Former county commissioner Melanie Worley told me recently about her first job. She was a fairy princess.
A local movie theater hired her, gave her a gown, cape, and wand, and instructed her to supervise the frequent hordes of children. Sometimes, she said, she had to bonk them with her wand.
It was excellent training.
Years later, when conflicts were running high between various government agencies, she suggested the formation of a group now known as the Partnership of Douglas County Governments (PDCG). It is comprised of representatives from Douglas County, the towns of Castle Rock, Larkspur and Parker, the cities of Castle Pines North and Lone Tree, the Highlands Ranch Metro District, the Douglas County School District and the Douglas County Libraries.
In brief, the PDCG makes it easier for governments to play well together. How? By introducing everyone to each other, and giving them a chance to share what is going on in their worlds.
Another countywide group - created in large part by now State Representative Carole Murray, Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce Director Pam Ridler, and ably assisted by Melissa Moroni - is called Leadership Douglas County. For the past eight years, a group of applicants has learned about the issues of the county, and, often, then stepped up to leadership positions. Such positions - on boards, commissions, and task forces - are always in need of new talent.
When Melanie Worley was termed out of her commissioner seat, she moved on to become the director of communications for Developmental Pathways (developmentalpathways.org), which "is dedicated to individuals with disabilities." She moved from public service to human services. (She would say, "it's all human services.")
And that's a nice parallel for the story of leadership development in the county. The 2010 class of Leadership Douglas County, in partnership with the Douglas County Community Foundation, recently produced a report called "Human Needs and Services in Douglas County: A Stakeholder's Assessment."
After conducting a series of interviews with 27 nonprofit and Douglas County human service agencies, and 46 surveys of community stakeholders, the report authors found the following:
* Human services needs have increased significantly. Douglas County has among the lowest rates of poverty in the nation. But let's put that in human terms: "Nearly 12,000 residents of Douglas County are living at or below federal poverty levels. Thirty-one percent of these are children." That's more people than live in either Castle Pines North or Lone Tree.
* Poverty, homelessness and reports of child abuse have more than doubled in the past three years.
* Stronger partnerships and even nonprofit mergers may be necessary to achieve sustainable service.
* Volunteers in Douglas County have demonstrated a keen ability to directly assist people in need. But there's still a shortfall of revenue.
* Charitable giving remains stagnant. Money to address human service needs comes from philanthropy or taxes. Douglas County lags both Colorado and the nation for charitable giving as a percentage of per capita income.
Nonetheless, the final finding is this:
* Optimism about sustained quality of life in Douglas County is high. And why not? We have much to be grateful for.
Yet, business, government and nonprofit leaders all agree that if we, as a county, fail to address these growing needs, the quality of all of our lives will suffer.
I commend the Leadership Douglas County class of 2010 for raising the important issue of the need and state of human services in our community. Fixing it will take more than waving a wand.
---
LaRue's Views are his own.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
June 10, 2010 - what would Google do?
Almost everybody uses Google, even librarians.
And it gets easier all the time. It used to be, if you wanted to find the location of the nearest chain restaurant, you would type in the restaurant name, then look for locations.
That still works. But now, on that golden first page of hits, you'll also find a map of the Denver or Douglas County area.
How does that happen?
The short answer is "geocoding of IP addresses." That is, your Internet provider can be identified; the ranges of Internet Protocol numbers can be matched up to a geographic location. Helpfully, Google gives you results that are customized to your region.
What helps you also helps Google. Their business model is simple: advertising pays the bills. Obviously, the more local the advertising, the more likely you are to take advantage of it, which benefits the local business, which justifies buying the ad.
But this may bear more thinking about. Let me restate the issue: a combination of location and advertising drives the "hits" on your search screen.
For instance, I recently heard about an example given by a national library speaker, one Stephen Abram. He's been doing the same searches on Google as he travels around the country. But he gets different results.
One of the search terms is "Obama." In one southern city, he reported, the first hit to come up was a paid link by a nearby "birther" site (questioning whether Obama was born in the United States). "Search optimization" is another way to say "manipulated results."
I also read an article whose title begins with "How Apple Could Slay Google ..." by Daniel Eran Dilger. In brief, he argues that Apple could shut down the Google monopoly simply by building ad blocking into its browser.
Over time, he writes, "this would rid the web of ads and turn content into a paid model much like what existed before the web destroyed print, periodicals and newspapers with low quality content framed by copious amounts of irritating, flashing ads that pay just enough to perpetuate themselves and starve out good content, but not enough to actually fund high quality writing, reporting and other content."
There is certainly a lot of "content" on the Web. But Dilger is right that a good deal of it is low quality, and sometimes considerably lower than many of the newspapers and magazines it seems, inexorably, to be replacing.
