News from March, 2008

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Interesting slideshow article from Slate.  Despite the title, it's not about books vs. computers or libraries vs. the Internet but rather library architecture and design in today's world.  Lots of cool pictures along with a short description of major city library building projects of the 20 years.

Presenter Toni Garvey, Phoenix Public Library

A personal note: Toni's a delightful woman with a ready smile and a great sense of humor.  It's been great to work with her for the past couple of days and to get to know her a bit.

Toni starts with a brief biography.  Started as an assistant director in Virginia.  Loudoun County was fairly rural.  One of the libraries was in a space that had been a butcher's market.  Not a wealthy library system.  Some of the libraries were the size of a residence. Now in Phoenix - big change.  Experience is that there is nothing that she faces in Phoenix that she didn't face in Loudoun County.

Has enjoyed working with the SELCO staff on mission statements and guiding principles.  Structure is different from what she's experienced in Arizona.  Applauds the staff for how the process has been set up.  Mission statement and guiding principles are for the staff; many places have planning done by administrators in an office.  This process is much more open.  End result with community input will be a terrific plan.

Did a lot of reading in preparation for today.  Got to the Google website, and found their guiding principles.  They have a list called, "10 Things We Know to be True."  Marvelous.  Was really taken with the list.  With all due respect and attribution to Google, Toni will share her list: 10 Things Toni Knows to be true about libraries.

1. Focus on the user and all else follows.  Doesn't think libraries have done a terrific job of that.  Not that we don't care about the user, but we have a long history of being in control of our world.  There are libraries where all the information was in the library, in the four walls.  We organized it, we collected it, we controlled access to it.  It was organized for librarians, not patrons.  We used words and schemes that worked for the librarians.  LC subject headings were not created for the public.  They're hard to use and they're confusing - who talks like that?  It's time for us to focus on the user.  The world has changed a lot - we have competition now.  We're not the only ones with access to information.  What will distinguish our service?  We will be successful if we focus on the user.

 We need to ask our customers - what works for them?  We need to do this over and over again, not just once every three to five years when you're planning.  We have to talk to our customers all the time in a variety of ways. If we don't focus on the customer, we are expandable.  We can't say anymore that there will always be a public library.  Doesn't think we can take any of this for granted anymore.  We're busier than ever, but we can't rest on that. 

We tend to make things complex.  Can't we make things simple?  We love to limit.  "You can place holds, but you can only place so many.  Oh, no - you can't place holds on those things."  Fee structures are ridiculous - can we make it any more complicated for people?  We limit in so many ways that it's gotten to be trouble to be a customer.  We deal with a limited number of resources, and in a quest to make those resources available to everyone, we place limits.  But we've gone overboard. 

Found an example here at the Austin Public Library - one loan period, one fine structure.  Implemented this a few years ago.  The result?  Circulation increased over 20%.  The turnover rate of some things is lower, but overall circulation has gone up.  Just had this conversation with her staff - isn't it time we had one loan period?  Can't wait to go back and tell her staff what happened here in Minnesota.  Knows that the library took some heat for that, but who loved it?  The customer.  They focused on the user.

Phoenix was planning a space for teens a few years ago - invited teens in to come and tell the library what they wanted.  The teens can in and the library held five sets of focus groups.  Handed the teens disposable cameras and asked them to take pictures of places they liked to spend time, furniture they liked, places where they felt comfortable.  They then took the cameras and gave it to the architect.  He took their ideas and put them together into a plan.  The teens helped choose the furniture, choose the materials.  They even helped unpack the furniture.  There were no rules - it was their space.  The day it opened, teens were coming up and saying, "I can't believe you listened to us."  They now have teen spaces in all of their libraries.  (Because some of the libraries are so small,one staff member refers to the small ones as "teen moments.")

2. Reference is not our niche.  There were audible gasps when she shared this with her staff.  It's time to concede - Google has won.  It's not where most of our resources should go.  Even we don't use our reference sources like we used to.   It is a service we provide, but we shouldn't hang our hat on it.  There was a recent OCLC survey - 84% of the people surveyed started their search for information on a search engine.  70% didn't find a difference in the trustworthiness of the information from the search engine vs. the library. 

Have changed the way reference is done in the Phoenix system.  Started with the smaller branches.  Don't have large reference collections any more.  There isn't a separate reference desk.  Just as likely to find staff walking around the library, asking if people need help.  Started looking at the central library about a year ago.  One whole floor was reference.  The City Manager had asked the library to look at how they do business and then recommend changes.  Nothing had changed on the reference floor since the library had been built in the 90's. The library needed space for other projects that the public was asking for. 

Asked the question: What does it cost to answer questions at the various reference desks?  Partnered with Az State University grad students in marketing, who surveyed customers.  As a result of their study, they decided to consolidate desks.  ILL used to need a desk - people more often know what they want.  Why do we need a desk?  Vastly changing the collection.  Documents collection will be cut in half and look at the things that are really useful and that people really using.  So much more is available online.  Are cutting down the reference collection.  Are deploying staff out into the library rather than asking people to come to the desk to ask a question.  Talks about Target and their red customer phones - would love to find a way to do red phones on the reference floor.  They gave people a way to ask questions.  Let's make it easy for people - make it fun and easy and responsive.

Knows that this is difficult for the staff, but we're focusing on what is the best way to do reference.  Some libraries have patrons make an appointment to meet with a reference librarian.  In the libraries that do that, their reference usage is skyrocketing. 

3. Run a library like a business.  That doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention to things like privacy and confidentiality.  However, the public doesn't take it as seriously as we do.  Look at the collection - look at your space like you're paying per foot for the shelving space.  Why keep items that don't move?  You have to look at the cost of doing business, look at the trends.  This is certainly a question if you're part of a consortium.  You need the things that people ask for most - you can get the other items quickly, and many you can get online. 

We need to have hours that meet user needs.  Sounds obvious, but we don't tend to do it.  If the busiest day is Sunday, why are you open the fewest number of hours on that day? 

We have to study our competition more.  People stay hours in Starbucks and other places.  Why aren't we studying why Border's is packed at 10:00 on a Friday night?  We need to understand why that happens - that's our competition.  If they can make that work and they're selling things, shouldn't we be able to make it work and we're doing this for free??

Studying holds at the moment.  What does it cost the library?  Given all that it takes for staff to work through the process, wouldn't it be cheaper to actually mail it to the customer? 

4. Physical space matters.  That doesn't mean you need a ton of money to spend on your facility.  People want more comfortable places to spend time.  We tend to think that we need to fill the facility.  We'd be better off having smaller collections in a comfortable space.  People tell us what they want by where they spend time in the community.  Has a teen who loves to spend time at Border's or Barnes and Noble.  When asked why she didn't go to Walden Books (which is closer to the house), she said that there's no place to sit in Walden Books.  They have benches.  She didn't think the business wanted her to spend time there.  The other places have comfortable chairs and don't mind if they spend time there.  (Sidenote: are you listening, Walden Books? MB)

5. You don't need all the answers to move forward.  "If there's another profession that talks everything through the way we do, I don't know what it is."  We're in a business that changes quickly.  We have to get over the idea that we have to have everything figured out before we do anything.  It's OK to say we're trying something - what do you think?  We need to be more nimble.  We need to be able to take advantage of opportunities as they come up.  

6. You need a seat at the table. In every community, there are issues to be resolved and there a group that are called upon to do that.  You want the leaders to think of the library as a problem-solver.  What can the library do to help?  You want them to think of you as someone offering to help, not always asking for money.  No matter what the community issue is, you need to be asking yourself, what can the library do?  How can we help with this?  You want to be a player.  People will look at the library differently if you're a player. 

