Fostering curiosity to weather the storm

Our group conversation last week about library futures and Michigan futures was very enlightening for me. I’m a believer in local politics—I think all politics are at base, local. That’s where we can get a handle on an issue and be an active part in making the world more livable. The economic situation we are in obviously is global in scope, but I think libraries are poised to be a crucial part of local strategies to weather the crises.

In this week’s reading, we read about the “disconnected,” or the millions of 18-24 year olds who are not in school and not employed. Low literacy rates are part of the problem, just as they are in Michigan generally and the Detroit Metro area more specifically. This article from the New York Times highlights the struggles of Michiganders, who have already been experiencing a state-wide recession for some 5 years. Michigan ranks 35th in college graduates despite having a renowned state university and several more rock solid state schools (like WSU). Low rates of “basic skills” like literacy, and fewer college graduates means that Michigan as a whole doesn’t have the competitive workforce it will need to attract non-auto industries, like tech and motion picture production, which might otherwise seek a state like Michigan, which has a low cost of living and plenty to offer in terms of landscape and recreation.

This is where librarians and other information professionals come in. Certainly, a lot of the work of “promoting life-long learning” (as the ALA calls it) is a public library vocation. But instilling auto-didacticism—curiosity and interest in self-teaching—is the role of all of the folks working in the field. Sometimes it is just making sure people find what they want (or something they really are satisfied with, even if it wasn’t exactly what they asked for) with minimal effort is the first step in building a relationship. A hassle-free first encounter will bring patrons, readers, users, or clients—whatever the agency calls its constituents—back again. It waters the seed of interest, of curiosity. That’s the foundation of self-education that will help adults re-tool for life in the recession, and life after the recession. I think this is true for any kind of library, from a school library, to a public library, to an archive, to a law library, to a corporate library: knowledge is the hook, and if they can get it easy until they are comfortable with the workings of the library, they will soon be willing to dig deeper to find more of what they want and need.

That persistence is what it may take for people to weather whatever’s to come. Libraries will have to operate with smaller budgets and with higher use and circulation rates. I think it will be challenging. I also think it will be a rewarding time to work at one of the few places in our culture where you can get something extremely valuable for free (and I don’t mean books for unscrupulous constituents to abscond with). Libraries can renew their role as part of a very American (though probably not uniquely American) tradition of self-education. Perhaps I’m just dwelling on the silver lining from my sheltered cinderblock [definitely not ivory] tower. I’m gainfully employed (knock wood), so I don’t mean to downplay the difficulty for folks who are unemployed and/or facing foreclosure. But I do mean to play up the important—and therefore exciting—role of librarians and other information specialists in helping people help themselves right now when we really need it.

(That’s all, but BTW, the Detroit News published the 2009 tax foreclosure list today, and it was 137 full newspaper pages of small print, listing all of the properties in Wayne County whose owners are behind on their property taxes. I have no idea what it might normally look like, but it is an impressive stack of paper.)

Going Green, And Then Some

We should congratulate ourselves fellow librarians, the first public library in Michigan has finally been given the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification. Hastings Public Library was awarded the certification from the “U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED program” on October 25th.

Throughout this class we have discussed many aspects of being a librarian and the ethics that come with our profession. Our main concern has always been, and always be, about our patrons and the community good. In the new age of “Going Green” and becoming environmentally friendly, isn’t it about time librarians stepped it up a notch? We’re already part way there, recycling a few hundred books to a few thousand patrons. This alone saves on cutting down trees to create paper and saving on the use of oil in trucks transporting goods. This is because we know that the products we give out will (hopefully) come back, thus cutting down on the need to purchase new items. Unfortunately, this is not enough. What earned Hastings Public Library the gold certification was the way they transformed not just the building, but the way they think.

As stated in the article covering the library, “The six major environmental categories of review include: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation and Design. A gold certification recognizes a superior level of energy and environmental performance”. Hastings Public Library used many recyclables for chairs, desks, and even carpeting as well as changing to “roof gardens and [a] rain garden that process water runoff from the building and parking lot to return cleaner water to the water table”. The librarians also vowed to continually inform their patrons about becoming environmentally friendly and even declared October “Sustainability Month”.

As librarians, it is our duty to offer the best services to our patrons. So I challenge you fellow future librarians, why not go a step further and offer nothing but the best to our Earth? We are the Next Gen librarians and it’s about time we live up to that.

Reality Attacks: Does It Ever Rain in Second Life?

For some companies and organizations the choice seems pretty clear, a real no-brainer to become a “landowner” in the virtual world of Second Life. “The possibilities are endless!” is a common generalization used to describe what Second Life can provide companies and agencies.

Individuals are encouraged to join Second Life (owned by Linden Labs) with the seemingly harmless and common phrase “Hey, the account is free” which usually comes in tandem with the backside comment, “You know … you can fly around”. These selling points just must be a dream. How could it be possible? Why not? Free? Fly? Be anyone I want? Visit any place through teleportation? Wholly cow! Let’s GO!