Meanwhile, more and more of us put our contacts, our calendars, and our correspondence "in the cloud." In the cloud means "not on our own computers, but on those belonging to commercial entities."
It's hard to see where the trend is going when you're in the middle of it. Or as I once heard a science fiction author say, once you hear about the automobile, anybody can imagine a superhighway system. But it takes a science fiction writer to imagine the traffic jam.
Email was a boon. Spam is a problem.
The trend is clear: we are "monetizing" our content, and the "market" has increasingly biased results.
It's a good thing we have counterweights to the commercialization of information. It's a good thing we have public alternatives, a way to leverage the cooperative purchasing power of our citizens to find content whose sole purpose isn't to probe our pockets for loose change.
It's a good thing we have libraries.
---
LaRue's Views are his own.
And it gets easier all the time. It used to be, if you wanted to find the location of the nearest chain restaurant, you would type in the restaurant name, then look for locations.
That still works. But now, on that golden first page of hits, you'll also find a map of the Denver or Douglas County area.
How does that happen?
The short answer is "geocoding of IP addresses." That is, your Internet provider can be identified; the ranges of Internet Protocol numbers can be matched up to a geographic location. Helpfully, Google gives you results that are customized to your region.
What helps you also helps Google. Their business model is simple: advertising pays the bills. Obviously, the more local the advertising, the more likely you are to take advantage of it, which benefits the local business, which justifies buying the ad.
But this may bear more thinking about. Let me restate the issue: a combination of location and advertising drives the "hits" on your search screen.
For instance, I recently heard about an example given by a national library speaker, one Stephen Abram. He's been doing the same searches on Google as he travels around the country. But he gets different results.
One of the search terms is "Obama." In one southern city, he reported, the first hit to come up was a paid link by a nearby "birther" site (questioning whether Obama was born in the United States). "Search optimization" is another way to say "manipulated results."
I also read an article whose title begins with "How Apple Could Slay Google ..." by Daniel Eran Dilger. In brief, he argues that Apple could shut down the Google monopoly simply by building ad blocking into its browser.
Over time, he writes, "this would rid the web of ads and turn content into a paid model much like what existed before the web destroyed print, periodicals and newspapers with low quality content framed by copious amounts of irritating, flashing ads that pay just enough to perpetuate themselves and starve out good content, but not enough to actually fund high quality writing, reporting and other content."
There is certainly a lot of "content" on the Web. But Dilger is right that a good deal of it is low quality, and sometimes considerably lower than many of the newspapers and magazines it seems, inexorably, to be replacing.
Meanwhile, more and more of us put our contacts, our calendars, and our correspondence "in the cloud." In the cloud means "not on our own computers, but on those belonging to commercial entities."
It's hard to see where the trend is going when you're in the middle of it. Or as I once heard a science fiction author say, once you hear about the automobile, anybody can imagine a superhighway system. But it takes a science fiction writer to imagine the traffic jam.
Email was a boon. Spam is a problem.
The trend is clear: we are "monetizing" our content, and the "market" has increasingly biased results.
It's a good thing we have counterweights to the commercialization of information. It's a good thing we have public alternatives, a way to leverage the cooperative purchasing power of our citizens to find content whose sole purpose isn't to probe our pockets for loose change.
It's a good thing we have libraries.
---
LaRue's Views are his own.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
June 3, 2010 - whom should you trust?
Years ago, a friend of mine adopted a dog from the pound. The dog, a beautiful German shepherd/Doberman mix, had clearly been mistreated. The first time I met him, I greeted him with a happy "hello!" and put out my hand to pet him. He was so frightened he wet the carpet. Other dogs so treated turn vicious.
For humans, trust probably begins as our earliest childhood experience. As infants, we laugh or cry; somebody comes to see that we're OK.
If nobody comes, or they behave different each time, our openness to the world closes. We get suspicious and paranoid. We have trouble trusting.
Our early treatment in the world, while not absolutely definitive, touches our feelings about all kinds of things.
I'm reading a book called "How we decide," by Jonah Lehrer, who wrote something that really struck me. Our emotions, he said, are not irrational. Rather, they are deeply empirical.
He described one experiment about people who had to pull cards from one of four decks. One of the decks was "poison," costing big point losses in the experimental game. But it took maybe 20-30 tries before there was enough evidence to figure that out.
Nonetheless, in almost every case, people had a bad feeling about that deck long before the conscious mind knew what was up. The bad feeling manifest itself by a slight clamminess of the hands when they reached for the deck, a slight speeding up of the pulse.
