Several weeks ago, my wife, Suzanne, did something wonderful. She bought a couple of plane tickets to Portland, Oregon for my daughter, Maddy, and me. Suzanne thought father and daughter hadn't had a chance to do anything special together in awhile. Maddy and I had a great time. Mainly, we walked and talked. We walked through China Town. We walked to the Powell's bookstore, which occupies a whole city block. We walked to the Art Museum. We walked to the magnificent downtown Multnomah County Library. We walked to restaurants. We walked to the Saturday market -- artists and artisans selling their wares under an overpass, by a park.
Everywhere, any time of day or night, there were people.
Part of the reason, of course, is that there was a coffee shop on literally every intersection. This not only provided conveniently spaced social gathering places, it kept people awake and alert. Strong and pungent, the aroma of coffee wafted through the rain.
Portland, I know from my reading, is often held up as an example of how to do cities right. I admit that I was skeptical when I first got there. By the end of our stay, I was hooked. Portland works. I fell in love with it.
But I'm in love with my home town, too, which happens to be Castle Rock. For the past two and half years, my office has been smack in the middle of Wilcox, Castle Rock's Main Street. I like being downtown, enjoy watching the rhythm of it, the faces.
But Castle Rock, like most smaller towns, only partly works. We have so many wonderful elements -- the history museum, the School District administration building, the railroad tracks, the main square with its restaurants, the Masonic Lodge (whose downstairs windows don't line up with the upstairs), the Perry Street development, the paved walkway along Sellar's and Plum Creeks, our own independent bookstore, county and town offices, and soon, a new library.
But the rhythm of a pedestrian-friendly place is often disrupted by things that almost work, that don't quite connect.
One of the things I so much enjoyed in Portland -- and also served to connect the streetscape -- was the clear presence of public art. There were statues. There were murals. There were parks that tried to be more than a patch of grass and a picnic table.
Well, under the leadership of the Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Castle Rock, and the Douglas Public Library District, we're going to do something about this.
Our first public project will be a vividly colored mural depicting scenes from the town. The artist is Malcolm Farley, best known for his sports paintings -- and, most recently, his work on millions of Pepsi cans.
The mural will be composed of individual, 12" by 12" tiles, together making up a piece spanning 8' by 24'. The mural will display on the Perry Street side of the new library.
We hope to pay for this project by selling individual commemorative tiles. They show a section of the larger mural, but are sized for display in your own home. You can buy an 8" by 8" tile for $100; or a 12" by 12" tile for $500, which is also signed by the artist.
But here's the best part. After we pay for the piece on the library, we'll keep selling tiles. The money we raise will go to new art projects elsewhere in the town.
Oh yes, donor's names will appear on a wall of fame in the new library's lobby -- a roll call of people who think downtown art makes a difference in the life of a community.
To purchase a tile, stop by the Philip S. Miller Library, or the Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce, located at 480 Jerry Street, Castle Rock CO 80104. Or call the Chamber at 303-688-4597.
Meanwhile, why not take your own daughter for a stroll downtown? There's a lot to talk about.
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
May 14, 2003 - Generations at Work
Over a decade ago, I ran across a book that was like a revelation to me. "Generations," by Neil Howe and William Strauss, worked through the whole history of America -- and made some definite predictions about the future. Those predictions, it turns out, have been right on the money.
The basic premise of the book was that there are four key generational types. They follow each other in regular sequence, about every 20 years or so. The mood of the nation depends on the relationships of these generations to each other, and their own phases of life.
Generations, it turns out, are a powerful tool for the analysis of politics.
Now I'm starting to realize that generations are an important concern in running a business, too.
I've been reading a new book, "When Generations Collide," by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman. As it says on the blurb, "If your workplace sometimes feels like a battlefield and your colleagues sometimes seem like aliens, you are not alone."
What's the problem? Differing generational styles. Those styles govern everything from employee recruitment, to orientation and training, to evaluation and feedback, and to communication generally.
When it comes to careers, different generations have different goals. For instance, "Traditionalists" (actually, two generations, born between 1900-1945) want to build a legacy -- something that endures.
The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) want a stellar career. They thrive on achievement and status.
Generation Xers (born 1965-1980) want a portable career -- something that allows them to respond quickly to opportunity or sudden reversals.
Millennials (1981-1999) -- who are just now hitting the workforce want parallel careers. They're born multi-taskers.
Each generation has its own communication style. And that's where things go wrong.
Most common seems to be this situation: process sensitive Traditionalists or Boomers try to give thoughtful, constructive feedback to a Generation Xer who is thinking, "Will you PLEASE get to the point!" or "Just what are you trying to tell me?"
Or run it the other way: the Gen Xer is trying to move as directly and efficiently as possible to complete a project, offending the Boomers and Traditionalists with what seems to be an utter disrespect for process or expertise.
