Author Archive
Bringing Teens on Board – literally!
In 2005 Princeton Public Library expanded the roster of its Board of Trustees by appointing two Teen Liaisons to serve a 2 year term. Although they are not voting members of the board, they attend meetings and are given a voice. Their input is sought and their opinions valued.
I recently spoke with Susan Conlon, our Teen Services Librarian at Princeton Public Library, about the impetus to add Teen Liaisons to the Board of Trustees. As Susan recounts:
We’ve had a very active Teen Advisory Board (TAB) at PPL for about 9 years. When we were still in the construction phase of our new building, I organized several tours of the not-yet-opened library for members of TAB to get a preview of the new building. These tours were just like the ones that were being offered to the trustees, staff and other interested adults.
Alex White was one of the teens on a tour and he became the first of two teens appointed to the board a few years later. Our assistant director at that time was leading the “hard-hat tour” and answering questions from the teens, and I remember it was Alex who asked about who made all of the decisions about building the new library and how to get the money to pay for it. We told him it was the Board of Trustees, and he then asked how someone got to be on it as he was interested.
The connection was definitely made that day between teen’s current participation on the TAB and maybe, one day, their being a representative on the library board of trustees. As it turned out, this initial conversation evolved into why not make a space on the board for teens now. Thanks to Alex’s suggestion ( and his reminders over the next year or so about his interest in serving as a teen representative) and to Leslie’s and the board’s desire to take it forward, we now have two teens (both named Alex!) on the Board of Trustees.
I recently conducted an email interview with Alex White about his experience as Teen Liaison to the board. Both our teen liaisons accompanied the PPL delegation to New Orleans for Leslie’s Inauguration as ALA President where they presented a gift to Leslie on behalf of the board. They helped with the “Libraries Build Communities” volunteer day too — they are the young faces in the front row of the group photo of the PPL staff, friends, and board members who traveled to New Orleans in June and spent a day at the Children’s Resource Center moving books (as evidenced in the other photo, where one Alex is passing books to the other).
JanieH: Where do you attend school and what grade are you in?
AlexW: I attend Princeton High School and am a senior this year.
JanieH: How long have you been involved at the Princeton Public Library?
AlexW: I have been coming to the library since I moved to Princeton in first grade. I first joined the Teen Advisory Board in fifth grade.
JanieH: What made you decide to accept the position of being Teen Liaison to the Board of Trustees?
AlexW: I accepted the position because I felt that it was a unique opportunity to influence the library and how it is run. I was interested in offering a teen’s perspective on what goes on in the library. Being able to represent the youth age group is important; it gives us a voice in the operation of the library that might not otherwise be heard.
JanieH: What did you hope to accomplish during your term on the Board?
AlexW: I basically hoped that I would be able to ensure that the library continues its success in the teen department, as well as making any suggestions that I or other teens feel could help to make the library even better.
JanieH: What did you learn as a result of this unique experience?
AlexW: This experience showed me how a professional board is run, and gave me the opportunity to see what goes into the operation of a major organization.
JanieH: What is the one thing that surprised you most while attending the meetings of the library board?
AlexW: I was just a little surprised by some of the things the board discussed, which I would not have expected to factor into how the library is operated.
JanieH: What is your most memorable moment from your time as teen liaison?
AlexW: I really enjoyed the New Orleans trip, getting to see the city, and being able to volunteer and be part of a team that accomplished something so significant.
JanieH: Do you think you will continue to serve on other boards or continue with volunteer work? If so, what do you have planned or hope to do?
AlexW: Although I’m not sure where, I do expect that at some point in my future, I will serve on another board. As for volunteer work, I definitely plan to pursue it, but am unsure in what ways.
JanieH: What are your plans for the future?
AlexW: Well, I’m not sure exactly what my plans are, but I definitely plan on going to college, and after that, hopefully getting a job in the sports industry or being a businessman.
JanieH: Who is your favorite author or what is your favorite book?
AlexW: I have many books that I enjoy so it’s difficult to pick a favorite, but for now I would have to say The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
JanieH: Would you share with us a favorite quotation?
AlexW: “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.” –The Great Gatsby
JanieH:Is there anything else you would like to share about you?
AlexW: I am a huge sports fan and also I hope someday to come back and see the library even better than it currently is.