The point is: we're wired to try to make sense of the world, to predict what's going to happen. To put it another way, both emotionally and mentally, we constantly strive to adjust ourselves to reality.
Lehrer also discusses many ways in which our neurochemistry can lead us astray. Our feelings aren't always reliable; they can be fooled.
We tell ourselves stories about how things are, and those stories can get so deeply engrained in us that they're hard to change, even when they're wrong.
A combination of these factors leads, I think, to the current lack of trust in some public institutions.
Remember last year when the state passed a "transparency" bill? It mandated that public school districts put their "checkbooks" up on a website. The theory: this total exposure of finances would result in greater public trust.
I didn't believe it. I believe, in fact, that it's likely to result in the opposite.
For instance, the Denver Post ran a front page article about how metro area public school districts had spent shocking amounts of money (thousands of dollars out of billions of dollars) on coffee. A person finding this expense on the website might say, "a shocking waste of tax payer dollars!"
But talk to somebody who bought the coffee, and they'll tell you the rest of the story behind the expense: he picked up coffee on the way into an emergency meeting of parents, a crisis team coming together in the wake of a student suicide. Later, the parents reimbursed him. Those details don't show up in the checkbook, at least not right next to each other.
"Transparency" in this case, in order to lead to trust, would require not just comprehensive review of expenses, but enough context to make sense of them.
And who is willing to spend that much time really digging into how things connect, when it's so much easier just to look for dirt -- or the appearance of it? Especially when you're just sure it's got to be there.
Logically, the best indicator of institutional trustworthiness should be experience over time. Consistent performance, walking the talk, increases trust.
But if the owner pets and praises the dog one time, and beats him the next, regardless of the dog's behavior, trust isn't easy to come by.
And that's true whether the dog is the citizen or the institution.
--
LaRue's Views are his own.
For humans, trust probably begins as our earliest childhood experience. As infants, we laugh or cry; somebody comes to see that we're OK.
If nobody comes, or they behave different each time, our openness to the world closes. We get suspicious and paranoid. We have trouble trusting.
Our early treatment in the world, while not absolutely definitive, touches our feelings about all kinds of things.
I'm reading a book called "How we decide," by Jonah Lehrer, who wrote something that really struck me. Our emotions, he said, are not irrational. Rather, they are deeply empirical.
He described one experiment about people who had to pull cards from one of four decks. One of the decks was "poison," costing big point losses in the experimental game. But it took maybe 20-30 tries before there was enough evidence to figure that out.
Nonetheless, in almost every case, people had a bad feeling about that deck long before the conscious mind knew what was up. The bad feeling manifest itself by a slight clamminess of the hands when they reached for the deck, a slight speeding up of the pulse.
The point is: we're wired to try to make sense of the world, to predict what's going to happen. To put it another way, both emotionally and mentally, we constantly strive to adjust ourselves to reality.
Lehrer also discusses many ways in which our neurochemistry can lead us astray. Our feelings aren't always reliable; they can be fooled.
We tell ourselves stories about how things are, and those stories can get so deeply engrained in us that they're hard to change, even when they're wrong.
A combination of these factors leads, I think, to the current lack of trust in some public institutions.
Remember last year when the state passed a "transparency" bill? It mandated that public school districts put their "checkbooks" up on a website. The theory: this total exposure of finances would result in greater public trust.
I didn't believe it. I believe, in fact, that it's likely to result in the opposite.
For instance, the Denver Post ran a front page article about how metro area public school districts had spent shocking amounts of money (thousands of dollars out of billions of dollars) on coffee. A person finding this expense on the website might say, "a shocking waste of tax payer dollars!"
But talk to somebody who bought the coffee, and they'll tell you the rest of the story behind the expense: he picked up coffee on the way into an emergency meeting of parents, a crisis team coming together in the wake of a student suicide. Later, the parents reimbursed him. Those details don't show up in the checkbook, at least not right next to each other.
"Transparency" in this case, in order to lead to trust, would require not just comprehensive review of expenses, but enough context to make sense of them.
And who is willing to spend that much time really digging into how things connect, when it's so much easier just to look for dirt -- or the appearance of it? Especially when you're just sure it's got to be there.
Logically, the best indicator of institutional trustworthiness should be experience over time. Consistent performance, walking the talk, increases trust.
But if the owner pets and praises the dog one time, and beats him the next, regardless of the dog's behavior, trust isn't easy to come by.
And that's true whether the dog is the citizen or the institution.
--
LaRue's Views are his own.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
May 27, 2010 - show up
Sometimes it's hard for me to imagine the life of the politician.
I pondered that as I sat in the iMax theater of Douglas County's astonishing Wildlife Experience and listened to gubernatorial candidates John Hickenlooper and Scott McInnis.
