facebook Fanpage FUNdamentals class, online, on March 30, from 9-11 a.m.  You can register in the CE catalog.   We hope to see you on Facebook!

Links from today's podcast:
Cooperative Summer Library Program website
SWILSA's Youth Services webpage
CE Catalog

News & Views, February  20010  (mp3 file; 4.2 MB; 4:31 min.)
The User Experience,  Re-energize for Summer Library Program!; Annancy Tale flannelboard




The concept of an experience economy and focusing on the user "experience" is not a new one, but one that bears revisiting from time to time, especially as so many changes take place around us--and through us!    We all try to provide a good user experience, even if we don't call it that, or deliberately think of it in that way.  But maybe it would be a good thing TO think of it in a deliberate way, to consciously choose what we want the user's experience of the library to be and how we can go about making that happen.   And remind ourselves of it regularly, to check back in with it.  We all have too much to do, and day-to-day workflow doesn't always allow us time to reflect and consider.  So, sorry, yes, I guess I am about to suggest taking a few minutes--from time to time--to take a look at what you're doing to enhance the user's experience, pat yourself on the back for what you're doing well, and do any tweaking that needs to be done.

The first step is to think about what you want your library user experience to be; you probably already know, you just haven't articulated it in that way.  You want them to feel welcome, or you want the library to be the community living room, whatever it might be.   Then jot down some ways to ensure that that is the experience your users have.  A greeting for EVERYONE when he comes in the door; a reply to a question within x amount of time, or say yes whenever possible. (You may have been reading or hearing about the Colorado library that keeps a file of all the times they've had to say no to a patron, not as a punitive thing, but as a way to look at how they can turn that into a "yes" for the next patron who has that question or circumstance.)

It doesn't need to be an elaborate list, perhaps just two or three things that you and the entire staff do consistently well.  It can make a huge difference.

A New Year

News & Views,January 20010 (mp3 file; 5.4 MB; 5:44 min.)
A New Year; "Civility Solution;" Sleepy Bears apron kit




It's a new year--a new decade, actually, and that is when people traditionally make New Year's resolutions.  I've never been very good at those, I admit.  A customer at the quilt shop said that resolutions should be one word, and the vote of everyone there seemed to be "finish," for all us quilters who have a huge stack of UFOs--UnFinished Objects.  I'm not sure what a librarian's one-word resolution might be...knowing all of you I'd be inclined to say "Service" but you all do that, anyway, so it's not much a resolution, except as an affirmation.

Because I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, here's a different thought for this new year:  let's look back at 2009 and think about those things of which we're  proud, or maybe the one thing of which we're most proud.  Is the library even friendlier?  Have you offered more programs, introduced a popular new service? Tell each other stories about what worked really well, or really touched your patrons, or made a difference.
 Congratulate yourself and the staff and the board--well done!  Then think about HOW you accomplished that great and good thing.  What did it take in time, or staff learning, or advocacy, or planning, or creative thinking?  Give each other kudos  for those things, too.
(I think we spend too much time fretting over what we DON'T accomplish, when we should be energizing ourselves with reminders of our accomplishments, so we can move forward positively.)

Now, there's probably at least one thing on your mind that you'd like to do in the coming year.  You've already identified some things you're good at, because you used them to accomplish good things last year.  How can you apply those things to your next project or idea?  They're proven winners--put them to work for you again.

And that's appreciative inquiry--reflect on what you've done well, how you've done that well, and build on it.  You've all got the right stuff--I've seen it.  So, have a great year!