“Empowering
Small Libraries”
Omaha, NE 9/26/13-9/28/13
I forgot to mention this in yesterday's entry, but it is so
timely for the conference:
“This report is a must read for policymakers who are
concerned about the health and vitality of rural America. Whether the issue is
education, economic development, or access to broadband, small and rural
libraries are important communications hubs for people in small towns and rural
locations.”
Susan H. Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Press Releases Use of Small and Rural
Libraries Grows in the Digital Agewww.imls.gov
Day Two Highlights
This morning’s General Session keynote speaker was author Joe
Starita, the Nebraska author of “I am a man”. An investigative reporter by
trade, now a journalism professor, Mr. Starita presented a moving, compelling
argument for the need of humanity for good stories. The story of Chief Standing
Bear and the need to bury his son in his ancestral home unfolded as one of
universal appeal, a story of injustice and injustice culminating in recognition
of human needs and rights. Chief Standing Bear and his tribe was driven from
his ancestral home in Nebraska to the new Oklahoma Indian Territory. One third
of the tribe died within the first year of malaria, including his teenage son.
On his death bed, the son made his father promise to bury him with his
ancestors. The Chief returned to
Nebraska with his son’s remains, only to be arrested. During his trial, the
Indian-hating federal judge was compelled to declare American Indians were, in
fact, human beings. Wow. A powerful and moving story, told in a powerful and
moving way. Of course, I bought the book.
The first session I attended this morning was “Excel at
Rearranging Your Library”, presented by Chris Rippel from the Central Kansas
Library System in Great Bend, KS.
Libraries can l learn much from the retail sales models for store
arrangement, putting the most popular items at the back of the store, and
creating obvious paths leading past other items to get to the most popular. He
presented two free tools he has created to help with collection management and
floor arrangement, both using our old friend Excel. The Collection Manager is a spreadsheet
template that allows you to look at your collection objectively, using ILS
reports. By manipulating collection numbers, circulation numbers, and new items
added, you can quickly see where you need to weed and where you need to add
more items. The Shelf Shuffler is an Excel template which you customized to
your library’s floor plan. After the initial setup and creation of
furniture/shelve objects, it is simple to create different floor plans to
maximize circulation. Among the many tips offered, I thought placing castors on
chairs was brilliant, allowing the chairs to be left in the stacks for patrons
to use while browsing lower shelves. They can easily be moved to accommodate wheel
chair access. But most of our library patrons are not in wheel chairs, but have
difficulty standing and kneeling. I know this would be greatly appreciated by
many of our patrons.
The luncheon speaker was another author, Craig Johnson, the
creator of the Longmire novels. I had never heard of the Longmire novels, nor the Longmire TV series based on these novels-modern day
westerns, following Walt Longmire, the sheriff of a fictitious Wyoming county.
Boy, did I feel out of it! Apparently, this is one of the most popular book
series and TV series throughout the US. Mr. Johnson is by far the most
entertaining speaker I have ever heard. He spoke of his real life inspiration for
the books, which he picks up from local newspapers, the real life Wyoming
sheriff who is his reality checker, and the many close Native American friends
that help him create the complex characters of his series. Excellent speaker.
And as an added bonus, by chance I sat next to Terri Farley, the author of the
children’s Phantom Stallion series. Her advocacy for wild horses is genuine,
and she encouraged me to hand out her book marks to her fans. I have extra book
marks if anyone would like some. She loves hearing from the children.
The afternoon sessions I attended were “Innovation on a
Shoestring” and “Super Hero Leadership”. “Innovation on a Shoestring”,
presented by Christa Burns (Nebraska Library Commission) and Louise Alcorn
(West Des Moines Public Library, Iowa)
presented several free applications libraries are using to keep up with online
technologies. Some I was familiar with (Pinterest, Wordpress. QR codes), but using
Skype, Animote, and Zoho Chat were new. “Super Hero Leadership”, presented by
Lisa Lewis, director of the Huachuca City Library, Arizona, was a fun reminder
of what it takes to lead your staff in serving the community. Comparing
librarians to Spiderman, Superman, Batman, and Captain America, Ms. Lewis
reminded us of those qualities necessary to serve our communities.