The forum was sponsored by the Douglas County Business Alliance, which keeps a close eye on Colorado legislative matters. Each candidate answered five questions from the DCBA, then took questions from the crowd.
Hickenlooper is the current mayor of Denver. McInnis is a former House Majority Leader for the Colorado House of Representatives, and a former U.S. Representative.
In some ways, their answers really weren't that different. They were speaking to business people. Not surprisingly, they showed great sensitivity to business issues. The difference to my mind was largely of style.
Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is the un-candidate. As he said, this is only the second office he's ever run for.
McInnis is more the polished insider, complete with Republican Party-approved talking points and sound bites.
It will be interesting to see which approach resonates best in a time when there is so much anger against politics-as-usual and Washington D.C. in particular. Meanwhile, I offer my profound sympathies to both of them as they start working the long, long campaign trail.
Another group of politicians comprise the City Council of Castle Pines North. By the time this column appears, they will have decided on the Urban Renewal Authority.
Like the gubernatorial race, there are two views. Here's the first: the City Council is seeking to add as many tools as it can to its municipal tool chest. The Urban Renewal Authority is a well-tested and effective mechanism for city development.
So is the so-called TIF - tax increment financing. The idea is this: cap the existing property tax at its current value. That becomes the base. As development occurs, and property values rise, any taxes collected over the base remain with the authority, which can then use the money for infrastructure and special projects.
The other side of the issue is this: the area of the authority is huge. Castle Rock's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Parker Authority for Reinvestment (PAR) both concentrate on specific, fairly limited downtown areas. Castle Pines North's authority includes over 3,500 acres, most of it undeveloped agricultural land.
Over the next twenty years or so, an estimated 12,000 new residents may move within the boundaries of the new authority. Those people will want services, such as fire protection, schools, and libraries. But if those properties fall under a TIF, the agencies responsible for providing those services will collect only the revenue generated by agricultural land. That's not enough money to provide the level of services suburban households require. Yet the new residents will certainly expect them.
So the TIF, potentially, puts a lot of money and decision-making ability in the hands of the city, which right now directly controls the authority. It removes both of those things from other agencies, without removing the responsibility to provide service. While other funding mechanisms have been discussed to fund libraries (using TIF funds themselves for construction, and Public Improvement Fees for operations), it's all untried and speculative.
So the people making these decisions are making some big gambles on the future of their young city.
My final observation about politicians speaks to those who are leaving office. Earlier this year, Castle Rock's Randy Reed was term-limited out. Just recently, Pat Braden was termed out from the Lone Tree City Council. Both of them gave countless hours and attention to civic issues.
And although not elected, Acting Superintendent Steve Herzog certainly faced a host of political issues as he dealt with the school district's budget crisis. He provided clear vision and able direction in a time of great transition. I wish him well in his new post as Superintendent of the Reed Union School District (RUSD) in Tiburon, CA.
Candidate for Governor, council members, acting school superintendent -- somebody has to pay attention to our public square. So it's worth saying: even when I disagree with these folks, I'm grateful for them. They show up.
--
LaRue's Views are his own.
I pondered that as I sat in the iMax theater of Douglas County's astonishing Wildlife Experience and listened to gubernatorial candidates John Hickenlooper and Scott McInnis.
The forum was sponsored by the Douglas County Business Alliance, which keeps a close eye on Colorado legislative matters. Each candidate answered five questions from the DCBA, then took questions from the crowd.
Hickenlooper is the current mayor of Denver. McInnis is a former House Majority Leader for the Colorado House of Representatives, and a former U.S. Representative.
In some ways, their answers really weren't that different. They were speaking to business people. Not surprisingly, they showed great sensitivity to business issues. The difference to my mind was largely of style.
Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is the un-candidate. As he said, this is only the second office he's ever run for.
McInnis is more the polished insider, complete with Republican Party-approved talking points and sound bites.
It will be interesting to see which approach resonates best in a time when there is so much anger against politics-as-usual and Washington D.C. in particular. Meanwhile, I offer my profound sympathies to both of them as they start working the long, long campaign trail.
Another group of politicians comprise the City Council of Castle Pines North. By the time this column appears, they will have decided on the Urban Renewal Authority.
Like the gubernatorial race, there are two views. Here's the first: the City Council is seeking to add as many tools as it can to its municipal tool chest. The Urban Renewal Authority is a well-tested and effective mechanism for city development.
So is the so-called TIF - tax increment financing. The idea is this: cap the existing property tax at its current value. That becomes the base. As development occurs, and property values rise, any taxes collected over the base remain with the authority, which can then use the money for infrastructure and special projects.
