It's been a while...

In years past, I tried hard to promote the KGI (Kansas Government Information) blog. Not because they need my help, but because they provide fascinating reading. The KGI blog is chock-full of the sort of useful information that good librarians collect. The current post is about a mysterious explosion in Coffeeville, KS.

The KGI blog showcases state documents housed in the state library collection and current information that affects us regular citizens in our daily lives. I would suggest a look - it can be really fascinating!

Robots in the work place

Most of the time, when you think of robots in the work place, you think of those giant arm-like machines precisely and rapidly welding automobile frames. In the world of telepresence though, robots, controlled remotely, roam around offices. These kinds of robots allow telecommuting or travelling employees the ability to "be present" in meetings. A staff member controls the robots movement and sends it from place to place allowing the human to interact with co-workers as if she were actually present.

This is one example, there are many companies making these.

I've been thinking a lot about these robots and how they could be used outside of the world of business. While researching, one of our staff members discovered that they are already being used in schools to allow home bound students the ability to participate in school and classroom life.

What about other uses? Another HPL staff member suggested nursing homes. This seems like a fantastic application to me. Imagine being able to visit your Great Aunt Betty by arranging use of the nursing home's telepresence robot! You could roll to her room and have a visit no matter where you are in the world.

Health care seems like a natural place for these sorts of robots. With a fairly sensitive sound and vision package, a doctor in a distant hospital could consult with local doctors and even be present when examining a patient.

I'm interested in these robots at HPL for gimmicky reasons like using one to roam around the Smallville Comic con to answer questions a la  Barbara Gordon (Bat Girl) who was the librarian at Gotham City's Public Library.

But, HPL could also lend the robot to other organizations including schools and medical facilities if they needed it. It could be lent for other purposes as well. What do you think?

Hutchinson Public Library needs to do this

I think a partnership with USD308 and USD313 at minimum such as the one described in this article would be fantastic! Making student IDs a substitute for library cards? Why not? Our goal as a library is not to be a substitute for schools, but a resource to draw upon. Specifically, we want to be a resource for the individual student.

Sometimes, a barrier for kids is not getting to the library, but having their own cards. "But that's subverting parental rights!" you say. This could be true. But notifications could be sent, benefits of the idea could be shouted from the roof tops so that parents are aware of what's going on. And no other effort would have to be made on the part of the parents.

And what would be going on is reading. My goal would be that HPL could be the place where a student gets connected with her or his passion. That passion might be something that leads to a career or that feeds a life-long hobby. It might simply an escape from the day-to-day "work" of studying and school that can sometimes (I can attest personally to this) takes the joy out of reading.

Science Fiction Discussion 2/11/2016

This month we read Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, which many people will associate with the Will Smith movie of the same name. A few people may associate it with the cheesy 1970's-era Charlton Hesston movie Omega Man. In fact, the book has been made in to a movie three times. The oldest version stars Vincent Price and is called The Last Man on Earth.

Our group compared and contrasted the book with the Price film. I think the overall decision was that The Last Man on Earth followed I Am Legend very closely. The other two movies did so to a lesser degree. Personally, I really liked the Matheson story. I thought it was paced well and kept me interested. While it felt very much a product of its time (1954) in moral sensibilities, it is still very readable. Price played the main character pretty true to the book. The only problem for me was that no matter what, it was still Vincent Price. Kind of like the Charlton Hesston version, Robert Neville (main character of the book) was there in name only - it was Charlton Hesston the whole time.

All-in-all, I would recommend the book. I liked the Vincent Price version of the movie - very low-budget, but I thought it was true to the novel.

Next up: Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Join us on March 3rd at 7pm here at the library!

Plans are shaping up!

As we move in to the heart of winter, plans are being completed for sprucing up the library! We will be working on the children's story time room, the children's bathrooms, doing a little work on the children's entrance, and a lot of work on the Main Street entrance. The Main street part of the project will include a new second floor reading area. If everything stays on track, we plan to have a bid opening for this work in early March and have work started later in the spring!

