Look-a-likes

Walk into any library in the United States, you will see shelves filled with books, perhaps a few study tables for people to do work at, computers perhaps scattered around the library or in an individual room, a circulation desk a reference desk, etc. So how can I know this? Am I so well traveled that I have visited every library in the United States? No, truth is libraries are built and organized very similarly. Yes, there are differences, one has a coffee shop while another does not, but on the whole libraries all look a like. Honestly I didn't even think this was true until it was pointed out to me in IST 511. At first I was like, they are not always the same. And then I stopped and thought and reviewed all the libraries I had gone to and behold they are very very similar.

In class we discussed that libraries are similar because they were built after the model developed in the 1800s. thus, you get the typical stereotype of what libraries have to look like. In some ways it does not make sense to keep a model from the 1800s. If libraries and patrons of libraries have changed so much, why shouldn't the way the library is designed be changed too? Why doesn't a library look like what is in their community. For example, if the community has a lot of people interested in wood carving then why can't the library have a room and material set aside for people to practice wood carving. That may seem like a silly example, but the point is there. You don't see libraries differentiating too much. Sometimes they do, for example, a library with a large family population may have a whole room dedicated to children so that there is space for children's activities, books and games. Yet, even this is relatively common. So why aren't libraries changing their view?

I think that this mostly comes down to what people assume libraries look like. Children read books, see pictures and visit libraries that all look the same. They grow up to expect that libraries will look a certain way. They know a building is a library if they walk in and see lots of bookshelves and a check out desk. Libraries don't want to change for fear of making their patrons uncomfortable because a different looking library is "not a library." I'm not saying people won't change and that we don't have to start somewhere, I just think there is a very strong stereotype of what libraries look like and people tend to feel more comfortable with what they know. Yet, that can change. Look at the concept of putting coffee shops in libraries. People were dead set against it because "that is not what a library looks like", but now go to many libraries around the country and you will see coffee.

I think libraries should be encouraged to design themselves around the communities needs. And I think, slowly, as librarianship is changing, so will the design of libraries. So the question is, what might libraries look like in the future?

The School Librarian Perdicament

So last week in class we went through the various types of libraries, and since I want to be a school librarian this post is going to focus on school libraries. I know no real surprise, but what I want to talk about is the issue school librarians face: not being seen as a important part of education.

A few weeks ago I had to interview a school librarian for another class. The librarian I talked to had taught elementary school for years and really enjoyed her job. When I asked her what she though her role in the school was she informed me that she believed her role was to teach information skills that will help her students be prepared for middle school and for life in general. However, when I asked her what other people thought her role in the school was she told me library time was considered a break. For teachers, this was the time of day when they could drop their students off at the library and get other things done. Some teachers collaborated with the librarian, but many teachers did not think they needed to collaborate with the librarian as to them, the librarians job wasn't an important part of a child's education. Now last class I couldn't help but think of this interview. When Professor Lankes talked about how many administrators are cutting librarians because they didn't think of them as teachers I was baffled. In my school media classes I learned about  how school librarians can collaborate with teachers to reinforce information taught in the classroom and how school librarians can stress information literacy and help students understand the research process. Yet, even though we are taught that librarians can do all this, school districts are still having trouble grasping the idea that the librarian is a teacher too. Now I'm not saying all school districts are bad. Many school districts really use the librarian and the librarian and the teachers really do try to work together to bring the students into the library as much as possible. In fact, one school librarian I talked to told me she had a blog for collaboration with other teachers. Many teachers were too busy to meet in person so they found it easier to blog about ideas and lessons that would work well with the library.  Nevertheless, there are still so many school districts who think that just having a library is enough. But a room full of books is not going to help with a child's education. A librarian is, without the person all you have is a quiet room to work and read in.

One of things many school districts do is split a librarian between two different schools. The librarian that I talked with for my interview worked at two separate elementary schools. At one school she was there Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and then she was at the other school on Wednesday. As a result she did not collaborate as often with the teachers at her second school. Because she was there only once a week it was harder to learn the student's names or keep track with what teacher was doing what unit. That conversation made me realize how many school districts don't realize the benefits of a librarian.

So what I think we need to do is tell them. When a new school year starts send emails out to parents or send parents the link to the school library web page. On the web page explain what students do in the library and what a librarians role is. Explain different projects students might do and how a school library and the school librarian are important to a child's education. The same goes with teachers. Librarians can send emails to teachers explaining the resources of the library and how they can help their students. People want to know why a librarian is important to a school, well we need to tell them why. 

The Many Roles of the Librarian

When I decided I was going to be a librarian many people I talked to didn't understand what a librarian did. Honestly, I didn't really understand what a librarian did. Yes I knew that it was more than hosting book clubs and checking out books, but what did they spend most of their time doing? Mostly this is because librarians try and help patrons and make their lives more simple. As such, the librarians don't usually explain how difficult the question was to answer, or how long it took to get the library director to agree to have a square dancing night, etc. Basically librarians do a lot and people have no idea.

While doing my video project for IST 511 I have learned several things. 1.) editing takes a LONG LONG time, especially when you have never edited something before. 2.) Voice overs are not as easy as I thought they would be, especially when I keep messing up my lines, or I stumble over a word, etc. 3.) (the lesson most relevant to this blog post) Librarians do a lot.

Librarians are teachers, who help their members become information literate, teachers who can explain how to use the latest technology from the new Kindle to 3D printing. Librarians are collaborators, who work with other librarians, experts and members to bring new information and programs into the library. Librarians are searchers, who can find that piece of information Google won't quite answer. Librarians are bloggers, twitter users, and chat users, who will use any means to communicate to their members whether it be over the internet, over the phone or in person. They are organizers who will sort, catalog and describe information so it is easier to find and store. Librarians are a lot of things, and honestly I could probably name more. But these are just some of the things that the video project has got me thinking about.  