The other side of the issue is this: the area of the authority is huge. Castle Rock's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Parker Authority for Reinvestment (PAR) both concentrate on specific, fairly limited downtown areas. Castle Pines North's authority includes over 3,500 acres, most of it undeveloped agricultural land.
Over the next twenty years or so, an estimated 12,000 new residents may move within the boundaries of the new authority. Those people will want services, such as fire protection, schools, and libraries. But if those properties fall under a TIF, the agencies responsible for providing those services will collect only the revenue generated by agricultural land. That's not enough money to provide the level of services suburban households require. Yet the new residents will certainly expect them.
So the TIF, potentially, puts a lot of money and decision-making ability in the hands of the city, which right now directly controls the authority. It removes both of those things from other agencies, without removing the responsibility to provide service. While other funding mechanisms have been discussed to fund libraries (using TIF funds themselves for construction, and Public Improvement Fees for operations), it's all untried and speculative.
So the people making these decisions are making some big gambles on the future of their young city.
My final observation about politicians speaks to those who are leaving office. Earlier this year, Castle Rock's Randy Reed was term-limited out. Just recently, Pat Braden was termed out from the Lone Tree City Council. Both of them gave countless hours and attention to civic issues.
And although not elected, Acting Superintendent Steve Herzog certainly faced a host of political issues as he dealt with the school district's budget crisis. He provided clear vision and able direction in a time of great transition. I wish him well in his new post as Superintendent of the Reed Union School District (RUSD) in Tiburon, CA.
Candidate for Governor, council members, acting school superintendent -- somebody has to pay attention to our public square. So it's worth saying: even when I disagree with these folks, I'm grateful for them. They show up.
--
LaRue's Views are his own.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
May 20, 2010 - praise the entrepreneur
Guess what I know?
I know who created 60-80% of all the net new jobs in this country over the past ten years. I know how many of them there are. I know old they are, what gender they are likely to be, and a little bit about their background.
I know where they live.
And I know how to help them. (Thanks to the wonderful research of a librarian friend of mine, Christine Hamilton-Pennell. See growinglocaleconomies.com.)
It's not a secret. On the other hand, despite all the information that's out there, you don't hear much talk about it. That's odd, since the economy is surely one of the most important issues faced by Douglas County.
There are several big ways to promote economic development.
* Business attraction and recruitment. The idea here is to bring in big outside employers. Usually, that means big box retail. The idea is that big employers generate all kinds of benefits, although it often takes various kinds of tax incentives to get them here.
* Business retention. Keep the ones we've got! (Sometimes, those big employers pull out, too.)
* Workforce development. Some people need help to get started, whether it's in acquiring basic computer training, learning how to write a resume, understanding a little bit about work place expectations, and so on.
* Reduce "income leaks." There are people who live here, but spend their money elsewhere. A thriving economy invests in itself.
* But here's the big one: support the unsung hero of the local entrepreneur.
What do I mean by entrepreneur? I like Hamilton-Pennell's definition: "an entrepreneur is someone who perceives an opportunity and creates and grows and organization to pursue it."
What's so important about entrepreneurs? Consider the following:
* 97.5% of firms have fewer than 20 employees. These small firms created 60-80% of the net new jobs over the past decade.
* Two-thirds of the the net new jobs were created by firms 1 to 5 years old. They are responsible for half of the United States' non-farm real Gross Domestic Product.
* Half of the U.S. businesses are home-based.
Who are these entrepreneurs? We know a few things about them.
First, they comprise roughly 10% of the global population.
From 1996-2007, Americans between 55 and 64 had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than those aged 20-34. But don't count out the youngsters yet. Limited job market leads teens to consider entrepreneurship as a viable - and maybe a vital - alternative
Here are a couple of interesting data points about "minorities:" more men than women start new businesses (maybe because more than 60% of businesses are self-financed). But immigrants are far more likely to start new businesses than native born residents. How come? Well, think about it. Emigration takes, literally, a lot of get up and go.
One of the crucial factors about the entrepreneur is this: they're already right here in Douglas County. They don't have to be lured in with big breaks. They're probably not going to pull up and vanish -- they've raised their families here. They are part of our community.
And I said I know how to help them. It turns out that the main obstacles to entrepreneurial success are things the public library can readily overcome: a lack of knowledge of industry and market conditions and trends.
Specifically, entrepreneurs need to know:
* Who are my target customers?
* Who are my competitors?
* What are the characteristics of my market?
* What are the trends and developments in my industry?
For now, I can give this short piece of advice. Would-be entrepreneurs could start by looking at this website: douglascountylibraries.org/Research/iGuides/SmallBusiness.
But there's more to say about business in Douglas County, and more than one source of sound advice. Look here next week for news about an important cooperative project of the library and your local newspaper.
