No Foolin'!

I thought we'd have a little fun at the library this April Fool's and had planned on putting out this "joke" self-check out. But, much like Google's April Fool's mic drop flop, it was not to be. Our real self-check out machine chose that day to go on the fritz - and a little joke like this might be funny, when you can point to the self-check just behind the patron and say, "Just kidding, it's right there," is NOT funny at all, when you've got to deal with troubleshooting a computer that's down. Rats. Maybe next year.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.

I hate signs. I hate signs in the library.

There, I've said it.

Well, that's not exactly true. I do like decent wayfinding. When I see a shiny new library, with large, easy to read signs and good traffic flow patterns, that is nice. Several years ago, I did a sign renovation project at my library, replacing ragged, ratty, wordy signs with simple and inviting messages. That was so satisfying! I can't stand most handmade signs, tacked up by frustrated staff who are tired of constantly dealing with a problem. No one reads them. Can I tell you how many times I've had a patron ask me a question while standing directly in front of the sign that contains the info they are asking about? It happens a lot.

Here is a whole collection of signs of the sort that I mean: Pinterest library signs.

Does your library have signs like these?
"Please do not reshelve library materials."
"No food or drink."
"This area is a quiet zone."
"Please keep an eye on your materials, thefts are not uncommon."
"Do not bathe, shave or sleep in the bathroom."

Whenever possible, I try to avoid having these kinds of signs as they all come across negative, with a passive-aggressive quality. Putting signs up like these doesn't solve a problem, it just creates visual clutter. Oh! And bonus points for signs printed in red. With underlining. And italics. Or all caps. And exclamation points. And bars sinister. Those kind of signs are the worst!

Instead of a sign that says, "Please do not reshelve library materials," how about a sign that says, "Please, leave books here."

"No food or drink" is a tricky one. If you don't have the staff to (kindly) enforce this, then I don't see the point in putting up a sign that everyone ignores. It only reinforces how toothless that policy is. Ha!

"This area is a quiet zone." Here is another sign that really doesn't need to be around. Much better to have enough staff routinely perambulate through the library and to (gently) remind patrons if they get too rowdy.

"Please keep an eye on your materials, thefts are not uncommon." This is one of the few signs that I don't mind so much. I have seen some clever signs to this effect - and there are some studies that show a picture of an eye, or an authority figure is sometimes enough to deter theft all on its own! Don't overdo it though.

"Do not bathe, shave or sleep in the bathroom." Oh man. Here is another example of the kind of sign that I feel does no good. It makes the library feel sleazy and trashy to any casual user. And the kind of patron (probably homeless) who is in such desperate straits as to try to take a bath in a public library restroom sink isn't going to be deterred by a sign. You don't need a sign to make a policy stick, either. One shouldn't need to post signs for every possible infraction. Sure, when you have to approach a patron who is breaking this rule, it's awkward, and yes, that individual may grasp for a bit of dignity by sputtering at you, "Well! I don't see a SIGN, prohibiting bathing!" That doesn't matter. You do not need a sign. Putting up a sign is not the answer.

Book Hive

Here's a really neat looking thing.  Book Hive is an art installation at the Bristol Central Library to celebrate their quadricentennial. Is that a real word? I just made it up. 

I'm not sure if the fluttering responsive books are awesome, or creepy. I like what the artist has to say about libraries as a public space.

ALA recaps 2015

I didn't go to the American Library Association's Annual Conference in San Francisco this year, much as I might have liked to. I lived in San Francisco for a brief while (and worked in the TransAmerica Pyramid!) and have always enjoyed going back for visits. But, I've done the next best thing, and read up on other conference-goers experiences there.

Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes gives a three-part wrap-up. One, two and three.

The ALSC blog is a treasure trove of conference related posts.

Abby Johnson at Abby the Librarian shares her experiences, especially the Newbery Caldecott banquet.

Paul Signorelli at Building Creative Bridges talks about the warmly supportive and hug-worthy excitement being in San Francisco during Pride Week, as the historic Supreme Court decision on gay marriages was released and has more resources for those who are #alaleftbehind.

