An interesting year

HPL went through a pretty exciting year of change in 2016. We started off the year by hiring a Marketing expert in anticipation of our spring brand launch. What we didn't anticipate was a small job of repainting the Business Office turning in to a major mold remediation job! Despite that upset, we managed to launch Seemore and the new look for the library. We bid for and hired a contractor to remodel the Main street entrance and a part of the Children's library. We did all of our regular stuff - programming, Summer Reading Program, checked out materials, answered questions, and much, much more all while maneuvering around construction areas and plugging our ears during long days of jack-hammering.

Despite all the chaos, our door counters recorded 252,332 entries in to the building. Our wifi was used 38,850 times by 4,267 different devices and we answered 22,414 reference questions! Amazing! Believe it or not, our circulation of physical items was 369,101. That's real, solid stuff, not digital. And our digital circulation grew as well with over 50,000 checkouts of ebooks, eaudio, music, and emagazines.

We did well. We did amazingly well, I think. I'm looking forward to 2017 and some additional exciting projects we have planned. But right now, I'm just thankful for the great people who make HPL the wonderful resource that it is - the staff and volunteers who work so hard to make it a place for all to come and discover something new, explore, and connect with others.

Finally, thank you Hutchinson for using our great library, and thank you to all who come from farther afield as well. We will continue to serve you to the best of our abilities in 2017 and beyond.

A Little Breathing Room

The light at the end of the tunnel is bright. We are finally nearing the end of our renovation project that included both entrances to the library, bathrooms, reading spaces, the Friend's Book Store, and the Children's Story Time Room.

I have to say that I am excited, but at the same time a little bit sad because I do love a project.

For the time being though, I think I'll sit down, take a little rest, and enjoy the view...

Hard hat area!

Over the next few months, the Hutchinson Public Library (well, parts of it anyway) will be hard hat zones! Watch out for the construction - it starts in the East side or Main Street entrance THIS MONDAY - April 18th!

From Monday the 18th through early August, the Main Street entrance will be closed, so please use the West entrance that goes into the Children's Department.

We are embarking on a remodeling project that, when finished, will leave us with a new Main Street entrance, a new reading/lounge area, new children's restrooms, and a revitalized story time room. I for one am very excited. This is a step in the right direction toward becoming more welcoming and more modern-looking.

You see, we have a bit of an image problem at HPL. I rank us up there with the best of them in the areas of services and tools offered and certainly when comparing staff skills. But we don't necessarily look it.

I think our visible changes will help with the perception that we're the "same old library". We haven't been the library that you knew in the 1980's for, well, decades. Public libraries have been constantly adapting and changing to meet demand and HPL is no different.

A New Brand - A New Image!

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity at the Hutchinson Public Library! We have been working for some time on a fresh new image for the library.

Every once in a while all organizations need to pause and take a look at HOW they look. What does a patron experience when she visits the organization's website? What does the app or apps look like? What does the physical space look like?

Hutchinson Public Library's image was what it has been for many, many, MANY years. It wasn't bad by any stretch, but it wasn't inspiring. It wasn't current. It didn't let people know what our amazing staff had to offer or what tools we had hidden.

So we went big with color, we set our sights high on what we want to say to our users. We want to be the place where patrons can explore an idea or a subject. We want to be the place where patrons can discover a solution, a new passion, or a new course in life. We want to be the place where patrons can connect with one another, with other entities in the community, and with ideas from around the world.

Our new face has a name - Seemore. He will help you (and us) see more of what's around locally and far away. I'm excited to with where the Hutchinson Public Library is going. You will be seeing more of our bright new colors and our smiling helpful nature in the weeks and months to come.

If you haven't visited us recently, stop by virtually or in person and we'll be glad to help you with that next great discovery!

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.

Building Improvements

Plans are shaping up for making some much needed improvements and refurbishment to our building!

Using funds saved back in our Capital Improvement fund, in 2016 we will be working on both entrances, the children's library restrooms, and the children's story time room.

The west entrance will be first up this spring. We will be changing the HVAC systems in that area to try to improve the comfort level. This phase of the project shouldn't be too disruptive, but there will be times when the entrance will have to be closed for safety reasons.

Once the West entrance has been finished up, we will make a fairly major change to the Main Street entrance. That side will get a larger foyer area, better HVAC and new doors. We will add some seating for people waiting for rides and more.

Tied to the Main Street entrance refurbishment will be a renovation of the old computer lab area on the second floor (directly above the Main entrance). This area will get some windows, comfortable seating, and the AV collection. This will make for a nice quiet reading and study area with a view of Main Street.

