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| Kansas 150 program guide |
Click on the image to see what's coming up. We hope you will find a date that works in your schedule and you will join us for a different kind of storytime!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Kansas Sesquicentennial Information
One of the most interesting (to me at least) blog posts about Kansas' big birthday party coming up in less than a week now is this article from the Kansas State Library. The article lists all sorts of things that were happening in 1861 including links to articles on literature, music, and fashion of the day.
The Hutchinson Public Library is celebrating Kansas' 150th with a series of "Adult Storytimes" designed to allow you to bring your brown-bag lunch and be read to (and discuss as well) while you have lunch. Here is a link to the upcoming dates and another to information about the upcoming TALK book discussion series "Kansas Literary Heritage" which features books about Kansas.
Click on the image to see what's coming up. We hope you will find a date that works in your schedule and you will join us for a different kind of storytime!
Click on the image to see what's coming up. We hope you will find a date that works in your schedule and you will join us for a different kind of storytime!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
E-books and the library
As the discussion around the concept of "e-books" develops and as e-books and e-book readers continue to evolve, articles like this one from CNET are beginning to appear. Here at HPL, we have been thinking about and testing e-book readers quite a bit in the past 2 months. The CNET article points out that one of the many things a person purchasing an e-reader must consider - will I want to borrow e-books from a library? Not all readers allow this, Amazon's Kindle being the most notable instance. Many others do, such as the Sony devices and the B&N Nook.
Friday, January 21, 2011
An e-book response
In Thursday's (1/20/11) Hutchinson News, there was an article by AP writer Peter Svensson regarding libraries and e-books. I felt the need to respond because there appeared to me to be a need for some clarification.
The article starts with a comment about how libraries have been lending e-books longer than there has been a Kindle. That's a definite understatement! In fact, there's even an article in the August 1, 2000 Hutchinson News about Random House (the publisher) starting an e-only imprint. More to the point though, Mr. Svensson's article might have been a non-starter if he hadn't used so many modifiers and adjectives to make the tone SOOOOO dramatic. Numerous statements include phrases like, "...I'm sad to report..." or "Once you've figured out the system and are lucky enough to find a book..." He makes a big deal about how many onerous-sounding steps there are (3) to borrow an e-book from the library vs. buying one. In fact, step #1 is that to borrow an e-book from the library, you need (cue drum roll) - a library card!
However, while I might poke fun at the histrionics, I agree with Mr. Svensson more than I disagree regarding the actual borrowing process. His "step #2" (which should really be #1 - you already have a library card, right? :-) ) is a pet peeve of mine. Step #2 involves interacting with a service called OverDrive, to which the Hutchinson Public Library and the State Library both subscribe. This service, along with e-book publishers have created what I think is an overly-difficult borrowing process. You have to download their software and then get an Adobe ID (Mr. Svensson's step #3). These two steps can be daunting and the instructions are somewhat lengthy, albeit step-by-step. And if you have an Apple product such as an iPhone or an iPad, you have to add in the process of getting OverDrive to work with iTunes. In OverDrive's defense, once those steps are done, you never have to do it again and can borrow books at your leisure.
Mr. Svensson laments having to wait on a "hold" list for popular titles, but anyone who has ever used a library knows that that can happen - it's not news. And of course you have always been able to buy your own copy, no matter the format, if you just can't wait until your turn to borrow comes up. My last criticism is simply that I think Mr. Svensson expects library collections to have morphed into digital formats over night. Another of his laments is the relatively small selection of titles most libraries have. This is true - mostly because as formats have changed once again, libraries can shift only so many $$$ toward that format per year. Considering the real (most recent) blossoming of e-books has come in the last year to 18 months, it is not surprising that most libraries have relatively few e-books - so far.