I've got my own analysis of the typical generational line-up in libraries. We still have a good many librarians in the "Silent" generation -- Post WWII. In general, these people are skilled in process, in the nuances of HOW things are done. They pride themselves on their expertise.
The Boomers tend to be very values-driven. Their focus is WHY things are done. Such people are good at coming back to the mission and vision of an organization.
Generation Xers tend to be results-driven. Their efforts are targeted on WHAT needs doing. They are flexible, adaptable, and fiercely creative.
Which is better? Which is right?
Answer: libraries need ALL of them. We need to know why we do things; we need to have equitable and appropriate procedures to follow; and finally, "at the end of the day," we actually have to get something done.
And woe to the library that hires people from just one generational perspective, because it will find that it no longer connects to its community, which is, of course, a blend.
So here's a follow-up exercise. At your next staff meeting, toss this question into the mix: "how would you describe the 'typical' member of Generation X?" And then sit back and listen to the destructive power of the stereotype.
Then ask yourself, how would someone not of your generation describe you?
And finally, put the issue of generational communication on your company's agenda. Your success will depend on it.
The basic premise of the book was that there are four key generational types. They follow each other in regular sequence, about every 20 years or so. The mood of the nation depends on the relationships of these generations to each other, and their own phases of life.
Generations, it turns out, are a powerful tool for the analysis of politics.
Now I'm starting to realize that generations are an important concern in running a business, too.
I've been reading a new book, "When Generations Collide," by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman. As it says on the blurb, "If your workplace sometimes feels like a battlefield and your colleagues sometimes seem like aliens, you are not alone."
What's the problem? Differing generational styles. Those styles govern everything from employee recruitment, to orientation and training, to evaluation and feedback, and to communication generally.
When it comes to careers, different generations have different goals. For instance, "Traditionalists" (actually, two generations, born between 1900-1945) want to build a legacy -- something that endures.
The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) want a stellar career. They thrive on achievement and status.
Generation Xers (born 1965-1980) want a portable career -- something that allows them to respond quickly to opportunity or sudden reversals.
Millennials (1981-1999) -- who are just now hitting the workforce want parallel careers. They're born multi-taskers.
Each generation has its own communication style. And that's where things go wrong.
Most common seems to be this situation: process sensitive Traditionalists or Boomers try to give thoughtful, constructive feedback to a Generation Xer who is thinking, "Will you PLEASE get to the point!" or "Just what are you trying to tell me?"
Or run it the other way: the Gen Xer is trying to move as directly and efficiently as possible to complete a project, offending the Boomers and Traditionalists with what seems to be an utter disrespect for process or expertise.
I've got my own analysis of the typical generational line-up in libraries. We still have a good many librarians in the "Silent" generation -- Post WWII. In general, these people are skilled in process, in the nuances of HOW things are done. They pride themselves on their expertise.
The Boomers tend to be very values-driven. Their focus is WHY things are done. Such people are good at coming back to the mission and vision of an organization.
Generation Xers tend to be results-driven. Their efforts are targeted on WHAT needs doing. They are flexible, adaptable, and fiercely creative.
Which is better? Which is right?
Answer: libraries need ALL of them. We need to know why we do things; we need to have equitable and appropriate procedures to follow; and finally, "at the end of the day," we actually have to get something done.
And woe to the library that hires people from just one generational perspective, because it will find that it no longer connects to its community, which is, of course, a blend.
So here's a follow-up exercise. At your next staff meeting, toss this question into the mix: "how would you describe the 'typical' member of Generation X?" And then sit back and listen to the destructive power of the stereotype.
Then ask yourself, how would someone not of your generation describe you?
And finally, put the issue of generational communication on your company's agenda. Your success will depend on it.
Wednesday, May 7, 2003
May 7, 2003 - New Website
I'm pleased to announce the third incarnation of the library's website.
The first one went up, I believe, in early 1997. We were at that time the first website in the county, and one of the first library websites in Colorado.
Some years later -- around the year 2000 -- we rolled out a new version, more graphically sophisticated.
Since then, our website has grown larger and more complex by the hour. Moreover, each web page was created -- and thus needed to be maintained - separately. At first, that was do-able. Eventually, all the thousands of pages, with all their references to the World Wide Web, and to each other, grew too unwieldy to manage easily.
The latest version, premiering for the public last week, involved a radical change. We now have a database-driven website. Instead of creating each page as if it were a separate document, with constantly changing links, we now just enter the links and the characteristics of the data. Each page is built on the fly, by the computer.
This should allow us to better distribute the tasks of web management. If one of our reference committees finds a new link, or needs to make a change in an existing one, we can make a single change to a data record. All the pages that refer to that link will be automatically updated. This makes us far more efficient.
What does that all this mean to the public? Two things.
The first is a new look. Instead of the old format -- with a navigation bar along the left vertical edge of the screen -- we've adopted a more horizontal, tabbed approach. This is very much in keeping with the way the library catalog displays on the screen, making all of our pages feel more consistent.
Second, it means we have the time to explore some new services. For example:
The Reader's Forum. Here, you'll be able to respond to columns like this one, and talk about new books, movies, or music. We're also thinking about a Teen Area. These spaces have the potential to be true online communities.
Speaking of teens, there's Shout DC. This is a project of Leadership Douglas County, class of 2002. It was a joint effort, led by Lone Tree librarian Deb Margeson, and involving assistance from the library, the Douglas County School District, and Ponderosa High School (especially high school students Ben Clark and Nick Swanson, who formatted the data).
The purpose of Shout DC is this: it lists county (and some metro-based) organizations that welcome teen volunteers. Teens can fulfill their high school graduation community service hours through these organizations. We're hoping that high school counselors and parents will use our website to help students find good matches for their interests.
Douglas County Community Resources databases. Using our same database driven model, this resource will eventually allow each organization to keep its own information current. Here again, our intent is to provide a comprehensive and definitive directory of all kinds of local organizations.
We're also teaming up with Douglas County and the Arts to Zoo web pages to provide a link to all the arts, culture, and heritage organizations in the county, and beyond. This will also let the public track a calendar of activities by those groups.
Finally, you'll still have access to all the topnotch commercial databases bought by the library on your behalf. Thanks to a new package we've purchased, most of these databases will now be available to you from home: just type in your library card one time, and all of the subscriptions will open up for you.
I'd particularly like to thank Moira Ash, Nancy Gassen, and Linda Sturgeon -- library staff members whose intelligence and diligence have brought you these improvements. They've worked hard, for many months, maintaining two websites while the new one was being polished.
Expect more announcements about our automated services soon.
The first one went up, I believe, in early 1997. We were at that time the first website in the county, and one of the first library websites in Colorado.
Some years later -- around the year 2000 -- we rolled out a new version, more graphically sophisticated.
Since then, our website has grown larger and more complex by the hour. Moreover, each web page was created -- and thus needed to be maintained - separately. At first, that was do-able. Eventually, all the thousands of pages, with all their references to the World Wide Web, and to each other, grew too unwieldy to manage easily.
The latest version, premiering for the public last week, involved a radical change. We now have a database-driven website. Instead of creating each page as if it were a separate document, with constantly changing links, we now just enter the links and the characteristics of the data. Each page is built on the fly, by the computer.
This should allow us to better distribute the tasks of web management. If one of our reference committees finds a new link, or needs to make a change in an existing one, we can make a single change to a data record. All the pages that refer to that link will be automatically updated. This makes us far more efficient.
What does that all this mean to the public? Two things.
The first is a new look. Instead of the old format -- with a navigation bar along the left vertical edge of the screen -- we've adopted a more horizontal, tabbed approach. This is very much in keeping with the way the library catalog displays on the screen, making all of our pages feel more consistent.
Second, it means we have the time to explore some new services. For example:
The Reader's Forum. Here, you'll be able to respond to columns like this one, and talk about new books, movies, or music. We're also thinking about a Teen Area. These spaces have the potential to be true online communities.
Speaking of teens, there's Shout DC. This is a project of Leadership Douglas County, class of 2002. It was a joint effort, led by Lone Tree librarian Deb Margeson, and involving assistance from the library, the Douglas County School District, and Ponderosa High School (especially high school students Ben Clark and Nick Swanson, who formatted the data).
The purpose of Shout DC is this: it lists county (and some metro-based) organizations that welcome teen volunteers. Teens can fulfill their high school graduation community service hours through these organizations. We're hoping that high school counselors and parents will use our website to help students find good matches for their interests.
Douglas County Community Resources databases. Using our same database driven model, this resource will eventually allow each organization to keep its own information current. Here again, our intent is to provide a comprehensive and definitive directory of all kinds of local organizations.
We're also teaming up with Douglas County and the Arts to Zoo web pages to provide a link to all the arts, culture, and heritage organizations in the county, and beyond. This will also let the public track a calendar of activities by those groups.
Finally, you'll still have access to all the topnotch commercial databases bought by the library on your behalf. Thanks to a new package we've purchased, most of these databases will now be available to you from home: just type in your library card one time, and all of the subscriptions will open up for you.
I'd particularly like to thank Moira Ash, Nancy Gassen, and Linda Sturgeon -- library staff members whose intelligence and diligence have brought you these improvements. They've worked hard, for many months, maintaining two websites while the new one was being polished.
Expect more announcements about our automated services soon.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
April 30, 2003 - Mistakes in Columns
Let me tell you about the agony of being a weekly columnist.
The problem is not coming up with ideas. There's always so much going on in our libraries (not to mention my own head) that I've only had real trouble coming up with a topic just three times in 16 years.
In fact, there's so much going on around here, I often kick myself for having overlooked something that would have made a great column on that particular date.