The Rushford Public Library was open 24 hours a day after the community flooded so that people could use the computers.  "You can't tell me the people won't look at the library differently as a result."There aren't library issues - there are only community issues.

7.  Whining gets you nowhere.  It's just annoying.  It doesn't move the organization forward.  People will tend to tune out, if all you're doing is complaining. 

8.  Marketing is critical.  The corrolary is that marketing is everybody's job.  Whenever you're looking at doing something new, you need to look at the cost of marketing it.  If you're not telling people about it, why are you spending money on it?  We're the best kept secret in the country.  Either don't spend money to do some of the things you do, or spend money to tell people about what you do.  the good news is, it doesn't take a lot of money.  The most effective marketing for your organization is using your staff.  That means that all of your staff needs to know what you're doing. 

9.  There is strength in numbers.  You need parters and collaborators - people who will make you stronger.  You can ask other libraries to work with you on getting a contract form a vendor.  There are always people out there to collaborate with.  Maybe it's a for-profit group, maybe it's a non-profit group.  Find those partners - they're anxious to find you. 

10.  Great customer service trumps everything.  It trumps lousy space, old collections.  If the staff is so welcoming, so glad you're there, you'll overlook a lot of the other stuff.  Great customer service will take you far.  We tend to mistake what we do with how we do it.  Hire staff that like working with people, not people that like working with stuff.  Define customer service for your staff - show them what great customer service looks like.  And don't just define it - insist on it.  And...You need to reward it. 

91% of unhappy customers will never buy again from a company that has displeased them, and will tell 7 people about it.  Why do we thing it's different for people using our business?  We can't afford not to demand great customer service. There are examples of great customer service in all of our communities.  Study them and find out what they're doing and use them as examples.

One last thing - this is a noble profession.  Every day we have to opportunity to do good work, to make a difference in people's lives.  This is great work to do.  Have fun with it, take pride in it, and realize that what you do makes a difference. 

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

Back in the 80s, there was a TV show whose star had the catchphrase:  "I love it when a plan comes together".  Every once in a while, I get a similar feeling at SELCO when the pieces just click together and great library service results.  Of course, those pieces don't come together by themselves.  It takes people who want to get together and make it happen.

Last week, Mike Flores, SELCO Workstation and Systems Support Technician, was at Wabasha Public Library discussing options with Michele McCaughtry, Director.  The library had two thin clients that needed replacing.  They were used for dedicated access to the online catalog, so it wouldn't take much hardware to replace them.  Nevertheless, replacement funds were not available.

From his travels around the region, Mike knew that Lake City Public Library and Winona Public Library each had some old PCs had recently been replaced.  Kathy Durand, Lake City PL Director, had been donating the PCs to worthy recipients in town.  Linda Weinmann, one of the Automation Contacts at Winona PL, was preparing to have their old PCs disposed of.  Two phone calls later, each library had generously agreed to each donate one PC to Wabasha PL.

These aren't new PCs, but they are more than adequate for dedicated catalog access.  And, best of all, everyone wins.  Wabasha PL's problem has been resolved.  Lake City PL and Winona PL each have one fewer PC to dispose of.  And, last but not least, the patrons at Wabasha PL will still have full access to the regional catalog.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

NPR recently ran an interesting story on "book social networking", a clumsy-but-accurate term for the growing number of social networking websites for book lovers.  It's a good, short (under five minutes) introduction to LibraryThing and similar websites.

Check it out.  And if you are moved to create an account at LibraryThing, come see my page! 

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

The Shifted Librarian recently posted about a visit to the what she considers the most modern library in the world, DOK in Delft, Holland.  Check out her post here.

Check out the photos on Flickr and see what they've done.  I'm particularly impressed with the vivid colors used, the amount of glass everywhere, and how they've really taken to heart the mission to be the most modern library in the world.  I especially like the Genius Bar idea where they will not only offer assistance to patrons about various technologies, but will provide them the opportunity to actually use them as well.  Very cool!

Anyone inspired yet?

Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director

The 12th Annual Public Library Association Conference opens tomorrow with a large contingent from southeastern Minnesota.  SELCO staff and SELCO - PLA Scholarship recipients will be blogging their thoughts, impressions, and reactions to 100s of programs and vendor opportunities.  Their details will make you feel as if you were almost there!  Check back often to see who is posting.

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

I started my day by attending The Power of Play-- the 4th National Family Place Symposium which was held in the not-so-new-anymore Minneapolis Central Library. The symposium sounded interesting for its focuses on play and that libraries as a destination, outside of collections and services, serve early literacy needs. I was pleasantly surprised at how much more content the symposium had to offer. The Family Place Libraries program emphasized serving the family as a whole, rather than services just to children or just to parents. Additionally, part of the Family Place Libraries program is serving the social service needs of library patrons by holding Parent/Child Workshops that bring in community partners such as speech pathologists and social workers to make sure the needs of the patrons are being addressed. The coordinator of the program, Kathleen Deerr, kept saying that librarians might not be social workers, but they are who the community comes to with their questions, and librarians should be able to refer our patrons to the right answers. Most interestingly, she mentioned that one of the libraries she works with actually has a social worker on staff to help with some of these needs. The keynote speaker of the program was Vicki Hawley, of the Center for Early Education and Development for the University of Minnesota and she had an engaging presentation about how children learn through play and how librarians can structure their spaces and services to encourage that play. 

By now, I know I'm far from the first SELCO blogger to mention John Wood, the author of  Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. He was a crowd pleaser, and I'm not just talking about his looks, although even the PLA president couldn't help but comment on them. John appears to have made the changes to his life that we all dream about in secret moments when we question if we have made enough of a difference in the world.

Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director

PLA  is paperless making the national conference a 2.0 training event.  Unlike previous conferences when the professional association consumed uncounted reams of paper to produce sufficient guestimates, the only paper handouts at PLA #12 will be those individual speakers choose to share. While sometimes the the number of copies and the number of people are in balance, that is usually the exception.  More likely, there are those very popular sessions where handouts disappear within seconds or the opposite where lots of folks are expected, few show and there are copies galore.  Since PLA has committed to keeping the electronic handouts live for a year, it will be easy to reference a program or download it to a PC or portable drive when needed. This makes PLA a "green" conference, saving paper and reducing waste. Great idea and one that is practical, efficient, and a good use of my professional dues.

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

I write this blog post on the evening of the first day of my first PLA conference.  Even though this is my first PLA conference, I am not new to attending national conferences.  I've attended several Special Libraries Association and Medical Library Association conferences over the years.

The highlight of Day 1 of the PLA conference had to be John Wood's presentation at the opening general session.  John is the founder and CEO of Room to Read, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children in the developing world break the cycle of poverty through education.  John's goal for the organization (I think he said he will die trying to accomplish this goal) is to reach 10 million children with the lifelong gift of education by 2020.  There work is focused on the part of the world where 84% of the world's children in poverty live:  Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

Two key business points that the organization uses to guide its work really resonated with me.  The first key that I latched onto was that they have an intense focus on results (which John picked up while working at Microsoft).  An example of their results include opening a school every 31 hours.  The second key that made me prick up my ears was dream big dreams.  As John said, go big or go home.  How did they apply this key?  Well, how about Oprah Winfrey raising $1 million dollars from her viewers after an appearance by John on her show? (the huge number of donators brought the organizations 8 servers down!)

I was truly inspired by this organization's work and hope to read John's book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (HarperCollins, 2006).  I want to know if there's something we can take from John's experience and apply it to the SELCO region.  Don't know the answer yet but will find out.