Once that area is finished, we should be past the 2016 Summer Reading Program and the refurbishment process will move back over to the Children's Department. The restrooms in that area will be totally redone from the plumbing up. During this time, the story time room will also receive a much-needed face lift that will include new flooring, paint, storage and craft time clean-up facilities.

These projects will be done with funds the library has set aside over a few years by being frugal with our tax dollars. The capital improvement fund was created specifically to help entities like the library save up for needed repairs and improvements to our building. This means that no new taxes are needed nor will any debt be incurred for these projects!

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.

The Big Shift

Every time I participate in a large collection shift, I say that it's the last time I'll ever do it.  Of course, it is always the last time until the next time!  So...

We are nearing completion on a major shift of our adult collection.  As it stood, the adult non-fiction collection was arranged with the 000s-600s and the 900s on the first floor with the 700s and 800s on the second floor.  In order to free up some floor space and to more logically arrange the collection, we are nearly finished moving the 900s upstairs.  The result is that it will be easier to describe where the non-fiction collection is shelved AND we will have more floor space on the first floor for arranging our public services.

Once we get some lighting upgrades in place on the second floor, we'll be able to regroup and see what is possible with all the free space.  For the time being, we'll add some seating.  The ultimate goal is to move our current computer lab, combine some service points and add services in the technology area such as individual device training sessions and expert help combining patron tools and gadgets with electronic library tools and services.

Phase 1 and an Alien Invasion!

The first phase of our great book shift is progressing.  This is what the second floor looks like as of this morning:

From the Kansas Room door

3 rows of stacks up, ready to assemble the 4th

Down stairs in the Children's Department, preparations for Star Wars Reads Day are nearly complete.  I think that it will be a lot of fun!  Luke's speeder is nearly complete and Jabba is making a killing charging 1,000 credits per picture!

Our program starts at 2pm on the 6th (Saturday).

This photographer is my kind of scum - fearless and inventive!

..."but I was going in to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!"

eBooks and Libraries

A delegation from the American Library Association (ALA) met with publishers at the Association of American Publishers (AAP) conference last week.  The biggest positive I see from it is that there is still a willingness to talk about solutions for libraries to provide ebooks to their patrons.

Here is a re-cap of the meeting from the ALA president, Maureen Sullivan.

I still wonder what will be the outcome of all the sturm und drang of libraries "giving away" the intellectual property created by the big publisher's authors.  Public libraries have for scores of years purchased and loaned books.  The publisher's position is, of course, the exact tack that the RIAA and big music industry companies took with the intellectual property of their artists and what happened?  Someone else <cough>Apple<cough> came in and took their business away.

I wonder if big publishers have missed the boat in the same way the music industry did?  Projects like this one in California, this one in Colorado, and this one in Houston Texas show a strong desire on the part of libraries to strike out on their own.  The world of publishing is much larger than the so-called "Big 6" publishers which includes the likes of Penguin, HarperCollins, and Hachette.  In the coming 2-3 years, these projects will prove their worth or something else will come along to provide the service.  Libraries continue the shift more and more toward providing services rather than dispensing "things", be that books, DVDs, or something else.

Changes to our website

We have been working to improve our new (actual over a year old now) website for the Hutchinson Public Library.  As we create new content and make some changes, I hope you will send us feedback.

The first couple of changes we've made to the home page are circled in red in the picture below:

There is now a rotating book shelf (Newest Arrivals) that shows a selection of the newest acquisitions each week.  You can click the jacket art and go directly to the library's catalog to place requests for the items.  This tool is provided by Wowbrary!.  You can also sign up to receive a weekly Wowbrary! email newsletter that includes not only the items shown on the rotating shelf, but every new item added each week.

The other red circle is highlighting a feed from our HPL Reader Reviews website.  These are books reviewed by HPL patrons.  You can participate by sending in reviews of your own to me at gwamsley@hutchpl.org.  We would love to continue expanding this resource as a reader's advisory tool for everyone to use.

There is also a new repository for the latest press releases from the library.  Here will be a place to find detailed information about significant news, programs, and new services at HPL.  You can find it by clicking Programs & Services on the menu bar and looking under the Programs & Events list.

Please let us know what you think about the changes and give usany suggestions you might have!

Changes are afoot!

Second Floor stacks...with stacks

New homes for the 700's!

We're changing.  What are we changing?  The way we look (hopefully for the better), some things that limit service, some things that created barriers.

This is the start of phase one of a long project.  Please follow along to see some of the awesome things our staff has planned!

So it's not just libraries?