Mostly, the opportunity to think about library issues, right out in public, week after week, is a good thing. It keeps me honest, keeps me curious, keeps me connected to the profession at the same time is makes the library less mysterious to my community.
But the agonizing piece is this: despite the fact that I consider myself reasonably articulate and educated, despite the fact that I always give myself at least 6 hours between writing a column and editing it one last time before I send it in, it just KILLS me how often I make basic mistakes in grammar or spelling.
I'd love to blame the News Press. But the truth is, the editors pretty much print it the way I send it. I deeply appreciate their confidence. I sure wish I deserved it.
I no longer worry about some things. I split infinitives with impunity. The rule against that was just dumb -- an attempt to make English conform to Latin grammar.
The same thing holds true for the injunction not to end sentences with prepositions. In Latin, you can't. But English isn't Latin. Or as Winston Churchhill put it, "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I shall not put."
I start some sentences with "and" and "but." By way of justification, I cite William Zinsser, author of "On Writing Well." Zinsser says the purpose of writing is to be clear. And giving clear signals to the reader about what's coming next is a good, not a bad thing.
I used to tell people that I made one goofy mistake each week, just to see if anyone was watching. But that's a lie. I was just covering myself. I'm sure I do make at least one mistake a week, though. English is a tricky language. As I used to say when I was a literacy tutor for adults, "English follows 80% of its rules -- 20% of the time."
My most common goof is something that has just about become an American standard. It goes like this: "The Board made several comments. They said..." A board is an it, not a they.
Another version is, "A parent may be confused by all the educational options. Should they choose neighborhood schools, charter schools, or home schooling?" "A parent" isn't a they, either.
Lately, I seem to be having more and more trouble getting my subjects and verbs to agree. It's that singular versus plural thing again.
I won't even get into the issue of the subjunctive - "if it were" (correct, but sounds funny) or "if it was" (wrong, but sounds right).
By the way, I made a big mistake in THIS week's column. Can you find it?
If so, I don't need to know about it.
The problem is not coming up with ideas. There's always so much going on in our libraries (not to mention my own head) that I've only had real trouble coming up with a topic just three times in 16 years.
In fact, there's so much going on around here, I often kick myself for having overlooked something that would have made a great column on that particular date.
Mostly, the opportunity to think about library issues, right out in public, week after week, is a good thing. It keeps me honest, keeps me curious, keeps me connected to the profession at the same time is makes the library less mysterious to my community.
But the agonizing piece is this: despite the fact that I consider myself reasonably articulate and educated, despite the fact that I always give myself at least 6 hours between writing a column and editing it one last time before I send it in, it just KILLS me how often I make basic mistakes in grammar or spelling.
I'd love to blame the News Press. But the truth is, the editors pretty much print it the way I send it. I deeply appreciate their confidence. I sure wish I deserved it.
I no longer worry about some things. I split infinitives with impunity. The rule against that was just dumb -- an attempt to make English conform to Latin grammar.
The same thing holds true for the injunction not to end sentences with prepositions. In Latin, you can't. But English isn't Latin. Or as Winston Churchhill put it, "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I shall not put."
I start some sentences with "and" and "but." By way of justification, I cite William Zinsser, author of "On Writing Well." Zinsser says the purpose of writing is to be clear. And giving clear signals to the reader about what's coming next is a good, not a bad thing.
I used to tell people that I made one goofy mistake each week, just to see if anyone was watching. But that's a lie. I was just covering myself. I'm sure I do make at least one mistake a week, though. English is a tricky language. As I used to say when I was a literacy tutor for adults, "English follows 80% of its rules -- 20% of the time."
My most common goof is something that has just about become an American standard. It goes like this: "The Board made several comments. They said..." A board is an it, not a they.
Another version is, "A parent may be confused by all the educational options. Should they choose neighborhood schools, charter schools, or home schooling?" "A parent" isn't a they, either.
Lately, I seem to be having more and more trouble getting my subjects and verbs to agree. It's that singular versus plural thing again.
I won't even get into the issue of the subjunctive - "if it were" (correct, but sounds funny) or "if it was" (wrong, but sounds right).
By the way, I made a big mistake in THIS week's column. Can you find it?
If so, I don't need to know about it.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
April 23, 2003 - You're Never Too Old
Last Saturday morning, I attended a workshop on "boardsmanship," put on by Pat Wagner of Pattern Research (www.pattern.com). With me were Mark Weston, President of our Library Board of Trustees, and Stevan Strain, head of our Board's Personnel Committee.
There were also public library board members and directors from several other libraries around the state. There were about 40 of us, all together.
Pat is one of Colorado's best presenters and facilitators, with lots of good advice, clearly presented models, and a relaxed, humorous style. I warmly recommend her for similar presentations for groups of almost any type or size.
As Pat put it herself, the American system of lay review of many governmental functions, as well as our incredible bounty of volunteerism, is very unusual in the world. Moreover, it's effective.