Mollie Pherson, LSTA Project Librarian

I decided to spend my first day of PLA (3/25/08) taking the Unique Bookstore tour.  The tour included visits to three unique Twin Cities bookstores--Common Good Books, Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, and Once Upon a Crime.  We got to tour each of the libraries and make purchases if we chose to do so.

The first bookstore we visited was Common Good Books, which is owned by Minnesota's own Garrison Keillor.  It's located under a really cute coffee shop called Nina's Coffee Cafe.  Keillor makes regular visits and creates displays in his store.  He also writes an ode on the dry erase board every time he visits--very cool!  The bookstore was just darling with lots of quotes painted on the walls, and it was full of local and Minnesota authors.

Books I picked up at Common Good Books:
Wobegon Boy by Garrison Keillor
Pontoon by Garrison Keillor
(I mean I had to purchase Garrison Keillor's books while visiting HIS store!!)

Next, we visited Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, Inc.  Now, this has absolutely NO relation to amazon.com.  This bookstore is SO cool!  It was founded in 1970 in Minneapolis, it is the oldest independent feminist bookstore in the U.S., and it's a worker-owned cooperative.  Amazon has a wide selection of children's books, books celebrating diversity, artistic jewelry, and other novelty items.  We even got to pet the dog that hangs out at the store!

Items I picked up at Amazon Bookstore:
An artistic necklace
When Housewives Go Bad! by Nancy Rider Hunt
In Search of MOCKINGBIRD by Loretta Ellsworth

Our last visit was to Once Upon A Crime Mystery Books, which is a bookstore completely dedicated to mysteries, crime fiction, and thrillers.  I couldn't believe all of the author signings that little store offers the public!  The store also contains an Annex full of rare first editions, out of print books, magazines and journals, and other hard-to-get used copies.

Items I picked up at Once Upon a Crime:
Skullduggery (#2 in the Bloodwater Mysteries series) by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue
Poison Heart by Mary Logue
Bone Harvest by Mary Logue

Check out Flickr to see pictures of the Unique Bookstore tour and others from PLA!

Robin DeVries, SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Winona Public Library

The first day at PLA seems to be taken up with just finding everything.  However, the opening session speaker was good - both inspiring and entertaining.  John Wood, of Room to Read, a nonprofit set up to bring books to kids all over the world, is one of those rare people who sees a need, quits his job and actually does something about it.  He loves libraries, and it's clear that he does.  He was a good start to the conference - helping us all remember that what we do has value.  That's all for now - more tomorrow.

Jonya Pacey, Help Desk Manager 

I hurried to get to PLA on Wednesday morning as some of the preconference sessions looked interesting and I wanted to sit in. No, I'd not preregistered as they requested but I was hopeful I could just slip in; I do not remember seeing a cost for most of them. Unfortunately, they were not only for pre-registrants only, but there were guards at the doors. Oh well. I love going to book talks so Nancy Pearl Presents "Book Buzz" at 10:30 was my new goal. Until then, I logged into my email, found out about a problem in a Horizon parameter that I was able to fix, and sat and talked to Barb Bissen and some people from around the country.

Nancy Pearl's publishing reps had a number of titles that are coming out or are being re-released. I copied down the ones I want to add to My List or maybe request for purchase, unless they still have galleys left and look so good when I go by the publisher's booth, that I just pick one up there!

Milly Halverson, SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Spring Grove Public Library

One of the most exciting things today was meeting one of my favorite authors, Leif Enger.  His new book, "So Brave, Young, and Handsome" is to be released in May of 2008.  He signed uncorrected proof copies of his new book.  He wrote "Peace Like A River," a great book, it was Amazon's book of the year in either 2002 or 2003.

John Wood, the Opening General Session speaker, left an executive career track at Microsoft Corp to form an organization Room to Read, a non-profit organization that is building libraries, educating girls and donating books to 3rd world countries.  One of his most interesting points for success is:  engaging the community.  Poor parents helped build schools and libraries and gave money they did not have to help pay for the libraries.  "Education drives economic growth, and education improves lives" is his message in this fantastic story of how one man is working to change the world.  He recounts his experience in his book, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World."

Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian

If you've spent any time on a reference desk or in a computer lab, it's happened to you.  A patron comes up and reports that he/she cannot get to www.someobscurewebsite.com and asks that you fix the problem.  After determining that you can get to other websites such as www.cnn.com and www.google.com, you try to explain that the problem appears to be with the website rather than the library's Internet connection.  The patron walks away, clearly unconvinced that you aren't just trying to get out of having to deal with the problem.

I don't have any new answers on how to convince the patron that your heart is in the right place.  But I can point you to a tool that will help you determine quickly if the problem is with your connection or the website:  http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com.  Enter a URL and the website will determine if it is up or not.  If the answer is Yes, then you know that there is a problem on your end.  If No, you can confidently state that it is the website that is having a problem.  Cool, huh?

Some things you need to know.  This website is simplicity itself.  No buttons, no extraneous text.  Just a text box and a link to initiate the test.  That very simplicity, however, can be a problem if everything doesn't work exactly as expected.  I found a couple of gotchas that may have seemed obvious to the developers but certainly weren't obvious to me:

1)  When you enter the URL, do not include the http://.  That causes the test to fail without explanation.  So enter www.selco.info, not http://www.selco.info.

2)  You can leave off the top level domain (com, gov, info, edu, etc.) and the website will tack .com at the end.  So, to continue the above example, just entering www.selco, will do a test on www.selco.com.  

As long as you understand these little quirks,  http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com is a nifty little addition for your troubleshooting toolbox.

Michael Scott, Assistant Director

Day 2 was full of good programs and I felt I picked a good variety of programs to attend.  By far the program of the day that inspired me the most (or was at least the only program where I made notes of the ideas I had on the topic!) was a table talk entitled Reach Out and Touch Someone:  Public and School Libraries Collaborate for Student Success.  Washington state received an IMLS grant to create partnerships between public and school libraries to assist in improving student learning.  The project was called the Connecting Learners to Libraries (CLL).  The specific objectives of the CLL initiative were:

• Increase awareness of information literacy
• Inform public and school librarians about academic standards
• Improve professional awarness of programs and services provided by different types of libraries
• Provide funding for collaborative projects that improve students' information literacy skills.

The discussion was very lively as there were nearly 25 participants.  Where most seemed to have success (both in Washington and other parts of the U.S.) were in training school staff and students about the databases that the public library could provide.  Other tips included starting with an individual or personal contact but be sure to connect as soon as possible with the larger organization.  As the faciliator stated, "people leave organizations but the work needs to continue."

I think what inspired me the most about this project was how much of a "no-brainer" it seemed to me.  Libraries have always worked together, especially in the SELCO region.  While public and school libraries may have different missions, they still have at least two things in common:

1. They both have patrons that need access to the best information to fufill an information need.
2. They both share a group of patrons.

I know that programs like "No Child Left Behind" or standardize testing have placed a larger burden on schools to get students to perform at a higher level (or risk some sort of penalty.)   It just seems that there is potential somewhere in all of this for the public libraries and school libraries to work together, drawing on each other strengths, to help in educating the students in their communities to be able to function in the 21st century world.  Maybe it does take a village to raise a child.