Circulating Ideas

I recently did an interview with Elizabeth Keathley from Atlanta Metadata Authority for Steve Thomas' library podcast, "Circulating Ideas." We had a lot of fun, chatting about reader's advisory, weeding, censorship, blogging, book clubs and other such matters.

Check out the podcast on Steve's site: Episode 68: Madigan McGillicuddy

Thanks for listening!

Nesting at the library

With the recent arrival of my new daughter, I thought I'd share a funny story...

My last few weeks of pregnancy, I'd catch myself looking around the house, thinking of all the things I had left to do to prepare for the new baby, and wondering, "When does this famed nesting instinct kick in?" I just felt too tired after a long day at work, much of it on my feet (although I did start dragging a chair out to the circulation counter, towards the end) to get much cleaning or organizing around my house accomplished.

Wednesday, February 25, the branch library was closed due to a potential ice storm. Thursday, the library was opening late... I found myself hoping for another snow day, due to the low fever I was running, and finally decided to call in sick that day and rest up. Friday, I returned to work, as normal. On Saturday, the library is generally very busy. I got to work that day, and even though I'd been meaning to go easy on myself, I found that I really could not stand how backlogged we were. 

For folks who like to imagine that librarians lead lives of leisure, idly flipping through the pages of the latest novels as we sit, bored, at the circulation/reference desk, you could not be more dead wrong. There were so many carts of returned books to be shelved, and simply not enough staff to get it all done. I shelved like a madwoman all day!  That is a workout that any fitness instructor would be proud of... lots of lifting (boxes of books are heavy!) squatting, scootching, stretching, kneeling and lifting, getting everything back into its proper place. 

Sunday I had the day off, and spent the day visiting with family. And early Monday morning, on March 2, I went into labor, nearly three weeks early! Oh gosh, what a surprise. Everyone in my family typically goes way overdue, needs to be induced and delivers 10-pound babies. That was what I had been expecting. I was a little mad at myself - if I hadn't exerted myself at work, would I have gone into labor so early? My mother-in-law (who is also a librarian) and several of my librarian friends immediately said, "Aha! That was your nesting instinct!" 

Oh, my gosh... they're right! That was it - I can't believe I finally felt like nesting and I used it all up at work! I could have been, oh, I don't know, mopping my kitchen floor, or obsessively organizing and re-organizing baby clothes, you know? Ah, well... I hope our patrons appreciate it. I'm on maternity leave now, and won't be doing any shelving for several more weeks. ;)

Bookish Links du Jour 3/1/15

Here's one way to enjoy the snowy weather...

Is that a #Hogwarts snow sculpture we see?! MT @PeteKotsonis: Lumos! #harrypotter pic.twitter.com/vGSUlTqY0o
— Scholastic (@Scholastic) February 25, 2015

There's a new Dr. Seuss book is coming out this summer. What Pet Should I Get? is a continuation of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and makes for the seventh posthumously published Seuss book (not counting the 40 plus Cat in the Hat adaptations put out by Tish Rabe and Bonnie Worth.)

Grinches are looking to shut down Little Free Libraries, usually citing building codes and permits. What a shame. The basic idea behind Little Free Libraries is so charming and beautiful - to share favorite books with the community and foster neighborliness. If I had one argument with Little Free Libraries, it's that sadly, I see too many people treat them as "dumping grounds" for books of questionable quality. I've seen far too many moldy books, tattered newspapers, outdated appliance manuals and the like stashed in LFL's around town. C'mon, people! Use them in the spirit that they're intended and the world will be a better place.

People are talking about Pattern Recognition's blog post about shamefully low library director salaries in the rural U.S. Check out the comments for some interesting opinions.

Bookish Links du Jour 1/4/15

What's caught my attention this week on the internets?

Here's a smattering of news and other tidbits that I thought looked interesting.

Thoughts on how to read more (especially in the new year)

Lots of buzz on wacky questions posed to librarians, pre-Internet days. I've had some entertaining questions in my day, but nothing beats these.

Yay! Rainbow Rowell is writing a Simon Snow book (the fictional character from Fangirl).

Check out this awesome book-stamp t-shirt from Book Riot:

Ode to Libraries video

Aww! Here's a heartwarming video on libraries put together by vloggers 2 Broke Geeks.

