State-wide talks

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.

Public Service

Here it is, another Saturday afternoon at the Information Desk at HPL.  Every third weekend rolls around quickly.  Right now it seems fairly quiet, but it is noon and we have National Gaming Day activities starting at 2pm. Lots of people, my wife included, think that my helping cover at the desks on weekends is crazy.  Afterall, I am the director and "I don't have to if I don't want to", right?  Actually, I think that is exactly wrong.  If there were more hours in the week, I'd actually work more public service time at places other than just the Information Desk.  It's the best way to find out what our patrons are concerned about, what our staff is challenged with, and generally, how well we are doing our job.

What is working well?  I, for one, am using the Reference Dept. iPad all the time.  What a time-saver to be standing out in our far-flung stacks checking availability or similar titles, or completely different topics without having to traipse back to a catalog terminal.

What isn't working well?  Our roof, for one.  The rain from late Thursday through Friday found a couple of new weaknesses.  So it is probably "out to bid" for us on that.  Electrical plugs and seating are another area we could really work to improve.

As I look over the top of the monitor, I see a patron looking puzzled so no more time for idle blogging - off to help.

More Prairie Book Festival Press

The goodwill shown to the library for hosting the Prairie Book Festival back in September has really been fantastic.  A State Library News post featured articles about the PBF, the book festivals in Iola and Osborne, and a nice bit on the Lisa Dale Norton memoir workshop (also held here at the Hutchinson Public Library).  If nothing else, all the planning and effort that went into the Festival has come back to us in the form of awareness-raising publicity.  "Stuff" actually does go on in that enormous beige brick building on Main Street!

I am looking forward to next year with a mix of excitement and dread.  Excitement around the idea that we might produce an improved festival for Hutchinson; dread regarding how much work it is to pull off!  It is worth it though.  It really was a lot of fun and I think a worthy project for the Library.  We are, after all, dedicated to reading.  I think you can build enthusiasm for reading and education by providing opportunities to get "up close" and hear from those talented folks who write.  Lots of fun - thanks again to everyone who helped make it a success and we hope to see you next year!

What to do about "those few"

I have always held that rules for public places (like libraries) punish the honest users rather than deter the few folks the rules are meant to control.  In libraries, none is more basic than trying to hold patrons accountable for items they have checked out and never returned.  I am not talking about the person with $3 in overdue fines, but the few patrons at the other end of the spectrum.  At HPL we have an elaborate system of warnings, notices, and finally a collection agency to try and retrieve our materials from a relatively small number of folks who, for whatever reason, feel like they can check things out of the library and never return them.

Having been a public librarian for quite some time now, I have heard a tremendous variety of excuses from library users who just can't seem to get things back and checked in.  The excuses run the gamut from denying ever having "that book" in the first place to having returned items in the drop box, "so they are here somewhere", trying to make it the libraries fault.  These situations usually involve one or two items and rarely amount to any significant money.  But what really gets me are that small (but expensive) group who decide at some point to deliberately check out a large quantity of items, usually in a narrow subject range, with no intention of ever bringing them back.

What to do about this group then?  They don't respond to collection agency coercion.  They don't seem to acknowledge any sort of correspondence at all, polite, threatening, or otherwise.  Small claims court is an option in Kansas since library materials are included in a state statute covering property crime, I would assume specifically for this type of problem.

This seems like a reasonable solution since there appears to be no other effective method of trying to "get our stuff back".  Though, it brings with it a whole array of publicity issues that would have to be considered.  It doesn't look quite right when the library starts hauling people in to court over some missing books.  But the patrons I am thinking of have hundreds of dollars worth of our materials.  I suppose it comes down to what would be considered acting as a "good steward" of tax dollars.  After all, people who steal from the public library are really stealing from from all of us.

E-books and e-book readers for lending bestsellers

Recently, one of my colleagues here at HPL made a good case for e-books and e-readers as circulating items at our library.  The general idea:  Why not purchase any extra copies of upcoming bestsellers in e-format and load them on circulating e-readers?  We already have a terrible overcrowding problem in our adult fiction collection especially.  Many times, we are forced to move extra copies into our basement storage area.  This practice means extra steps (literally) for staff to retrieve books and extra wait time for patrons.  The purchase of a number of readers - maybe Nooks or Sonys could solve this (I don't think Amazon's Kindle would cut it for this purpose, although I could be wrong).

Certainly, the devices are individually more pricey than a hardback book.  But it wouldn't take many copies of bestselling titles to get up into the $149-$199 range.  The readers could hold a large number of titles and take up a minuscule amount of space.  We could begin to thin out our "overflow" storage and beef up our ability to meet immediate demand.  Sure, we take a risk that the readers might be damaged or never return, but we take that risk with books, DVDs, and CDs hundreds of thousands of times per year.  Hmm...sounds like a new project.