I would like to thank Alex White for taking the time to answer my questions. Both Alex’s have been terrific assets to the Board and very dedicated to attending meetings and other functions. I am sure they will have much success in all their future endeavours.
The library is currently formalizing the method by which two new teen liaisons will be selected once the Alex’s are finished their term. We have also recently appointed two teen representatives to serve on the Friends Council and be active with our Friends of the Library. Getting teens “on board” makes sense in so many ways and is a great way to train future leaders who will have experience serving on volunteer boards and contributing their time to the community. I hope that other libraries will consider getting their teens “on board” too.
Using Library Thing for Reader’s Advisory!
John Klima, the Teen/Systems Librarian at the Franklin Township Public Library in Somerset NJ, recently blogged about his podcast on SLJ.com that details how he is using Library Thing as an RA tool for teens. What a great idea — simple to set up, relatively easy to maintain, and (best of all) free. Thanks for sharing John. I am going to file this under great ideas to steal.
On a side note, last year at this time John was working for me as a library intern during his last semester at SCILS, Rutgers University . I could tell from his short stint with us at PPL that he was going to make things happen when he graduated. He taught several successful sesssions in our Tech Center on RSS while he was still a student and his tech skills were valued by both staff and library customers alike. In less than a year John has started to make his mark in the library world and I look forward to seeing where John will go next. Keep your eyes on Library Angst for future developments.
CNET News and the Importance of Librarians
Posted today on CNET’s news.com.com is a great article entitled Most reliable search tool could be your librarian written by Elinor Mills. The title is catchy (it certainly caught my eye) although not quite right in my estimation as I would like it to state boldly “is your librarian” instead of the wimpier “could be your librarian”, but the tag line is perfect:
Web search engines may hustle up quick results, but librarians dig up online information you can trust, say experts.
The article starts with the now infamous example of the white supremacist site about MLK Jr. which consistently ranks in the top 3 results of many search engines when looking for information on Martin Luther King Jr. To the untrained eye this site appears to be a good source of information. [note: I won’t link to the site as I do not want to improve their page rank] In any event, this is one of my favorite examples to use when teaching the importance of evaluating search results and I know many other librarians use this example as well. Hopefully the word will spread about this site, people will stop linking to it and the page rank can be altered. But I have digressed…
Despite my minor semantic quibble over the title, I am very happy to see a well-known techie site publish such an article promoting and validating librarians. What makes this article even better is that they found the perfect people to interview and quote — the biblioblogosphere and librarian search guru crew are well-represented. Here are a few highlights:
“There’s a problem with information illiteracy among people. People find information online and don’t question whether it’s valid or not,” said Chris Sherman, executive editor of industry blog site SearchEngineWatch.com. “I think that’s where librarians are extremely important. They are trained to evaluate the quality of the information.”
“For some people, if the answer isn’t in the first few results it might as well not be there,” said Gary Price, founder and editor of the ResourceShelf blog and director of online resources at Ask.com. “No matter how smart and helpful search engines get, they’re never going to replace librarians.”
“The idea of the 1950s librarian, that’s outdated,” said Sarah Houghton-Jan, information Web services manager at the San Mateo County Library in Northern California. “You find people who are expert at searching the Web and using online tools; high-level information experts instead of someone who just stamps books at the checkout desk.”
And librarian created resources get a good plug as do subscription databases thanks to Gary Price:
A lot of people don’t know that they can get access to much of the walled-off information in specialized databases for free if they have a public library card, said Price, of Ask.com and ResourceShelf.
Other helpful sites are the Librarians Internet Index, which offers quick lists of carefully vetted, reliable Web sites, the Internet Public Library and Infomine, a collection of scholarly resources on the Internet, according to Price.
Consider posting this article your library intranet, staff blog, or bulletin board to remind your staff that although our roles may be changing our skills and abilities are still valued and very much needed (and that sometimes the media get its right).
Something Fun to Brighten Up a Dreary Saturday
It is raining here in NJ and my two-soon-to-be-three year old son was climbing the walls wanting to go outside this morning. I needed to get the house cleaned for his birthday party tomorrow, so I set him up on my laptop with Kneebouncers — aka “The Bouncy Place” as Alex calls it!
This is a great site for the toddler set — 6 different activities that will each entertain them for several minutes and it does not matter what key they push as they still get the desired result! Go try it out… it is addictive and fun even for adults (especially the “Jump and Float” game, which is the favorite in our house). While you are at it consider adding a link to it from your library web site on the kids page. Let those 2 and 3 year olds experience cause and effect and get comfortable with how to gently use a keyboard to get a result that is entertaining.