Jill Veerkamp, SELCO - PLA Scholarship Recipient
Lanesboro Public Library

Wow, what a busy day. I had to get up early to begin with to get some work done for my library - taking an actual three day break from the library really isn't an option. Anyways, the first session that I went to today was "Running the One Women (or Man) Show: Successful Adult Programming When You Have a Million Things to Do!" The talk would have been extremely interesting and relevant to my work, if only the presenter gave a talk that mirrored the session's title. Essentially, the speaker talked about the importance of programming and using the community to find and promote programs, from point of view of a librarian at a suburban Boston library - not exactly a one person show. In any case, the presentation did allow me to come up with some good ideas for programming for my own library. The second morning session that I attended was "Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development." I initially attended this event because the mayor of Minneapolis was listed as one of the presenters, but it turned out that he couldn't make it. However, it still was an interesting session. The essential heart of the presentation was that libraries act as catalysts for economic development in urban areas; which is probably true for areas of all sizes as well. For lunch, I attended the Children's Author Luncheon featuring Pat Mora and Raúl Colón. I sat next to someone who lived a half an hour from Manhattan; I told her that I lived a half an hour from a stoplight. Anyways, the author presentations were very good and stressed the importance of having a multilingual and multicultural collection for children. The last session that I attended today was "Weeders Attract for Readers." I thought this presentation was AMAZING, but I am biased, because the presenter, Belinda Boon, was my graduate advisor in my MLIS program at Kent State. Overall, Belinda stressed the importance in weeding in order to maintaining an accurate and relevant collection. After the talk, Belinda and I went to check out the new Minneapolis Public Library (soon to be Hennepin County Public Library). Everything looked so shiny, new, and spacious. I would almost kill for one of their display tables, or at least, the space to put one. Oh, well - one can always dream.

Milly Halverson, SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Spring Grove Public Library

Today was a day of author programs.  This morning I attended Catch a Northern Star:  Minnesota Authors Who Speak to Teens.  Good discussion on what fits as Juvenile Lit and YA Literature.  Authors have such great humor as they speak about their writing about the genres they write.  Pete Hauptman, Lois Bujold, Mary Logue, Adam Stemple and Carolyn Stevermer had a round table discussion on YA Literature and what YA's are looking for.  Supernatural, teen situations and fantasy were some of the sub-genres they spoke to.

Linwood Barclay, CJ Box, Laura Lippman, T Jefferson Parker, and Karen Rose were the mystery authors in the program, The Best in Mystery Authors Revealed.  We were hoping they would surprise us with the endings to some of their books, but no such luck.  They spoke about becoming writers.  CJ Box was not published until he was 40 years old and he writes outdoor mysteries.  Each of us received a copy of their book.

The only program I attended today that wasn't authors was on RX for RA -- Training Library Staff in Fiction and Non-Fiction.  Very good program on improving staff knowledge on different genres.  Most of the libraries doing the program were from large libraries and I had to pick and choose what would work in a small library.

The last program of the day was "What's Love Got to Do With It."  Romance is the most popular genre in the USA with 1.2 billion sales in 2004.  The authors from Minnesota again were just hilarious.  They bantered back and forth about their writing routines and some are very on schedule but Connie Brockway and Susan Kay Law write when the deadline is getting close.  Nita Abrams is changing from romance to Historical fiction.  Kim Harrison described herself as writing Urban Fantasy.  We received a book from each author.  I'm a little tired tonight, so that's all folks.

Monica Erickson, SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Chatfield Public Library

Wow!  What a full day!  I'm exhausted but can't say there was a single thing I would have skipped in today's schedule.  Thank heavens we have access to all of the presenter handouts online because I was agonizing that I could only choose one session to attend in each time block.  Some much to learn and so little time!

Trading Spaces:  Everyday Transformations to Maintain Merchandising Momentum @ Your Library was a fantastic session that really got me fired up about transforming spaces and attitudes about "merchandising" our materials and services.  One thing they really emphasized was keeping your displays looking full and that everyone on staff should help with this.  Just walking by every hour or so and sliding a couple new books over into empty display spots can make a difference in keeping a display looking fresh and appealing versus "picked over."  One thing they said that I could really identify with once I thought about it was that "The physical environment really drives behavior."  They gave some great strategies, emphasizing that staff should "expect continual change."  Ah ... not easy, perhaps ... but well worth the effort it seems.

Utilizing Youth Volunteers After School @ Your Library provided some great practical tips on how to make such a program actually work.  They had some great success stories, examples of suitable tasks, and advice for success based on their years of tweaking their program.  I hadn't thought of looking at utilizing youth volunteers as a form of actual programming for youth (a way of fulfilling some of their needs) until I listened to what these folks had to say.

Weeders Attract More Readers! was fairly calling out to me ... or maybe it was more of a case of yanking me by the collar since the whole topic of weeding is something I usually like to slink away from and avoid.  Belinda Boon made me feel as if "Yes, I CAN weed my collection and gosh darn it will be fun and rewarding!"  Okay ... maybe not fun, but indeed necessary and very beneficial.  She referenced a website I can't wait to check out called SUNLINK Weed of the Month.  Its archive provides help in weeding every main Dewey subject area.  Check it out at http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed/.  Actually, weeding might even be fun if one could only memorize and sing Belinda's "Weeding Song" (sung to the tune of "Rawhide") to bolster enthusiasm during the whole painful ordeal.

Creating Dynamic Library Atmospheres:  What We Can Learn from Theater, Retail, Museums, and the Container Store was a delightful chance to watch Ted Swigon (Museum Development, Chicago Scenic Studios) rip on atmospheric mistakes so painfully obvious in photos of other libraries.  The less delightful part was realizing, "Oh, I have a similar setup or display in my library right now.  Yeeks ... it does look terrible now that I think about it."  Along with Sally Decker Smith, he then went on to show how such display or arrangement "Yuks" can be turned into "Oh, Yeahs" without a tremendous amount of money, effort, or upheavel.  My favorite quote from this session:  "Everything that is a problem is an opportunity."  (I'm gonna try that one out on my Board.)

I also enjoyed a super Children's Author luncheon with guest speakers author Pat Mora and Illustrator Raul Colon.  The day ended with a really wonderful dinner with 3 fantastic speakers:  Jacqueline Winspear (author of the Maisie Dobbs novels - boy, was she an eloquent speaker), Dan Musselman (Books on tape Executive Producer), and Scott Brick (actor, screenwriter, and audiobook narrator).  I especially enjoyed Scott Brick - he confirmed a suspicion that I've long held that audiobook narrating has to be one of thee most fun occupations in the world!  My favorite quote from him was that he is a "book addict" which pretty much makes all us librarians "enablers" or basically "dealers" for people like him!  He thanked us for that.  Stories about the lengths that he has gone in researching correct pronunciation in narrating certain audiobooks resulted in a recorded demonstration of the worst curse you can possibly say in Flemish.  He was very funny (you had to be there) ... a great way to end an intense day.

Imagine me ... getting so wordy here.  I better wrap this up and get to bed so I can be fresh for another long day of great sessions tomorrow!

Robin DeVries, SELCO - PLA Scholarship Recipient
Winona Public Library

Day 2 at PLA - went to 4 sessions on a variety of topics - some better than others.  The first one was on adult programming, which seems to be so hard to do successfully.  The speaker was young and enthusiastic.  Probably the best advice she had was to forget the failures and keep on programming.  I know my first thought when I think of adult programming is that no one will probably come.  We need to change our expectations and be more positive.
 
The second session was a review of two studies as to the effect the Internet has had on library usage.  One study surveyed people, the other surveyed libraries.  They had different results.  Basically, I think that most of our users are also internet users.  One statistic that I found very interesting is that people use 2.4 sources when they are seeking information to solve problems.  Clearly, the library is the place to go for multiple information sources.  We need to emphasize that.
 
