As with last year and the year before, I tracked the libraries that I visited this year. I usually take pictures if I can. I use Daytum to track visits. The graph it produces is weird because the one big chunk is the library I work in but the other big chunk is called “twenty-four more items” which is sort of a weird way to display data. If anyone has a better lifetracker app they enjoy, please do let me know.

I went to forty-four different libraries for eighty-three visits total, I’m sure I have forgotten some. It’s a big increase over last year. Here’s the short annotated list of what I was doing in libraries last year. I have a few library photos in this Flickr photoset.

• Kimball Library, Randolph VT – this is the library where I work as an on-call part timer since I live up the street, and also where I check out books
• Hartness Library, VTC, Randolph VT – this is the good college library nearby me where anyone in the state can get a library card
• Westport, MA – the library in the town where my father lived and where I still spend a good amount of time. Great booksale.
• Fletcher Library, Ludlow VT – I was part of the e4VT program here and taught a basic skills computer class with ARRA grant money, a lovely old school library
• Ann Arbor PL, MI – gave a few talks over a few days and got to hang out here, love this place
• Milwaukee Public, WI – a library I hadn’t been to in a long time, an impressive building that maybe used to be a zoo?
• Howland Green, New Bedford MA – one of New Bedford’s “not the main library” libraries.
• Terraza PL, Austin TX – a cool little branch near where I was staying.
• UNT – Willis – got a tour, enjoyed the open spaces
• Hudson PL, MA – a small funky branch right by a river
• Chapel Hill NC – in the mall for the time being, but pretty neat for a temporary library
• Lubec, ME – lovely and small with great furniture and mosaics outside
• Central Branch, Portland OR – long been one of my favorites
• Marquette, Milwaukee WI – got a tour from a friend and saw the abandoned old entrance
• SIBL/NYPL – the best place to check email downtown
• Southworth PL, Dartmouth MA – another small branch in Southern MA
• Emily Fowler Library, Denton TX – got some local history and learned about local architecture here
• Central Branch, Austin TX – another perennial favorite – got some books for the plane
• Ryerson Library, Grand Rapids MI – an impressive library with a lot going on inside
• Pierson, Shelburne VT – underneath the town hall with a good board game collection
• Kalamazoo Public – neat and fancy, got a tour of the basement
• UNT – Eagle, Denton TX – checked out the new learning commons getting set up
• Denton North Branch, Denton TX – a weird side-of-the-highway large branch
• Kent District, Kentwood MI – neat suburban library with some cool public art and terrific views
• Bar Harbor, ME – got a tour while they were setting up for the booksale
• Lawler PL, New Bedford MA – another small New Bedford Library, sort of sad looking
• Roanoke PL, Roanoke TX – a small library doing a lot with what they had
• Twin Oaks PL, Austin TX – a fancy new little branch
• Bailey-Howe, UVM, Burlington VT – one of my faves, especially the special collections in the basement
• TWU, Denton TX – got a tour from my friend Greg and enjoyed the history and the air conditioning
• Maine State Library, Augusta ME – a great hideout after a long day conferencing
• Ransom PL, Plainwell MI – one of the little libraries we saw driving from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids
• Kilton PL, Lebanon NH – tour from my friend Virgil! Neat new branch.
• Olin College, Needham MA – tour from the head librarian, neat materials science collections
• Alling PL, Williston VT – a small library good for checking email when on the road
• Hartland VT – my friend Mary works here!
• Allegan District Library, MI – a pretty straightforward library
• Parchment PL, MI – a diaorama of the parchment factory is hidden in the basement here
• Peabody Institute, Danvers MA – a beautiful building with a lovely landscaped grounds, nice for hanging out
• Putney PL, Putney VT – warm and small with a lot going on for a teeny place
• New Bedford PL, New Bedford MA – beautiful old building sort of clunkily repurposed, always great for a visit
• Ferguson Library Stamford CT – went to a CLA event here and bought expensive books from their booksale
• Holland MI PL – fancy and with turtles
• Brooks PL Brattleboro VT – some neat open source stuff going on there, got a tour after giving a talk

In 1872, the right to know led the Worcester Massachusetts Public Library to open its doors on Sunday. Many viewed that as sacrilege. Head librarian Samuel Green calmly responded that a library intended to serve the public could do so only if it were accessible when the public could use it. Six day, 60-hour workweeks meant that if libraries were to serve the majority of the community they must be open on Sundays. Referring to those who might not spend their Sundays at worship Green impishly added, “If they are not going to save their souls in the church they should improve their minds in the library.”

