Choosing Our Future: Libraries in the 21st Century

Andy Barnett Assistant Director - McMillan Memorial Library

Wisconsin Rapids

Starting Out

• If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him

• Next practices not best practices

• The direction of change is more important than the pace of change

• From an age of scarcity to an age of abundance

Change is…

• Scary

• Not optional

• A habit or muscle

• Additive

• Addictive

Super Powers

• Every person and library should have them

• Difference between a factory job and what you can be

• Mainly a matter of attitude and willingness

Adapt not Adopt

• A government function, with a community based purpose

• Social good, not volume/profit

• Watch your language

• Be remarkable, in a good way.

Remarkable, but not in a good way

Public ≠ Private Sector

• Mission

• Third place, not home or the marketplace

• ROI

• Profit center

• Incentives

• Metrics in general

• Niche marketing

Public = Private Sector

• Customer driven

• Design / layout / wayfinding

• Hours

• Importance of perception

• Become a destination

Steal These

• Have a (saleable/explainable) purpose

• Be intentional (economy of force)

• Strategy not tactics

• Plan as if your job depended upon it

• Life long relationships

What models?

• Sam’s Club = bad model

• Good hotel/resort= better model

• Welcoming and hospitable

• Effective and efficient

• Surprise and delight

Cutting Edge Libraries

• Thank you!

• Proof of concept

• Conditions for success

• Costs

• Trade offs

Are you on the right track?

• Five Laws of Library Science

• Benefits users, not just staff

• People first, then things

• Tech like you want/use at home

• Wow factor

Paco Underhill & Design

• Retail anthropologist

• Comfortable, easy, practical, fast

• Design as people management

• Design as theater

• If a TV crew was coming, what would you change?

Self-Service Options

• Self-service often best service

• Non-service isn’t

• Staffed self-check – like WalMart

• Staff, design, signage changes

Wayfinding

• Important piece of self-service

• Intuitive and self-navigable

• Design, layout and decoration

• Sightlines – patron and staff both

• Better signage / less clutter

Display Oriented Library

• Display / merchandise as much as possible

• Genre collections

• Wayfinding and in-library users

• Develop browsing areas

• Size matters

• Implement incrementally

Implementation @ MCM

• Display shelving for New Book area

• Genre / subject collections of New Books

• Display shelving for AV

• Additional permanent genre collections

• Creating display areas wherever possible

• We still have stacks (so far)

• Three levels – new/stacks/system

Just in Time

• Originally an industrial concept

• Shared systems and delivery make it work

• Leaner local collection

• Three levels – library/system/ILL

• 80/20 rule?

Zoning

• Different zones = different purposes = different rulesets

• Children’s Room a common zone

• Social/quiet zone often missing

• Unenforceable rules or missing mission

Commons @ MCM

• Social zone for all ages

• Dominant users vary by time of day

• A Children’s Room for adults and teens

• Food, drink and wireless

• Strict enforcement of rules

• Benefits other zones

Coffee / Food Service

• Service, not profit center

• Part of being a destination

• Level of quality

• Staffing and hours

• Implementation @ MCM– High quality– Library staffing

Right size /staff

• Changes in operation should equal changes in staffing

• Libraries move slowly on staffing

• Right size = fewer staff

• Right staff = changed mix of staff

• Re-examine position descriptions

• Re-examine structure

• Volunteers

Take aways

• Remember who you are

• Develop your super powers

• Adapt don’t adopt

• Infuse self-service

• Manage change

• Be a great library

• Thanks for inviting me