Next was the marketing director for the Queens, NY, library system.  He's coming from a very different environment than our small libraries, but there's one thing I really liked.  He comes at the challenge of marketing and advertising from a position of power.  Seems like us librarians often sell ourselves and our libraries short - we're grateful for whatever we get.  He approaches it like, "Of course you're going to support us - we're your library!"  Attitude is everything.
 
Finally, went to a Readers Advisory session.  Nothing new there, other than a few different sources for news on new books coming out.  I guess it's comforting to know we're covering our bases pretty well so far. 
 
Seems to me that one of the most valuable things of a conference like this is getting energized again.  It's working.

Alice Henderson, SELCO - PLA Scholarship Recipient
Plainview Public Library

I had a late arrival to PLA so today was my official Day 1.  I started the morning with Author's Reader Theatre  featuring Avi, Pam Munoz Ryan, Brian Selznick, and Sarah Weeks.  They had each adapted 2 of their stories into theatrical performances that they delivered together, with texts in hand.  This is an incredibly talented group and the pieces were very moving.  I think this would be a wonderful (and very doable) way that libraries could engage audiences in a broad range of stories.

My next session was Technozoo presented by Leonard Souza.  This was a show-and-tell sesion of current and upcoming technologies.  He talked about peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies and how they allow users to share the work of perpetuating a service which eliminates the need for a large number of servers in a central location.  P2P certainly got a bad reputation for its piracy applications but the technology itself is proving to be a very powerful resource.  He also highlighted devices such as the iPhone, Nintendo DS, the Sony and Amazon kindle eReaders, and Microsoft Surface which if you haven't heard of it, is well-worth a peek for the shear "awe" value.  He ended by challenging libraries to consider how we can make ourselves accessible on these types of devices and "become as functional online as you are offline."  You can download his presentation at http://www.acidblueltd.com/download/presentation.zip.

I also attended Science Quest: Creating Weird, Wild and Wonderful Programs at Your Library by Nadine Rosendale and Jacqueline Sollers.  They started with a statistic that I found quite disheartening.  In 2000, 82% of our nation's 12th graders performed below a proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test.  It was this information that prompted them to implement their Aha! Science programs in the libraries of Carrol County, MD.  They demonstrated a variety of experiments that are inexpensive to do and engaging for all ages.  Their experiments are inquiry-based so participants are making predictions and truly engaging in the activities.  You can download their Bibliography and Resources as well as their Planning Checklist.  For copies of the Aha! Science handouts, go to http://library.carr.org/aha/default.asp.

Mollie Pherson, LSTA Project Librarian

During my time at PLA, I went to two conferences dealing with community collaboration.  My second day at PLA, I attended the preconference session called Bridging the Divide:  Libraries Transform Communities.  This program focused on how libraries need to be safe places for citizens to engage in civic conversation, especially during the election season.  Libraries are often seen as the safe haven in the community--it is important for libraries to build relationships in the community with other organizations, non-profits, etc., so the entire community sees the library as the main hub for city patrons.  Also, by partnering in the community, the library may be able to accomplish things it may not be able to do on its own.

Toward the beginning of the session, we had some small group discussion on what we can do to bridge the divide and shared ideas on how we can bring people together to make change in the library setting.  Our speakers shared seven ideas on how to engage the community at the library:

1. The Library as a Civic Space -- always provide space for informational programs, space for patrons to look at each other and have conversations
2. The Library as a Public Forum -- make the library a safe space for ideas
3. The Library as a Civic Information Center -- the library should be a place where people can engage with goverment
4. The Library as a Community Wide Place -- example: reading clubs are not only about reading, but the act of getting together to discuss is important, too
5. The Library as a Partner in Public Service -- always look for partnerships in your community, you can work together to make things happen (local broadcasting station, newspapers, non-profits, etc.)
6. The Library as an Enabler of Civic Literacy -- a place where patrons can find out information about community problem solving
7. The Library as a Public Advocate -- advocate for access AND engagement

We also got to see what a civic dialogue forum was all about when our small groups talked about the challenges of American immigration.  We evaluated approaches and tried to deliberate (not debate) the issues.  One of our speakers told us that "citizenship is not a spectator sport," and that really resonated with me, especially with the election coming up so quickly.  It's so important to respect everyone's opinions, to provide accurate information on all parties, and to provide a safe, neutral space for political discussion.  My small group interaction was particularly interesting because we had a library director from Calgary.  In Canada, especially in Calgary, she said immigration is imperative in the community so job vacancies are filled and to keep the community thriving.  She was really interested in the different American views of immigration.  (To see pictures of my small group, please check out Flickr)

I attended Public Libraries as Community Problem Solvers on my fourth day at PLA.  This program, like the above, stressed the importance of community collaboration.  Three speakers from three different libraries (one large urban library, one rural area library, and one small city library) spoke about how they have solved some of their community issues by partnering with other organizations (museums, public broadcasters, newspapers).  All three said that public libraries are not community problem solvers unless they are willing to work on community partnerships.  These relationships are extremely successful because each organization brings their greatest strengths to the partnership.  Two of the three libraries received IMLS dollars to help fund their projects.  The speaker from the Free Library of Philadelphia said that she had weekly meetings with representatives from the collaborating organizations--by keeping the communication flowing, everyone in the partnership knows what is expected in the project.

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

Jill Veerkamp - SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Lanesboro Public Library

For my third day of the PLA conference, I decided to fill my time by going to the different author panel presentations.  I first went to "Catch a Northern Star: Minnesota Authors Who Speak to Teens."  I was expecting only librarians from Minnesota to attend this session, but librarians from all over were there, and had to be explained the phenomenon of the "butterheads."  The authors at the presentation were Lois McMaster Bujold, Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, and Adam Stemple.  It was a very good presentation, and many good issues were raised, such as the blurring between the Adult and Young Adult markets and how the even the label of "Young Adult" is in many ways an artificial and imposed category. 

Next, I went to "The Best in Mystery Authors Revealed!"  This panel featured T. Jefferson Parker, Linwood Barclay, C.J. Box, Laura Lippman, and Karen Rose.  Each author gave a short talk about how they got into writing and usually the project that they were currently working on or promoting.  Although these were mystery authors, they were extremely hilarious in their talks.  They were also sure to point out the importance that libraries had in their early life and in their later career. 

The last author presentation that I went to was "What's Love Got to Do With It" and featured Nita Abrams, Connie Brockway, Kim Harrison, and Susan Kay Law.  Kim Harrison made good point that different genre readers expect difference things from the books that they read.  Since her books cross multiple genres, this becomes an interesting issue for her.  One other question that the panel addressed was why people apologize for reading romance novels when no other genre creates similar sentiments.  The panel as a whole felt that part of the problem was a gender issue, where women's interests were considered less important or significant than more masculine interests.

Aurora Jacobsen, Information Services Librarian

I started out the day by showing up at a session where I saw two of my coworkers—so I quickly found another session on how to present that seemed interesting. Protect, Project and Present was a good, solid how-to session, and I was glad I'd had it highlighted as my second choice.

 I followed this session up with Word Of Mouth Marketing presented in part by a staff member of my old library system- NSLS. NSLS worked with DuPage Library System on a grant that brought a marketing firm to individual libraries in both regions. The marketing firm worked with the libraries to draft and implement a marketing plan for specific needs at each library.. The presenters had wonderful examples of what worked and didn't shy away from describing a few things that didn't. I was inspired with all the stories demonstrating how a little money and community effort can yield fantastic results for libraries.

