The Edge Initiative

The Hutchinson Public Library will have a great 2013, I think.  As we look toward the future, planning for a new first-floor Technology Center and bring our tech skills to the fore-front, a new tool such as the Edge Initiative seems perfectly timed to help us.

Set to be released in its final form early in 2013, HPL will use this to help us focus on what skills, connections, and programs we should be focusing on to best serve our patrons.

We can start right now though, and you can help us.  What do you want from the Hutchinson Public Library?  What can we do to help you succeed in the endeavors you have planned for 2013 or those you have already underway?  Ideas I have heard when asking this question elsewhere:

• A makerspace
• Teaching / learning sessions for my particular tablet/smartphone/computer
• More emphasis on ebooks
• More options to get a book (send it to an address / print on demand / sell it to me)

The broad question is:  What new areas should HPL be exploring that would help you in your life?  Please share your thoughts in comments or by calling/emailing the library, commenting on our Facebook page.

Looking forward to 2013

I know, it's tiny.  See the photos up close at the library!

Now that we've made it past the "end" of the Mayan calendar with nary a single asteroid collision, continent-swallowing tsunami, rash of super volcanoes, or other civilization-ending apocalypse; we can focus on what's to come in 2013.

We're starting off the year with some terrific guests - Dave McKane's new photography exhibit opens January 3rd at 6pm.  Where his previous exhibit focused on clouds and the relics of farms past, this new show celebrates that glorious moment of deep blue found in the skies near twilight.  The photographs will be on display in the Library's auditorium.  Just after Mr. McKane's opening, we will have a visit from Kevin Williams, editor of the Amish Cook.  The Amish Cook columns appear regularly in the Hutchinson News.  Mr. Williams will be at the library on January 7th at 6:30 pm.  We will have some of his books available for purchase and autographing at that time.

Besides programming, we have many other things to look toward in 2013.  We will continue to make progress on our vision for the library "Technology Center".  As we save money for the project and attempt to raise extra funds for it, we will have professional drawings made to help make real our ideas.  Temporarily, we will add some seating in the area where the adult non-fiction 900s were once housed.

Lighting will be improved in the second floor stacks.  We're looking at a new telephone system that makes use of our upgraded network infrastructure, and there will be changes in the way public computer time is measured and monitored.  Phew.  Now I'm tired.  And that list doesn't even include the interesting ideas I've been reading about for defining our mission / setting our goals for the next couple of years.

EBooks, the "Big 6" and Libraries

What? You can't read that.

A fellow Kansas librarian posted a link to this Forbes article about ebooks and the friction (or lack of - you'll understand if you read the article) between the so-called Big 6 publishers and libraries.  The author advocates for a different pricing model for libraries than what is currently being offered.  Quite correctly he calls out both the publishers and libraries for wrong-headed notions about how this all should work.

FINALLY!  Someone with a much wider readership agrees with me!  :-)

Honestly, the whole trumped-up fight is hurting the readers and the vast majority of authors who are not what is considered "best seller" authors.  I, for one, embrace the idea of thinking outside the box to find a solution.  The purchase-and-lend model may not be the best process for ebooks.  Maybe it is charge-per-use or maybe it is something entirely different.  Maybe it is a combination of the two, because the ability to publish, host, lend AND sell ebooks is not beyond libraries with easily obtainable technology.  Why couldn't libraries help less well-known authors by publishing their works for them when they can't get contracts with big publishers?  Why couldn't libraries also license bestsellers from the big name authors through their equally big name publishers?

Let's get down to business here, folks.  I've got reading and literacy to promote.

SF Book Discussion

We've wrapped up our 2012 science fiction reading here at HPL.  In our SF Book Discussion group, we rounded out our 6 apocalypse-themed selections last evening with Douglas Adams' classic, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I, for one, enjoyed re-reading the book, which I first read some time in the 1980s.  The things that stood out for me were the facts that the Hitchhiker's Guide was an ebook, Douglas Adams' sense of humor still resonates with me, and that I hope his estate got residuals from Amazon for describing the original Kindle and from Yahoo! for creating the Babel fish - a species of creature that translates one language to another for its host.

In reading up on the book and the series, I was surprised to find that the story had been retold in so many different ways and through so many different media.  The book, I believe, was based on a BBC radio series, but there have been movies, a TV show, stage plays, a series of sequels, and so many editions of the book, it's amazing!

Our SF book discussion group has decided to continue into the new year, meeting monthly and ranging out into fantasy as well as science fiction.  We've generated a list that we are mulling over and would gladly consider others from new members.  We're looking at classics in the genre as well as new and authors from all walks of life.  If you'd like to participate, please contact me at gwamsley@hutchpl.org and I'll add you to the email list.  We meet the first Thursday of each month 7 pm at the library.

As we move toward the end of this 400-year cycle of the long count calendar, just remember the sage advice offered by the Guide: