Inside The Alberta Library

 

 

From the desk of Clive Maishment, CEO

Can we talk?

More important, can we tap the power of conversation to help us chart our future together? We didn’t know the answer to that question when we started planning the recent NEXT Symposium in Edmonton.

So what did we know?

We knew that we are a diverse community, with diverse perspectives. We knew that all of us are immersed in challenges every day – to the point where we often feel like it’s a challenge just to see the bigger picture. And we knew that not only did we not have all the answers, we didn’t even have all the questions.

From that starting point, we put together a symposium based on the idea that if you bring people together, create a context and a space for conversation, there is a possibility that something meaningful might happen.

Our hope was that the symposium would lead to articulating an overall roadmap for libraries across Alberta and contribute to a strategic vision for all libraries in the province. We also hoped that the symposium would inform The Alberta Library’s strategic planning process.

The results? You did not disappoint. While it’s too early to talk about specific recommendations from the symposium, the quality of the conversation was remarkable. In fact, you can tell how engaged people were just by looking at photos from the symposium.

The symposium has also started a broader conversation at a library futures website created by a team of committed volunteers. Check it out at www.libraryfutures.ca.

How important is the power of conversation? Perhaps David Lankes, Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse University and our final NEXT speaker, put it best:

“Librarianship is a conversation. It’s a conversation that has been handed down from generation to generation, society to society, culture to culture. And it’s not done. Librarianship is a conversation about how we can make the world a better place. It is a conversation not only amongst ourselves, but with our communities.”

Let the conversation continue.

 

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Leading speakers bring insights to Alberta

When it comes to setting the stage for a discussion about the future of Alberta’s libraries, how do you create context, challenge existing assumptions and provide new perspectives – all in one day?

It’s a tall order, but five internationally-renowned speakers gave it their best shot as they came together to talk about the cultural, demographic, social and economic shifts that are likely to affect libraries and librarians in the coming years at the NEXT Symposium in Edmonton (see speaker clips from the symposium here).

Environics President Michael Adams started the day with an overview of demographic trends in an increasingly multi-cultural Canadian society. While Adams painted a relatively positive picture of the country, he noted that new arrivals to Canada are not doing as well as previous generations due to economic challenges.

Adams also noted the startling disparity between young males and females, with young women far more likely to pursue post-secondary education and generally doing better in the information economy than young men.

The growth of Aboriginal populations in urban areas, and the growing desire of many Aboriginal community members to see their culture as an integral part of the Canadian mosaic, was another insight.

While Adams talked about the future using data that essentially looked in the rear-view mirror, Thomas Frey, the Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute, a non-profit think tank based in Colorado, said his job was to help people turn around to get an idea of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

In particular, he asked us to think about the systems that we currently use that might be keeping us from having great ideas or grand epiphanies.

One of Frey’s insights became a theme for the day: people increasingly want to participate – they’re not satisfied with a one-way flow of information. In Frey’s view, libraries will become places not where people come to ‘consume’ information, but where people come to connect and create with each other in new and diverse ways.

Mike D’Abramo, an expert on youth and technology trends, also talked about how libraries are moving from being a ‘host’ of culture to becoming a ‘hub’ of culture as he described a society where young people and their parents behave like each other more than ever before and where privacy is being redefined, with people generally relaxing their standards.

Patricia Graham, the Editor-in-Chief of the Vancouver Sun, built on the theme of democratizing information as she talked about the transition of the newsroom from a news gathering service to an information hub that engages the community.

According to Graham, the community is delighted with the democratization of the media, but the challenge is building consensus within the organization and getting staff buy-in.

The solution, she says, is communicate, communicate, communicate and, in particular, talk about why change is happening.

David Lankes, the Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse University, closed the day with a passionate call to librarians to stop underselling themselves and their ability to shape the future.

According to Lankes, the only thing that will kill librarianship is a lack of imagination and an unwillingness to engage in a conversation about how we can make the community a better place.

“You are the promise,” said Lankes. “And you have to deliver the gift.”

The NEXT speakers delivered – by challenging and inspiring us.

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Strategic planning project team appointed

The Alberta Library’s Executive Committee has appointed a strategic planning project team to draft a one-or-two page strategic plan for consideration at the January Executive Committee meeting.

The team includes Nancy MacKenzie, Calgary Public Library; Pilar Martinez, Edmonton Public Library; Michelle Toombs, Marigold Library System; Dan Mirau, Concordia University College Library; Kenton Good, University of Alberta Libraries; and Renee Reaume, University of Calgary Libraries.

TAL CEO Clive Maishment and Alberta Public Library Electronic Network Director Julia Reinhart are ex-officio members of the team, which will review ideas discussed at the recent NEXT Symposium, as well as the results of small group discussions at TAL board meetings in 2008 and 2009.

The team will also survey members on expected services and the value of existing services. The resulting document will outline a general strategic focus which allows TAL to be nimble and responsive to emerging issues and concerns.

