June 1st is go-live date for 3-week circulation!

June 1st will see the 3-week loan period come into effect for nearly all library materials, as agreed at the last Directors Meeting- because of the scope of the changes that needed to be made to implement the three-week circulation rules, I am phasing them in over the week. Some item types have started to check out for three weeks from today, including playaways, some juvenile VHS/DVD, floating collection items amongst them. So don’t be surprised to see a three-week checkout from time to time for the next few days.

On Sunday night I will make the rule changes for the “big” categories- VHS, DVD, BOOK, CDBOOK, CASBOOK, so from Monday everything in the public libraries will be checking out for three weeks- either with 1 renewal (books etc.) or none (VHS, DVD).

I’ve sent out some teaser announcements, but am going to send a blanket email to patrons this week to supplement any local information you are giving out. This is the new policy in a nutshell:

• From June 1st, most library materials will circulate for 3 weeks, instead of the current 2-week loan period.
  
• Books and Audio books that are not on-hold for other patrons may be renewed for one additional 3-week period
  
• VHS and DVDs may not be renewed
  
• Shorter loan periods for certain high-demand items may apply- books and audio books with a substantial number of hold requests will be loaned for 2 weeks only, and VHS/DVDs will only check out for 1 week.
  

Also, please remember that books will also become subject to the shortened loan period for high demand items from Monday. Books which have a 4:1 holds ratio will continue to check out for two weeks only, and the ratio is being decreased for VHS and DVD, with a shortened check out of 1 week only (the way it is now).


I have also started work on the removal of the restrictions on Kent County DVD/VHS circulation to juveniles- I have started removing and revising the rules for these items, and would like to note that I will be immediately implementing the new 3-week circulation rules that were approved at last Directors Meeting. The rules will still be the ones named, but the circ will be 21 days/$1 day/$5 max/no renewals. Holds thresholds have been tightened up to 2:1, so you will see the circ limited to 7 days more frequently for items with demand.

Director's Station

Tentatively, it looks like this problem fixed itself! The SD consultant just looked at the data and couldn't see a problem. I have looked also, and the number are in line with where they should be based on past months. We're trying to find out what the problem was- possibly a report that exports the data to DS had failed.
UPDATE: Spoke to soon! The data is missing again this morning. Sirsi has isolated the cause as being a specific export report that is not completing as it should, and are going to investigate the reason why it is failing. It may be that the info is available on a day-by-day basis until the issue is resolved.

Custom search not working

At this time, the link to custom search will give the result "not authorized for database access" in the main iBistro and logged-in iBistro environments. It is still working in the juvenile environment logged-in profiles and the iLink environments for DTCC and Wesley. The issue has been reported to Sirsi and I will be following up with them today.
UPDATE: custom search is now working in the main iBistro environment, and should be up in the logged-in environment from tomorrow morning.

Directors Station Work-around

Still waiting to hear back about the holds data for April in Director's Station, which appears markedly incomplete in its current form. It may be that the parameters of the measures have changed and Sirsi didn't announce it sufficiently clearly. But here is how to do the same thing in WorkFlows reports:

Choose the Circulation tab: Current holds statistics report

In the Holds selection tab, set these options:

• Item library- set to your own library
  
• Holds Status- Inactive
  
• Date inactive- range between first and last of preceding month
  
• Reason Inactive- Filled

In the Transaction Stats tab:

• Column- user library
  
• Row- Total
  

This will give you the number of your items that filled holds at other user libraries, as well as the number of your items filled holds for your users, in the preceding month.

I'll update about the Directors Station issues when I hear something.

Wrapping-up

Joe McPeake reprised the earlier discussion about the importance of partnering with a leading agency in the city to provide better services to the homeless clients at Philadelphia Free Library, and the importance of seeing them as part of the library's mission, rather than a specific problem that needed to be resolved.

He's going around the room asking for attendees responses to the day.

A number of attendees are speaking about how some of the discussions today have crystallized their experiences from the library closing protests of last year, especially the need to make sure that the groups which came out of the woodwork and made sure the libraries stayed open are recognized and valued by the libraries, and that they continue to stay connected to these groups. Several people I spoke to today talked about how they didn't even know the people who were their greatest advocates- and in fact weren't even sure that they were library users! They are going to make sure that the relationship is nurtured. This level of community capital might not come along again in a lifetime.

Many were impressed by the keynote speaker's evidence-based claim concerning the positive effect of libraries as an asset that directly contributes to building a healthy community. Especially the finding that the assets were merely cumulative within a community- that is that even if there was poor family structure, bad education assets, etc. as long as their were a high number of other assets, a community could still be strong and negative behaviours could still be reduced. The study showed that no particular asset was any more important than another, it was the simple number that made the difference.