Yes, there are cases of public boards failing in their oversight. There are some boards that can only be described as dysfunctional. Nonetheless, most public entities do very well. And very few have the sort of corruption and cronyism so prevalent elsewhere in the world.
Our system works -- and kudos to our own Board members for seeking the training, on their own time, to be even more effective.
What most struck me, though, was one of Pat's stray comments. She said that something she was putting up on a flip chart represented her " current thinking." "Ask me next week," she said, "and I may think something different."
Maybe it's just this particular time in my own life, but I've become increasingly appreciative and admiring of people who keep reading and thinking about things, and in the process, come to a deeper and different understanding.
There's plenty of evidence of this. Take, for instance, the explosive growth of book discussion groups around the country. We're not just talking bestsellers here -- people gather to tackle some tough titles on some tough subjects. Whether it's Great Books groups immersed in Roman playwrights, or church study groups reviewing titles on the particulars of raising boys, there's something reassuring about adults willing to explore new subjects.
Suzanne, my wife, had long expressed a wistful longing to play the cello. Several years ago now, I got her a rented cello for Christmas, and worked with a local musician to find a teacher. To Suzanne's great credit, she through herself into the task with gusto. She's gotten pretty good, too.
The example is a good one. Now my son is also taking cello lessons, and my daughter is studying the viola. They even play together.
I was chatting with a woman at a high school play the other night who told me that she has started pushing for a new kind of family vacation. Now, she says, she encourages her teenage children to take up something new. She's a new golfer. She seeks new hiking trails. She's started going to plays.
What's the common thread? She is building new skills that she and her family can enjoy for years, together.
While sports can be a wonderful experience, and it can be lots of fun going to games to watch your children compete, few families will keep playing soccer, or football, or LaCrosse, TOGETHER.
Learning bridge, or golfing, or chess, or music, or attending cultural events, or taking classes, is something that can both challenge and bond a family. Any of these open doors to whole lifetimes of interesting days in each other's company.
Whether you're in your teens, or midlife, or in your eighties, it's never too late to take up a new interest. If you're looking for ideas, why not start at your local library? And feel free, as you start exploring, to change your mind about things.
There were also public library board members and directors from several other libraries around the state. There were about 40 of us, all together.
Pat is one of Colorado's best presenters and facilitators, with lots of good advice, clearly presented models, and a relaxed, humorous style. I warmly recommend her for similar presentations for groups of almost any type or size.
As Pat put it herself, the American system of lay review of many governmental functions, as well as our incredible bounty of volunteerism, is very unusual in the world. Moreover, it's effective.
Yes, there are cases of public boards failing in their oversight. There are some boards that can only be described as dysfunctional. Nonetheless, most public entities do very well. And very few have the sort of corruption and cronyism so prevalent elsewhere in the world.
Our system works -- and kudos to our own Board members for seeking the training, on their own time, to be even more effective.
What most struck me, though, was one of Pat's stray comments. She said that something she was putting up on a flip chart represented her " current thinking." "Ask me next week," she said, "and I may think something different."
Maybe it's just this particular time in my own life, but I've become increasingly appreciative and admiring of people who keep reading and thinking about things, and in the process, come to a deeper and different understanding.
There's plenty of evidence of this. Take, for instance, the explosive growth of book discussion groups around the country. We're not just talking bestsellers here -- people gather to tackle some tough titles on some tough subjects. Whether it's Great Books groups immersed in Roman playwrights, or church study groups reviewing titles on the particulars of raising boys, there's something reassuring about adults willing to explore new subjects.
Suzanne, my wife, had long expressed a wistful longing to play the cello. Several years ago now, I got her a rented cello for Christmas, and worked with a local musician to find a teacher. To Suzanne's great credit, she through herself into the task with gusto. She's gotten pretty good, too.
The example is a good one. Now my son is also taking cello lessons, and my daughter is studying the viola. They even play together.
I was chatting with a woman at a high school play the other night who told me that she has started pushing for a new kind of family vacation. Now, she says, she encourages her teenage children to take up something new. She's a new golfer. She seeks new hiking trails. She's started going to plays.
What's the common thread? She is building new skills that she and her family can enjoy for years, together.
While sports can be a wonderful experience, and it can be lots of fun going to games to watch your children compete, few families will keep playing soccer, or football, or LaCrosse, TOGETHER.
Learning bridge, or golfing, or chess, or music, or attending cultural events, or taking classes, is something that can both challenge and bond a family. Any of these open doors to whole lifetimes of interesting days in each other's company.
Whether you're in your teens, or midlife, or in your eighties, it's never too late to take up a new interest. If you're looking for ideas, why not start at your local library? And feel free, as you start exploring, to change your mind about things.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
April 16, 2003 - Library Troubles
These are hard times for Colorado libraries, and they are getting worse.
Over the past several weeks, I've talked to my colleagues on the West Slope and the Front Range, in rural Colorado and the metro area. I've talked to librarians working in schools, colleges, and municipalities.