So, let’s talk about what actually got me out of bed early on a Tuesday morning and has had me all hoppitamoppita since then. I’m going to use the “more inside” thingdoo on WordPress for possibly the first time ever. This idea is so big and exciting it’s had me just … well it’s like the Christmas present you never open, which is always somehow exactly what you want. I’m not sure what this will turn into and I’m sure it won’t be exactly what I want, but I’m excited that there is a friendly accessible group of do-gooders [with some funding, and some history being able to actually do things] who wants to Get Started. I like the Berkman Center folks and the projects they do. Their ideas mesh with mine, about using whatever privilege and powers they have to try to make more stuff accessible to more people and solve problems using technology. It’s also nice to see people who use wikis and blogging in an actual systematic and institutionalized way. The DPLA wiki is pretty robust and yes I’ve even made a few edits.

First off, you can read the notes from the meeting here and I suggest also checking out what other media and blog people have said about this so far, both before and after the meeting. The basic nutshell issue is: none of the big institutions we have seem to be advancing the idea of making consolidated digital content available to Americans in usable and accessible ways. While we can all point to individual libraries doing this in interesting and often effective ways, there is no useful way to assemble the cultural content of our country in such a way that an average person could say “This is our stuff” and point to a thing. Of course librarians since the world began have attacked chaos wherever they’ve found it, but this project seems to me to be something different. This is, as they call it, a “big tent” approach to the idea of what a digital library might be or could be.

Of course I think a lot of people will point to the Library of Congress, the work being done by WhiteHouse.gov, the amazing miracle that is Google or other similar projects and say “Well how is it different from that?” and I think this is what this sort of meeting was supposed to get at. Different people came and did short presentations about different aspects of the problem, the topic was discussed, and each section was summed up in small bullet points. John Palfrey, whose book Born Digital has been on my “to read” pile for an embarassingly long time, was the gracious and kind host and his small blog entries on the sections are probably the best summaries there are.

Just in writing this, I keep going back to the DPLA wiki and adding my thoughts and reading what others have written. People provided a lot of suggestions for starter projects to undertake. I got sort of excited about making a true government documents repository. Assembling what is freely availably digitallly and scanning what is not. I’m not sure this idea has traction, but it seemed not only like a good idea to advance the ideals of the project, but also an aspect that would not get bogged down with endless copyright arguments. Incidentally, the meeting had many vendors at it [I have a photo I love with a guy from Apple (don't see his name on the list and it escapes me), Steve Potash from OverDrive, and Dan Clancy from Google all sitting together] and varying opinions about whether the current copyright environment would be okay for something like this or whether copyright reform would be one of the things on the table. And since I always get like this when smart people with money start talking about copyright reform, I was intrigued but that didn’t turn out to be a major point.

I made a few comments, one of which was asking the ARTStor and Ithaka(JSTOR) folks about the bottlenecks they found with their sort of massive projects. In libraries we focus on the human touch, so much so that the work we do doesn’t really scale. Large technology projects are all about scalability, and economies of scale. I also mentioned the up- and down-sides to trying to consolidate metadata. Talking about how when libraries moved to OCLC, some of them found that their local cataloging couldn’t come with them. Terrible? Of course not, but it’s always worth thinking, when we move from one technology system to another, what is gained and what is lost.

And really, without recounting this in a one minute = one sentence format, it would be hard to explain much more about what was going on. There was a lot of talk about metadata. There was a lot of respect for traditional libraries. There was an understanding (I felt) that for this project to truly be for everyone, it would have to be accessible and understandable. At this point it is nascent and darned near inexplicable, but people are trying. And, I rarely say this about big projects with major funders and people who meet at meals with more than one course, I think they have a good idea and it’s worth seeing where it’s going to go. Interested folks can follow along on or add comments to the wiki or try your luck at the DPLA listserv which is exciting but also a little unwieldy to me personally. If you’ve got questions, feel free to pass them on to me. Sorry this is so all over the place.