Importance of making sure to develop some sort of enthusiasm for the kind of subjects that patrons, especially youth, are looking for resources in- staff need to stay aware of what is going on- or at the very least should stay open-minded and display interest.

Remembering the importance of the negative impact that a single experience of library use can have for young patrons or first-time users. One of the morning panelists recounted her experience as a young person visiting a non-segregated library for the first time. The librarian was dismissive of her presence, so she stayed away for 12 years and that experience has been instrumental in her practice as a librarian since she joined the profession. Library staff can be one of the very few adults that young patrons speak to outside of their own families and teachers, and can have a tremendous impact.

Afternoon session: managing services to the homelss at Phila. Free Library

Joe McPeake, who manages the relationship between Project H.O.M.E. and the Free Library, is giving an overview of the project and the way in which it resolved a perceived problem with the homeless population using the Free Library main branch. Many urban libraries deal with the need to serve and manage homeless patrons, and use various approaches.

Problem at F.L.P. with "labeling" of patrons, which created a negative impact on FLPs services overall. A number of food and outreach programs use the FLP location as a service location. This contributed to an internal service problem with managing behaviors of certain groups of patrons.

One area in particular that was a focus for problems was inappropriate usage of the bathrooms at FLP. The problem could not be managed by the custodial and security staff working in the building. An existing relationship with Project H.O.M.E. was limited to encouraging patrons to seek homeless services, but did not address the bathroom and behavior problems.

From December 2006, the goal of the project was to secure a full-time attendant at the restrooms who could clean, manage behavior, hand out referral materials, and involve security services if necessary (Negotiations with Union Local 696 also had to be resolved, because the position could have been seen to have been replacing a position). Project H.O.M.E. trained and provided the attendant from its service population as part of its job-training programs.

Building on the success of the attendant program, FLP then discussed the possibility of installing a cafe on-site. They had not been able to find a vendor after a long search, and so in partnership with H.O.M.E., Bank of America, and Metropolitan Bakery the library managed to install a full-service cafe which not only provides a valuable community service but also improves the experience of all library users. The fact that the cafe is a sheltered employment program is deliberately kept very hidden- there have been 17 Project H.O.M.E. patrons placed in the cafe program, of whom 8 have gone on to other outside employment with the assistance of this stepping stone. The staff is comprised of a mix of non-program employees and H.O.M.E. clients, in order to provide an environment that is as comparable as possible to regular employment, and to provide the sheltered workers with a more diverse social experience.

Director's Panel Discussion

Prestigious panelists!

• Claudia Martinez- Acting Dir. of Operations at the Free Library
  
• Siobhan Reardon, Director of the Free Library, formerly of the NYPL
  
• Ginny Cooper, Chief Librarian, DC Public Library
  
• David Balinger, Director, DE County Library System
  
• Dionne Mack, Brooklyn Public Library

Question: Define community based librarianship and what's your vision for it?
DB- (only panelist never to have worked at Brooklyn P.L.) What isn't community librarianship? If it isn't that, it's not worth doing, because everything P.L.s do should be about the community.
GC: responsibility for translating "the library" as an institution to the local neighborhood or community. Especially regarding resource allocation across a large system or general policies and their effects on particular patron groups or branches. While difficult decisions are made by senior management, or commissioners, or government agencies, local librarians have to communicate these decisions and advocate for their patrons.
SR: need to market the importance of libraries to communities and advocate for neighborhoods.

Question: How to strengthen relationships between the library and the community?
DM: educate stakeholders about the range of the involvement of the library within the community- make sure that strategic groups are welcome and encouraged to use the facilities and services; involve the institution within a broad range of neighborhood and civic groups. Brooklyn has 40% of its population speaking another language than English at home- they launched a full community needs assessment across the borough, with telephone surveys in 5 languages, 30+ focus groups, a web-survey and other survey tools. Tendency to build collections based around our own interests or what we think is best should be resisted. Need to force/encourage staff to participate, and support them with the tools and training they need to succeed with public speaking, networking, and diplomacy- which are not necessarily natural strengths of everyone in libraries.
GC: branch managers are REQUIRED to attend neighborhood commission meeting; asked to find at least a couple of other organizations in their neighborhood to become involved with, maybe a PTA or a church; annually update their community profile from census data, school district plans, housing and development projects; intentional effort to explore and use resources in the branch neighborhood (walking in through the front door- seeing what the patron sees).
SR: maintain customer service skills for all staff; do our collections reflect community needs; can our staff serve our patrons- including do they literally speak the same language?; remember to ask patrons and non-patrons about what they want in their library. Free Library is perhaps excessively English-based in its collections- noticed recently that foreign language collections are labelled in English, rather than the language of the material! Example of need for a careful focus. Also emphasized the need for training and support of staff in these efforts.