All of them are in trouble.
There are a variety of factors. The most crucial, for public libraries, has been the abrupt loss of city sales tax revenue. Some libraries, such as Denver Public, have already sustained up to 25% losses within a single year, with more to come. Virtually every city librarian I talk to has lost positions, or is about to.
I've mentioned before that bad times in the economy inevitably result in an increase of library use. People come in to rent what they used to buy, or to read job ads, or to work on their resumes, or to meet people who also find themselves at liberty.
The demand for library services is going up. The resources necessary to meet that demand, and even the hours some libraries will be open, are going down.
College and academic libraries are also facing massive reductions, but here the cause is the drop in state revenues. Libraries aren't being singled out, generally, but their fortunes are closely tied to higher education funding. In Colorado, this year, that's not a good thing.
So my colleagues in college and universities are looking at significant lay-offs, and sharply curtailed purchases of books and journals.
Right now, school librarians don't seem to be as hard hit, in part because their revenues are based on property taxes, rather than more volatile sales taxes. But in Colorado, school libraries have been fighting their own budget battles -- and losing -- for many years before the current crisis.
Colorado libraries may take comfort, or even more alarm, in the fact that this severe downturn in library fortunes is nationwide. The Queens Public Library in New York is slashing hours and staff. The University of Michigan just cut 30 jobs. Minneapolis Public is hacking off 10% of its services and staff.
The news isn't all bad, of course. The New York Times recently announced the expansion of its annual awards for librarians, recognizing librarians who provide outstanding community service on a consistent basis.
The Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library just got nearly $450,000 in donations toward a new branch library. Right here in Castle Rock, our library district is completing a new branch that will be built without a penny of public debt. (But also, thank goodness, with many private donations.)
How, though, shall we make sense of our times?
Here's a suggestion. Read "The Fourth Turning," by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Written in 1997, "The Fourth Turning" is mainly concerned with various strong cycles in American history. Those cycles are economic, social, and cultural. They even directly address the likelihood and severity of war.
According to the authors, America in many areas is coming to the end of an autumn, feeling the first tinges of a winter. Strauss and Howe predicted the current recession, and the challenges faced by both business and government.
In times of crisis, Americans look to their enduring institutions. Over the next decade or so, librarians will need to work smarter, do more with less, form new partnerships, and reach out to both their communities, and the rare philanthropists within them.
As Strauss and Howe point out, even if winter is coming, winter comes every year. Let's hope this one isn't too severe, or lasts too long.
And let's remember that in time, there will be spring. Even for Colorado libraries.
Over the past several weeks, I've talked to my colleagues on the West Slope and the Front Range, in rural Colorado and the metro area. I've talked to librarians working in schools, colleges, and municipalities.
All of them are in trouble.
There are a variety of factors. The most crucial, for public libraries, has been the abrupt loss of city sales tax revenue. Some libraries, such as Denver Public, have already sustained up to 25% losses within a single year, with more to come. Virtually every city librarian I talk to has lost positions, or is about to.
I've mentioned before that bad times in the economy inevitably result in an increase of library use. People come in to rent what they used to buy, or to read job ads, or to work on their resumes, or to meet people who also find themselves at liberty.
The demand for library services is going up. The resources necessary to meet that demand, and even the hours some libraries will be open, are going down.
College and academic libraries are also facing massive reductions, but here the cause is the drop in state revenues. Libraries aren't being singled out, generally, but their fortunes are closely tied to higher education funding. In Colorado, this year, that's not a good thing.
So my colleagues in college and universities are looking at significant lay-offs, and sharply curtailed purchases of books and journals.
Right now, school librarians don't seem to be as hard hit, in part because their revenues are based on property taxes, rather than more volatile sales taxes. But in Colorado, school libraries have been fighting their own budget battles -- and losing -- for many years before the current crisis.
Colorado libraries may take comfort, or even more alarm, in the fact that this severe downturn in library fortunes is nationwide. The Queens Public Library in New York is slashing hours and staff. The University of Michigan just cut 30 jobs. Minneapolis Public is hacking off 10% of its services and staff.
The news isn't all bad, of course. The New York Times recently announced the expansion of its annual awards for librarians, recognizing librarians who provide outstanding community service on a consistent basis.
The Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library just got nearly $450,000 in donations toward a new branch library. Right here in Castle Rock, our library district is completing a new branch that will be built without a penny of public debt. (But also, thank goodness, with many private donations.)
How, though, shall we make sense of our times?
Here's a suggestion. Read "The Fourth Turning," by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Written in 1997, "The Fourth Turning" is mainly concerned with various strong cycles in American history. Those cycles are economic, social, and cultural. They even directly address the likelihood and severity of war.
According to the authors, America in many areas is coming to the end of an autumn, feeling the first tinges of a winter. Strauss and Howe predicted the current recession, and the challenges faced by both business and government.