The local library near where I now live made five computers with an Internet connection available to the public around a decade ago, as well as wireless for those patrons who brought their own laptops.

I’m a recent resident of the area, but a deep family history means that there hasn’t been a season since the system went in when I haven’t spent a sizable chunk of time sitting and listening in the building, within 100 feet of those five computers. Except for a period when the wireless access was removed for a security overhaul, there hasn’t been season I haven’t used the wireless connection there.

This diary is a testimony to what I’ve witnessed in a single small own library.

Because I am a detail-oriented nerd, I track the libraries that I visit. I usually take pictures if I can. Here is my post about the 2009 visits. I’m still using Daytum to track visits and I learned they just came out with an iphone app last month. I went to twenty-six different libraries for fifty-five visits total, I’m sure I have forgotten some. Here’s the short annotated list of what I was doing in libraries last year. I have a few library photos in this Flickr photoset.

• Kimball Public library (18) – my hometown library where I often worked this year.
• Hartness/Randolph (10) – the local academic library, open late, great DVD collection.
• Howe/Hanover (2) – my favorite bigger town library, so comfy, so lovely.
• Boxboro MA (2) – my Mom’s library, great for unwinding.
• Loussac/Anchorage Pl AK(2) – went here twice when I was at AKLA, neat architecture, busy place.
• Chelmsford MA(1) – came to see Brian, stayed to do work.
• Surprise AZ (1) – on a tour with my boyfriend’s parents. Neat libraries, so unlike New England libraries.
• Stowe Free VT(1) – former workplace of my great library pal Stephanie.
• New Bedford Pl MA(1) – I was on a weird research quest and they helped me out.
• Montpelier VT(1) – popping in to check email, lovely old wood in here.
• Burnahm Library, Colchester VT (1) – on a 251 club drive, nifty busy library.
• Goddard VT(1) – for a WordPress training, home library of my friend Helen.
• Beatley/Simmons MA (1) – before I gave a public speaking workshop.
• Cambridge (1) – walking distance from my boyfriend’s place, amazing renovation.
• Peoria AZ (1) – modern and fancy but sort of empty.
• Alling/Williston, VT (1) – fun history room and a snazzy bookmobile.
• Fort Lauderdale Reading Center, FL (1) – a weird non-library in some ways, well-loved clearly.
• Jericho/Deborah Rawson VT(1) – Fireplace and wifi, a great place.
• Palm Beach State College, FL (1) – busy place, old-fashioned building but modern collection.
• N Regional/Broward County Library, FL (1) – big and bustling, a little hectic.
• Niceville Pl, FL (1) – fun design, nice people, memorable fish tank
• Waterville NY (1) – doing great things, big lovely windows and light for a small place.
• Lantana Public Library, FL(1) – old fashioned and full, great location.
• Warren Branch, Indy (1) – super busy old style library/
• Nat’l Archives – Waltham MA (1) – friendly staff helped make awkward renovations managable.
• Maynard MA (1) – last library of the year, bright and busy w/ a great book sale.

It costs nearly $3 to process a paper return, but processing an electronic return costs only about 35 cents. The error rate on paper returns is 20 percent, which consumers must compute and workers must enter into IRS computers, compared with 1 percent for e-filed returns.

People also get their refunds more quickly. There are fewer errors with online returns.

Yet after 20 years of e-file availability, we’re still only seeing 66% of returns filed online. And this is happening even as printed state (NJ, KY) and federal tax forms are becoming less and less available in libraries. Some states aren’t even printing the big tax form notebook anymore. And some states aren’t mailing print forms. Some county library systems haven’t been doing the tax form thing for nearly 20 years. The article examines why. If you are helping your patrons file online, be aware that there are free options available for low-income filers and even discounts for non-low income people if they know where to look. My bank, for example, had a discount on TurboTax’s usual rates available just by me clicking a link on their website.

