I suppose you could accuse me of being old-fashioned. Although I have Skype, access to multiple online conferencing services, chat, email, etc. I still think there is value in a face-to-face meeting. Even when that meeting requires a several-hours drive as is almost always the case in our state, there is value. On Monday the State Librarian, Jo Budler, held a second meeting for the directors of the "larger" public libraries - those that serve populations of 20k-100k - here at HPL.
We covered a number of topics including updates to discussions from our first meeting back in August at the Topeka Shawnee County Library. The discussions could be held, of course, through a variety of the aforementioned media and they often are. In fact, we heard a presentation from an OCLC (library cooperative) representative about a state-wide library marketing campaign using Webex and Skype.
The thing you do not get from distance-meeting tools though is the opportunity to see the (in this case) other libraries, staff, and towns. It makes a difference. It helps put things in context and at least for me, brings better understanding.
And finally, it was interesting to discover that Hays Public Library is contemplating a change similar to what we are thinking about here. EBooks are not ubiquitous yet, but they will be at some point soon. Rather than fearing the changes they may bring to public libraries, we need to grab them up and use them for the advantages they can provide.
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