Three Kinds of Library Fines Patrons

Library fines are just a part of my everyday business as a librarian. Why do libraries have them in the first place? Really, the main reason is to give library patrons a gentle nudge to bring their books back. Without that pesky little fee, I think a lot of our patrons would honestly mean to bring back a book, "soon" and somehow, with one thing and another and everyone's busy schedules, "soon" would somehow never come. Ultimately, we want the library materials back so that other members can use and enjoy them. Even I've been known to rack up the occasional late fee. The few times a year that it happens, I usually sigh with annoyance at myself and then I'll just matter-of-factly pay it. When you use the library a lot, it's bound to happen now and then, even if you're careful.

That being said, I've noticed that when it comes to fines, there are three kinds of patrons. Here they are:

1) The Good-Hearted, Yet Guilty Patron
Generally, this patron will approach the circulation desk, sweating bullets and looking nervous. They may whisper dramatically, and will let you know that they have a serious confession to make. It's a Big Deal... They owe a fine! Looking up his or her record, I announce, "Okay, Ma'am/Sir, it looks like you owe... THIRTY-FIVE CENTS!" The patron will gasp with alarm, and throw a few quarters your way, perhaps even encouraging you to keep the change as a donation, as they quietly slink out of the library in utter shame. These folks always crack me up. They take their library fines very seriously!

I promise never to bring back anything late ever again!

2) The "I Know My Rights" Patron
This is an interesting phenomenon, and I don't really fully understand the psychology behind it. Let's say that your library system will block someone's card, not allowing them to check out more books, or reserve an item, etc. etc. once they owe more than $10.00. This kind of patron will generally owe about $9.95 at all times. They may even owe $9.99! They are very cautious about keeping their library card in good standing. If they return something a little bit late, they may argue very hard with the librarian to try and get their fine removed, or they may pay juuuust exactly enough so that they can check out items again. Frequently, they'll pay with a twenty dollar bill, but if I ask if they'd like to pay down the whole amount, they'll look horrified. "No way!" They'd only like to pay a dollar (or however much to keep it under ten bucks) and that's it. It's obvious that they are of the opinion that paying off your library fine in full is for chumps! They've got a "right" to have a certain amount of fees racked up without any consequences, and they plan to keep it that way!

I like those fines, just the way they are.

3) The Carefree Debtor
This is the kind of patron that haunts librarians' nightmares. This patron will stroll up to the check-out counter, just as casual as you please, and hand you their card. "Oh, I'm sorry," you'll say. "It looks like you owe $257.85! There are quite a few late fees on here, as well as a number of books you checked out about two years ago, but never returned, so the computer wants to charge you to replace them." This patron will deny everything. They'll deny that they owe money. They'll deny that they've ever checked out anything in the past. Or perhaps, they'll fix you with a blank quizzical look as if to say, "So, I owe more than $250.00 So what? I wanna check out these DVD's right now." These folks amaze me - how can you rack up these kind of library fines without even caring?

I'll never pay up! NEVER!

So, dear readers, are you guilty as charged? What kind of library fines do you rack up? Do you pay them? Let me know in the comments.

New book domino record

The record has already been smashed for the greatest number of books toppled in domino-like fashion. Seattle Public did one earlier this summer; now Cape Town's Central Library already has them beat. I liked that they spelled out "Central Library" with the books. The cheers and hugs at the end made it look like everyone felt the hundreds of hours of set up was definitely worth it.

 

Little Free Libraries

   

I am having so much fun visiting my local Little Free Libraries. If you haven't heard from them, basically, they are little boxes, maybe a bit bigger than a birdhouse, where you can leave a book, or take a book... for free! I guess the thing I love about them is that each one is like a tiny, charming surprise. Each one that I've seen is decorated differently. People are so creative! You probably have one close to you - check the map.

If you don't have one near you, you can start one. You can pour as little or as much money into it as you wish. You can purchase a Little Free Library box from their website, or they helpfully provide plans so you can build your own, or you can use your own creativity and build something of your own design.

Personally, I have waaaay too many books - I'm having a lot of fun leaving books at Little Free Libraries and seeing people take them.

Seattle Public Library Domino Book Chain

This is one of the most heartwarming things I've seen all week! Check out this video from one of my favorite libraries: Seattle Public. 1:17 had me a little verklempt.