After lunch, I went to a presentation by the Denver Public Library on adding audio and video to their website. Most interesting was the discussion about how many staff they had, how they developed the videos they had, and what their future plans were. They have 8 staff members who run the entirety of their online presence (databases and downloadables included) and none of those staff members had an audio/visual background. Denver has been known for its online innovation (I've seen their MySpace Evolver demonstrated by other librarians for years) so it was interesting to hear the presenter talk about the learning curve they've had and to see that the amount of content is relatively modest as they continue learn. Of course, they have one of the most talked about library videos on YouTube, so their first foray was still way more successful than most of us can ever imagine for our own sites.

My final session of the day was about videoconferencing and it was quite enlightening to hear which programs could be presented remotely and which could not. They also were good at reminding the audience about how much trial and error went in to getting the setup right. The presenters were good, but I was expecting something that was more general and less specific to the specific type of programming and videoconferencing that this library was doing.

Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran, Community Information Librarian

Ann and I hosted a Talk Table on Friday, introducing the world-at-large to SELCO's Hot Reads for Cold Nights program.  The librarians engaged in a lively discussion on adult programming, and asked lots of questions about Hot Reads and how it might be modified for their libraries. 

It has been a wonderful experience to host PLA in our home state - I felt as if I were a party hostess, checking to make sure people were comfortable, inquiring as to where they were from, and answering questions about the area.  The librarians at our session on Friday were from all over the US: Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Ohio, California, Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin, and even Alaska!  It's been pretty easy to identify the conference-goers who hail from northern climes, as they're the ones enjoying the relatively mild weather.  The folks from the south tend to be bundled up like it's really cold.  (Good thing that snow never materialized!)

Mollie Pherson, LSTA Project Librarian

The best thing about PLA is the exhibition hall!  I finally got to meet Howard Alston and Mark Ciccero, the Playaway representatives I have been in contact with for the Digital Audiobooks For Seniors LSTA grant project.  Perfect photo opportunity!!  I spent around an hour chatting with Mark about SELCO's grant project and how much the seniors (and everyone else!) are enjoying the playaways.  I was even videotaped talking about Digital Audiobooks For Seniors--the video will be on the Playaway website in the near future.  Both reps were super nice, and it was great putting faces with names.   Click here to see the pic of Howard and the gang! 

Mollie Pherson, LSTA Project Librarian

On my final day of PLA, I attended an amazing session called No Grant Needed!  Cheap and Easy Accommodations for People with Disabilities.  Again, I say this program was truly amazing!  Lots of great ideas were presented...stuff I had never even thought about before!  The presenters talked about creating a One Book One Community program.  In Rochester, we had a successful program a few months ago with Three Cups of Tea, but I'm curious to know if everyone was able to access the title.  The speakers said if a community is ever planning a One Book session, we need to make sure the title is offered in the NLS talking books format, there needs to be multiple copies in large print, and lots of audio formats.  That way, everyone can participate in the program.  Here are some other ways to make programs accessible:

• Large print directions
• Labeling food

These simple accommodations make a huge difference.  There are lots of people who don't know about services for people with disabilities, so marketing is critical (in lots of formats).  Here are some low tech solutions for your library that will make a huge impact:

• Handheld magnifiers (around $15 a piece)

• Large type keyboard labels (around $10 a set)

• Signature and Reading guides (around $1.50 a piece)

• Large type rulers

• Magnifier bookmarks

• Black "bold write" pens for note-taking, writing down call numbers

• Clipboards

• Book stands (especially for heavy books)

• Color overlays

• Call number slips with shaded columns

• Rollators to help maneuver the library

• Velcro to secure keyboards to table

One library keeps a little tub at the checkout desk with some of these supplies in it—that way, the staff is able to offer help right away.

Signage is so important at a public library.  One of the presenters received LSTA funds to create pictograms for Dewey numbers.  These pictures located on the shelving units and located in the stacks have not only helped folks with disabilities but people who don't know English and small children who can't read yet.  You can get a free downloadable copy of the pictograms to use in your library at www.libraryliteracy.org/resources/differences/dewey.html

 Two facts I learned:

• Most seniors like white letters with black background

• 17% of the population is suffering from a disability (both permanent and temporary)

I learned WAY more than I can even post!  What a wonderful program and an excellent way to end PLA! 

Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director

Connected by the waters flowing through Minneapolis south to New Orleans, as well as a strong commitment to quality library design and construction, Meyer, Scheer & Rockcastle (MS&R) and the New Orleans Public Library unveiled the master plan for the rebuilding the library system.  At a festive press conference during PLA, representatives from the library and MS&R outlined how the New Orleans Public Library System plans to renew itself.  The master plan recommends repairs, renovation, and new construction that will create a world-class library system - not merely to replace what flooding destroyed.  The proposed total capital cost for the new and renovated branch libraries in 2008 dollars is $199,211,191.  The press release offers additional details.

Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran, Community Information Librarian

Nancy Pearl
Reader's Advisory

Nancy is a librarian rock star.  She's the model for the Librarian Action Figure (with amazing shushing action!) and is the author of Book Lust, More Book Lust, and Book Crush.  Nancy visited SELCO on Monday, March 31st and spoke to a group of enraptured librarians.

When she was 10 years old, she knew she wanted to be a librarian.  Makes her nervous when people clap before she's said anything.  Quotes Bishop Sheen - if they clap beforehand, it's out of faith, and afterwards, it's out of charity.

What is reader's advisory service?  It's a conversation between you and that person of whatever age that asks, "Can you find me something good to read?"  It's important to remember that "desk paralysis" happens to us all - it's normal to draw a blank when asked that question.

Reader's advisory is a dialog - it's not telling someone what you've just read or what you like to read.  It's a chance to listen to what they have to say and based on that, find some books to read.

1st rule of RA- it's not about you. 

Audience asked to write down 5 of their favorite novels.  The more you understand why you like the books you like, the more you will be able to translate why someone else likes the books they like. 

We should be able to give books to people whether or not we've read them or even like them.  We always think we're the Hamlet in our own play, but we're really the Rozencrantz and Guildenstern in everyone else's play.  It's not about you.

You need to read widely and outside your comfort area.  Easier to say than to accomplish.  There are always parts of the fiction collection or the library that we're not comfortable reading in.  Nancy's not a horror fiction fan - finds real-life scary enough.  Decided that she needed to make herself do this - once a month, she chooses a book that she would not normally read.  In order to be a good readers' advisor, you need to understand what it is about those books that would draw people to them.  You need to understand what the doorway is to that genre.  Finally picked up a Steven King book - Hearts in Atlantis.  Once she finished that book, she understood the draw of Steven King - and she then picked up Carrie and The Stand and Firestarter. 

What we do a lot of in the library is to tell people about the books we've loved.  Sometimes we get lucky, but it's not really readers' advisory unless it's a conversation.  The more you read and the more you learn about books, the better you will be at RA.

Strongly believes that a function of being a librarian is to give people the opportunity to broaden and enrich their reading - books they normally would not read.  A gift we can give our library patrons is the opportunity to experience other kinds of books.  We need to holistic reader's advisory - make use of our whole library.  Our libraries are not arranged in ways that broaden people's reading tastes.  The way we arrange books serves to separate them into their genres.

RA differs from reference service in one big way - in reference there is one right answer.  In RA, there is not just one right answer - there is a range of right answers.  You can always say in a reference interview, did you get the answer that you needed?  In RA, the person can't answer that question until they go home and start reading.  We should end the interview with, "Come back and tell us what you thought of these books."  Everything they come back and talk to you about is important information in learning about their reading tastes.  50 page rule - if you don't like it within the first 50 pages, you should stop reading it.  If you're over 50, you should subtract your age from the rule as a reward for aging; when you turn 100, you can judge a book by it's cover.  (50 page Rule is on Starbuck's cup number 169.)