In times of crisis, Americans look to their enduring institutions. Over the next decade or so, librarians will need to work smarter, do more with less, form new partnerships, and reach out to both their communities, and the rare philanthropists within them.
As Strauss and Howe point out, even if winter is coming, winter comes every year. Let's hope this one isn't too severe, or lasts too long.
And let's remember that in time, there will be spring. Even for Colorado libraries.
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
April 9, 2003 - Home Library - Results
I got a wonderful response to my column about the essential home library -- more, in fact, than I can fit into a single column. So here are some of the highlights, pretty close to the way I got them:
One coffee table book of photos -- Ansel Adams or John Fielder.
One history book -- "The Century," by Peter Jennings.
"Who said that?" and "Familiar Quotations," by John Bartlett
"The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Brewer"
"Putnam's Concise Myth*o*log'i*cal Dictionary" (absolutely invaluable for crossword puzzles)
"Mythology," by Edith Hamilton
"The Age of Fable," by Thomas Bulfinch
"The Book of the Cat," edited by Michael Wright and Sally Walter
"How to be your dog's best friend; a training manual for dog owners," by The Monks of New Skete
A collection of Greek comedies and tragedies
Shakespeare's comedies and dramas
The original illustrated Sherlock Holmes
Aesops's Fables
"Annotated Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass," by Lewis Carrol, illustrated by John Tenniel
"The Secret Garden," by Frances Hodgson Burnett
French/English, Spanish/English and to a lesser extent German/English and Italian/English dictionaries.
Anything by Stephen King
Terry Brooks' Shannara books
Magazines for children: Spider, Highlights, and Sesame Street
The N.C. Wyeth illustrated versions of Children's Classics to reread or read as adults for the first time like "Treasure Island," "Robinson Crusoe," "Robin Hood," "Last of the Mohicans," "Ivanhoe," etc.
Some easy, classic poetry like Longfellow or Frost (or Robinson Jeffers!)
The Children's Illustrated World Atlas
Scholastic World Atlas, and an illustrated childrens dictionary.
"Where the Sidewalk Ends," by Shel Silverstein
"A Light in the Attic," by Shel Silverstein
Mother Goose
"The Deluxe Transitive Vampire," by Karen Elizabeth Gordon Pantheon), plus her "The New Well Tempered Sentence"
Timetables of History and/or Timetables of American History, although Timetables of Science and Technology is pretty interesting, too
A historical atlas
Hart/Oxford Companion to American Literature and Drabble/Oxford Companion to English Literature! (Not to mention the Oxford Companion to African-American Literature…)
Plutarch's Lives, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aenead, Euclid's Geometric Theorum, Complete writings of Plato and Aristotle, Heroditus, Xenophanes, Thucydides, Cicero, Tacitus, Marcus Aurelius, Josephus, St. Augustine, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, "Paradise Lost" by Milton, Isaac Newton's physics, The 4 voyages of Columbus, Travels of Marco Polo, Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, Voltaire, Montesquie's "Spirit of Law", John Locke's works, David Hume's Works, The Prince by Machievelli, Descartes, Rousseau's works, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Autobiographies of Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine's Common Sense and Age of Reason, The Federalist Papers, The Constitution, Darwin's Origin of Species, "Communist Manifesto", Complete works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", Writings of Frederick Douglas, Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, Grimm's Fairy tales, Nietzsche, Works of Washington Irving, Chekhov's Works, Poems of Emily Dickensen, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and other most requested poetry, Complete works of Edgar Allen Poe, The Count of Monte Cristo, Frankenstein, "Little Women", Complete Works of Mark Twain, Grant's Memoirs, "A Christmas Carol", Sherlock Holmes Treasury, The Grapes of Wrath, O. Henry's works, Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage, Wister's The Virginian, The Big Sky, DBE Dubois' "Black Folk", "Call of the Wild", Works of CS Lewis, All Quiet on the Western Front, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, the Autobiography of Malcom X, Erma Bombeck Selections, Art Buchwald, James Thurber, Biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Aldous and Julius Huxley writings, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame - complete volumes, Reader's Digest collections of Humor, MAD Magazine, Stephen King selections, the complete series of "Far Side", The Giver by Lowry, The Black Stallion, The Source by Michener, Freud and Carl Jung works, Jules Verne Complete Set and H.G. Wells complete set, The Scout Handbook and Camping Guide, Textbooks of Algebra, Geometry, Biology, Anatomy, Insurance, Accounting, Finance, Business Law, Landscaping and Lawn Care, Physician's Desk Reference of Medications, Medical Dictionary, Black's Law Dictionary, Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual, The Home Fix-it Series, Basic auto repair, the complete Internal Revenue Code and Regulations, The Colorado Revised Statutes and Annotations, along with the Bible, the Vedas, The Book of Mormon, The Koran, Confucius, The Buddha, perhaps the Urantia book....