And I’m trying to track down the copy I had of the letter we got at one of the small rural libraries from the IRS that basically said they wouldn’t be sending us printed tax forms anymore. This was back when we still had a dialup connection and it was mighty inconvenient. Having a hard time remembering when this was. Anyone know?

I’m a nerdy list-maker. This should come as a surprise to no one. In addition to all the other reasons I enjoy the end of the year, it’s also when I make my year-end summaries. I did a guestroom wrap-up on my personal blog. I have two bookish wrap-ups to put here. This first one is about library visits. 2009 was the first year I kept track of all my library visits in an orderly fashion. Longtime readers of this blog may remember I did library reviews in 2003. I found I had a difficult time with constructive criticism if I knew the people who worked at a library, so I stopped doing this.

This year I made 67 library visits, about one every five days. A lot of these were for work [either local work or giving talks] and the rest were either fun or curiosity. I used a website called Daytum to track my visits which was really easy. So, here’s a short annotated list of what I was doing in libraries last year.

• Aldrich/Barre (1) – killing time before dinner with friends in town. The first library in Vermont I did any work for.
• Austin (1) – LBJ library, sort of a flyby right beore it closed for the day.
• Belfast, ME (1) – a small pretty library we stopped at while on vacation
• Belmont, MA (5) – my boyfriend’s local library
• Boxboro, MA (1) – my mom and sister’s library
• Cambridge, MA (1) – got to see it after the renovations were done. It’s nice!
• Camden, ME (1) – another fancy little Maine library
• Chelmsford, MA (1) – home of the Swiss Army Librarian
• Concord, NH (1) – stopped in here during a rainstorm
• Des Moines, IA (1) – I helped change their photo policy!
• Elko, NV (1) – A small library with a great mining collection
• Hartness/Randolph VT (7) – my local college library
• Houghton Library, Harvard University (1) – special tour and Samuel Johnson exhibit
• Howe/Hanover, NH (4) – one of my favorite all-time libraries
• JFK Library, MA (1) – mostly a museum and a general disappointment
• Kimball/Randolph VT (6) – my town library, a great place
• Library of Congress (1) – thanks Dan Chudnov for the tour.
• Long Branch, NJ (1) – fun to poke around in while I was at NJLA
• Montreal, QC (1) – ducked in here during a subway bomb scare
• McGill/Montreal, QC (1) – gave a talk, saw the library
• NYPL (2) – hiding out with good wifi in the periodicals room, highly recommended
• NYPL/SIBL (1) – fancy library, right downtown
• Portland, ME (1) – another hideout from the rain
• Portsmouth, NH (1) – gave a talk and stuck around
• Rochester, VT (1) – classic small-town library in a funky old building
• Toronto, ON (1) – no wifi, sort of surprising
• Tunbridge, VT (21) – where I work most of the time
• Westport, MA (1) – my Dad’s library.

That said, it will be interesting to see now just how this works in the new library but how it makes that library play with other libraries who use other systems Is ILL affected? How do you locate a book on the shelves (by author?) What are vendors saying about this and what are the ramifications for all the copy-cataloging that happens? I’m definitely just barely able to understand the longer range implications, but pretty much happy to see people trying things. More discussion on MetaFilter where someone included this terrific poem.

Dewey took Manila
and soon after invented the decimal system
that keeps libraries from collapsing even unto this day.
A lot of mothers immediately started naming their male offspring ‘Dewey’
which made him queasy. He was already having second thoughts about imperialism.
In his dreams he saw library books with milky numbers
on their spines floating in Manila Bay.
Soon even words like ‘vanilla’ or ‘mantilla’ would cause him to vomit.
The sight of a manila envelope precipitated him
into his study, where all day, with the blinds drawn,
he would press fingers against temples, muttering ‘What have I done?’
all the while. Then, gradually, he began feeling a bit better.
The world hadn’t ended. He’d go for walks in his old neighborhood,
marveling at the changes there, or at the lack of them. ‘If one is
to go down in history, it is better to do so for two things
rather than one,’ he would stammer, none too meaningfully.