We trip ourselves up doing RA.  1st burden of RA: We believe that we need to know what a book is about in order to give it to someone - we need to be able to describe the plot.  People don't love the books they love because of the plot.  The reason people want to read similar books is they want to replicate the experience they had reading a particular book.  If you don't know what a book is about, that is not a barrier to handing that book to someone.

Search tip: type in author:read alike in Google.

We don't want to ask, "tell me what a book you liked was about" we want to ask "tell me about a book you liked."  Then listen to what they say in their next two sentences - it will give you many clues that will help you find their next book.  A good book is defined as any book that someone liked.  "A good book for me is not necessarily a good book for you." 

What is it when we open a book and dive into it?  We enter into the world of the book if we like it.  If we don't like the book, there's no real doorway into the book. Came up with the idea of doorways into the enjoyment of a book. 

4 doorways: story, character, setting, and language.  Arranged in the order that most readers prefer.

2nd burden - sense of failure when someone comes back and tells you they hated the book you recommended.  Think about it in terms of suggesting books rather than recommending books.  There's a real difference between recommending something and suggesting something.  When we recommend something, it tends to be from our own experience.  When it comes to books, there's rarely going to be a parallel between our experience and another person's experience.  Reading is too individual.  Think about RA in terms of suggesting. 

RA is a reason for a library building  - a place where people can come and talk about books.  If all we did was reference, there would be no reason for a building. 

Be honest when someone asks you whether you liked a book.  It lets people know it's OK not to like a particular book. 

3-book model of RA: when you go in to Nordstrom's to buy a pair of shoes, you have an idea of what you want.  You look at all of the displays and take a pair that seems to meet your needs.  When the shoe salesperson comes out, they bring the pair you chose and two other pairs: one pair that's similar and another pair that's more dissimilar.  That's what we should be doing with RA - try to give that patron three books.  One should be close to the book they've described, then give them another book that will give them the same reading experience, and then take them to the non-fiction section and suggest a book that will give them a pleasurable reading experience.

Some people feel uncomfortable going to the non-fiction section.  Most of our library patrons don't care whether a book is fiction or non-fiction.  They want a pleasurable reading experience.  When we're looking for good books to suggest, fiction vs. non-fiction is irrelevant.  Displays should include both.  We underestimate the kind of stretching that our readers will do.

If what we're looking for is the experience, if we want to replicate the experience they've had, we need to arrange books in our mind in relation to these doorways.  It opens up the world of the library, and gives you a way to connect books one to the other. 

Button - "Ask me for something to read."  Many library users don't know that we do that.

Doorways. 

Every book has all 4 of the doorways.  Every book tells a story.  It can be realistic, a fantasy, a narrative; every book has a story.  Every book has characters.  Somebody in that book is going to be carrying out the story.  Every book takes place somewhere.  It can the the 20th century, the 15th century, another planet.   Every book is written in language that helps bring the story to life.  The difference in books is the sizes of those doorways.  There are some in which one doorway predominates and everyone who enjoyed that book entered through the same doorway.  There are some books in which a second doorway is the same size, and so some readers entered through one doorway and others entered through another.

We tend to enjoy books that have one or two of those doorways.

When someone asks for a good book, if the doorway they want to enter is through story, the language they will use will contain a lot of action verbs and description.  "It was a real page-turner, I couldn't put it down." "My heart was in my mouth."  Those descriptions say the major doorway is story.  

The primary door that kids like is story.  The most popular children's books are story-doorway books.  The first Harry Potter has story as the major doorway. The subsequent books get more and more complex. 

Story examples: James Patterson, Steven King, John Grisham, Vince Flynn, Dean Koontz, Larry McMurtry, Clive Cussler, Philip Donlay, David Baldacci, Dan Brown.

Take those patrons to non-fiction military histories, fast-paced biographies (like of astronauts).

Most public libraries will have story-doorway books as the largest part of their collection.

Second biggest group read for character.  There's probably a gender difference; men will gravitate towards story books.  Women tend to gravitate towards character books.  Not all, and not always, but generally.  When you're talking about a book in which character is the doorway, they will say. "It's a wonderful coming of age story." "All of the characters were so real."  They'll talk about it in terms of the characters and not what happened to them. 

Look for a book in which the title is either a character name or is descriptive of a character.  "About a Boy." 

A story driven book will have a lot of white space on the page - there's a lot of dialog.  A non-story-driven book will have text from one margin to another.  Character-driven books will tend to be slower-paced.

Character examples: Ann Tyler, John Irving, Dorothy Allison, Janey Evanovich, Harley Jane Kozak (perfect choice for Evanovich readers), Sue Monk Kidd, Ellen Gilchrist, Louise Erdrich, Elizabeth Bird, Faith Sullivan, Jane Austin, Maeve Binchy, Rosamind Pilcher, Chris Bohjalian, Sue Miller, Richard Russo, Barbara Kingsolver.  Character doorway books are better choices for book clubs than story doorway books.

Non-fiction choices for character readers: biography, memoir. 

Setting readers are a small number, but they know exactly what they want.  When asked, they will talk about how a setting is so well-evoked, they want to go there, or that the setting is like another character.  Quick trick for finding setting books is to find books in which setting is the title of the book - Mitchner.

People who love historical fiction read for setting.  Ann Perry's novels tend to have doorways in setting and story. 

Setting examples: Annie Proulx "The Shipping News."  "Under the Tuscan Sun."  Gabaldon's Outlander series.  Tony Hillerman.  Anne Perry.  Nevada Barr.  Tolkein.  Edward Rutherfurd. 

Non-fiction: Armchair travel, History.

The fewest number of readers have language as the primary doorway.  They will say, "I really like well-written books."  "I read this book slowly because I was glorying in the language."  These books tend to be the award-winners.  We need them in our libraries, but they won't tend to be the high-circ books.

Language choices: Isak Dinesen, Annie Dillard, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Wallace Stegner, Kate Chopin, Alice Monroe, Mary Oliver, Paulo Coehlo.

Non-fiction: poetry

Question from the group - if the language books are those that kids tend not to like, why are these the ones that we teach?  We tend to turn kids off of reading and eliminate the possibility that they will go back to those books when they're ready to read them.  As librarians, we can meet the kids where they are and validate their reading. 

The two M's: mood and motivation.  Mood plays an enormous part in what you will like at any given time.  Don't be shocked if someone who you know reads for character all of the sudden is looking for story books.  Motivation will drive what books you pick up as well.  What are you in the mood for today?  If they're in the mood for funny, it will eliminate most of the language books.  Motivation might be a desire to read all of the classics.

Alice Henderson, SELCO - PLA Scholarship Recipient
Plainview Public Library

I had 2 top-of-my-list presenters at PLA this year. The first was Beth Galloway with her Gamers in the Stacks presentation. She is an independent consultant for child and young adult services in libraries. She advocates for games in libraries saying that they are the medium of choice for millennials (as TV may have been for their parents or radio for their grandparents); they meet the developmental needs of teens; they are literary; and they reinforce new literacies (such as Internet ethics). While her focus was on games for youth, it was also be noted that the average age of a gamer is 33 (which incidentally is also the age of the Atari console). Games can be used to reach all ages, and I've seen this firsthand in my library. Each time I implement a new program, whether it's a Super Smash brothers tournament for ages 10 and up or an adult Dungeons & Dragons group, our library gains new users. They may never check out a book (though some do) but they are still utilizing their library and finding value in what we have to offer.

