Thing #10: Future Trends

What is the library of our future? After reading this week's articles and looking at others' comments, I would answer broadly: a community gathering place that offers access and education. Looking back at that statement, I would say that's not much different from the library of today. I think what will be different and change most with time is "access."

In Seth Godin's article, I was struck by his comment that "the next library is a place, still. A place where people come together to do co-working and coordinate and invent projects worth working on together." That's not our "next" library, that's our "now" library. Our library is very much "a place" in our community. It is the place where people gather. It is where people come to work and work together. We see it every day. One of the most frequently asked questions at our reference desk is, "Where can we sit to work together?" Granted there aren't many other choices in our community for such a place. The local YMCA requires a membership to get beyond the front lobby and the mall has drastically reduced its indoor space in favor of sidewalk and courtyard shops. But, we know people are here because we offer more than "a place."

We offer access, and we have to continue to offer access to keep people coming here. I don't know what techonologies will most affect us in the future, but I know that we need to continually listen to what our patrons are asking for. If they don't find it with us, they will move on. We have WiFi in our building. We have the capability for patrons to print from anywhere to our library. Both bring smiles and a "Wow!" from our patrons. We need to continue to look for what will get us a "Wow!"

Libraries have always been a place of learning. They will continue to be so, but the learning will take place in less traditional forms. Pouring over reference books has already been replaced by database searching and Internet surfing. We now offer 24/7 reference assistance and Universal Class for learning anytime, anywhere. We need to continue to be open to new ways of offering our traditional services.

Finally, we should be lifelong learners ourselves. It's part of our job to understand and try new technologies as they present themselves because we know our patrons will already be ahead of us. Any service we can provide that will make things easier and be a time-saver for our patrons will be embraced -- and this will make the library a more valued member of the community. I'm a firm believer in "Why not? Let's give it a try and see what happens." Luckily for us, all of the changes we will need to make won't happen in one day. As Abraham Lincoln said, "The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."

Thank you, Polly, for putting this class together! It has been a great learning experience!

Thing #9: eBooks

To paraphrase Ethel Merman: "Everything's coming up eBooks!" Love 'em or hate 'em we are answering a lot of questions about them every day. Seems like they're everyone's favorite gift to give too. Can hardly wait for the Monday after Father's Day this year.


I jumped on the bandwagon this past Christmas and bought a Kobo for my father. He had been asking me for large type classics for years and because the Kobo came loaded with 100 classic titles and, like all readers allows for font adjustment, it was perfect for him. After he played with his new toy for a few days, I took it back from him and tried downloading my first e-book. I wouldn't say it was smooth sailing. Thinking back on it, I remember being frustrated by all the steps required -- get an Adobe id, download Digital Editions, find an available book. I ended up installing a parenting book on his Kobo because it was one of the few available. (Rather comical since my father is 88.)


However, like most things in life, after you've done something once, it's easier the second time.


Since Christmas, the librarians at CPH have brought in our various devices and tried them out. So, while I'm not proficient by any means, I've also downloaded eBooks to a Nook and an iPad.


Our patrons love handouts. I guess it's that sense that "everything I need to know is right here in black and white." Natalie did a great job creating some getting started with eBooks handouts that are on our website. I really like the GCPL video on how to download an eBook, and I'm wondering if we can take our handouts one step further and create a video ourselves.


Whether we love 'em or hate 'em, I view eBooks as just one more new technology we need to learn. As with all new things sometimes they're hard to figure out and even harder to explain to someone. But, I think it's our job to learn how to use them and then teach others. We are in the information business after all. That's my justification for why I want a SmartPhone. I don't know how to download an app and I should. I'm past my birthday for this year, and Mother's Day, so I can't put one on my wish list. But, happily our cell plan is up for renewal next month and I can't wait to download Angry Birds all for myself!

Thing #8: Video

We had a lot of fun creating a video promoting Tad to the Library community. Check it out!



We've also used Animoto to promote our Annual Juried Show of Art and Photography. Here's this year's video.



And after looking at the learning examples from this week, I have even more ideas for videos we could create!

Thing #7: Productivity & Collaboration Tools

I started out thinking that the online list keeping tools like "Workflowy" or "Remember the Milk" would be the perfect thing for me because I'm a big list maker. So, I created an acount in "Workflowy" and started typing away, but the more I typed the more annoyed I got. I kept thinking to myself, "Are you really going to log on and use this list or are you going to flip to where you've kept a 'to do' list for the last umpteen years and then realize what you did with it and then get frustrated because it's one more thing that's online?!" I guess I'm too tactile. I want to hold my 'to do' list in my hand and feel that sense of accomplishment you get by crossing things off -- in pen -- not with a cursor. So, while I think "Workflowy" is very easy to use, it just wasn't for me.

I switched tactics then and decided to try "Instapaper" and was much happier with that choice. I am forever finding articles online that I think are interesting but I don't always have time to read them. So, I created a free account and added a few test articles. Easy peasy. I now have a "Read Later" button on my toolbar so that whenever I find something of interest I can click and save for rainy day reading.

On a side note, I am a big fan of delicious. I use it in conjunction with our evening Book Discussion Group. I store webpages on my delicious account that have interesting information about the author of our discussion book. Then, during Book Group, I can logon to delicous using whatever laptop is in our program room that night and retrieve all of the webpages I found earlier. Pretty nifty.

Thing #6: Online Meetings

I attend webinars all the time. I think they're a great way to get information out to people, and it's really easy to connect to one. Just last week I attended Booklist's "High Demand Mysteries" that was offered on April 26th. I'm signed up for both the Library Journal "Christian Fiction Spring Round-Up" on May 5th and a "Universal Class Library Staff Training" on May 10th. The nice thing about the Library Journal webinar is that it will be archived. I actually can't be part of the webinar at 12pm on May 5th because I'll be at a workshop. But, because I've signed up ahead of time, I'll get access to the archive link for a later date. I love that option! If some of the content in the webinar isn't of interest to me, I can "fast forward" to the information I want to hear. Kind of like DVRing your favorite TV show and skipping the commercials!

Thing #5: Reflection and Catch Up Week

Whew! I'm happy to have a week off! This is a GREAT program but if anything it's almost too much information to absorb in a short period of time.

I've really enjoyed learning about things that I just haven't had time to explore before, and the self-paced lessons are a plus. Some weeks I can start right away on Monday and other weeks I find myself scrambling at the last minute to catch up.

This week I went back and spent more time with Twitter. I now have an account and am carefully choosing who I want to follow. It's so easy to hit information overload!

Thing #4: Online Communities

I'm familiar with the online tools we were to look at this week. The Library is on Facebook and Twitter. Personally I use Facebook, GoodReads and LinkedIn although I'm not that interested in spending a lot of time on the computer after a day at work!

I "liked" the Learn with CDLC Facebook page and made use of the refresher on Facebook privacy -- always good to review those details. As I read in a comment by someone else, I am so busy at work that it is difficult to read and absorb all of the information being sent our way in these lessons. But, I'm trying to keep up! I hope the Learn with CDLC Blog will stick around for a while so I can look at it again later this summer.

Our Library is going to try something fun with Facebook that we've seen done elsewhere. We're going to ask patrons to tell us the last 3 books they've read and we'll suggest a new title for them to read. We hope it will be a fun Readers' Advisory day -- and a great use of Facebook.