CIL Notes: Innovation, Services & Practices at the Darien Library
The way libraries in general approach the future is not sustainable.
– John Blyberg
Trust is the watchword at Darien Library. All the new, supposedly radical innovations they’ve launched hinge on a highly cultivated sense of trust with their public. Bear in mind that I’m not saying this to be dismissive. These things are “supposedly radical” because they seem to take much of what we claim to offer as libraries/public institutions/community organizations and push them to a level that actually makes patrons feel trusted. The “trust” embodied by more traditional library structures feels downright perfunctory by comparison.
To illustrate: would you consider loaning out (ETA: for in-library use only, as I discovered upon asking Blyberg) a “Creation Station” for children – a media creation kit consisting of a digital still camera, a Flip video camera, a digital audio recorder, and a MacBook? And loaning out to kids in your youth department? Would you put out game hardware in your teen area for kids to use freely and largely unsupervised after school?
I’m hugely impressed at how much they’ve been able to accomplish simply by seeing how much they can let go. Anything else I could say would just be redundant.
Raw notes (with more examples) after the jump. My annotations are in italics.
Innovation, Services & Practices at the Darien Library
John Blyberg, Gretchen Hams, Sarah Ludwig, and Kate Sheehan
JB: The Darien Library roadshow
“We do a lot of thinking about the future at Darien Library”
The way libraries in general approach the future is not sustainable.
- our expectations are misaligned with those of our users
being mindful of customer service, empowerment
Allow innovation to guide change (not always pertaining to technology)
If you build change and innovation into your culture, your staff and users will come to expect it.
Delete reference desk, delete circulation desk – present materials that actually make sense at each level
Give yourselves the opportunity to fail
Failure as an opportunity to adapt and retool – agility is v.v. important
Even though we’re small, we can still have a big impact.
Stars aligning: money, board support, staff expertise, supportive public
Development of UX department – see things from 40k feet. (a reminder that staff are the library’s biggest users.)
Eye toward aesthetics, community, usability
Users do not see drastic change, they see org responding to our needs.
SOPAC: library-as-portal, leads to sustained social digital presence
- follow other reviewers
- Feeds of other reviews
- summer reading guided by SOPAC
GH: youth services at DL
Traditionally children’s departments work as islands unto themselves – need to bring them into the process, and help develop future of library
“Guess what? Children don’t come to the library to themselves.”
High circ, high program attendance
Assumed knowledge – Section headings
Library as third place – drawn to picture book area
Picture books as format – didn’t include nonfiction, etc.
Who is it for? What is it about?
New DL does not have a picture book area – items are classified according to what they are about. (Microsubjects, tagging of items)- first 5 years of growth and behavior/subject areas
Simple in concept, incredibly difficult in practice.
Each book had to be handled individually, to determine proper placement
Items also colorcoded for youth connection
Huge response: “The library is nolonger a disapproving mother, but a place that wants to reach out to us”
Using connection to adults to help them make decisions for their children
Connecting to library as third place
MS Surface as device for learning. Fascinating to watch people come up with new ways to use it
“Libraries should not be a one-way conversation” – experience should invite participation
Video production – Creation Station: MacBook, Flip camera, audio recorder, dig cam
Not barcoded, kids take ownership of item
Playing to the new generation of families – digital natives now having kids
SL, Head of Teen and Technology Services
DL never had a teen section before the new library
New space for teens
Space is theirs, but possible to monitor
SoHo – small office/home office – kinko’s type material
Teen liasions
Teens are our Beta users. Put the tech in their hands and see how comfortable they get with it.
Teen space: iMacs
big screens encourage group activity
Furniture is easy to move
gaming: is a big duh
Days after school: Set up the games and just walk away.
Most people get involved through Facebook
Using Facebook to drive programs – create a professional account and only friend teens
Teens + tech programs: Oral history project for 1book1community
Working to provide MP3s to students
KS: Reference is dead, long live reference
All roving, no desk, non-standard arrangement
too large to go BISAC
Long-term: more collaborative model
Developing 1-on-1 research assistance (book a librarian)
document this stuff – encourage people to show off their library-aided efforts!
Meet people at their point of need without being invasive
IM gateway at OPAC site?
Tiny eee PCs used to walk around Wireless (cordless) phones
Certain sections – non-Dewey arrangements
“Personal finance” – 300 stuff plue 650 stuff – combined into section called “Work”
Tools that are free and tools that cost money:
Cost: laptops, phones
Name tags are super-important
Why we make mistakes
Growing pains: Meebo – new website has caused IM reference to skyrocket
With a roving reference model, Meebo doesnt work on the small computer
Moving to Library H3lp
“Reorganizing your collection is a really great bonding experience”
it’s OK for things not to work if you use it right
People who aren’t happy aren’t going to tell you they’re unhappy. They’re just not going to show up.
“What we’re giving away more of is not just information, but ourselves.”
Practicalities: more standing
More thinking like a cataloger
More mindful of signage
Maintaining a genuineness
Can we hybridize our reference desk to be more friendly to roving and decrease the intimidation factor?