Talk20

Six minutes and forty seconds is quite a challenge - but I think it will be fun. What am I talking about? We're supporting an idea here at the library that involves... sharing ideas! Here's a link to a better description of what the program is about. This isn't a one-time deal, but it won't be offered all the time either. It is something that will hopefully get the community talking and learning about the things in which our neighbors are involved.

I like the idea of a library as a place here not only is knowledge collected, organized and stored; but a place where knowledge is created.

BIG change ahead

Sometimes you see big changes because of the flash and glitter associated with it. Other times you notice things have changed subtly - but profoundly - around you. Over the next few months as HPL, there will be some of both. We expect the process to take a good portion of 2014 to complete.

What am I talking about? The library has contracted with a company called Bibliotheca to convert our collection management over to an RFID system. The changes will be both subtle and really, really slick and visible.

The subtle:

Our entire collection - from books to media to ephemeral items will be tagged with an RFID tag. These tags hold information about the item that allow us to more easily locate and manage the collection.

Our staff will have RFID readers at their stations to facilitate startlingly speedy, accurate check-out and check-in and other routine material processes. The upside to all of this is greater efficiency handling the mundane, repetitive tasks that staff must perform every day. This will allow more staff time to be devoted to actually helping people find what they are looking for during a visit to the library. It will also allow us to focus more on "helping" in general and less on clerical work.

The flash and glitter:

New self-check units for patrons. Not only do these units look nice, clean, and modern, we found them to work extremely well in real-world observation during our product research phase.

A new way of returning items you've checked out. This return looks like a regular bookshelf. Unlike a regular shelf though, when you bring your items back in to the library, this shelf unit checks your books back in for you! It will even alert staff when a "book on hold" has been returned. As an added bonus, patrons can then print out a receipt or check their account right there to make sure everything is returned.

Help us build a better library!

We know what we THINK the public wants from the library - an inviting place with access to a great collection, nice spaces to read and study, rooms for meeting, help with technology, and access to the latest in technologies such as ebooks, WiFi, and specialized research tools. We even have a wish list so that you can help us toward those goals.

Lately though, I have been to a variety of library webinars, conferences, and meetings all leading me to wonder if that's ALL we should be doing. This wonderful old fellow reminded me that maybe there are other views:

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." -Jorge Luis Borges

The wise author begs the question then when thinking about HPL, what is YOUR idea of paradise? What does your ideal library look like? What does it offer? Perhaps most importantly, what would make you return over and over?

Perhaps we can meet your wishes - we'll certainly strive for that! Perhaps we will have to plan for the things you desire. either way, please tell me on what you would like HPL to set its sights.

Oh, Thank Goodness!

Actually, thank Steve! I feel like I can breathe again - the new WiFi system is installed and working. I can even get a signal way back in the corner where my desk is squirreled away! Someone needs to update Maslow's chart for certain. WiFi IS a basic need. So, bravo to you Steve, our dedicated IT department head, we can once again get a strong signal pretty much anywhere we wander in the building.

Oh, and we have some nice new chairs and tables too! Thank you Charlene for steering the color scheme in the right direction. The lounge chairs are comfortable AND durable, the coffee tables are very nice, and I've already heard compliments on the wooden charis and tables. Once we get the Technology Center plans hung on the wall (the frames are on their way), we'll have a nice area to sit, relax, read, compute, AND contemplate how to make the larger plan a reality.

Do you ever have that sinking feeling?

You know, where you just feel leaden, you are treading water, but just barely? Well, here at HPL we seem to be having a month-long marathon of water-treading.

Not only are we still recovering from the storms of early August, we seem to be running on to new little twists of the dagger that just make the recovery that much more painful. But some good things are on the horizon. For one, our lightning-damaged wireless system ended up dying after all. How is that good? Although it bumped a planned change up to a fire-alarm style immediate change, we will have a new, robust system installed by the end of this week.

OOO - swirly!