But wait, there's more! We are still taking suggestions for milliondollarideas@hutchpl.org regarding what to do with the large bequest that was left to HPL. Our goal is to do something that will have the biggest impact possible on the lives of our patrons and the life of the community. We're trying to think big. We're looking for something amazing, unique, and potentially life-changing for our users.

Bicycle Book Delivery

Oakland Public Library's effort

I think this is just fantastic! This article talks about libraries that are bringing mini-collections of books to book-poor areas of their cities and towns by bicycle.

Hutchinson, KS is an extremely bike-able town, size-wise. I'm not sure what we'd do in winter months here, but you could easily bike a trailer of books to Third Thursday or to a city park or a community center with very little effort. I think even an out-of-shape old man like me could do it!

The article seems to indicate that most of these libraries are using targeted collections for the event or area they are visiting with their pedal-powered bookmobiles. This seems like a great way to do some major good will in one's community while helping a literacy issue that just doesn't go away - the inability to get books in to some people's hands simply because of a lack of availability or access.

e-Books vs. Print Books

[Insert maniacal laughter here] I find a sense of shadenfreude in this New Republic article about reading.  The person being interviewed has been gathering evidence, other than anecdotal, about reading and the use of electronic books versus paper (or "traditional") books.

Turns out that there seems to be a host of component factors to reading that are unsatisfied by reading on a screen. There has been a slowing of ebook sales in the past 5-6 quarters that have puzzled publishers, pundits, and others alike. Why haven't ebooks continued their meteoric rise?

I've wondered about this before and it's good to see someone look at this issue with a certain amount of diligence. I've always thought, with nothing empirical to back it up, that people become distracted when using a device to read versus a paper book. As the article above states, the book provides immediate feedback AND you can't just "quickly" check Facebook.

Anyway, maybe it will turn out that "I told you so" and ebooks will be just another medium for delivering information. They have shortcomings and strengths just like any other medium. To me, it makes sense that ebooks will fill the needs better than paper for some purposes and vice versa. And the best part is that libraries will still be here to help you find what you need. [Insert more maniacal laughter].

This is where we are as public libraries...

The long, painful dismantling of the USA's social safety net is hitting still-functioning public institutions like public libraries right in the gut. This Washington Post article shows us what the end result of our war on poor people is going to look like.

Public libraries are not public health care providers. Public libraries are not homeless shelters. Public libraries exist for an entirely different sort of public service for all - life-long learning and entertainment.

I am strongly in favor of access to library services for ALL - rich or poor; old or young; homeless or gated-community dwelling. However, libraries are not set up for, designed to handle, or in any way truly capable of handling what they are increasingly being forced to deal with. Libraries on the whole are not always even funded to a level to effectively perform their main function. Asking libraries to be medical facilities, mental health providers, and more is the sign of, in my not-so-humble opinion, a nation that has given up and given in to stingy, hard-hearted sentiment.

The Post article states that the solution many of these not-lavishly-funded libraries came up with is to hire social workers, nurses, etc. This is a ridiculous diversion from the mission of public libraries. At least in Hutchinson Kansas we have organizations like New Beginnings to help people in housing crisis and the Salvation Army and many other groups to help with homelessness.

So, what is the role of public libraries in this crisis of poverty? I think it is to be in the second tier of support - helping people find jobs through providing access to resume help, application help, and providing access to training and coaching. Libraries should be places for moving forward. Forward movement can only be achieved once the basic needs of housing, food, and health are met.

Should libraries not be part of this process of change? Of course we should be active participants in this vital conversation, but we should not allow ourselves to be substituted for other institutions and services. We are being taken advantage of because of our collective urge to help people. We should never give up our desire to help people but we should also stop letting ourselves be used as a convenient rug under which bigger societal problems can be swept.