Apparently, Penguin is out to alienate ALL of its customers.  I was just reading about the latest shenanigans involving Kindle versions of ebooks through OverDrive in this news brief from TechDirt.  For some strange reason, they are forcing Kindle users to borrow books only through USB connection, not wirelessly.  I'm not sure what this is supposed to accomplish, other than acting as an irritant.  Perhaps it is just another bump in the long, slow decline of major publishing houses.  They seem to be taking the path of the music industry giants by trying to throw up higher and higher hurdles for people to get access to their products.  I think this is a poor strategy since self-published titles rose from 29,000 in 2004 to 2.7 MILLION in 2010.  The savvy author doesn't need a huge publishing company to get a book out there anymore.

I cannot stress this enough - libraries have a great opportunity here.  This is no time to panic, this is the time to act, and act decisively.  Libraries have the rare opportunity to be the SOLE middle-man in the author-to-reader supply chain.  Libraries could directly interact with the authors of many of those 2.7 million titles and publish and help distribute those ebooks if only we set ourselves up to do it.  That means the network and server capacity to circulate and even potentially act for authors and readers as a store-front or a gateway to book sellers.

This article makes me think we might want to add extra precautions opening boxes of paper books from Penguin as well!

Technology Survey

Please help us choose the correct path!  We are at a cross-roads with our laptop check-out program here at HPL.  It is time to replace hardware and we want to make the best purchases we can in order to meet the needs of our patrons.

We have been circulating (in house) laptop computers for about 3 years now and those machines have served their purpose.  What we want to know is what do people really want from this type of service.

The survey HERE is very short, but any comments you can make will help us decide how to make our next batch of circulating electronics purchases.

I am no prophet, but I sure can ramble on...

AUGH!  MY EYES!

For a over a decade, ebooks were something of a curiosity.  They never quite caught on, mainly because the content was far ahead of the delivery device.  No one wanted to sit in front of an old CRT monitor to read a book.

Then LCD monitors became widely available and at least you could read an ebook without destroying your vision.  But still, the ebook wasn't quite ready.  People still did not want to be stuck at a desk to read.  Even lounging with a laptop to read a book was not really that great.

But which one do I buy???

And then a few years back, the ebook reader was born.  A small, lightweight device with enough memory to store a lot of books and a display (e-ink, especially) that was easy on the eyes.  When combined with retail juggernauts like Amazon, who could afford to sell the devices at a loss because they knew they would make it up in content, ebooks have taken off.

So what, right?  Libraries can just buy a big bunch of ebooks and check them out through their own websites or catalogs or what ever.  Were it only that easy.  It didn't turn out that way.  Suddenly, libraries that had been dealing with those little computer files for years found themselves cut out of the market.  Publishers began treating "books" like the music industry and the software industry treat their content - as licensed things rather than purchased copies of things.  Add to that the problem that there are very few companies that cater to the library market when it comes to ebooks.  There are OverDrive, the up-start 3M Cloud, Baker& Taylor's Blio, and a few others, but mostly there are the big publishers with their newly-bared disdain for libraries.  That disdain, long-held (and in my opinion irrationally so) in the form of a "Public Library Loans = Lost Sales" mentality, is a big problem for libraries and ultimately for literacy and the legacy of accumulated knowledge of our culture.

What's a library to do though?  Little old HPL can't muster the monetary resources to change the tide...or can it?  The answer is:  Maybe.  There is a library system in Colorado that is blazing a new trail, the Douglas County Libraries.  They are negotiating their own contracts with publishers - not any of the "Big Six" so far - but many good publishing houses.  They are negotiating to purchase copies of the electronic files that constitute ebooks and making agreements with the publishers to circulate them and protect them from copyright violation just as libraries have done with paper books for centuries.

Maybe we can do this too at HPL.  I honestly believe that this is the path into the future for libraries everywhere and that we MUST do it.  Libraries must retake their position in the world of the "printed" word.  This article from the journal Public Libraries outlines much more clearly than I can what must happen in the very near future.  I think it must happen in many libraries and at all levels.

And in the spirit of rambling, here's an article outlining some reasons why we might NOT want to throw out those darned old paper books.  A new Library of Alexandria in Richmond, California?

More eBook Nonsense!

WARNING:  Long, but extremely IMPORTANT!

[EDITED 2/12/12]
Sometimes I get frustrated with people.  Usually, it is because communication hasn't worked properly and has created a misunderstanding.  Sometimes though, it is because communication has been completely disregarded and subsequent faulty reasoning has led to a poor decision.  Now, whether or not that faulty reasoning has been mine or the other party's...let's just say I'm willing to discuss it.  The same can't be said of the 5 publishers listed at the end of this post.