I wanted to point out something Mr. Svensson doesn't discuss and that I think is far more significant: Libraries pay an "access fee" (in our case quarterly) to get to their own collections. I understand that a company has to make a profit. But the dirty little secret is, in my opinion, should we ever decide to cease our association with OverDrive, we lose access to the entire collection. In other words, OverDrive has figured out a way to turn audiobook and e-book "purchases" into "licenses". This to me is the most serious issue that needs to be addressed regarding e-books and libraries. The first issue makes a minor gripe of the fact that OverDrive also doesn't make it easy to expand your collection quickly. We often pay what is essentially the "paper" price for a title, not the $9.95 or $12.95 one pays for Kindle-format, non-lend-able e-books.
The best way to address that problem is for the users of the service to make their voices heard. Libraries have long been bastions of many things, among them; freedom of speech, access to information for all, and responsible treatment of intellectual property. Most importantly, libraries are often the first place an author finds exposure and a wider audience (read: more sales).
The article starts with a comment about how libraries have been lending e-books longer than there has been a Kindle. That's a definite understatement! In fact, there's even an article in the August 1, 2000 Hutchinson News about Random House (the publisher) starting an e-only imprint. More to the point though, Mr. Svensson's article might have been a non-starter if he hadn't used so many modifiers and adjectives to make the tone SOOOOO dramatic. Numerous statements include phrases like, "...I'm sad to report..." or "Once you've figured out the system and are lucky enough to find a book..." He makes a big deal about how many onerous-sounding steps there are (3) to borrow an e-book from the library vs. buying one. In fact, step #1 is that to borrow an e-book from the library, you need (cue drum roll) - a library card!
However, while I might poke fun at the histrionics, I agree with Mr. Svensson more than I disagree regarding the actual borrowing process. His "step #2" (which should really be #1 - you already have a library card, right? :-) ) is a pet peeve of mine. Step #2 involves interacting with a service called OverDrive, to which the Hutchinson Public Library and the State Library both subscribe. This service, along with e-book publishers have created what I think is an overly-difficult borrowing process. You have to download their software and then get an Adobe ID (Mr. Svensson's step #3). These two steps can be daunting and the instructions are somewhat lengthy, albeit step-by-step. And if you have an Apple product such as an iPhone or an iPad, you have to add in the process of getting OverDrive to work with iTunes. In OverDrive's defense, once those steps are done, you never have to do it again and can borrow books at your leisure.
Mr. Svensson laments having to wait on a "hold" list for popular titles, but anyone who has ever used a library knows that that can happen - it's not news. And of course you have always been able to buy your own copy, no matter the format, if you just can't wait until your turn to borrow comes up. My last criticism is simply that I think Mr. Svensson expects library collections to have morphed into digital formats over night. Another of his laments is the relatively small selection of titles most libraries have. This is true - mostly because as formats have changed once again, libraries can shift only so many $$$ toward that format per year. Considering the real (most recent) blossoming of e-books has come in the last year to 18 months, it is not surprising that most libraries have relatively few e-books - so far.
I wanted to point out something Mr. Svensson doesn't discuss and that I think is far more significant: Libraries pay an "access fee" (in our case quarterly) to get to their own collections. I understand that a company has to make a profit. But the dirty little secret is, in my opinion, should we ever decide to cease our association with OverDrive, we lose access to the entire collection. In other words, OverDrive has figured out a way to turn audiobook and e-book "purchases" into "licenses". This to me is the most serious issue that needs to be addressed regarding e-books and libraries. The first issue makes a minor gripe of the fact that OverDrive also doesn't make it easy to expand your collection quickly. We often pay what is essentially the "paper" price for a title, not the $9.95 or $12.95 one pays for Kindle-format, non-lend-able e-books.
The best way to address that problem is for the users of the service to make their voices heard. Libraries have long been bastions of many things, among them; freedom of speech, access to information for all, and responsible treatment of intellectual property. Most importantly, libraries are often the first place an author finds exposure and a wider audience (read: more sales).
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Ah, the sweet sounds of construction!
Our little remodeling project is underway. Nothing major, just returning what was the "Rayl Reading Room" back to its original use. In the original 1949 plans, this space was set aside to be the place where you could go with your newspaper, magazine, or book, and read in relative peace and quiet. Apparently, you could also smoke in there as well!