I know who created 60-80% of all the net new jobs in this country over the past ten years. I know how many of them there are. I know old they are, what gender they are likely to be, and a little bit about their background.
I know where they live.
And I know how to help them. (Thanks to the wonderful research of a librarian friend of mine, Christine Hamilton-Pennell. See growinglocaleconomies.com.)
It's not a secret. On the other hand, despite all the information that's out there, you don't hear much talk about it. That's odd, since the economy is surely one of the most important issues faced by Douglas County.
There are several big ways to promote economic development.
* Business attraction and recruitment. The idea here is to bring in big outside employers. Usually, that means big box retail. The idea is that big employers generate all kinds of benefits, although it often takes various kinds of tax incentives to get them here.
* Business retention. Keep the ones we've got! (Sometimes, those big employers pull out, too.)
* Workforce development. Some people need help to get started, whether it's in acquiring basic computer training, learning how to write a resume, understanding a little bit about work place expectations, and so on.
* Reduce "income leaks." There are people who live here, but spend their money elsewhere. A thriving economy invests in itself.
* But here's the big one: support the unsung hero of the local entrepreneur.
What do I mean by entrepreneur? I like Hamilton-Pennell's definition: "an entrepreneur is someone who perceives an opportunity and creates and grows and organization to pursue it."
What's so important about entrepreneurs? Consider the following:
* 97.5% of firms have fewer than 20 employees. These small firms created 60-80% of the net new jobs over the past decade.
* Two-thirds of the the net new jobs were created by firms 1 to 5 years old. They are responsible for half of the United States' non-farm real Gross Domestic Product.
* Half of the U.S. businesses are home-based.
Who are these entrepreneurs? We know a few things about them.
First, they comprise roughly 10% of the global population.
From 1996-2007, Americans between 55 and 64 had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than those aged 20-34. But don't count out the youngsters yet. Limited job market leads teens to consider entrepreneurship as a viable - and maybe a vital - alternative
Here are a couple of interesting data points about "minorities:" more men than women start new businesses (maybe because more than 60% of businesses are self-financed). But immigrants are far more likely to start new businesses than native born residents. How come? Well, think about it. Emigration takes, literally, a lot of get up and go.
One of the crucial factors about the entrepreneur is this: they're already right here in Douglas County. They don't have to be lured in with big breaks. They're probably not going to pull up and vanish -- they've raised their families here. They are part of our community.
And I said I know how to help them. It turns out that the main obstacles to entrepreneurial success are things the public library can readily overcome: a lack of knowledge of industry and market conditions and trends.
Specifically, entrepreneurs need to know:
* Who are my target customers?
* Who are my competitors?
* What are the characteristics of my market?
* What are the trends and developments in my industry?
For now, I can give this short piece of advice. Would-be entrepreneurs could start by looking at this website: douglascountylibraries.org/Research/iGuides/SmallBusiness.
But there's more to say about business in Douglas County, and more than one source of sound advice. Look here next week for news about an important cooperative project of the library and your local newspaper.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
May 13, 2010 - he's back!
What should you do when you have a strong response to something you read in the paper?
Let's say you like a particular column. You can pen an approving letter to the editor. You can send a glowing email or voice mail to the writer.
It is pleasant to find people with whom one agrees. Too few of us take the time to compliment others, and thereby build communities of interest and mutual support.
Not the writing kind? Well, you can always clip the column and pass it around to friends. Or find it online and forward it.
On the other hand, maybe you think the writer missed something important, or was flat out wrong. Maybe you have some special area of expertise that fills in significant gaps in the writer's presentation.
In that case, please do send a letter to the editor. When the community gets involved in issues, shares new information, and has substantive debate, a newspaper raises the general level of shared intelligence. That's good for everybody.
Sometimes, inevitably, you will have a strongly emotional and negative response to a column.
You have many options. Among them:
* Ignore it. I freely admit that there are a few columnists who so consistently irritate me that I refuse to read them anymore.
* Share your anger and irritation with your spouse. As an institution, a sympathetic marriage prevents many a violent outbreak against the body politic.
* Write an angry letter back, laced with personal attacks and labels you neither define nor defend. In this way, letter writing becomes a kind of intellectual aerobics, allowing you to hit your target heart rate in just 250 words. Be warned: your own letters may precipitate similar responses. But for some folks, this is the very definition of fun.
* Try to silence the writer through intimidation. Contact his or her bosses and threaten them with boycott or political opposition. Dangle vague legal threats. The true intellectual bully must hold this thought steady in his or her heart: "those who disagree with me must be forced to SHUT UP."