It’s obvious Second Life almost sells itself.

There are some real positives to a virtual world such as Second Life. Architects can take tour and tweak their creations using a 3 dimensional view. Designers can test creations without spending large amounts money on real world mock-ups. Employees from global companies can hold meetings and exchange information/ideas/projects without logistical costs. Universities and Colleges have the ability to offer classes or disseminate resources, information and hold lectures with students who are located throughout the world. Libraries can offer services to virtual patrons as a means to expand services with very little cost.

One of the very real “endless possibilities” is that Second Life is not really equipped with the type of development tools that would allow highly detailed and advanced development of projects, inventions or ideas. Further, Second Life is really a fake life; a “world” that only exists on computer hardware/software and does not contain even the simplest “real world” processes and components such as plate tectonics and real weather. Most importantly, users (sometimes called SLer’s) can and do become addicted to this fake life that produces very real world issues.

Marriages and personal relationships are one of the first areas to be impacted by addicted virtual world users. Addicted virtual world users (AVWU) spend so much time in the virtual world that they commonly neglect real world responsibilities, lose their jobs, and strain relationships. Like most addicts, AVWU commonly cite that “It’s just fun”, "I'm not harming anyone" or (my favorite) “Don't worry, it’s not really real”. Sadly, these excuses do not provide any level of support for their claims, nor motivate friends and family to join in “the fun". Quickly, the user commonly alienates themselves as a means to maximize their time in the fake world.

So what does this all have to do with the information field? Plenty. Information professionals must evaluate all resources in order to provide proficient services to patrons. However, as illustrated by Dr. Calvert in class this past week, reference librarians in Second Life primarily answer questions about … Second Life. How is that providing good patron services for the real world?

Further, Linden Labs periodically shuts down, sometimes without notice, for maintenance -- what happens if this happens when an information professional was in the middle of handling an important patron issue? Also, while Second Life offers a free account for users, these accounts are limited and "inspire" the user to invest real world money in order to "kit out" their avatar.

Most importantly, can information professionals (and the agencies they work for) be held liable for introducing new users (or facilitating in the knowledge exchange in the virtual world) to the virtual world, if that user becomes addicted?

It is very obvious that Second Life is not really free. There are emotional costs, financial costs, temporal costs, physical costs and legal costs. Clearly, Second Life is not completely composed of virtugeeks who have no lives and have completely dropped out of the real world. However, claiming Second Life is "free" and harmless is simply misleading and untrue. In fact, Second Life could prove to be more of a liability than a benefit for the Information Profession. If information professionals are not careful, they may find themselves categorized as a 21st century drug dealer.

Outsourcing: The Good with the Bad

We have read in our course work over this week and the last about outsourcing and the damage that it can do to libraries. Collections development and management suffer when jobs that are usually done by library employees, who are knowledgeable of the public that they serve, are given to companies that just buy bestsellers to add to the library shelves. Contract companies that are hired for collections development are usually distant and uninvolved in the community that they are serving. This distance affects the quality of the materials they provide and the satisfaction of the patrons.

Another concern for us, being future professionals in the library field, is what outsourcing means for our jobs. Will the jobs that we do have be taken away or will it be harder to find jobs that provide reasonable pay and benefits considering contract workers will work for less.

These are all legitimate concerns centered around outsourcing and in this article, from Library Journal, the issue is brought up in conjunction with libraries in Josephine County Oregon. The article talks about four libraries in Josephine County that were closed down last year on account of not having enough funding. The money for the libraries decreased when there was a drop in federal timber payments, which caused many counties that relied on that money to make cut backs. Naturally the libraries were some of the first things to go in this situation. Over a year later however, the libraries are being reopened under the management of a private nonprofit group called the Josephine County Libraries, the JCLI. The article mentions that raising funds for their reopening in addition to trying to sell the community on the new outsourced “NPR model” was difficult. One reason for this could be because of the bad connotations that usually accompany the term ‘outsourcing’.

No matter what the reason is though, these four county libraries will be reopened because of this new management and administration that is stepping in. If the county had to wait until it had sufficient government funding to reopen these libraries who knows how long it would have taken. These county libraries are already competing for dwindling funds with public safety and human services, so who knows if they would have ever been able to be reopened at all. A library in the surrounding Jackson County had to close down last year only to reopen a few months later under the management of a private contract company, much like the libraries in Josephine County will be doing. Even amongst the damage that outsourcing can do to collections development, and the uneasiness that it stirs up in the library job market isn’t it worth it in cases like these? Cases where turning things over to private management seems to be the only way that these libraries will be able to reopen. After last week conversation about how beneficial public libraries are to socialization of children, public education, creating lifetime learners, helping to further career and educational endeavors, and even being a way to pursue the American dream, it seems a shame to let them sit closed when there is something that could be done to open them. Outsourcing might not be the best of friends with libraries and librarians all the time but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and there just isn’t the government money to keep them open isn’t it a handy plan B? Especially since the article states that if and when the County is ready to take over the libraries the JCLI would step aside and let that happen.