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NEXT videos, photos and group discussion data now available

There was a lot going on at the NEXT Symposium and we’ve gathered all that information in one place for you.

Video clips and slides from our thought-provoking speakers, comments from the small group discussions and photos of the symposium are now available on the NEXT website.

Have a look at a sampling of some of our photos and check out the website for a complete listing of all the NEXT Symposium results.

 

 

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Continuing the conversation after NEXT

The NEXT Symposium was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of discussion about the future… and present … of Alberta libraries. There are a lot more conversations and insights floating around out there in the library community, and we encourage you to start, participate in, and learn from those conversations.

One way to take part in the discussion is to visit the Library Futures website.

Library Futures offers all members of the library community the opportunity to continue the valuable discussion started at NEXT, share points of view and gain insights.

Why participate?

Engaging in conversations about what the future holds for Alberta libraries is good for you, your library and all Alberta libraries. Two heads truly are better than one. Exposure to diverse perspectives gives you valuable insights that challenge your assumptions, gel ideas and help you plan for the future.

Michael McDonnell, one of the people behind the Library Futures website, comments on the synergy that results from conversations: “Discussion leads to innovative ideas. Innovative ideas emerge when different people with different ideas share with each other. We need innovation to take advantage of the opportunities and to manage the risk the distant future holds.”

It's easy to participate

The Library Futures website offers a spectrum of ways to participate - from simply voting on a poll to getting involved in moderating a discussion.

Michael says there are many ways to participate. “First and easiest: react or respond. If you see a poll on the site, vote. If you see a survey, fill it out. Comment on a blog post. Just post a comment when you have a thought and don't hesitate.” Responding is easy to do. You don’t even need a Library Futures account to post comments.

Besides contributing your point of view on things other people post, you can post things that get other people talking. Michael recommends that people think about posting short articles, links to sites or videos that prompt discussion. “Sharing a link to something good and a few sentences about why we should be interested is amazing for sparking conversation.” He explains that posting videos and articles is as simple as cutting and pasting the URL into a blog post.

Pose questions

Take advantage of the opportunity to pose questions that you have been struggling with yourself or within your organization. Michael calls these questions ‘Big Picture Questions’. “We've got a special section of the site that accumulates good questions: things where the process of wrestling with them is more important than the answer. The community votes on which question is featured each week.”

Michael believes the Library Futures site is “really a community blog. Anyone with an account can post. You don't need permission, everyone's posts are welcome.”

The reward of participating in this way is that you can benefit from the experience and insights of other members of the library community.

Showcase intitiatives

Step up your participation another notch by showcasing projects your library has undertaken. Michael says that Library Futures is “the place to showcase your cutting edge work. If you post it on LibFu you will find an audience: receptive, engaged, and responsive.” He says that there are currently 80 members signed up with accounts and hundreds more who read the site.

One way of showcasing your work is to post a featured article. “A featured article is a blog post that has an image attached that is displayed prominently in the feature carousel on the homepage and most pages on the site. Featured articles also get tweeted, facebooked, and advertised on mailing lists by the LibFu Cru,” says Michael.

The LibFu Cru (a.k.a. the Library Futures website volunteers) also provides support to people who want to post on the Library Futures website but need a little help. They will add images to your feature articles if you don’t have a suitable photo and they have volunteer editor/producers who can help with articles or video/audio interviews.

What's coming up?

Michael tells us what to watch for on the Library Futures website in the next few months: “The site has a great deal of featured content lined-up ... Articles from members of the community on specific ‘futures topics’. Interviews with people who have done exciting projects. Announcements of events on emerging trends. We are also about to put out a call for volunteer interviewers shortly. We are really interested in hearing from anyone who is willing to conduct an interview by email, audio, or video. We have a growing list of people who would make great interview subjects.”

How can you use the Library Futures website to benefit from conversations about the future of Alberta’s libraries? Float some ideas, chip away at issues important to you, provoke responses from others and learn from the conversations.

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TAL Profile: Kevin Dodds, Director, Yellowhead Regional Library

Kevin Dodds

What drew you to your profession?

My original career was as a junior high school teacher. In the mid 1980s I was interested in a career change, so I began to look for a career that would allow me to use my education degree and at the same time provide new opportunities and challenges. Librarianship seemed to be the ideal profession for my evolving career goals.

Why do you think libraries are important?

In my mind, libraries are one of the few institutions that have so much to offer to everyone, no matter how old you are or whether you live in a small or large community. The library experience is a very personal one. People come to libraries for such varied reasons throughout their entire lives. It’s hard to imagine our society without libraries.

Who had the most influence over your career?

For all but one year of my professional experience in libraries I have been at Yellowhead Regional Library, so it has been the librarians and staff I have had the pleasure of working with here for 21 years. Three individuals who I greatly admire and have learned so much from are Louise Frolek, Clive Maishment and Linda Cook.

What major changes have you noticed in your time in the library community?