I got 20 minutes of free time for laundry, all I had to do was start a new game every few minutes. Once he learns how to manipulate the mouse we are set.
Enjoy!
Carnival of the InfoScience #53 (at long last)
Library Garden is pleased to present the 53rd edition of the Carnival of the Infosciences. It was a busy week at the carnival with several wonderful submissions and also lots of great picks from our own editors here at Library Garden.
Sorry the show is a day late. Technical glitches caused major setbacks several times yesterday [hence the scary clown picture — that is how I felt as midnight approached and the post got mangled once more]. I tried to get the show on the stage before midnight on the 11th so that you could kick back with your PJ’s on and enjoy the show… but that was not meant to be. Nonetheless, we have an exciting first act with a wide variety of submissions for your viewing pleasure:
Steve Backs from Blog about Libraries wrote to report that they are trying something new in September- Naked Reference! This means staff may not bring anything to the reference desk. No projects, bookcarts, etc. so that they can concentrate 100% on patron service. This is something that all libraries should consider doing –we have done it at MPOW in the past and it a real eye-opener. Not only is it a post worth reading but I also really liked his diagram about the myth of multitasking. So be sure to check out the stimulating Reference in the Raw post.
Bill Drew from Baby Boomer Librarian submitted his post Wanted: Librarians using Conduit (was effective Brand) toolbars as it has drawn several comments. In fact, Bill reports that he hopes to start some type of resource page, blog, or maybe a wiki page around using the Conduit toolbar. Stay tuned to Bill’s blog for updates!
Liz B, a contributor to many blogs, stopped by to give us the link to her post on Pop Goes the Library entitled Knowledgeable Guides in which she discusses the new “people added” search engine with “knowledgeable” guides being paid 5 dollars an hour. How do you spell respect? And why are people going to chacha instead of libraries for people added searches? Good questions Liz …
Joy Weese Moll from Wanderings of Student Librarian directs us to her report from the front lines about implementing Instant Messaging reference at an academic library in her post IM a Librarian.
Michael Anuzis submitted his post Google Reader for those Ahead of the Curve in which he describes the effiency and productivity gains that come through using Google Reader. Michael feels that including this post will be a fresh way to offer readers some advice they can leverage immediately while reading other blogs at the carnival.
That wraps up the first act of the carnival. Our second act consists of a few picks and favorites posts from some of the editors here at Library Garden:
Amy has been reading Alan Kirk Gray’s blog and she would like to draw our attention to his recent post called Good News. Your Place of Work is Risk-free! as it is a really nice discussion of how many libraries have arrived at making decisions based on trying avoid the worst thing happening. The result,according to this post, is that we miss out on possible successful actions because we are afraid of the possibility of some bad outcomes. Amy reports that she seen this a lot in libraries and thinks that “diving into some uncertainty” would be a welcome change! This blog post is a great call to such action!
Pete enjoyed Darlene Fichter’s post “Is Your Library Remarkable?” over at Blog on the Side. Darlene invokes Seth Godin’s “Purple Cow” asking, “What holds some libraries and library staff from creating more a purple cow? For going for a “wow” effect? Fear is the problem. If you’re remarkable, you’re no longer safe. Some of the people that notice you will be critical. Going for the “wow” means taking risks – you need to explore the limits.” Right on Darlene! This post made me think of Bob Sutton’s “ Weird Ideas that Work“, especially , “Reward success and failure, punish inaction.” I’ve been thinking about that one a lot lately!
Another knockout post reported by Pete came from Ellyssa Kroski over at Infotangle. Her post, Online Community and Libraries (parts I and II of IV) clearly builds off of the great work of Jenny Levine and Michael Stephens. Ellyssa gives the topic her own excellent treatment, adding some wonderful discussion of Ray Oldenburg’s “Third Place” and it’s importance in light of Robert Putnam’s ideas about our increasing social disconnection. Contrary to some conventional wisdom, Ellyssa cites evidence to suggest that the Internet may be helping to create communities and connections, rather than destroying them. Looking forward to the parts III and IV!