I guess my question is why do so few people know what librarians do? Why do so many people still see librarians as little old ladies who "shhhh" to anyone who talks above a whisper? How can we change this view? How can we show people that we do so much more?

An interesting dilemma with summer reading

In class last night we  discussed a variety of topics. We discussed things that made me think, like the idea that all the MP3 songs I buy I don't actually own (mind blown). But towards the end of class we discussed a topic, for a split second. This topic is summer reading. We had been discussing why we need libraries and had just gone over the idea that a library could be a 'safety net' in which librarians provided access to technology that the poor or working class might not be able to afford on their own. Then, Dave mentioned the problems with summer reading. The summer reading programs give kids prizes for reading a certain amount of books. This sounds great right? Kids are now motivated to read, but suddenly reading for the love of reading is now replaced by reading for a prize. It becomes less about the intrinsic value and more about an extrinsic value. So next year, if a kid does not enter in the summer reading program that kid might not read, because whats the point if they don't get a prize.

Though we didn't talk about this for long, this concept stuck with me. I have always been a huge supporter of summer reading programs. As a kid I loved the read, like I devoured thirteen books in a month and then rushed out to read more. This is a trend that still continues today. If you ever see me, chances are you are going to see me with a book in my hand. Being an education major in undergrad I supported any program that got children to read. I used to go into libraries and smile as I saw the signs that said "100 kids are participating in our summer reading program and they have read 1,000 books." I used to smile and think, wow look at all of those kids who the libraries summer reading program made a difference. Ironically, I never questioned how much of a difference those programs were really making.

For my library interview, I interviewed a youth librarian who dealt with the summer reading programs over the summer. To my shock, I found that she believed there was a major problem when it came to the summer reading programs. She informed me that libraries cared too much about the numbers. That too many libraries focused on how many kids were involved in the program and how many books they had read. She used the example, that if a 7th grader reads twenty-five picture books, he may get a prize for reading books, but they were below his reading level and thus, thats not really improving his reading skills or interest in reading. Should the library really be excited because he read twenty-five picture books? The librarian I talked to suggested that libraries focus on promoting discussion between kids. Have kids review books, or share their excitement in reading with other kids. Unfortunately, with the idea of prizes kids end up only reading to get a prize. This doesn't instill a love of reading, people won't want to read if there is no prize. I know some summer reading programs where kids read a book, jot down the title on a piece of paper and then bring that paper to the library to get stamped each week. If they have read a book each week then they get a prize. Since summer months are really busy, there are tons of kids going to get their papers stamped. So more often then not, the kid gets his paper stamped, gets a prize and then that's it. The child never gets to discuss the book he read, why he might want to read more, find out from others books he might want to read next.

Now I'm not saying that summer reading is bad. I still am a huge fan of it. I think that summer reading promotes children reading and hopefully that will allow them to develop an interest in a topic. Summer reading may help a child find out that he loves books on Dinosaurs. He would have never known it if he hadn't picked up a dinosaur book and he might not have done that if not for summer reading. Plus, summer reading brings children to the library. Going to the library to get a prize means that kids who might not have otherwise gone to a library, now are going. They might stick around and see some of the other programs the library might have to offer, etc. The summer reading program has lots of benefits. I just think that it should be less about prizes and more about discussion. Even if summer reading programs had a way for kids to discuss the books they read and libraries could post these reviews on their website.

I suppose I'm saying, if summer reading is just about the numbers. How many books, how many kids participated, etc, and not about what the kids got out of it, then does it really make a difference?

The Questions about Questions

There were a lot of topics discussed in the librarians thread, but the topic that I want to discuss was the idea of Reference transactions. Now I have heard a lot about reference so far this semester...mainly because I am taking a reference course. We have been told of the various ways to conduct a reference interview and that if possible what we want to do is be able to teach the patron the art of doing searches. In other words, during a reference interview we are not just supposed to be like "ok let me look that up", ignore the patron for fifteen minutes, then come back, hand them a piece of paper and be like, "here you go have a nice day." At the very least, we are supposed to discuss with the patron the steps we are going through to find the answers. Tell them where we looked, why we looked there and how we came across the knowledge. Librarians should be able to provide the patrons with a variety of sources that give different view points, opinions, etc and then allow us to make a decision on the information. Now the question I have been thinking, and lucky for me the question that was discussed in the Atlas is what if the patron does not want to learn. What if they don't want a ton of information, or multiple sources or don't care how you got the answer, they just want the answer. Working at a library I have watched the librarians answer reference questions. Some patrons looking for help are really trying to understand how to better get information, while others are looking for a quick answer and don't care how they get it. Are we really helping the community if we ignore what the patron wants and try to push them to learn the techniques we use. Does it do any good if the patron will not listen to these techniques anyway?

One of the questions the Atlas asked was at what point should a librarian stop providing answers if they are a school or academic librarian and don't want to make the task too easy? I thought that was a great question and one that I had been wondering myself. If a student comes to a librarian for help with their homework is the librarian supposed to look up the answer, or show the student how to find the answer and let them work out what the answer is. I would assume the latter, but I suppose, as the Atlas says it all depends on the situation. The Atlas suggests that to come up with answers for questions like the ones I stated above one must have conversations with the community. What does the community expect when they go to the library and what does the library expect from the community. I guess this really struck me as interesting, because I never realized how important figuring out expectations might be for the library. When I thought of community conversation, I originally thought things like "what programs do you want", etc. But I never thought of it in terms of reference. If you don't figure out what the community wants and expects, a library could end up with unsatisfied patrons who won't use the library again.