Friday, February 22, 2013

Library Geniuses

When you associate with library people, you start to realize, in general, that these are the smartest people around. It's amazing how humble and quiet most of these men and women are, given the vast knowledge they have acquired. I recognize a large talent in some of these folks that could have been used for great personal enrichment. There are quite a number of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs type of brainiacs, who seem to find more fulfillment simply helping an elderly neighbor, or a child to use the library effectively.

This makes me feel confident about the future of libraries. Even with societal changes caused by tight budgets and rapidly morphing technology, libraries and the geniuses in them are inventing brilliant new ways to serve people.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Learning from Libraries Part 1

Hi this is my first post to our new blog. The blog title is borrowed from the Twilight Zone "To Serve Man" episode. I hope to share what I learn about serving library people here.

Libraries are fun places. Most librarians seem happy and unstressed. Not always of course, but generally they are. I think stress does come with change. And libraries are changing. Budgets are tightening due to the long term affects of the recent recession. And of course technology is changing the core services of libraries. I hope to spend a lot of time in libraries observing the changes and report back to you weekly. Probably on Tuesdays.