Over the years as the library expanded, the space was used for many other things. For some time it was the microfilm room and most recently it was a staff workroom. Now though, we need a place that is quiet. So we have come full-circle and will return the space to a "quiet" reading room.
Today, we saw some samples for lounge chairs. These are the ones we are currently considering:
What do you think? I didn't think I'd like a chair without arms, but the "Cavetto" chair was actually quite comfortable, and we saw the model that comes with a movable tablet arm attached, which was pretty cool. No matter which chair we pick, we'll hopefully be able to add more of them around the library as well. We'll also add a couple of these study carrels to the Quiet Room:
All in all, a good day for the library today, I think. Of course, I'll probably be singing a different tune when I start back in on the annual report tomorrow!
But there's always Friday, when we'll be meeting with a web designer to start talking about redesigning the HPL website!
Over the years as the library expanded, the space was used for many other things. For some time it was the microfilm room and most recently it was a staff workroom. Now though, we need a place that is quiet. So we have come full-circle and will return the space to a "quiet" reading room.
Today, we saw some samples for lounge chairs. These are the ones we are currently considering:
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| Sauder "Reflect" |
 | |
| Sauder "Cavetto" |
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| Sauder "Planar" |
What do you think? I didn't think I'd like a chair without arms, but the "Cavetto" chair was actually quite comfortable, and we saw the model that comes with a movable tablet arm attached, which was pretty cool. No matter which chair we pick, we'll hopefully be able to add more of them around the library as well. We'll also add a couple of these study carrels to the Quiet Room:
But there's always Friday, when we'll be meeting with a web designer to start talking about redesigning the HPL website!
Friday, January 14, 2011
A look back at 2010
At the start of every year, we in Kansas libraries are required to fill out a report to the State Library of Kansas enumerating our various transactions for the year. The reporting process has improved tremendously over the past few years, becoming an easily-navigated online exercise in "filling in the blanks". I have begun to gather information about the past year and some interesting tidbits, not necessarily asked for in the state report, popped out. While there are lots of number below - I think they are worth a look as they reflect some of the hard work our staff does here.
First, our Children's Outreach program. run single-handedly by one of our GREAT Children's Department staff members had its best year ever. The original idea for the program was to reach children is preschools and daycare environments who might not otherwise get to the library. All I can say is that there has been a HUGE demand for the service. Amy went on 316 storytime trips outside the library with 6,967 attendees! WOW!
Out of our total collection of DVDs, 1,889 of them were checked out at least once. In fact, those 1,889 DVDs went out on average nearly 8 times each (14,340 circs).
Using our "Purchase vs. ILL" process we purchased instead of borrowed 665 items requested by our patrons. To put that in perspective, we process about 14,000 items per year to add to the collection. So about 5% of those new "things" were added as a direct result of our patrons simply asking.
So how much did we end up borrowing from other libriares on behalf of our patrons? 3,179 items came to us through Inter-Library Loan (ILL). We loaned other libraries 5,017 items throughout 2010. The courier service we now use carried 2,790 of the ILL items back to other libraries.
I know that was a long slog, but I think those are interesting numbers. There are many more for me to look at as I complete the State Report - coffee...must get coffee.
First, our Children's Outreach program. run single-handedly by one of our GREAT Children's Department staff members had its best year ever. The original idea for the program was to reach children is preschools and daycare environments who might not otherwise get to the library. All I can say is that there has been a HUGE demand for the service. Amy went on 316 storytime trips outside the library with 6,967 attendees! WOW!
Out of our total collection of DVDs, 1,889 of them were checked out at least once. In fact, those 1,889 DVDs went out on average nearly 8 times each (14,340 circs).
Using our "Purchase vs. ILL" process we purchased instead of borrowed 665 items requested by our patrons. To put that in perspective, we process about 14,000 items per year to add to the collection. So about 5% of those new "things" were added as a direct result of our patrons simply asking.