McAllen TX Library

I first heard about the plans for McAllen Public Library in Texas to convert an enormous abandoned Wal-Mart into their new main library back in 2008. I was highly skeptical at the time, mainly because I pictured the bland cheerlessness of your average Wal-Mart, simply stocked with yard after yard of books, instead of cheap, imported clothes. And yet, I know one of the main things that patrons ask for is space. Space, and lots of it! Space for meeting rooms, conference rooms, space for private study rooms and/or study carrells, space for children's areas, space for teens, public reading rooms, dedicated space for Friends' groups and more. People really want to use their libraries as a hang-out. If Wal-Mart could deliver in any area, it would certainly be square footage. I'm amazed and pleased at what a little decoration can do - fresh paint, new fixtures, a beautiful water feature, many green upgrades -- you'd never guess that this beautiful library used to be a mega-store! Lovely!

More info, including plenty of photo sets on the McAllen Public Library website.


 

Retro Librarian Poem

knitted fresh daily posted this on Flickr. Cute poem, and still true today, I think! I'm lucky I'm a librarian... there's no way I'd have room to keep all my favorite books at home.

Library Cartoon

More madness from the delightfully deranged brain of Grant Snider. Do check out his blog if you haven't already. Most of his cartoons are available as full size posters. Here's one I'm enchanted with. I love all the details! Check out the teen section with "sexy vampire novels" on one side and "sexy werewolf novels" on the other side. And the Harry Potter closet! And the Grumpy Librarian vs. Overly-Friendly Librarian (I have been both, in my time, I must admit.) See the homage to Maurice Sendak and Pee-wee Herman in the children's corner? Look out for Shelob, Enforcer of Library Fines. What's your favorite part of this illustration?

Re:Imagine Ed Next Chapter Summit Part II

Here are my notes from Day 2 and 3 of the Re:Imagine Ed conference. It was, as you can imagine an intense, exhilarating and exhausting weekend. We worked continuously for 12+ hours on Day 2, and about 8 hours on Day 3.

Day 2:

Welcome

Meet w/ teams - make introductions
At a rough guesstimate, I’d have to say Cohort B consisted of roughly 30 people. We were then subdivided into working teams of 5 or 6 people. With the exception of myself, everyone in my group was an elementary school librarian.

Meet “mentors” - design professionals guiding each group
Each group was given a packet with information on our challenge.

I had an interesting conversation with some of the designers this morning. They asked what I thought of the conference so far, and I took and risk and confessed that I was excited by everyone’s energy, and I liked so much of what they had to say, but then... I felt like the creative team was jumping off a cliff, into something I didn’t understand. Like, a speaker would pace along the stage and say something like, “Library. Is. Verb.” and I had NO idea what that meant. Okay, you said it slowly and importantly, and then gazed triumphantly around the room. I don’t think that’s the same as actually saying something worthwhile! I hated feeling like the jerk who had to announce that the emperor had no clothes. I wanted to be part of the fun - but in all honesty, I couldn’t “fake it” when it came to things like this. Much to my surprise, they laughed and agreed, and said they’d try to find some ways to communicate a little better.

Step 1: Look at survey research gathered from K-12 students

Share w/ group observations that seemed important or interesting to you in the research

These observations were noted on giant paper.
I was pleased that several important questions regarding the surveys we’d been given were immediately addressed by our group. How large were the sample sizes? What was the age/gender/income level of the people who were responding? Was there any kind of bias inherent in librarians asking their students for feedback on libraries while in a library setting? Any kind of self-selection bias to these surveys? We didn’t have the answers to any of those questions, and were forced to plunge ahead with the information we had at hand. Here’s what we came up with:

Include me

Many of the students surveyed said they wanted to be surveyed more, they wanted their opinions to matter, they wanted the opportunity to give feedback and book reviews on library websites.

Books matter
Interestingly, many of the young people surveyed reported that they still highly valued books. They saw books on equal par with online resources and wanted both types of materials at the library.

Comfort

Overwhelmingly, young people wanted the comfort of their living rooms in a library. They wanted soft seating, the ability to bring snacks, clean, well-lit spaces with natural light. They wanted study rooms so they could meet with groups and socialize, but they also wanted designated quiet areas.