Each of these responses has a long tradition in our country. Together, they constitute a history of dissent, of the lively intellectual discourse of our nation.
Which brings me (quite literally) to the editorial page. Most of my columns over the past 20 years have been about libraries.
That's because libraries are my deep and abiding passion. Most of my future columns will probably still be about library issues.
But writing this column isn't part of my job. I don't get paid for it. I write it on my own time. Writing helps me think and learn. I enjoy it.
About once or twice a year, my columns spark strong disagreement in some readers -- usually offset by strong approval, by the way. I've noticed a trend: in almost every case, the issue involves federal policy.
I am not a federal employee.
Likewise, most of my opinions are not library policy. My bosses, the Library Board of Trustees, have not adopted resolutions about either national fiscal policy nor zombies. (Which is the greater omission, only time will tell). When something IS official library policy, I'll say so.
In a recent discussion about my column, library trustees said that while of course I have the right to speak freely on my own time (that being the point of the First Amendment, after all), it would be wise to remind people that my opinions, as prominently labeled by my column title, are LaRue's Views. No one else should be held accountable for them.
So you will no longer find my opinions under "library news."
See you next week.
---
LaRue's Views are his own.
Let's say you like a particular column. You can pen an approving letter to the editor. You can send a glowing email or voice mail to the writer.
It is pleasant to find people with whom one agrees. Too few of us take the time to compliment others, and thereby build communities of interest and mutual support.
Not the writing kind? Well, you can always clip the column and pass it around to friends. Or find it online and forward it.
On the other hand, maybe you think the writer missed something important, or was flat out wrong. Maybe you have some special area of expertise that fills in significant gaps in the writer's presentation.
In that case, please do send a letter to the editor. When the community gets involved in issues, shares new information, and has substantive debate, a newspaper raises the general level of shared intelligence. That's good for everybody.
Sometimes, inevitably, you will have a strongly emotional and negative response to a column.
You have many options. Among them:
* Ignore it. I freely admit that there are a few columnists who so consistently irritate me that I refuse to read them anymore.
* Share your anger and irritation with your spouse. As an institution, a sympathetic marriage prevents many a violent outbreak against the body politic.
* Write an angry letter back, laced with personal attacks and labels you neither define nor defend. In this way, letter writing becomes a kind of intellectual aerobics, allowing you to hit your target heart rate in just 250 words. Be warned: your own letters may precipitate similar responses. But for some folks, this is the very definition of fun.
* Try to silence the writer through intimidation. Contact his or her bosses and threaten them with boycott or political opposition. Dangle vague legal threats. The true intellectual bully must hold this thought steady in his or her heart: "those who disagree with me must be forced to SHUT UP."
Each of these responses has a long tradition in our country. Together, they constitute a history of dissent, of the lively intellectual discourse of our nation.
Which brings me (quite literally) to the editorial page. Most of my columns over the past 20 years have been about libraries.
That's because libraries are my deep and abiding passion. Most of my future columns will probably still be about library issues.
But writing this column isn't part of my job. I don't get paid for it. I write it on my own time. Writing helps me think and learn. I enjoy it.
About once or twice a year, my columns spark strong disagreement in some readers -- usually offset by strong approval, by the way. I've noticed a trend: in almost every case, the issue involves federal policy.
I am not a federal employee.
Likewise, most of my opinions are not library policy. My bosses, the Library Board of Trustees, have not adopted resolutions about either national fiscal policy nor zombies. (Which is the greater omission, only time will tell). When something IS official library policy, I'll say so.
In a recent discussion about my column, library trustees said that while of course I have the right to speak freely on my own time (that being the point of the First Amendment, after all), it would be wise to remind people that my opinions, as prominently labeled by my column title, are LaRue's Views. No one else should be held accountable for them.
So you will no longer find my opinions under "library news."
See you next week.
---
LaRue's Views are his own.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
May 6, 2010 - Looking for Adventure?
[This week is yet another wonderful guest column, this one by one of our "behind the scenes" librarians making great things happen for our patrons.]
Looking for Adventure? - Deb Margeson
Who doesn’t want a little adventure in their lives? Especially if it’s free.
But, before I get to the adventure part, I should introduce myself. I am Deb Margeson, a Collection Development Librarian here at Douglas County Libraries. I know that I have the best job possible here at our library district.
I have the opportunity to choose all the adult fiction and nonfiction books for our branches (and no, if you are wondering, I don’t get to read them before I decide to buy them…). But don’t tell anyone else that I have the best job here; they might get ideas…
Something you don’t have to keep secret is what I’m about to share. You already know that DCL provides books, magazines, music, books on CD, Playaways, and DVD’s. And you probably also know that you can download audio books and eBooks to your various devices. Well, starting May 1, you get to check out some Adventure. And, like all those other items that we provide, there’s no charge.