The complete Oxford English Dictionary in hard copy form
The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland. As my correspondent wrote, "okay, so it's not a book, I don't like the Baum books (too sickly sweet), but, I do think you can learn everything you need to know to live a good and decent life from that movie."
So there you have it. Buy them all for home. Or ... visit your local library.
One coffee table book of photos -- Ansel Adams or John Fielder.
One history book -- "The Century," by Peter Jennings.
"Who said that?" and "Familiar Quotations," by John Bartlett
"The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Brewer"
"Putnam's Concise Myth*o*log'i*cal Dictionary" (absolutely invaluable for crossword puzzles)
"Mythology," by Edith Hamilton
"The Age of Fable," by Thomas Bulfinch
"The Book of the Cat," edited by Michael Wright and Sally Walter
"How to be your dog's best friend; a training manual for dog owners," by The Monks of New Skete
A collection of Greek comedies and tragedies
Shakespeare's comedies and dramas
The original illustrated Sherlock Holmes
Aesops's Fables
"Annotated Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass," by Lewis Carrol, illustrated by John Tenniel
"The Secret Garden," by Frances Hodgson Burnett
French/English, Spanish/English and to a lesser extent German/English and Italian/English dictionaries.
Anything by Stephen King
Terry Brooks' Shannara books
Magazines for children: Spider, Highlights, and Sesame Street
The N.C. Wyeth illustrated versions of Children's Classics to reread or read as adults for the first time like "Treasure Island," "Robinson Crusoe," "Robin Hood," "Last of the Mohicans," "Ivanhoe," etc.
Some easy, classic poetry like Longfellow or Frost (or Robinson Jeffers!)
The Children's Illustrated World Atlas
Scholastic World Atlas, and an illustrated childrens dictionary.
"Where the Sidewalk Ends," by Shel Silverstein
"A Light in the Attic," by Shel Silverstein
Mother Goose
"The Deluxe Transitive Vampire," by Karen Elizabeth Gordon Pantheon), plus her "The New Well Tempered Sentence"
Timetables of History and/or Timetables of American History, although Timetables of Science and Technology is pretty interesting, too
A historical atlas
Hart/Oxford Companion to American Literature and Drabble/Oxford Companion to English Literature! (Not to mention the Oxford Companion to African-American Literature…)
Plutarch's Lives, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aenead, Euclid's Geometric Theorum, Complete writings of Plato and Aristotle, Heroditus, Xenophanes, Thucydides, Cicero, Tacitus, Marcus Aurelius, Josephus, St. Augustine, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, "Paradise Lost" by Milton, Isaac Newton's physics, The 4 voyages of Columbus, Travels of Marco Polo, Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, Voltaire, Montesquie's "Spirit of Law", John Locke's works, David Hume's Works, The Prince by Machievelli, Descartes, Rousseau's works, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Autobiographies of Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine's Common Sense and Age of Reason, The Federalist Papers, The Constitution, Darwin's Origin of Species, "Communist Manifesto", Complete works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", Writings of Frederick Douglas, Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, Grimm's Fairy tales, Nietzsche, Works of Washington Irving, Chekhov's Works, Poems of Emily Dickensen, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and other most requested poetry, Complete works of Edgar Allen Poe, The Count of Monte Cristo, Frankenstein, "Little Women", Complete Works of Mark Twain, Grant's Memoirs, "A Christmas Carol", Sherlock Holmes Treasury, The Grapes of Wrath, O. Henry's works, Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage, Wister's The Virginian, The Big Sky, DBE Dubois' "Black Folk", "Call of the Wild", Works of CS Lewis, All Quiet on the Western Front, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, the Autobiography of Malcom X, Erma Bombeck Selections, Art Buchwald, James Thurber, Biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Aldous and Julius Huxley writings, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame - complete volumes, Reader's Digest collections of Humor, MAD Magazine, Stephen King selections, the complete series of "Far Side", The Giver by Lowry, The Black Stallion, The Source by Michener, Freud and Carl Jung works, Jules Verne Complete Set and H.G. Wells complete set, The Scout Handbook and Camping Guide, Textbooks of Algebra, Geometry, Biology, Anatomy, Insurance, Accounting, Finance, Business Law, Landscaping and Lawn Care, Physician's Desk Reference of Medications, Medical Dictionary, Black's Law Dictionary, Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual, The Home Fix-it Series, Basic auto repair, the complete Internal Revenue Code and Regulations, The Colorado Revised Statutes and Annotations, along with the Bible, the Vedas, The Book of Mormon, The Koran, Confucius, The Buddha, perhaps the Urantia book....
The complete Oxford English Dictionary in hard copy form
The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland. As my correspondent wrote, "okay, so it's not a book, I don't like the Baum books (too sickly sweet), but, I do think you can learn everything you need to know to live a good and decent life from that movie."
So there you have it. Buy them all for home. Or ... visit your local library.
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