Transformation in South African Libraries

Another session I attended at the ILA Conference was titled “If It Doesn’t Hurt, It’s not Real Transformation”: Rebuilding South African Library Services in the Aftermath of Apartheid.” The speaker was Peter J. Lor, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, former director of South Africa’s State Library.

The work to rebuild library service in South Africa was a long process and continues today. It was interesting to hear how the librarians came together to form new library associations and new library services. There were two points he made that I want to share. The first was that to do this work together they had to have inclusiveness, consultation with others, patience, a building trust, and understanding personal chemistry. The second; process is important to the outcome. This means that if you do not spend time having a good process the outcome may be flawed or much less effective.

Wow another post where transformation is talked about.

Library Cooperation in Illinois

Library cooperation, at least in Illinois is something many librarians take for granted. At the ILA conference there was a presentation titled “The Changing Face of Illinois Library cooperation.” The speakers talked about the cooperation that is facilitated through consortia and library systems. The past couple of years have seen changes in these organizations some from the economy and others by because of changes in rules of operation.

David Carlson, SIU-C stated that Cooperation as a shared value does not come naturally and is not without work and communication. Successful cooperation required leadership and some risk taking.

In the next few months you will be hearing more about cooperation in Illinois. November 9th ILA is holding a “Summit on the Future of Illinois Library Cooperation.” I don’t know what the outcomes of the summit will or if the outcomes will transform library cooperation in Illinois. I will let you know.

Transformative Experience@your library

Omar Wasow, the keynote speaker at the ILA Opening General Session could have used the title of this post as the title of his presentation. I expected Mr. Wasow, a digital native, would talk about the uses of technology in the library and what will come in the future. Instead He spoke of the library as a gathering place, library as a public park for your brain, library space as the heart of community, and library as a transformative place for those who use them.

What struck me was that this message was very similar to the message I had heard last summer at the OCLC Symposium from speaker Joseph Michelli; I blogged about that presentation on July 10th.

A few years ago I was at a presentation given by Steven Abrams and someone asked how he picked out from all the information he scans the things to really watch. He said when he hears something three times in a short period of time, that’s when he takes a deeper look at it. I have taken that to heart and when finding myself hearing something two or three times I take note of it. The transformative experience and libraries is one of those topics.

Mr. Wasow made one statement that I want you all to think about. I’ll paraphrase; Librarians should celebrate the reading experience (a transformative experience), and not be so concerned with materials management.

Now, look at your library and its services. Does it provide a place where people can think, have an opportunity for self-directed learning, and transform themselves?

Spanish Resource from the Government

This past week I received in the mail some posters in Spanish announcing GobiernoUSA.gov. This is the official government website where the Hispanic public “can get all the information they need about immigration, employment, health, education, and other government services and benefits.” This website is free and in Spanish. If people have questions about the site they can contact Marangely Rodriguez at (202) 501-1794 or marangely.rodriguez@gsa.gov.

For your English speaking patrons needing government information send them to USA.gov. Here they can learn about social security benefits, government jobs, and federal, state, and local government information.