The second top-of-my-list presenter was Michael Stephens, along with Jen Maney and John Blyberg in The Cutting Edge: The Latest Information on Web 2.0. Jen started with her experiences experimenting with Web 2.0 technologies at Pima County Public Library in AZ. She emphasized that the things you want to try need to fit your library's mission and that if something does not work, it does not indicate failure. Every library is different. You have to learn as you go and that is okay. Michael talked about the messages librarians send. What are we saying when we post a sign saying that cell phones aren't welcome? What are we saying when we block MySpace and Facebook? He encourages us to put the heart back into libraries. His slides are supposed to be posted to his Tame the Web site but as of this writing, they are not yet posted. John Blyberg spent some time answering the concerns that some have about Web 2.0. His slides can be downloaded at http://www.blyberg.net/downloads/PLA-032808.pdf.

My last session for the day was Mission Impossible-Build Your Own ILS. They had representatives from the Georgia Public Library System who are up and running on Evergreen, along with a representative from Evergreen. They also had representatives from the Howard County Library in MD who are in the process of migrating to LibLime's Koha ILS, as well as a representative from LibLime. Koha and Evergreen are open source solutions which means that you do not have to pay for the programs themselves but you do pay if you require support on the product. The thing that catches my eye about this model is that you are not stuck with one vendor. There are many companies that support each of these products and they are competition with each other. You have choices in who you work with and how that will look.

Darla Lager - SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Owatonna Public Library

5:30 A.M. on a Saturday is no time to be getting up.  But I did it and was on the road by 7:00 A.M.  I got into the parking ramp right across the street from the convention center.  I though it would be easy.  Parking ramps are not libraries.  The signage was terrible.  Another librarian and I muddled our way out and wished each other luck in finding our cars back. I found mine, I hope she found hers.

I went to Creating Environments from Tots to Teens, first thing Saturday morning.  It was kind of pie-in-the-sky.  Most libraries can not afford to put a reading dragon or a pirate ship in the middle of an existing children's space.  One interesting thing they talked about was how one city changed a car parts store into a small, branch library.  They showed before and after pictures.  They only had $10,000 to spend, but you wouldn't believe the changes.   

My last program of the day and of the conference was Not Just for Young Adults-Graphic Novels for Kids.  One of the speakers was Jeff Kinney.  Jeff Kinney is the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  I can't wait to tell some of the kids on Monday, that I saw Jeff Kinney.  He wrote the books for adults originally, kind of a Wonder Years thing, but his publishers decided they would make great kids books and the rest as they say is history.  Another member of the panel was an actor turned psychotherapist, Matt Casper, who is working on a series of comic books, called e-motes, which deal with children and emotions, and dealing with those emotions.  A third member of the panel was Michelle Gorman who wrote a book call Getting Graphic.  It is about good graphic novels for kids of all ages. Good meaning kids will love them, not that they are literary masterpieces. The final member of the panel was Francoise Mouly, she spoke about the importance of comics for the non-readers or reluctant readers.  She spoke of the value of comics in a library and the difference between comics and graphic novels.  Comics and graphic novels are the same; they are both sequential narratives, just different terminology.  

End Day 3

Darla Lager - Owatonna Public Library

I didn't get lost on my way home, much to my surprise.

Darla Lager - SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Owatonna Public Library

I drove today, Bonnie Krueger rode with me, we didn't get lost, imagine that. 

Catch a Northern Star:  Minnesota Authors Who Speak to Teens was my first program of the day. Authors Lois McMaster Bujold, Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, Adam Stemple and Caroline Stevermer spoke about how they had started out writing mostly for adults and how those books have now been embraced by teens. They spoke about now writing for teens and younger.  They spoke about the market and what publishers want.  Do you write what publishers want or what's in you?  It was a good program.   Is Adam Stemple Jane Yolen's son?  I wondered. Something he said made me think he is.  He is. 

My second program of the day was, Optimizing Space for Results: Library Spaces for Today's Services.  This program was about space reallocation and improving the physical experience.  We listened to the speakers talk about the use of appropriate seating, a family focus in youth areas, a need for a café or informal seating, so the library can serve as a neutral meeting place, and that over crowded shelves discourage use.  We want the library to be the "third place" between home and work.  There are steps to take when getting started; define the project, plan the project, prepare the committee...make recommendations and finally implement changes.  There are 10 steps. Each is important to the success of any changes. 

The Young Adult Luncheon featuring Nancy Pearl was by far the best "event" of the day.  She was funny and great.  She talked about the joys of being a reader, but also the perils.   

The most intense and thought provoking program of the day for me was Raising Mediawise Kids. I wanted to go to Everyone is Getting Crabbier but it was full.  Now I am glad that it was.  The speaker, David Walsh, started out by saying, "Media is Powerful".   I will share with you some of the statistics that blew my mind.  99% of households have a television set.  The average household has 2.6 television sets.  68% of children have a television set in their bedroom. 28% of babies under age 2 have televisions in their bedroom.  93% of American kids play video games on a regular bases. 

The following surprised me:  A week in the life of an American school-age child.  Computer time - 7 hours, Video games - 9 hours, television watching - 25 hours, time with dad -- .5 hours, time with mom - 2.5 hours,  homework - 4 hours and the one you've all been waiting for, time spent reading for pleasure in one week -- .5 hours. I won't share all his statistics but I do want to tell you about the end of his talk.  Walsh talked about kids growing up in a "yes culture" where everything is "more-easy-fast-fun" and that kids are growing up with a lack of self-discipline.  He called it DDD, discipline deficit disorder and the symptoms are "a culture of disrespect, impatience, a need for instant gratification, unrealistic expectations, a sense of entitlement, self-centeredness and rampant consumerism."  When he was talking, I was seeing some of the kids at the library.  Now I understand, I don't like it, but I understand.  Dr. Walsh's website is Mediawise.org 

The last program of the day for me was Making Space for Teens in Libraries.  When making a space for teens, it is important to involve teens in the planning.  Making a space for teens can be as simple as changing the decorations or as complicated as making over an existing space or creating a whole new design.  The speakers pointed out that teens make up 25% of a libraries core population.  One of the points they made was that teens do not sit like adults or younger kids, there are physiological reasons for this, we have to realize this and choose seating accordingly, not a table and chairs, but comfortable seating that allows the teens to sit anyway they choose.  They also said that the social experience is more important than the library collection; we need to build a space that reflects that. 

End Day 2

Darla Lager - Owatonna Public Library

Bonnie stayed in Minneapolis.  I drove home by myself, got lost. Surprise, surprise, I am directionally challenged.

Darla Lager - SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Owatonna Public Library

Jill Veerkamp - SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Lanesboro Public Library

For my last day at PLA, I attended the two morning programs.  First, I went to "The Memoir: The Readers' Advisor's Dream or Nightmare."  While this program wasn't as interesting as I thought it was going to be, the presenters did make some interesting points about what a memoir exactly is and how librarians should treat them in their libraries.  The speakers were sure to point out that memoirs are very different from autobiographies.  While autobiographies are linear accounts and chronicles verifiable aspects of a (usually famous) person's life, memoirs more often deal with memories, feelings, emotions, impressions, perceptions, and interpretations of the memoirist.  As a whole, memoirs are very subjective.  The presenters of the program also went through the different types of memoirs that exist and recommended some books in each category.  Finally, for the last program of PLA, I went to "Superheroes to Serial Killers: Librarians in Literature."  The presenter, Michael Gannon, took a humorous look at the different stereotypes of librarians found in popular culture and how librarians are portrayed in literature.  Finally, Gannon ended the program with a quiz for the audience about whether a picture on the screen was of a serial killer or a librarian.  This hilarious program was a great way to end the conference.