The idea came from one of our librarians, who had heard that another local library district had museum passes available for checkout. She brought it to our Collection Development Committee to consider and we liked the idea.
Several of us got together and did some research. Librarians are great at sharing ideas and information with other librarians and Jefferson County Libraries shared their experience with checking out passes to local museums. They use a simple system that sounded like an easy way to provide an opportunity to check out a free pass to local attractions to all of you. We are calling it the Adventure Pass.
Starting May 1, Douglas County Libraries card holders can check out a free pass to the Wildlife Experience here in Douglas County. I imagine you have heard of them and maybe you have even visited.
The Wildlife Experience is a museum that connects people with wildlife and habitats. The people at the Wildlife Experience are great to work with and provided us with discounted passes to their museum. They are enthusiastic and excited about providing an easy way to allow you to get to visit all the experiences that they provide.
This is how it’s going to work. First visit our website (www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org) and look for the Adventure Pass icon. Click on that icon and you will be taken to the reservation system.
Take a look at the calendar and pick a date that works for you. It will show you if a pass is available. We have 6 passes available per day. Each pass allows 6 people free admission to the Wildlife Experience.
You can reserve a pass up to 30 days ahead of your visit. Once you choose your date and enter the required information, just print out your pass.
Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? Here’s the fine print. You do need to have a library card with us. But hey, we provide those for free too.
We are starting with just one local place to have an adventure. We want to work out any little kinks that sometimes happen when you embark on a new program.
But, if you have an "in" with another local attraction or museum and would like to take part in this program, get in touch with us. We want to expand because there are so many interesting places to visit in our area. And we want to provide you with an easy way to explore some of these.
If you still have questions, the knowledgeable folks at our Contact Center can be reached at 303-791-7323.
Starting May 1st gather up your family, friends and neighbors and get your Adventure Pass at Douglas County Libraries. And please don’t keep this a secret!
Looking for Adventure? - Deb Margeson
Who doesn’t want a little adventure in their lives? Especially if it’s free.
But, before I get to the adventure part, I should introduce myself. I am Deb Margeson, a Collection Development Librarian here at Douglas County Libraries. I know that I have the best job possible here at our library district.
I have the opportunity to choose all the adult fiction and nonfiction books for our branches (and no, if you are wondering, I don’t get to read them before I decide to buy them…). But don’t tell anyone else that I have the best job here; they might get ideas…
Something you don’t have to keep secret is what I’m about to share. You already know that DCL provides books, magazines, music, books on CD, Playaways, and DVD’s. And you probably also know that you can download audio books and eBooks to your various devices. Well, starting May 1, you get to check out some Adventure. And, like all those other items that we provide, there’s no charge.
The idea came from one of our librarians, who had heard that another local library district had museum passes available for checkout. She brought it to our Collection Development Committee to consider and we liked the idea.
Several of us got together and did some research. Librarians are great at sharing ideas and information with other librarians and Jefferson County Libraries shared their experience with checking out passes to local museums. They use a simple system that sounded like an easy way to provide an opportunity to check out a free pass to local attractions to all of you. We are calling it the Adventure Pass.
Starting May 1, Douglas County Libraries card holders can check out a free pass to the Wildlife Experience here in Douglas County. I imagine you have heard of them and maybe you have even visited.
The Wildlife Experience is a museum that connects people with wildlife and habitats. The people at the Wildlife Experience are great to work with and provided us with discounted passes to their museum. They are enthusiastic and excited about providing an easy way to allow you to get to visit all the experiences that they provide.
This is how it’s going to work. First visit our website (www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org) and look for the Adventure Pass icon. Click on that icon and you will be taken to the reservation system.
Take a look at the calendar and pick a date that works for you. It will show you if a pass is available. We have 6 passes available per day. Each pass allows 6 people free admission to the Wildlife Experience.
You can reserve a pass up to 30 days ahead of your visit. Once you choose your date and enter the required information, just print out your pass.
Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? Here’s the fine print. You do need to have a library card with us. But hey, we provide those for free too.
We are starting with just one local place to have an adventure. We want to work out any little kinks that sometimes happen when you embark on a new program.
But, if you have an "in" with another local attraction or museum and would like to take part in this program, get in touch with us. We want to expand because there are so many interesting places to visit in our area. And we want to provide you with an easy way to explore some of these.
If you still have questions, the knowledgeable folks at our Contact Center can be reached at 303-791-7323.
Starting May 1st gather up your family, friends and neighbors and get your Adventure Pass at Douglas County Libraries. And please don’t keep this a secret!
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