The trend of establishing and maintaining a personal brand has been a hot topic for some time with the public at large, traceable as far back as 1937 and Napoleon Hill’s self-help classic Think and Grow Rich, if Wikipedia is to be believed. Unsurprisingly, personal branding has also caught on with librarians, notoriously preoccupied as … Continue reading Personal Branding for Librarians
Times are tough for libraries, and when times get tough, managers—whether college administrators, a principal, a board of trustees, or even voters—start asking about the viability of programs and the measurable benefits of those programs. That’s why understanding how to measure your library’s activities—and therefore proving their value—is critical in today’s economic environment. In Using … Continue reading Making Sure Libraries “Measure Up”
A few weeks ago, American Libraries sent you a survey. And despite all the other surveys and polls and requests that likely came to you this election season, more than 4,000 of you responded. Thank you for taking time to provide feedback. We want to know what you think about the magazine, and indeed, all … Continue reading Gauging Your Interest
On a sunny spring Saturday at the Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library (LFPL), hundreds of people with schedules in their hands rushed down hallways and up stairs, wondering, “What should I learn next?” Flamenco dancing or magic tricks? How to cook perfect omelets or how to start kayaking? How to win at Scrabble or how … Continue reading Barbecue? Flamenco Dancing? Learning Gets Interactive in Louisville
It frustrates me profoundly to have someone in the library profession approach me at a conference to challenge my credibility as a speaker—usually in view of the fact that I’m retired, out of touch, and behind the times. In other words, I’m no longer actively involved in library matters. My defense is immediate. I explain … Continue reading Trust in Your Trustees
I’m hooked on Westerns. Not the genre-blends that are popular today—the cowboy romances and the zombie Westerns—but the real thing: novels set in the Old West, featuring hard-drinking, rugged individualists who are good at doing the things that must be done and doing them with grace under pressure. Except for the setting, that definition also … Continue reading The Wild and Poetic Life of Westerns
I recently learned that another national library association has adopted the slogan “I am (my national library association)” as a means to engage its members. My immediate reaction was to think of ALA and how, if we were to follow suit, I would want our slogan to be “We are ALA.” We, the members of … Continue reading We Are ALA
Like many librarians, I was a frequent user of libraries as a child. Yet I have always avoided asking for help. I wrote an entire undergraduate thesis without talking to a librarian. If I didn’t understand something, I’d find a way to figure it out myself. For years, my experiences fueled my desire to make … Continue reading The DIY Patron
As icons of civic engagement in America, libraries are perfectly positioned to host voter registration drives and, as local statutes permit, be venues for early voting and Election Day polls. In this particularly spirited election year, libraries may be playing their largest role yet in such efforts. Consequently, they have also been drawn into the … Continue reading How Libraries Count in the 2012 Election
The past year has been challenging for ALA, reflecting both the difficult economic conditions affecting libraries across the US and our continuing focus on a strong Association that serves its members and supports the work of libraries and the needs of their users. ALA is ending FY2012 with a deficit. This reflects lower-than-expected revenue from … Continue reading Background on Our Budget
The tweet announcing the formation of the EveryLibrary.org campaign came a day earlier than its founder and executive director John Chrastka had intended, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Within four hours of Kate Tkacik’s post to Tumblr, donors had contributed $400 toward EveryLibrary’s goal of raising $50,000 by November 7 with the interests … Continue reading The Campaign Is On to Form the Nation’s First Library PAC