One day his wife took him aside
in her boudoir, pulling the black lace mantilla from her head
and across her bare breasts until his head was entangled in it.
‘Honey, what am I supposed to say?’ ‘Say nothing, you big boob.
Just be glad you got away with it and are famous.’ ‘Speaking of
boobs ..’ ‘Now you’re getting the idea. Go file those books
on those shelves over there. Come back only when you’re finished.’
(John Ashbery, ‘Memories of Imperialism’, listen to it here)

Hi — I just got back from a short trip to New York City (real short, get in Wednesday and go home Friday) but I did manage to see five libraries. I know it’s been a while since I did a library recap but here’s a few links to photos and stories. NYPL has a lot going on lately in both good and bad ways. I’m always interested in the branch/main division personally and as I was on two long walks around Manhattan [1, 2] I tried to stop into as many libraries as I passed.

The first thing you notice when you’re walking is that the libraries have big blue banners hanging in front of them. This means you can see them from a block or two away and know you’re in the right place. So armed with that information and this library location mashup, I ventured in to the city. Here are the libraries I went to.

• Jefferson Market Branch – this library is housed in a former women’s detention center and has a rich sense of history as well as an incredible building generally. Like many historic buildings that become libraries, the services are a little… smushed in there. There’s a big reference desk on the main floor that is empty and stacked with boxes and the reference librarian is actually in the basement with the reference collection. He seemed happy there. Outside there is an incredible set of gardens that were a joy to walk through.
• Muhlenberg Branch – this library had just opened for the day and it was totally full of people. There was some confusion about how much of the library was open [see sign] and I just wanted to sit someplace cool and check my email using my laptop but couldn’t find an easy place to do that.
• I kept walking and wound up at Bryant Park outside the big main NYPL research library. I ate lunch in the park and went inside to do a little work. The periodicals room has the best wifi, but no outlets, a way to I guess keep people’s visits to a reasonable time limit. I ran afoul of the wifi filters, not on purpose. You can see the page that was blocked. Graphic subject matter, NO graphic imagery.
• The next day I went to the Tompkins Square Branch which is right near my friend Jenna’s place. It’s a lovely Carnegie building and was busy and full of folks. It had a really large Russian Language collection.
• Then I wandered on to go by the Braille and Talking Book Library which had been closed the last time I walked by it. I was sort of interested whether there was any public information about the recent decision concerning the class action lawsuit that the National Federation for the Blind brought against Target concerning web site accessibility for businesses that sell things online. I enjoyed my time in the library. It’s brightly lit and has large easy to read signage and finding aids. It drove home the point that I tend to belabor which is that making things more usable really benefits everyone, not just whatever population happens to need accomodation. I liked having a bright library with wide low shelves and simple signage, who wouldn’t?

That wraps up my short tour of some Manhattan libraries in the NYPL system. Next time I’m in town I swear there will be meetups and beer drinking.

Due to the ongoing strike by CUPE 410, the Greater Victoria Public Library today announced that it will serve 72-hour lock-out notice on the union. It is anticipated that the 72-hour lock-out notice will take effect on Sunday, February 17 2008 at 5:01pm.

Here is the web site statement of the union.

In the 165 days since we started taking strike actions, the employer’s bargaining agent has made no attempt to restart negotiations. Since early in 2007, they have simply refused to discuss the major outstanding issues. Library workers experience this as a contempt for their needs, and for their contributions to the quality of life in the Capital area.

Here is a short article from the Vancouver Sun on the subject and a longer one from the Globe & Mail. Here is an column from the Victoria Times Columnist with some details about the actual money they’re talking about wagewise. One of the interesting parts of the ongoing saga is that some library workers, as part of their protests regarding promised but not delivered pay equity with other municipal workers, were waiving overdue fines for all patrons, costing the library between $40,000 and $50,000 per month. This likely endeared them to some of their patrons but was a interesting form of civil disobedience on the job. A few blogs posts on the subject here, and here. [updated because I had the title/location wrong and needed to republish]

First off, I am the typical “most likely to use the library” user according to this survey. Late 30s, female, comfy with computers and a regular internet user. And, guess what, I use the library all the time! Secondly, the survey puts people into user and non-user groups based on how they answer the question “Which of the following terms best describes how regularly you personally use your public library?” If you answer rarely or never, you’re a non-user. If you answer very or somewhat regularly, you’re a user. I assume there is a decent reason to do this, but I’d think even if you went to a library a few times a year, I’d consider that a rare user but also not a non-user.

