Back from ALA

Despite good intentions, I haven't blogged on libraries since I wrapped up 23 Things, but I thought this migt be a good way to report on ALA in Anaheim.

Audra, Mary, Jamie and I began with an all day program sponsored by ULC. It was called Foresight 2020 and was supposed to get the participants thinking about what libraries will look like by 2020. Parts of the day were really stimulating and parts were a little disappointing. John Seely Brown was the morning speaker. His examples came mostly from academia, but they were still close enough to home that my head was swirling by the time he was done. His point was that colleges are still mired in a teaching mode that is ancient while the students have moved on to the 21st century. Many of his comments about how disengaged the students are hit a target for me, it wasn't quite in the way he meant. The students in a huge lecture hall all spent most of their time totally ignoring the professor, but it reminded me of a required introductory class on British history that was totally boring. The lecture was compulsory and so to pass the time I knitted, read Time or Newsweek or wrote letters to friends. The 20th century equivalent of Facebook and Googling. Students haven't really changed; they have just updated their methods for handling boredom. OTOH his discussion on social learning which emphasizes a collaborative process was thought provoking and made me think about the way our libraries are laid out which leads to an emphasis on maintaining order for all rather than recognizing and accepting that many people from late teens (maybe even early 20s?) really want a group experience. The afternoon session was a sharp contrast. Although the speakers were much younger (Brown is either a Boomer or even a bit older), their purpose at the program seemed to be to convey to the participants that young people (the Gen Xers) still love books even while they embrace technology. The message was soothing, but a little condescending and definitely a soporific after the morning's session. Probably not a good thing after lunch. The wrap up was Joe Janes from the U of Washington library school. He had a very high energy level and so the program ended on an adrenaline high, but probably the most memorable portion of his talk was a photo of a library reference desk which he said was from 1906. He said that if he showed a picture of an operating room from 1906 to a group of surgeons, they would probably have difficulty relating to it, but he said "Put a computer up there and you are ready to roll." and he was right! ULC is hoping to keep a dialog going on the issues raised and has set up a page on the website that people can access for blogging. Supposedly other staff who didn't attend the program can hear podcasts and join in the discussion. If they can keep it all going...

The next day Mary and I went to the ULC deputy directors discussion group. These sessions are usually pretty loose with no specific agenda. Someone throws out a topic and it us discussed until people run out of ideas/information. We learned about a long running program that Phil. Free Library has for teens. It is a competitive program where the teens who are selected are trained for certain basic tasks (like helping at computers) plus they are used as a sounding board for programs. In addition at the end of the year they plan an all day program for teens. The program is not aimed at the "best and the brightest" but at kids who are in the middle of the pack who are less likely to get selected for stuff. Phil Free Library has also developed several ways of helping staff help the different ethnic groups who use the library. The deputy director handed out phrase booklets that they have developed. Customers can point at the phrase that best explains what they want and the staff can point at the phrase that most approximates the answer.