Interestingly, I got into a side-conversation with my cohorts - all highly educated folks, passionate about life-long learning (in short, potentially our ideal patrons) who told me they don’t go to public libraries much, because of the homeless who spend their time there. They felt that homelessness and libraries went hand-in-hand and far from being considered a problem, public libraries should embrace their role as a safe place for homeless to go and step up to the task by providing showers, sleeping cots, and social services. (Several of them were very emphatic on that point about providing showers.) They felt very good that homeless people had a place to go. They appeared to view public libraries as community centers valuable for the space they provide and saw their school libraries as “true libraries” where books and learning would be the focus.

Step 2: Based on those observations, we did some drawings of ideal interactions in a K-12 library

  

Provocateurs speak

In what was referred to as a “keynote slam” several well-respected designers and librarians each gave short 10-minute talks.
Nancy Giordano gave a talk as a brand futurist. She claimed that 95% of people crave mastery of a subject, 5% crave new experiences. She said team workers who work outside their job description often excel, because they are more innovative.
David Staley gave a very visceral talk about using smell to process or present information.
Helene Blowers from Columbia Public Library gave a talk about playfulness in the library - demonstrated with a bubble machine. She averred that if you graduated library school in 2008, you are already a dinosaur.

Step 3: Prototyping
Based on our earlier drawings we then “prototyped” - writing concrete items, policies, etc. that could be implemented on to Post-It Notes.

Another  break for provocateurs
Tom LaForge of Coca-Cola gave a talk about how communities will be getting smaller and more local in the future.
Devin Moore gave a talk about how values change over time.

Carl DiSalvo gave a talk about using maps as musical instruments by recording ambient sound.

Trung Le gave a talk about faster than light neutrinos and some good design ideas including “do no harm” (children should have spaces that are as well-designed and comfortable as the spaces that adults get.)

Step 4: Sorting ideas
Our ideas are now posted on the wall in one of 3 categories: “Do Tomorrow” - easy implementable ideas, “Valuable” - things to work on right away, even though they may not be completed in a single day, and “Further Thought” - pipe-dream type stuff
After some arranging and re-arranging of ideas (and Post-its) we take our “valuable” ideas to work on further.

Step 5: Ranking ideas
Each of those ideas were entered into a spreadsheet, with points assigned for the scale of the project, the cost, the time to implement, etc. As we’d been warned, some of our most breathtaking ideas only ended up with a fair to middling grade, because of one or other of its’ aspects had some inherent difficulty. Cheap, easy, global innovations naturally rose to the top. Our sub-cohort chose our top 4 ideas. We then re-grouped with our larger cohort to further combine our best bets so we could land on the best of the best. We experienced some “creative abrasion” which is a really polite way of saying that at this point, conference attendees had spent nearly 12 hours continuously brainstorming. Many people reported feeling “fried” and tempers ran high as we debated which ideas to work on. We did finally settle on 4 very excellent ideas, and after reformulating our groups, called it an evening.

The winning ideas in our cohort were:

• The ever-changing library
• The library as social buzzing place
• Global collaboration
• Student/teacher video talks patterned after the TED talks (it turns out we were right on the money with this one... a few days after the conference, TED announced they were putting together exactly this: http://www.tedxyouthday.com/)

Day 3:

We had 3 hours in the morning to work on creating a presentation for the larger group. Honestly, this felt a lot like being a contestant on Project Runway. It was not nearly enough time to come up with something you could really be proud of, but you just had to “make it work,” as Tim Gunn would say. I was excited to be working with a new group of diverse people, including a middle-school librarian, an interior decorator, a graphic designer, a library consultant and a school administrator.

A working lunch. It's crunchtime!

We generated some really positive progress, but then broke down a bit, as half the group favored presenting a skit of some kind, with the other half rooting for a slide presentation, and a lone hold-out who was not happy with either of these ideas. We scrambled to come up with a last-minute presentation - a hybrid of an improv skit paired with a Powerpoint. To be honest, I was less than pleased with our final product, as a lot of compromises had to be made. To my surprise, our talk was very well received. I do think we were greater than the sum of our parts and came up with some really valuable ideas.

Our slide show is here.