One of the most interesting parts of the survey results is on page 16 entitled “New Initiatives” where they ask about how interested patrons are about using some new technology initiatives. To me they are asking all the wrong questions (mostly about content, less about context). They ask a lot of questions about downloadable content, which makes sense since the library probably has to shell out money for these things and wants to figure out if they’re worth it. However, they also ask about 24/7 librarian access and IMing a librarian and also find that people tend towards the “slightly disinterested” side. In fact the only new technology initiative that got anything that fell towards the positive side was wireless internet access. I wish they’d asked more questions about computers generally. Do people want more classes? Do they want more Macs? Do they want more public access PCs?

The next fascinating page follows: what would make you use the library more. The two runaway favorite answers are “If it were open more hours” and “If it had more CDs/DVDs/videos that I wanted” This will definitely be helpful for libraries who are facing funding drives since they can direct appeals appropriately, but I’m curious how the hours question breaks down. Do people want late night hours (as I do), or morning hours, or consistent hours, or weekend hours, what? Similarly, the difference between people wanting more classical music CDs (or any music CDs if your library doesn’t have a music collection) is worlds away from wanting popular movie DVDs.

Lastly, I’d like to point to the Internet question which was sort of glossed over. Of all the people surveyed 26% had no Internet at home and 23% only had dial-up. That’s nearly half the respondents having a level of connectivity at home where a downloadable audiobook is worth basically nothing to them, and likely a group that doesn’t spend a lot of time online. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t still stress technology initiatives, but that’s a pretty sobering takeaway when you’re trying to provide more and more services online.

The summary from the group that did the survey has an odd, to me, conclusion.

So, this information presents a juncture: On one hand, if you interpret the results literally you could make a decision to reject technology and focus on building a collection around personal enjoyment for Wisconsin residents. On the other hand, these same results may suggest that initiatives and library services need to be marketed in such a way that resonates with current conceptions of a public library. To this end, I would suggest an exploration of branding Wisconsin library services to more effectively market services. But, regardless of the direction taken from the juncture, a heightened focus on Wisconsin public library customers and customer service is essential in order to expand and maintain your current brand loyalty.

Do they realy think that the solution to getting more people to perceive value from the libraries technology initiatives is to just find a more effective way to market them? Aren’t there questions they could have asked about the services that would have helped nail this down more effectively such as “Are you aare that the library offers downloadable audio books?” “Do you use this service, why or why not?”

As I’ve said before, I think that before we can fully immerse ourselves in a 2.0 initiative as librarians, we have to make sure we’re counting the right things. If you only collect internal statistics on reference interactions that happen in-person or on the phone, it’s no wonder that IM reference seems like a “flavor of the month” thing for the library to do. And, after the fact, if you can’t show that people are really using the new techie things that you do provide it’s harder to stress that those things that should be part of what your library is and does. Many of these things are countable — website stats, flickr photostream views, IM interactions — the question is: are we counting them?

Big news this year is that the VLA is working with the Dept. of Libraries to try to get a small amount of guaranteed state funding for Vermont’s public libraries. Currently funding is 100% local, with the exception of grant programs like LSTA, Gates Foundation and Freeman Foundation money. For most Vermont towns this means getting the budget approved in town meeting every year. Some towns have the library as part of the town government funding and some have a separate line item. Some of the towns I work with have big fights about library funding every year. Some libraries get small increases every year when they need them. In any case, Vermont is one of only six states that has no state level funding for libraries and we are asking the Governor for $1.6 million [pdf] which will give public libraries in the state the equivalent of 10% of their operating costs, or a minimum of $1500.

A concern among some of the libraries is that towns might see the state money as supplanting money the town would have to pay and libraries would actually see no net increase in funding. And, of course, in a state where people are used to being so independent, there are always concerns when money comes from the government (CIPA anyone?).

In any case I’m new to this lobbying and legislating stuff, though I am pretty good at stringing sentences together. If anyone has advice, feel free to leave it in the comments.