Robert submits Why “duh”… isn’t that was posted on Creating Passionate Users by Kathy Sierra as his pick of the week. Robert feels that this post is well worth the read, for librarians and anybody else dealing with customers–yeah, just about everybody! It is about, I know I’m going to hear groans….customer service. But this is a really smart discussion on it.
Finally, I have two editor picks of my own for this week’s carnival:
The first is Michelle Boule’s thought-provoking ALA TechSource post Building a Better Beta. After a quick review of successful beta products and services that have huge followings and built communities as a result she makes the point that “Going beta has become less of what you roll out and more of just what you do — a mind set.” Wow… I honestly never thought of it that way. Michelle then poses the question “How can libraries build beta products and services and develop their own followings?” and the remainder of the post attempts to answer this question. The resulting discussion in the comments is also worth a read.
The second one is from Stephen’s Lighthouse — actually it’s from September 2nd so I am cheating a little by including it this week, BUT it really hit home with me when I read it yesterday. Stephen wrote a concise and clear guide to Doing the Dreaded V-Mail Thing Better and if every person I need to be in contact with as a result of my new position would read this post my life would be a whole lot better. I previously received 3-5 messages per day on my V-Mail, suddenly my volume has more than quadrupled and most of the messages are notintelligiblee on the first listen. So, take a moment, brush up on your V-Mail skills and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
That concludes our show for this week. Be sure to visit Michael Casey at Library Crunch for the next edition of the Carnival of the InfoSciences. Hosting is a lot of fun, be sure to volunteer to have your blog host for a week and keep the carnival moving! [check out the Hosting Guidelines on the wiki for more information]
Carnival Delayed
I need to get some sleep — it has been a bad technology day. I will post the carnival first thing in the morning when I am not so frustrated — Blogger keeps mangling the post and merging paragraphs and dumping text. I can’t figure it out right now and I am tired of fixing it for today.
Congratulations to John Blyberg and his Go-Go-Google-Gadget
The winners of the Mashing Up the Library Comptetition sponsored by Talis were announced last night and John Blyberg of Ann Arbor District Library came out the winner. His entry entitled Go-Go-Google-Gadget is certainly worthy of this honor. Here is what the press release had to say:
The First prize of £1,000 was awarded to John Blyberg of Ann Arbor District Library in Ann Arbor, MI. His entry, Go-Go-Google-Gadget, shows how simply library information can be integrated into the personalised home page offered by Google, and is described by competition sponsor and member of the judging panel, Talis’ Paul Miller, as “an excellent example of taking information previously locked inside the library catalogue and making it available to patrons in other contexts where they may spend more time than they do in their catalogue.” Available information includes new and the most popular material in the library, and patron-specific information on checked-out and requested items. ‘Superpatron’ Ed Vielmetti applauded the simplicity of this entry, remarking in a clear invitation for others to follow John’s lead that “the visible source code is very tiny and easily hackable.” Vanderbilt University’s Marshall Breeding concluded, “I like this entry’s spirit of opening up information in the library system and putting it under the control of the user.”
Congratulations to all who entered — the creativity and effort that went in to the 18 entries is nothing short of fantastic.
The Library 2.0 Gang will discuss the competition on Wednesday September 13th in their bi-weekly conference call. Stay tuned for the podcast that will feature conversations with the creators of the winning entries.
The Liminal Librarian: Speaking Survey
Consider dropping by and filling out this survey so we can get a good picture of current speaking fees that are paid for presenters at library conferences, workshops and other venues: The Liminal Librarian: Speaking Survey
Thanks for taking this on Rachel. I am looking forward to the results!
Reminder: Carnival Submissions due by Sunday!
Don’t want to nag or anything, but…
Submissions for the Carnival need to be sent to me by Sunday September 10th at 6 pm. Why not do it now. You know you want to 🙂 It’s so easy, just send me an email: janieh at gmail dot com
The Carnival is back in the Garden!
Library Garden is hosting the Carnival of the Infosciences for the 2nd time! We have set up the carousel for another spin and are eagerly waiting for submissions from the biblioblogosphere for the 53rd edition of the carnival.
Thanks to Anali at Grumpator for doing a great Blog Day round-up while hosting the carnival and to Nicole for sending in her submission. Gotta have participation to make the carnival diverse and interesting, so remember…
Submit early and submit often.
You can send entries to janieh at gmail dot com or you can use the Carnival Submission Form. We will be open for submissions until 6 pm on September 10th!
Library Garden 