The Reader's Guide Meets the Campfire

I like what Thomas Frey, futurist (yes, apparently that is a title), has to say about the nature of libraries:

...libraries are going through an age of rebirth. Intent on making them the crown jewels of the community, cities from Vancouver to Prague are investing heavily in public libraries, producing opulent, multi-story structures equipped with cutting-edge technology. From rather hidebound monuments to knowledge laboratories, libraries are now evolving into interactive research and leisure centers. Yet this change, impressive as it is, is only the beginning.

This is our current digital transformation in the library profession.  But as I begin to visit more school libraries, not just those I work at regularly, I see that school libraries have a long way to go.

In professional discussions with technology committees, teachers, students, parents and virtually anyone who will listen, I like to be the voice of reason when it comes to technology or social media use in classrooms and libraries.  I believe in the Total Cost of Operation (TCO) method of integrating infusing technology and media into our curriculum.  How much does this cost?  What is the maintenance and upkeep?  What type of training do we need to do first?  Is this a device or skill that transcends into everyday life?  How are student needs being met? And so on...

I think, for the most part, we are moving in the right direction.  I'd like to move faster...wouldn't we all?  The trends that I find disturbing relate directly to the state and nature of library operations in schools...or what I will refer to as the "roadblocks" of our new information centers.


Roadblock #1--The One and Only Authority Syndrome

The last 6 libraries I visited had PRINT (yes, print...as in paper) copies of the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.  I must be naive, but I thought HW Wilson stopped printing that 15 years ago.  At $235 for previous years and close to $500 for the current year, isn't that money better spent elsewhere?

I do admit that the Reader's Guide is great on those chilly early autumn days when I watch Badger games outside with campfire...

Let's try to break the habit of doing what we did in the past because we did it in the past.

P.S....all these articles are listed in Badgerlink...and they are FREE (for Wisconsin)!

Roadblock #2--The Dinosaur Syndrome

Reference books are the dinosaurs of the information age.  Like all good dinosaurs, they look nice on the shelves but gather a lot of dust.  They have a certain level of "gravitas" for research, meaning they are heavy and cost too much.

Call me crazy...but who reads reference books?  I can spend 15 minutes teaching a student how to find a one-paragraph entry in an encyclopedia, almanac, or other content specific reference book or 15 seconds teaching them how to find the same information on Infoplease with links to other articles.  Once done learning how to use the encyclopedia, the student can use those lookup skills on other alphabetized reference books.  But not all reference is made equal, some are chronological, some are thematic, some are location-oriented.  Once done learning how to use Infoplease (or other similar database), the student is able to search anywhere because search engines and databases are made virtually equal.

Call me a revolutionary...but as our students hit the "real" world, they will be expected to find and use information rapidly, accurately and remotely.  Let's teach them to use computers, phones, and tablets to do this.

Roadblock #3--The Study Hall Syndrome

As Frey describes, libraries are becoming interactive research and leisure centers.  If I have a study hall of 15-25 students in the library every hour of the day, how can we promote research and leisure activities?  How can we host a class that wants to use the library to research if we don't have space for them?

But in so many of the schools I visit, the library is not only the "land of misfit toys", home of all the equipment and furniture that people don't want, it is also the home of students who don't have class that hour.  We need to change our perspective of the library as a PLACE to hold things (books, AV equipment, people...) to an interactive SERVICE or a PROGRAM, providing information and technology expertise to students, staff, administrators and parents.

Libraries (and librarians or media specialists) are no longer reservoirs or a places of finding information, but  gateways, facilitators, cheerleaders, information experts, advocates, collaborators, conspirators and consultants.  

I, for one, am pushing the transformation.