Sometimes when trying to communicate, I must assume that the other party has completely gone off the rails and is just flat wrong.  Case in point:  Penguin ends eBook sales to libraries.  This news means that 5 out of the 6 "big" publishers have chosen to not sell eBooks to libraries.  Random House is the sole remaining "big" publisher still selling eBooks to libraries (thank you Random House!)

Those other publishers, rather than work out a solution, have chosen to walk away.  They want you, the reader, to only have the option to buy an ebook, never to borrow.  This despite decades of hard work by librarians, promoting authors and books for these big publishers.  Librarians want people to read.  We relish helping to discover new, great authors and sharing them with our patrons.  Librarians want more books to be published and more writers to succeed.  Librarians want publishers and publishing to grow.  These big publishers, apparently, want only our money.  And by "our" money, I mean ours individually.  They don't seem to care about choking off a source of free promotion and business that (although they dismiss it as inconsequential) has benefited them for years.

Here's the harsh truth:  Just as it disadvantages individuals, a lack of access to a popular format, a format that may reign supreme in the coming years, will kill libraries.  It will kill them utterly because while a new format changes habits and usage patterns, complete lack of access to that format will bring us even further along the road to a society of "haves" and "have nots".  Public libraries have always acted as a great leveler - providing resources to those who cannot afford them.  Public libraries work hard to create readers: Life-long readers. Voracious readers.  And we don't especially care if they buy books, borrow them, or both.  HPL's children's outreach brings books and story times to 600+ pre-schoolers per month with this single goal in mind.  That's 600+ potential book buyers WE are creating for you, MacMillan Publishing (and you other ingrate publishers).

Lack of access will also kill one of the other main reasons libraries exist - to accumulate and make available the totality of human knowledge.  Eh, so what, right?

Librarians are not unreasonable people.  We will negotiate terms, conditions, restrictions, whatever.  But we can't negotiate when the other party is acting in a childish fashion and simply takes their toys and goes home.

If this situation makes you mad, here's a list of contacts to which you can express your anger.  I will be contacting them myself and I hope you will too.

Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
646-307-5151

customerservice@mpsvirginia.com

SIMON & SCHUSTER, INC.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
PHONE: 212-698-7000

http://www.simonandschuster.com/about/contact_us

Penguin Group

375 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

Phone: 212-366-2000

ecommerce@us.penguingroup.com

Hatchette Book Group

466 Lexington Avenue #131

New York, NY 10017

Phone: 212-364-1100

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/customer_contact-us.aspx

Brilliance Audio, Inc., 

1704 Eaton Drive

Grand Haven, Michigan 49417

Phone: 616-846-5256

consumerhelp@brillianceaudio.com 

[EDIT]  Here is a considerably more measured blog post on the Penguin / eBook topic, but one that also points out many of the very real, but bordering on whiny, problems of librarianship these days.

The Hunt for New Ideas, part 2: Revenge of the New Idea

Library stacks.  Library shelving.  You can picture in your mind exactly what I'm talking about without me actually going out there and finding an image, right?  It hardly seems like something that would be subject to a "new idea" does it?  The humble book shelf and book stack has remained largely unchanged in public libraries for 150-odd years.  Here's what the stacks look like in the Hutchinson Public Library:

Storage, pure and simple.  What's hard to see here is how they are constructed.  Each section has a rectangular frame in the middle from which the shelves hang.  Like this:

This is not a bad way to do it.  It holds the shelves very securely, allows for long rows to be linked together, and is very sturdy.  However, one is limited in configuration because most of these systems don't work very well with different height frames hooked together - basically you can put together long lines of, for example, 7' high shelf stacks.

So along comes a company called Paragon with a new way of looking at library shelving.  At least it's new to me.  And I've been looking.  The shelving product is called Intuitive-IC and they allow a library to do one thing differently - mix up and combine shelf heights, work surfaces, and seating within the row of shelving.  Here's a picture:

If you look closely, you can see that the cantilever supports that hold up the shelves go from the front and back edges toward the middle of the shelves.  This allows all different heights of shelves to be put together in a row.  They have a short little YouTube video that shows some of the possibilities.

I think this might be a good choice for our art collection on the second floor since we need to replace the shelving there.  We need to be able to stack higher, but want the option of some low tops on which to set heavy books.  It is a collection that lends itself to browsing and sometimes it is easier to look through a few right there in the stacks before deciding which ones to check out.