The most significant change I have seen is the proliferation of technology. We’ve gone from cards and pockets in the backs of books to integrated library systems, online databases, and iPhone and iPad apps. Also significant are the many ways in which libraries go out into their communities and take library service to people wherever they happen to be.

What has been the most rewarding part of working with the library community? What have you enjoyed the most?

The most rewarding part of being involved with the library community has been all of the people I have worked with. The public and school library managers in YRL, trustees on the YRL Board and colleagues from the regional library systems have made working within the library community a very rewarding experience. 

What is the best/most memorable item you ever borrowed from the library?

The most memorable item I borrowed would have been the first title of the Hardy Boys series. Up until that point in time (1963) I was an avid comic book reader. Borrowing this first book opened up the world of libraries and novels for me.

Tell us something about yourself that might surprise others in the library community.

In February of 1980 I climbed the highest peak in North Africa, Jebel Toubkal, in southwestern Morocco. The mountain is 4,167 m. and was a two-day trek. In the summer, the trek is considered non-technical. In the winter ropes, ice axes and crampons were needed. The view at the summit was spectacular.

What is your involvement with The Alberta Library?

I first became involved with TAL in the early 2000s on a committee that undertook an evaluation of the TAL card. In the fall of 2008, I became Yellowhead Regional Library’s representative to the TAL Board and in May 2009 I became one of the regional library system representatives to the APLEN Standing Committee.

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Library Q & A: Alberta College of Art + Design

Christine Sammon, Library Director at Alberta College of Art + Design, shares what's new.

What is your library's biggest current challenge?

Our biggest current, and on-going challenge, is student preparedness. Our students come to art college believing that they will just be creating art. However, as ACAD is a degree granting institution, academic rigor is required. Our challenge has always been working hand in hand with our faculty to make sure that critical thinkers graduate from ACAD and the Library plays a huge role in this.

What area is changing fastest in your library?

Not much different from most libraries – it is simply the sheer magnitude at which new technology arrives and forces us to rethink, question, adapt and adopt if required. This demands leadership which will focus our teams so that libraries not only thrive but survive. It has made the library profession one of the most challenging and exciting professions to have been involved in over the years.

What idea are you most proud of over the past five years?

I am most proud of having moved our College, which was heavily dependent on 35mm images for teaching, into the digital image realm. It was done, as many library projects are, on a shoe string, beginning in September 2006.

We anticipate having the collection necessary to support our curriculum by next September, 2011. This was very strategically planned, as we moved to support one course at a time. Each faculty member was engaged and totally immersed and involved with the transitioning of their course. As a result of the success of this transition, we experienced an unexpected outcome, and that is that the library has become the ‘go-to’ place when faculty have issues with software.

Where do you see the most opportunity for innovation over the next decade?

Oh, boy. Well, I’m not a futurist, but a few things that come to mind are:

More focus on eliminating barriers which people feel technology imposes on them: With the continuing proliferation of information in digital form, I think many people may just give up. They will be challenged for a few reasons – they cannot afford all the new technology or they are frustrated by it and by compatibility issues in both software and hardware, DMC issues, etc. I see this barrier as an opportunity for libraries to be seen as places where people can come to receive assistance without charge in navigating this maze, a place where they can try different software and learn to use it, and most importantly, a place where they are unafraid to ask for assistance.

More open access: We need to be more involved with the building of institutional repositories and with the offering of enhanced access to OA material - indexes and aggregator databases.

More collaboration: I see more collaboration amongst TAL libraries than we have been doing, such as centralized acquisitions, centralized cataloguing, etc.

How does your library stay in touch with clients / library users?

We make it our business to ‘be present’ or ‘be there’. All staff, when asked for assistance, will give it – whether it means working through coffee breaks, whether it cuts into their lunch hours and whether it occurs at the end of their work day. Our corporate culture is that all staff members understand the library resources, the hardware + software and never leave anyone asking for assistance, be they student, faculty or outside borrower, without an answer or a lead to an answer.

Our library benefits from this culture of being ‘present’, ‘being there’ as we hear and see the challenges, the issues and the problems students have with library policies, procedures, technology and resources and we work to fix them, making our library better in the process.

In addition to being ‘present’ - ’being there’, we do an annual outcomes survey of third year students. We have chosen third year students because they have had experience using the library and they have a vested interest in making it better. With this survey, we have a 35 – 40% response rate (with no prizes for filling it out given!).

We tend to think that only disgruntled people fill out a survey, but at ACAD no matter what issue is causing our students a problem (open hours, uncomfortable furniture, etc) the library staff always get top marks in this survey.

How do you stay in touch with political leaders in your community?

Academic libraries are not funded directly by the federal or provincial governments or by the city; rather our institution receives funding and then, our senior people make decisions on how much of that funding to give to our library. So, internally I work to make them aware of our needs by meeting regularly with the VP Academic and with various other senior staff, depending on the issue, to keep them up-to-date on what the library is doing and what challenges the library is facing.

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