Bicycles and Libraries

What do these two things have in common?  To be frank, I am not entirely sure.  However, in the upcoming 2 weeks, there will be 2 classes held at the Hutchinson Public Library on bicycle safety.  The safety classes will be held in the Library auditorium on the second floor May 4th and May 12th.  Both classes will begin at 6:30PM.  These events are part of a campaign to raise awareness of Hutchinson's "bikeability", to coin a terrible term, and to promote Hutchinson's May 15 "Bike to Work" day.

 

I do a modest amount of bicycling around Hutchinson, mostly to work and back and mostly during fair weather (I am no fanatic!)  I do this for a variety of reasons - I get some exercise and as a side benefit I save a little cash by not driving my car.  Mostly it is because Hutchinson is a nicely-sized town for biking.  Hutchinson is compact enough that by pedaling at a reasonable pace, very little in Hutchinson is farther than a 15-20 minute ride away.  Lots of others I know ride bikes for recreation.  While I rarely have the time to use it myself, Hutchinson has the great Martinez Sunflower hike/bike trail.  There are plans in the works to expand this 3+ mile trail into a loop around Hutchinson!  So, if you are looking for a way to make a health change, a budget change, or just want to change pace, come to DCI Park or Promise Hospital on May 15 between 6:30-8:30am and bike to work!

Crazy ... or Inspired?

One of the meetings I attended at the Kansas Library Association annual conference - probably the best of the bunch, IMO - was called "Impractical, Unfeasible, Unfundable Ideas for Libraries". The truly engaging guy who led the session, Joshua Neff, is a librarian who works for the Johnson County (KS) Library. He posted his list of ideas generated from the session here.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love brainstorming. This conference session, which was billed as a brainstorming session and attended by at least fifty "library people" did not disappoint. Some of the ideas were indeed dreams; for example, people-sized pneumatic tubes (a la bank drive-throughs) in the library to deliver librarians to the spot they are needed.  Sounds like a blast to me!

But the let-it-all-hang-out power of brainstorming twisted that idea around from the implausible to the possible.  Instead of tubes, why don't libraries have call stations scattered around the stacks for patrons to call for help like some big box stores? What about a catalog that shows you the shelf location in the building? Maybe a catalog system with a Staples-like "EASY" button that patrons could use to IM a librarian for help.  These last two ideas could be easily created by the companies that make catalog software.

How about this one: Item check-out like NetFlix. You could check out a certain number of library items and keep them, essentially, as long as you wanted. However, you can't check out more items until you bring the first bunch back.  Patrons might like it because the bludgeon of overdue fines would go away.  Staff might like that aspect too!

Here's one that seemed impractical to me at first, but is now growing on me:  Combining a library with something like a laundromat or a hair salon - some activity that causes people to have to sit and wait.  You could check out a book or download an audiobook and do some reading while you launder or get your hair done.  Sure, the library might have to get into the landlording business, but it seems like a win-win.  I remember going to a place called Duds-n-Suds to do my laundry because it was a laundromat that served beer.  Hey...there's an idea!

I think that the results of just this one hour of brainstorming show that when librarians, or anyone for that matter, think a little outside the box, great improvements can be discovered.  The real trick though, is figuring out how to implement the new ideas and then actually making them real.  Perhaps that is a good topic for next year's conference, "A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Your Crazy Idea".

Librarian Fight!

OK, so maybe that title is a shameless and no doubt lame attempt to hook you into reading this, but hey everyone does it, right?  I'm looking at you, TV News.

I am fascinated by this sort of commentary on the social aspects and problems we all encounter as new information tools appear, practically on top of each other and clamor for our attention. This is an area where I think librarians get overlooked for their contribution. Librarians are often among the first to jump in and try out a new tool and look for ways to make it useful in the information business. But as Mr. Crawford points out in his blog entry above, it is easy for anyone to be discouraged when you are told that you are "doing it wrong".

I had a similar experience myself a few weeks ago while discussing library catalogs with a fellow librarian, of all people.  As my spouse and my friends will attest, I am a BIG proponent of all sorts of technological advances (read: I love new gadgets).  I spend lots of free time exploring new software, web tools, electronic gadgets, etc. because I find it fun.  As you might guess, I try my best to stay on top of library-related technology as well, since it combines two of my favorite pursuits.

This is where the whole idea of "Ur doin' it wrong" came to me firsthand.  Essentially, I was "doin' it wrong" by contracting with a big company for HPL's catalog system rather than jumping on the open-source bandwagon.  But here is the rub:  Sometimes it is simply impractical, if not monumentally difficult to adopt a new tool, let alone try to learn every one that comes down the pike.  This was the case for HPL and our catalog system.  We have fantastic IT people - two of them - who work very hard keeping our electronic ship afloat.  However, neither of them are software engineer or web developer types, so we opted to trade the flexibility of open source for the support of outside help in the form of a company with its own software developers.  So not only did we choose to NOT try a new thing, we fell back on an "old" model tool that ... wait for it ... works for us.

So, while I urge everyone to find out about Twitter, join Facebook, or try an open source operating system, I urge you with equal fervor to keep the tools that work for you even if they are old and do not be discouraged if you've found a use for a tool for which it was never intended.

Family Time

As part of our activities during the Week of the Young Child, our Children's Department will present a family story hour April 21st beginning at 7pm.  The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) focuses attention on the needs of children age 0-8, especially related to early childhood education.  In fact, the whole point of their week-long effort is to remind us all that it is our responsibility as adults to make sure our children have the as many opportunities for learning as early as possible at home, at child care, at school, and in the community.

So please come and enjoy some books and stories, a craft, and a preview of the Hutchinson Public Library's Summer Reading Program for 2009.

Library Conference - Hurray!

Sounds like a blast, huh?  This week the Kansas Library Association held its annual conference.  This year hundreds of librarians, library workers, library friends, and board trustees converged on Wichita to exchange ideas and learn new things.

You might think it would be dry and boring - lots of sessions on collecting fines and chasing unruly teens out of the library.  But it's quite the contrary.  Librarians might be a quirky bunch, but they are also passionate, radical, and sometimes subversive.  And librarians can be quite the partiers.  One of my favorite quotes about librarians is from a Chicago hotelier about why he liked hosting a national library conference:

"You honor your reservations; you go to your meetings so we can clean the rooms; you're relatively quiet; and you drink more than the American Legion."  

Maybe that says too much, I don't know.  What I do know is that there are 700+ library workers and enthusiasts going back to their libraries with new ideas, renewed energy, and a common desire to help the people they serve have a great library experience.