So how much did we end up borrowing from other libriares on behalf of our patrons? 3,179 items came to us through Inter-Library Loan (ILL). We loaned other libraries 5,017 items throughout 2010. The courier service we now use carried 2,790 of the ILL items back to other libraries.
I know that was a long slog, but I think those are interesting numbers. There are many more for me to look at as I complete the State Report - coffee...must get coffee.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
More work for librarians
This is one of those personal not-quite-a-rant posts where I just have to get something out of my head so I can stop thinking about it for a bit. Feel free to stop reading after following this link to an excellent list of state resources regarding bullying and how to deal with it.
[rant]
If only there really were "rant" tags - maybe they would create bolded, all-caps text with too many exclamation points?
Librarians in general need (and perhaps are already receiving) a swift kick in the pants about their role in the world. Sometimes I feel like the world's information-sharing mechanisms have reverted to a digital version of the Dark Ages. Important information, collections, etc. are buried or isolated and simply cannot be found. In the Dark Ages this occurred because of, well, the collapse of western civilization causing the dissemination of knowledge to slow to a trickle. In the digital age this has occurred because the dissemination, at least, has become so simple there is a flood of knowledge overwhelming us.
A new idea? No. But we have to come to grips with it. Who is the "we"? Librarians. Our very purpose as "professionals" is to organize the collected knowledge of humankind and make it available. There are fantastic tools out there for this purpose. The ones designed for libraries are, with extremely few exceptions, either clunky, over-simplified, or over-complicated and hard to use. Why can't we get this right? From highly involved online catalogs that are intended to simply direct people to the best information in a building to federated search tools supposedly aggregating all the library's resources into one search box; library sites and products are only a few among many options and often not the best choices.
I think that a simple-to-use tool is needed that is backed by the expertise of librarians. Easy enough to say. Patently obvious, right? So, why doesn't it exist? Or if it does, why hasn't it supplanted the currently dominant tools out there? Sometimes I wish I were a Jeff Bezos-type. I thought at one time I was a visionary. Maybe I am to some extent, but I lack that whatever it is to make the "thing" happen. Often I feel like I spend too much time looking back to see what's coming and maybe that's the library world's problem.
[/rant]
Back to compiling statistics for the State Library annual report. Let's see how we did last year...HEY, wait a minute!
[rant]
If only there really were "rant" tags - maybe they would create bolded, all-caps text with too many exclamation points?
Librarians in general need (and perhaps are already receiving) a swift kick in the pants about their role in the world. Sometimes I feel like the world's information-sharing mechanisms have reverted to a digital version of the Dark Ages. Important information, collections, etc. are buried or isolated and simply cannot be found. In the Dark Ages this occurred because of, well, the collapse of western civilization causing the dissemination of knowledge to slow to a trickle. In the digital age this has occurred because the dissemination, at least, has become so simple there is a flood of knowledge overwhelming us.
A new idea? No. But we have to come to grips with it. Who is the "we"? Librarians. Our very purpose as "professionals" is to organize the collected knowledge of humankind and make it available. There are fantastic tools out there for this purpose. The ones designed for libraries are, with extremely few exceptions, either clunky, over-simplified, or over-complicated and hard to use. Why can't we get this right? From highly involved online catalogs that are intended to simply direct people to the best information in a building to federated search tools supposedly aggregating all the library's resources into one search box; library sites and products are only a few among many options and often not the best choices.
I think that a simple-to-use tool is needed that is backed by the expertise of librarians. Easy enough to say. Patently obvious, right? So, why doesn't it exist? Or if it does, why hasn't it supplanted the currently dominant tools out there? Sometimes I wish I were a Jeff Bezos-type. I thought at one time I was a visionary. Maybe I am to some extent, but I lack that whatever it is to make the "thing" happen. Often I feel like I spend too much time looking back to see what's coming and maybe that's the library world's problem.
[/rant]
Back to compiling statistics for the State Library annual report. Let's see how we did last year...HEY, wait a minute!
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