This is part 2 on my series of how to improve libraries. See the original post that drove this series here. And you can read part 1 here.
My sincerest wish in this New Year, is for libraries to stop trying to be everything to everyone. Quite simply: know what you do and do it well. Remember that girl in college? You know, the one who shifted personalities depending on who she was talking to? One night, she was at a party talking to a rugby player and she loved kegs and beer and contact sports. The next day she stopped by the French Club and she turned her nose up at anything that wasn't champagne and roses. We've all met these people. They don't know who they are; what they like or dislike. Or, maybe they do and they're just to scared to show people. It's very difficult to be friends with these people. They're trying SO HARD for you to like them and that just turns people off. In a word, they're fake. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that libraries are that girl. It's really hard for the public to figure out who you are as a library, if you're not sure yourself. Think for a second: I'm describing an organization that holds yoga classes, lego building sessions, hula hooping, a film festival of Christmas movies, and a chocolate tasting all in the same week. What am I describing here, what kind of organization? Can you tell? Does this seem like a library? Of course this is what a typical events calendar looks like in some of our libraries. The events are all over the map and very few of them relate back to the library's mission statement. Take a look at your mission statement: to provide free and fair access to information to all. Of course, you can make the argument that these events are information, or that these events get people in the door to access your information. Unfortunately, I have a hard time believing either of those things. I think these events, more often than not, especially for our adult population, muddy the water. (For children's events, this is a slightly different story, families like having something to do with the kids and they are a good draw. For the purpose of this post, please assume that I'm talking about adult services.) For adults however, an event calendar like that makes it seem like we don't know what the heck we're doing. Adults think of the library as books and technology. That's not a bad thing but with event calendars like this we're acting like it is. We are running from our own mission statement (an excellent mission statement if I've ever seen one) and that makes us seem unfocused and unable to fulfill our true mission. It also makes us seem like our real mission statement isn't good enough. We need to realize that it is. I am confident that our mission has a place in this world but if people in the profession act as though they don't believe it by adding all of these other things to the calendar, no member of the public is going to believe it either. Of course don't get me wrong, I love programming. I think it's a wonderful draw to the library but what I'm asking for here is that I'd like to see more meaningful programming. More classes on downloading e-books, on using mobile devices, on designing websites, on setting up an Etsy shop, on computer basics, on making an email address, on how to use a database, on how to make digital movies. I'd like us to embrace the historical nature of our work, classes on history and genealogy on preserving your family's history and historical artifacts. I love the idea of creating documents, interviewing people in your community about their experiences and archiving it for future generations. Being a repository of local treasures. I even love the idea of specialized collections – loaning out tools, or knitting supplies to help someone further their independent education. There is SO MUCH that libraries can do that so clearly works towards their mission statement. I don't know why we spend so much time doing things that don't. I know that it is the mission of libraries to serve everyone. That doesn't mean that we have to forget who we are along the way.
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