Question: given the current economic climate, how can libraries develop and implement a community-based service model?
GC: emphasize hours, staffing and programs over collections? The user experience is not necessarily dependent on having all the new books- but canceling story time would really have a negative impact. Look to make big changes while the environment is receptive to innovation- there is an unstated permission to create change at this time that might not continue when the economic situation improves. DCPL has a brown-bag lunch where staff can get together to discuss hypothetical issues in innovative library service.
DB: Free Library closures has had ripple-effect in suburbs. Build community support and involvement in anticipation of a crisis, rather than as a response to one.
DM: re-evaluate the core services of the library- as an opportunity to create a stronger, more focused and more relevant service for the community. Brooklyn is planning for a decade-long downturn. Increased investments in technology, including e-resources and downloadable resources- continuing to receive good funding for job-seeking and training resources, and ESL resources because of borough priorities.
SR: "Don't waste a good crisis"

There goes my low-battery warning- and they won't let me plug in here in the auditorium. I'll recharge over lunch and be able to blog the afternoon session. Thanks for reading!

Keynote

Intro is just beginning. Welcome, thanks to IMLS, and overview of the event. Good news that the rare book collection is open for visits at lunchtime- I'll probably check that out.
The symposium was planned by Pitt MLS students! They got an A for the class.

Keynote is stuck in Tucson- so a replacement has been found. It's now Jim Conway of the Search Institute, a research and policy institute. Conway has several decades of experience working with urban youth and community groups.

What are youth looking for in libraries- purely social? A convenient place to hang out and use computers? Do they really want to learn about/use library services?

Search Institute has identified the role of libraries in creating healthy communities for youth- 40 factors identified in a wide-ranging research-based study - developmental assets - are seen as critical in healthy communities, including obvious things like supportive families and positive adult relationships, positive value and safety, boundaries etc. Search Institute looked at learning styles and engagement with education, including pleasure reading, and the relationship with these activities and relationships with personal and community values.

Search Institute has surveyed 3 million young people using a tool created from this study. The result has shown that the amount of resources within a community directly correlates to the healthiness of that community and the behavior of young people within it. Children need access to as high a number of these positive developmental assets as possible- whatever they are- and the more assets are in a community, the lower the incidence of negative behaviours and the higher incidence of positive behaviours.

Connectedness between libraries and communities has historically been one of these assets, and libraries have been willing to change their practices and activities in order to respond to the changing needs of the communities they served.

How should libraries see young people? Teenagers are a resource- if they are seen as a problem a vision cannot be created and they will become a problem. The libraries negative engagement with young people will be reflected in young people's behavior, both in their engagement with the library and with the community as a whole.

Search has worked extensively with faith groups and congregations in finding common ways of helping create a healthy generation of young people. Research has shown that assets are not developed through programs- they are built through relationships. A majority of young people state that they do not feel valued by their community or by community organizations. Library staff can depend less on youth programming and more on engaging and valuing youth during their everyday interactions with their library.

Free Library Symposium on Community Based Librarianship

I'm in Philly today for this (free) Free Library/IMLS seminar. Lots of interesting sessions, ranging from accessing foundation resources and grant writing to partnering with community organizations. The keynote is being given by author James Vollbracht, who has written and spoken extensively about creating community at home and work, character development in children. He'll speak about how libraries can help draw a "Community Circle around our youth". UPDATE: Vollbracht was unable to get to Philly, so the new keynote is Jim Conway, senior trainer at the Search Institute.

After the keynote, there will a number of sessions- I haven't decided yet which one to attend- so if you have a favorite, let me know and I'll go to that one and report back through the blog:

• Steps to writing a winning grant proposal
  
• How the Free Library's collaboration with Project H.O.M.E. has benefited the library and its homeless community
  
• Community Librarianship around the world
  
• Multicultural Community Libraries
  
• Growing author events with community support

While I'm interested in the Project H.O.M.E presentation because I know various people who have worked for the organization, I'll probably attend the more general Multicultural Community Libraries session, absent any requests, because this is an urban librarians' roundtable discussion that should be fairly wide-ranging.

More soon.