Brainstorming with the StratPlan!

By now, many of you have probably participated in a strategic planning brainstorming session. See the "We'd Be a Better Library If..." article on page 2 of the April 2007 StaffWise for further information on this process.

Since we are trying to gather ideas from as many forums as possible, why not gather ideas here as well? So, if you would like to pass on an idea, just add a comment to this post (anonymous if you so choose).

You can also contribute by sending an email to Damone or by speaking up during one of the many brainstorming sessions we are conducting.

So, we'd be a better library if...

Creativity and Technology

As I think about ways the library can use technology to extend our customer reach, it is important to have the right frame of mind. And this applies to other aspects of this Strategic Planning process and, well, to everything we do here.

So when you see a new tool, envision how it can be applied to best suit your needs. You don't have to implement some predetermined notion of what the tool should be used for. The growing hatred of PowerPoint can be directly attributed to numerous people who use the built-in templates as a background to dump their paraphrased speech. But when someone uses PowerPoint to extend their message instead of replace, it is a truly beautiful thing.

When librarians came across flickr, it was not long before they started using this tool in ways that one would not think was intended. How could a photo-sharing site be used as a tool to advertise the library?

It is this sort of creativity that is required for libraries to adjust and impact future citizens as they have impacted present and past citizens. And this is nothing new. When Memphis Public Library made the decision to force women and men to mingle in the same room so that children could have a dedicated place, do you think it was seen as the obvious thing to do?

So for a decent visual as to the sort of thinking required for us to move forward, let us watch a recent "presentation". This person had the opportunity to do the same sort of presentation that had been done hundreds of times before, and he chose to do something completely different. Enjoy. It's Friday.

Help Me Integrate Technology to Increase Customer Reach

As a member of the newly formed Strategic Planning Group, I am charged with researching ways our library can integrate technology to increase customer reach. We already have a number of initiatives in place, the most obvious being the ILS upgrade.

Another future initiative is the concept of a "smart card", one card that customers use to check out books, make copies, register for computers, etc.

Another way to integrate technology to increase customer reach would be to increase our online presence. I have gathered a number of ideas under the del.icio.us tag "Online Presence" (found on the sidebar). What are some of these ideas that other libraries have been implementing? MySpace accounts, Flickr accounts, Wikipedia entries, and more.

Do you have any other suggestions on possible ways to use technology to increase customer reach? Let me know by adding a comment.

The Public Library Association Needs Your Help

The PLA Blog has been discussing the roles of public libraries. Do you have any thoughts concerning their proposed roles? Check out their post and add your thoughts.

What is Important to Our Customers?

One of the questions on our customer survey last year asked this question:

When deciding which library to use, please rank the following eight factors in order of importance, with 1 being the highest and 8 the lowest.

The eight areas were:

• Attractive Exterior
• Attractive Interior
• Comfortable Furniture
• Computer Access
• Convenience
• Knowledgeable Staff
• Materials
• Safety

An area received 8 points for a 1 vote, 7 points for a 2 vote, 6 points for a 3 vote, and so on. The points were tallied to create these final numbers:

• Convenience, 8557 points
• Materials, 8548 points
• Knowledgeable Staff, 7300 points
• Safety, 6280 points
• Computer Access, 5047 points
• Attractive Interior, 4082 points
• Comfortable Furniture, 3892 points
• Attractive Exterior, 2759 points

One important aspect of this survey is that people could access the survey in paper form at any of our branches. They could also access an electronic version of the survey on our website. We received 1105 surveys online and 457 paper surveys.

The above overall ranking does not change when you compare paper vs. online survey results, however, a couple of things grab my attention.

Of the 1105 online surveys, 632 people (or 57%) gave computer access the highest rank of importance. Of the 457 paper surveys, 352 people (or 77%) gave computer access the highest rank of importance.

And, overall, paper survey participants ranked computer access and knowledgeable staff slightly higher in importance than online survey participants; whereas the online survey participants ranked Materials, Safety, and Attractive Interior slightly higher in importance than paper survey participants.

Here are the final point totals if you would like to take a look. Click on the picture to see enlarged version:



Also, if you want to see the whole question, get your magnifying glass:

The Library as a Human and Local Destination

An opinion piece in Lawrence, Kansas stated that libraries are inefficient, limited and obsolete. It goes on to state that rather than building a brand new central library (which is being proposed in Lawrence), that the money should be spent providing internet access to the entire community.

To see the library response, see the many links in the post from This Week in LibraryBlogLand.

On a related note, Stephen Abram of SirsiDynix has just released the second part of a three part series about libraries adjusting to Google and its ilk, called Waiting for Your Cat to Bark.

The first part of his series lists all the things Google does well (and poorly). This second part lists all the things that libraries do well (and poorly).

One of the things that libraries do well is a reference interview. Google and other search engines are trying their best to guess what the customer needs. We have the benefit of looking the person in the eye and finding the real need behind a vague question.

As the Reference Highway pointed out, a couple of sites exist for the sole purpose of connecting a caller to a real, human company representative. If people do not like talking to machines, then why does there seem to be a push to replace librarians with search engines? The fact that anyone can walk into one of our libraries and ask an actual human being a question seems to be more fascinating than ever.

Another thing that libraries do well, according to Stephen Abram's article, is "local". We are in our communities. We know our communities and we know what they need. While our Collection Development has a strong history of purchasing materials that suit the community's needs, MPLIC's new First Responders program is taking it a step further and finding ways to push certain parts of our collection (at a moment's notice) in order to respond to a need in the community.

Perhaps we could also learn something from the independent record and book stores. As mentioned in this TechDirt article, these places are adjusting to the fact that anyone can purchase books and music on the Web by offering something more, a destination. Our situations are similar. If I can buy a book on the Web, why do I need a bookstore? If I can find an answer to a question on the Web, why do I need a library? By adjusting and adding emphasis that the library is a destination (a place that offers more than a stack of books), we automatically trump the online world in that aspect.

So, while MPLIC (and libraries in general) need to continue to improve their online presence and offerings, at the same time, we need to focus on our qualities that make us different from the online world. We're human. We're local. And we're real.

Libraries in Transition

Here is a nice article from the Kansas City Star about how their local libraries are dealing with the new "wired" world. They are experiencing an increase in circulation and customers since the introduction of computers. It appears their customers that arrive for computers also grab a book or two on their way out the door. However, the "accidental" discoveries are not occurring because more and more people come to get exactly what they want and do not wander.

via

NOTE: I was able to read the article just fine the first time, but after that, the Kansas City Star asked for me to register.