A Note The Library Deniers: Libraries Do Have something For Everyone

This isn't another rant about why libraries matter or why closing down a library in any community is a bad idea.  .  It's not about that at all.  Rather this is a post for the library deniers. Who are these deniers?  The neighbors, friends or family members who simply deny that the library has anything to offer to them or anyone else.   This is precisely why a visit to the library once a year could change the harshest views of the library.     It may be surprising to some of the library deniers to  know, it's not just about books. There's new technology.  There are plenty of programs for every age.  In other words, it's not just books.  It's about people.


Library have changed drastically in the past decade.  No longer are books the only items to be borrowed.  The variety of  items to be check out range from fishing poles to telescopes and everything in between.  Why is it then that the stereotypical view of the library still exists? It could be that the marketing (or branding) of the library has not been effective.     After all, who wants to hear people complain about how no one respects them or their libraries?   No one does.  What is more effective is to "show" the community how the library adds value to the community.   This is an re-introduction to the library.   It is meant in the spirit of "hello again" to those who have not been in a library for quiet some time.  Consider this a preface to a three part series which will demonstrate the community building that libraries across the country do everyday.  Whether it's good times or bad, libraries are continuing to reach out to the community.

It was Lady Bird Johnson who once stated, "Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library".  She was correct in that observation.  The library is open for all residents, rich or poor, young or old.    Quite frankly, it is also the institution that has something for everyone.   Even those who claim they don't need a library.  Chances are, they may not need one today but tomorrow may just be the day that the library meets a need of  a library denier.   There are a few questions that every library denier should ask themselves.  First, how do you know the library has nothing that you need?  Two,  what library services would you like the local library to provide? Finally, when was the last time you were in a library?   Answer the questions truthfully and it may reveal that everything you know about the library may be false.  

First it's important to lay the foundation of what the mission of a public library is and has been for years.  Public libraries, large or small, are established for the purpose of lifelong learning for every member of the community From newborns to senior citizens to everyone in between.  It is the one place that the community turns to access information.  This may explain why there are more libraries than there are McDonalds in America.    All though most fast food places, including McDonald,  provide free wifi access customers must use their own laptop, smart phone or other related devices to gain access.  Libraries only require that a wifi user have a free library card to gain access to not only the internet but also to databases and  computer software programs such as Microsoft Office.

The foundation of lifelong learning creates a positive environment for every person to learn something new everyday.  That is , if they choose to do so.  In the next three blog posts,  different library services will be examined and shown how they help shape and build the community around them. The goal here is to take away any excuses that library deniers have in visiting and using the services that are there for the taking.  It is also a chance to showcase how libraries are making a dramatic impact on the community.  Positive impacts that can be seen and measured in tangible ways. Is the interest peeked just a little?

 

Facebook, Facetime and Friends!

Facebook has changed the way our society communicates and share ideas. At first glance social media, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and FourSquare, allows their members to communicate effectively and quickly through a few key strokes. It's not limited to just saying hello or letting the world know what's on your mind. It can also allow event planning, forming fan pages and buidling virtual communities. It's hard to imagine life before these tools of mass communication? How did we ever get anything accomplished with plain old email? Thank goodness those archaic times are behind us! Libraries, if they have not aleady done so, should grab hold of the opportunity to build public support for their libraries.

My Facebook account was activated in 1997 because I had enrolled in an online course through YALSA, that required that I sign up on various social media sites in order to become familiar with them and experiment on how to use these tools to fit my needs. It was an interesting class, but afterwards, the lure was not there. Primarily becasue it felt weird to send "friend requests" and "follow" someone. Secondly, the idea of knowing what was on the minds of my fellow classmates and colleagues 24/7 seemed like TMI. (For those who don't know the abreviation, TMI means Too Much Informaiton.) Laslty, was there anything worth saying to the world and would anyone be interested.

After watching how Facebook and other other social media forums have exploded, the pieces have come together. Especially in terms of marketing and building patron loyalty for libraries. It is amazing what a fan page can do for a library's image. Fan pages help libraries promote who they are, where they are and what they are doing. Think of it as virtual "facetime" with patrons whenever they login onto Facebook. The best part of it is that it is FREE advertising.

Social media is all about making the connection and starting the conversatioin. That is what libraries have done since they first opened their doors. People have always come into the libraries for books, information, music and the local news. What do they normally do with the information they find? Talk about it with others in order to make sense of it all and perhaps even shape the events in their community. Social media can breath life into the library world in so many ways, andyet the surface has just been scratched.

If I Love Libraries can count the number of fans they have, wouldn't it be cool if a library could tell a patron how many times they have used the library this year, how many items they have checked out or programs they have attended just by swipping their card at check out? Going beyond that, think how FourSquare would boost the library's image if a prominent politican "checked in" that they were at they library? These are the numbers and images libraries need to make the case that the library is not only needed but is used on a daily basis. Why not reward them for being the 100th fan of your page with a library tshirt or other promotion? Buidling a "friends" list would not be difficult once word got out about the "hip" library where inforamtion is easy to access and communitcating with a librarian is almsot instantaneous with live "chat". These will be the "friends" that the library will need for longevity and viabilty in the future.

Nothing stays the same and technology is ever changing. Libraries not only need to be the place for information but also visionaries. The future is so bright, it's time to put on the shades and dream of all the things we would love to do and find ways to make it happen for our future and our facebook friends.