[Publib] Bad Libraries

Tue Jun 26 17:55:58 EDT 2007

When you bring up professional ethics and responsibility, you blame the
librarians.  They are just old luddite fuddy-duddies who won't, to use
an odious term, embrace the technology.  It is a pretty typical pattern.
Administrators and technology fanciers throw technology at the working
librarian and tell them to make it work or else.  They then retreat into
their offices, and the poor working librarian has to make the best of
it.  I suggest that while some intransigently anti-tech librarians may
want to retreat to chained books and scriptoria, most librarians
wouldn't mind new technology if it weren't crammed down their throats.
Tech enthusiasts should share in the blame.

When you want to try some new technology, why not explain what it is,
what it does, and what you think it might do in your shop in terms that
the non-technological can understand?  You might find that once the
frontline staff know what it is and does they can think of even more
ways to use it.  And if a technology is adopted, demand more training
than one bored trainer from Big Software or Big Hardware who drones
through three hours of canned stuff, says 'play around with it' and goes
home.  Demand online tutorials and refresher classes.  Demand
cheat-sheets.  Demand that the explanations be lucid and helpful.  Write
it in the purchase contract.  Support your staff, help them to
understand the technology, and teach them how to use it.  Then stand
back because they will.

Kathleen Stipek
Alachua County Library District
401 East University Avenue
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-334-3931  (fax) 352-334-3948

     --Non, merci.
       Cyrano de Bergerac

-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Robert L. Balliot
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 8:38 AM
To: 'Kate Wolicki'; publib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Publib] Bad Libraries

Greetings,

I think that all of the problems that you are relating here are
addressed by professional ethics and responsibility.

Ethical librarianship goes beyond what you have to do in the vocational
aspects of a job to what you should do for the advancement and
maintenance of the profession.
There is tremendous focus on vocational aspects while intellectual
advancement essentially seems to stop for many people with library
school.  Staff and administrators become focused on going to work and
leaving work rather than the potential quality of time and experience
available to us.

I think the controversy over Library 2.0 is a great example of this.  At
the very least, I would expect a professional librarian to have and
maintain a thirst for knowledge and the willingness and aptitude to
learn.
If leadership has those qualities, I think that there is a possibility
for ongoing improvement. The fact that so many people would disavow
potential tools without even bothering to learn about them is very
troubling.

>From the perspective of a work environment, I think that
the pressures of for profit management and the influence of
non-librarians that lack a clear understanding or appreciation of the
profession can have a detrimental effect.
I think that effect can sometimes be insurmountable locally, but if
ethical librarianship is practiced globally, we can help to influence
change and support our fellow librarians.

*************************************************
Robert L. Balliot
1-401-421-5763
Skype: RBalliot
Bristol, Rhode Island
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
*************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of Kate Wolicki
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 7:12 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Bad Libraries

Maybe you've worked in one, or heard about one, or there is one in your
neighborhood: Bad Libraries.  Places no one works...for long.  It might
be employees, or the director, or the building, or the trustees, or the
community, but it's not worth a good librarian's time to take a job
there, no matter the salary.

What is it that drives good workers from an organization?

What can dedicated staff do to rehabilitate a library that's bleeding
good people?

And after the library is Better, what can everyone do to fix the
library's image and attract good staff again?  How can the library
ensure that the poisonous atmosphere will not return?

I read articles about Bad City Libraries with atrocious management vs
staff problems, or even staff vs public problems, and I wonder: is there
something

that can cause a turnaround without a whole new crew?  I have also seen
smaller libraries where one or two personalities somehow combine to
create fiefdoms of misery where staff stay only because they can't
afford to go.  
How on earth does all this happen, and how can employees at all levels
combat the rot?

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