As I go through the stack of papers and brochures I picked up at ALA Midwinter, I continue to find more and more good ideas and nifty new ways of looking at the same old library things!

The Hunt for New Ideas

Mediasurfer iPad self-check

Laptop self-check

I went to the ALA Midwinter meeting Exhibits Hall in Dallas over the weekend with a long wish list.  Big meetings such as that are great for networking and learning new things, but they are also GREAT for finding out about how to meet patron needs through new products and services.

Are there really any new ideas out there?  Has everything already been done?  Maybe.  But some people are taking ideas and running with them in pretty cool ways.  Take the idea of checking out laptops or other devices to library patrons.  HPL has checked out laptops for 3 years now.  They are used in-house only and circulate from the adult circulation desk.  But what if you could automate this process?  Sort of a Redbox for electronics?  Two companies have done just that - Mediasurfer and LaptopsAnytime.  The Mediasurfer kiosk dispenses tablets (iPads, specifically) only, while the LaptopsAnytime device can be customized to dispense laptops and netbooks.

Imagine being able to just walk up to the machine, scan your card, and go sit down and start computing with a clean, fully-charged device.  When it comes to return time, no waiting in lines, no fuss, just put the device back in whichever empty slot is available.

I'm looking for new ways to serve our patrons as we work to re-imagine the library technology center.  Another HUGE time drain we struggle with here at HPL is assigning public computers and dealing with printing.  I spent a lot of time looking for solutions there and I think I found at least one good option.  Something that will allow us to provide wireless printing, print control and login/registration on public computers.  This will help us to free up key staff members who can then share their expertise and help patrons solve their technology problems.

It is somewhat hard to describe, but the kernel at the core of our re-imagining is not to provide new technology, but to help people interface with the library and its resources.  As I sift through the information I gathered at ALA, I will share more and continue to write about where we're headed with technology and which new/old ideas we are going to implement.

2012 - Starting off with an end?

In more ways than one, unfortunately.  The less happy "end" is that our coffee bar is once again without a proprietor.  Rita's Roast has been forced to close after a series of unfortunate events beset our contractor.  We are going to spend some time assessing the value of offering the service to our patrons versus the difficulty in keeping such an operation going.  What are your thoughts?

Coffee, tea, or...?

The positive "end" is that the library has launched an entire series of programs aimed at one thing - preparing for the unexpected.  The "Are you prepared...?" series has started off with great success.  Coming up are a series of weather and driving preparedness lunch-and-learn sessions.

Also, our newest book discussion group will meet for the first time at 7pm on February 2nd.  Our first book is One Second After, by William Forstchen.  I am really a novice at book discussion groups, but I am excited to be able to help get this one off the ground!  Apocalyptic fiction is our focus (at least for the first two books) and we are planning on reading a total of 6 books this year.  Will they be the final 6 books I read?  I guess we'll have to wait and see if the world really does end at the end of this meso-american long count calendar cycle!

I am looking forward to more positives than negatives in 2012.  That may sound like I am setting my sights low, but I'm not, really.  The challenges confronting libraries are many and dauntingly complicated in some cases.  However, Hutchinson is lucky to have a public library staffed with smart, savvy people and I have every confidence that they will rise to the challenges and find innovative, useful ways to overcome them.  Come in and try our programs, ask about our services, and most importantly:  Give us feedback about what you would like from your public library!

Website change

I admit that I am an inveterate tinkerer.  I have been working on creating a set of links for our patrons to sites that offer free ebooks for download.  Further, I have been looking at these sites and trying them out beforehand to see if they are easy to use and offer a good selection.  The list will likely grow over time.

In fact, thanks to the work our IT head, we have changed the main menu on our website to create a space for further future expansion into ebooks and more.  Here's what we've changed (inside the big red circle):

The heading that used to say "Audiobooks" is now the more general "Digital".  We will add links here to new state-wide resources as well as resources unique to the Hutchinson Public Library and it's patrons.

This is where you will find the link to the free ebook resources.  Just follow the "eBooks" link and it will lead you to this page:

I have divided the resources into two sometimes-overlapping categories.  There are sites that contain mainly public domain books and sites that provide free eBooks.  "Public domain" and "free" are not interchangeable terms in that most of the "free" titles found on sites listed on this new page are providing eBooks that are still under copyright, they just aren't charging you any money to download them.

The public domain books are no longer under copyright and so are free in terms of cost AND in terms of copyright limitations.

The list will undoubtedly change and expand as we move forward.  The DIGITAL section of the website will expand too as we add more resources, both local and otherwise, to enhance our physical collection.