There have been many other problems, large and small, to come out of those soggy, electrically-charged rainy weeks, but those are being slowly resolved. Sometimes, it the sheer number of them seem to swallow up any other progress being made. Our new telephone system with building-wide emergency paging is finally coming online as well. Progress is being made on improving our collection security, organization, and staff efficiency by adding RFID to the building.

Don't worry though, the RFID tags will not store your personal information. The tags store information about the book to which they are affixed and will help us with inventory and help you with speedy, accurate check-out. Library cards and patron information will stay private.

New furnishings will fill the space left when we moved the 900s non-fiction collection upstairs. By the end of this month there will be a variety of new, comfortable chairs to use for study and computing.

Last, but definitely not least, HPL has subscribed to a crowd-source fundraising site called WishList. This will go live for us in the next week or so and will allow patrons to purchase memorial and "in honor of" books online, contribute toward large projects, browse volunteer opportunities at the library and join the Friends of the Library group, among many other things. I'm really excited about this! It will be awesome - I just hope I haven't drowned before it goes live!

Summer Reading - Hutchinson Digs It

The Summer Reading Programs are finished, there's nothing left but sweeping up and clearing the bats out of the Children's Department (drop by to see what I'm talking about!)

The great news is that HPL patrons are avid readers - voracious even! Over the past 3 years, we have concentrated on increasing the number of children who finish the reading program. We are definitely headed toward our goal of having nearly every child complete the 10-books-or-10-hours requirement. Here's what happened this year:

• 1,092 - Number of children registered for the program
• 581 - Number of children who turned in completed reading logs
• 1,460 - Number of children attending summer story times
• 440 - Number of children attending the 4 craft days (average 110 per event)
• 120 - Number of Young Adults "Questing for Read-a-lot"

What can we take from this? The main thing is that children in Hutchinson and Reno County read well over 5,810 books or hours during June and July. I think that's pretty fantastic! We've achieved an increase in completion rates of more than 6% over last year - that's also pretty fantastic.

Children need to read - we need to make sure they learn to love reading. It helps in every aspect of their educational lives and provides an avenue to relaxation that can be a life-long pursuit. The fact of the matter is that modern technology is changing the way we learn and the unknown is whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Numerous studies and books have been conducted and written on the effects of the Internet on our attention spans (overview article here). It is important, in my opinion, to re-enforce deep, critical thinking skills and reading whole books can help this.

Libraries and Modern Psychology

We have had a disaster of sorts here at HPL beginning a few days ago. As of this morning, it looks like it will continue for at least for another week. This disaster is vexing to both staff and patrons. Although we are able to open the doors every day, it is amazing to me and apparently HUGELY distressing to the patrons who have complained to me, the effects of our disaster.

So what happened? Fire? Thank goodness, no. Flood? No. Electric failure or water main break? Closer. The disaster that befell us is that our WiFi system completely died. Dead. Kaput. And frankly, this is what WiFi means to me and many others these days:

Many of you may recognize this as (mostly)psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous Heirarchy of Needs. I have taken the liberty of crudely modifying it to fit my needs, but I think the illustration is appropriate to the situation. I cannot take credit for this joke, I've seen it spread all around the Internet (though not on my tablet here at the library this week!)

I hate to admit it, but I really am quite reliant on my mobile devices for my day-to-day activities. I feel the pain of our patrons during this very trying time. To be honest, Internet connectivity actually helps me realize some of my "self-actualization" needs on Maslow's chart. I'm creating this post on a wired computer, but WiFi helps me to do that anywhere inspiration strikes.

There is good news to come out of this. Replacing our clunky old WiFi box was on the slate of projects for this year and very soon we'll have a slick, new, load-balancing system with an easy-to-log-into interface. Coverage will be much better in our building and we'll have a strong signal in the meeting rooms and other public areas. In the meantime, there are a number of ways to cope with WiFi withdrawal. Go outside! Get some exercise! Dare I say it? Read a book!