One idea our team came up with the idea of making a library like a zoo. People were excited about the idea of offering pets, especially rabbits to check out. Now, obviously there are a tremendous number of problems with this idea. I’m not even going to bother to point out all the things that could go wrong with such a program, as the challenges inherent in such an undertaking are too many to list. But! The reasons to do something like this would be that it’s something truly innovative, certain to capture the attention of the media and possibly create some interest, new learning experiences and fun around the library.

We also came up with a great tagline: “Homework Hacking Hosted Here” A lot of people use the term, “hacking” just to mean taking a shortcut that makes life better. Using the library could be a way to “hack” your homework - get it done faster.

Decorate the library with fairy doors for a sense of whimsy and fun.

Buffy Hamilton and a few others ran into some creative differences and broke off to form a new “Cohort D” Their presentation was based on comparing the movie Field of Dreams to libraries. I was not very familiar with the movie, and didn’t understand most of their presentation. I got the sense that the conference hosts were eager to reward non-conformity - so you had to approach many of their challenges and projects as double-speak. They’d tell you to work closely with your group, but then praise you for doing the opposite.

Another group came up with the idea of a kitchen island in the library, as your mobile technology and workstation area.

One group came up with a library design that looked like a tree... with stacks beneath (like roots) and terraced levels for socializing above.

In short, here are some of the ideas that kept coming up over and over again during the course of the weekend:

• Remove borrowing limits, remove late fees to increase customer satisfaction and increase circulation
• Create permanent workspaces that could be reserved for use (I saw this idea as being far more practical in a school setting with a limited number of students, but several presenters suggested setting up tinker’s labs or robot-building labs in public libraries)
• Hand out condoms in libraries. Provide social services.
• Modular furniture, including rolling bookcases for ultimate flexibility in the library space
• Folding walls, again for flexible space, creating study rooms when needed, larger spaces when needed - libraries could be designed like a black box theatre - an infinitely flexible space
• Yoga chairs and rocking chairs are greatly appreciated by ADHD students who can’t sit still
• Student involvement in creating displays
• Idea Paint to turn walls into whiteboards
• A suggestion box so patrons can be heard - so simple, so easy to do. Does your library have one?
• Everyone felt that iPads were amazing devices - that they change the way people learn and think and they are nothing short of extraordinary. Most private schools thought it would be ideal for each and every students to be issued an iPad, some were already doing so. Do I think iPads will be made available for loan at the public library? Not anytime soon, although a few public libraries are already doing so.
• Everyone was very, very excited about TED talks. If you haven’t seen any yet, you should check them out. They are pretty great.

On the whole, this was a conference that was heavily geared towards the issues and concerns facing private school libraries, but it was interesting to get the chance to attend... many of the ideas that were presented are ones that I’m sure would translate well to use in public libraries, and if nothing else, it’s helpful, as a children’s librarian in a public setting, to know what is happening in the parallel field of school libraries.

Continue checking the Re:Imagine Ed website as they compile other blog posts, design challenge information and resources generated over the course of the summit weekend.

Resources recommended to me:

Brockman, John. This Will Change Everything, Ideas That Will Shape The Future. HarperCollins, 2010.

Carse, James P. Finite And Infinite Games. Ballantine Books, 1987.

Christensen, Clayton M., Michael B. Horn, and Curtis W. Johnson. Disrupting Class, How Disruptive Innovation Will Change The Way The World Learns. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2008.


Web resources:

TED talks: http://www.ted.com/

Brain Pickings: http://www.brainpickings.org/

Pecha Kucha: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

(If I understand correctly, these are a series of fast-moving slide-shows put on by architects and designers - as a side note, one of the best slide show talks I ever gave the slides were accidentally on fast-forward, forcing me to jump through my talk faster than anticipated. Everyone's feedback was that it was the most exciting slide show talk they'd seen in a long time and they appreciated having time at the end for questions.)

An alternate to Powerpoint: http://prezi.com/

A newsy Facebook alternative: http://www.plurk.com


Resources I recommended to others:

Burke, James. The Day The Universe Changed. Little Brown & Co, 1985.

Edwards, Margaret A. The Fair Garden And The Swarm Of Beasts, The Library And The Young Adult. ALA Editions, 2002.