The 80/20 Librarian: Focusing on the 20% that matters

I really enjoyed reading Along the Way: The Journey of Father and Son. The book is authored by Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez. Hope Edelman also is listed as a contributor. The book just came out in May 2012. Libraries should look to acquire both the book and the movie, The Way. These are great works that will no doubt be highly circulated and enjoyed by the general public.

While I have been accustomed to reading autobiographies I had never read a dual memoir of a father and son before. I was completely fascinated to learn of the hardships that both men had to endure in order to enter the acting profession. What really mattered above all was that the actors enjoyed what they were doing. On page 35 Martin Sheen reflects on what it was like working in New York City as a struggling actor, “Possessions, comfort, security- none of this felt like it mattered. All that mattered was making art, participating in art, and having a creative life. We took for granted that to be artists you had to live very frugally and suffer. Everyone we knew was barely scraping by and we accepted this as our lot too, because if we didn’t pursue art we would never be happy.”

Also one of the things that I liked was the advice that is given from generation to generation within the family. On page 282 Emilio Estevez recounts advice that his father gave to his son. “Follow your heart,” my dad told him, “Don’t ever leave it behind. You can always say you made the wrong choice afterward, but you should have the experience rather than risk the regret of never knowing.”

Another key point that is brought up throughout the course of the book is the family’s roots in Spain. I like how Emilio Estevez writes about his own journey from acting, directing, and then to creating his own vineyard. On page 383 of the book Estevez reflects on how his life on the vineyard is not that different from the life that his grandfather’s family had. “If there is such a thing as ancestral memory, I feel it at work at my home in the guise of my grandfather, Francisco. I never had a chance to develop a close relationship with my father’s father, who died when I was ten. Yet I feel his influence in my vineyard and my garden each time I pull a vegetable from the ground of check the progress of the vines. The relationships we’re having now, removed from the trappings of time echoes back to generations of men before us who lived off their land.”

The movie, The Way, also was well worth getting. The protagonist Tom Avery  truly undergoes a positive metamorphosis along the Camino. The sense of community between Avery and the other pilgrims like Jack from Ireland, Joost from Amsterdam, and Sarah from Canada was such an integral part of the film. The beautiful scenes of Spain (both its rural landscape and its cities), of pilgrims on the route, and the hospitality shown to pilgrims makes one want to travel to Spain to walk the Camino.

I saw a great article in the LA Times from July 3, 2012 about the McAllen (Texas) Public Library using an empty Wal-Mart building space for its library. I think that this is a great use of industrial space to benefit the community. If the building had been left abandoned vandalism could have taken place as the article noted. I liked the fact that patrons now do not have the wait to use a computer.

As the article noted, “The size of more than two football fields, the McAllen Public Library is the largest single-story library in the country, the website PSFK writes. Its conversion from vast warehouse space to functioning library has recently made it the winner of the 2012 Library Interior Design Competition by the International Interior Design Assn.”

See http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/07/where-walmart-failed-a-library-succeeds.html for more details.

I liked this May 21, 2012 article by Paul Fattig in the Mail Tribune (Southern Oregon’s News Source) that discusses the importance of early literacy. As noted in the article, “the Jackson County Library Foundation as part of its Baby’s First Book program, provides complimentary literary packets to mothers who deliver babies at local hospitals. The books are available in either English or Spanish. Each new mother receives a baby book, a parent’s reading guide, information on the importance of early childhood literacy and a summary of programs for babies and toddlers available in local Jackson County libraries. In addition to the library foundation, the program is sponsored by Providence Medford Medical Center and Mercedes-Benz of Medford. The packets will be distributed at both Providence and Rogue Valley Medical Center.”

See http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120521/NEWS/205210325 for more details.

Here is an article in the Baltimore Sun by Mary Carole McCauley (dated May 31, 2012)  concerning the decision by the Harford County (Maryland) public library to not stock the book 50 Shades of Grey and its sequels.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-banned-book-20120530,0,1653381.story?page=1

A few weeks back I caught a short segment on the Baltimore metro area evening television news about Baltimore Raven, Michael Oher, and his book entitled I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond. It turns out that Oher made a personal visit to Severna Park High School in April 2012 to participate in a discussion about his book with students and faculty.

My hat is off to librarian Marianne Fitzgerald who selected the book to be part of the school’s 2012 “1 Book 1 School 1 Star” initiative and who helped facilitate the book club discussion.

See http://www.aacps.org/admin/anmviewer.asp?a=1478&z=62 for details.

I hope that public libraries in the Baltimore area are taking note of this and would consider holding book discussions about I Beat the Odds. Perhaps they could even invite Oher to make a visit to their libraries to help hold the discussion. I believe that such an effort would be a great way to get patrons excited about their local library system.

April has rapidly been passing by and I wanted to write one final reflection on the PLA Conference. One of the things that I heard at the conference was the need to have library staff perform story times and the basic duties of a children’s librarian. Apparently library managers are finding that not enough people are ready, willing, and able to handle those duties. Some libraries have having their staff wear multiple hats with one of them being a children’s librarian. I would imagine that the babies in bloom and other story times are very popular in most branches so the need to have staff that can perform those duties is important. I believe that these story times are important because they are examples of popular programming. You cannot digitize a program like story time so those programs will probably form the foundation of successful public libraries in the future. In one conference I was in there was discussion about a librarian who did not perform story times, but at least supported the story time by creating a bag full of story time materials such as puppets, felt birds, song sheets, etc.

One of the issues that was presented at the PLA conference was what the leaders in the field are doing to fight budget problems. Linda Mielke (director of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System and the James Prendergast Library Association. Jamestown, New York)  noted that it best to keep the library’s stats up, keep the circulations up, keep the programming up, keep the doors open, and to buy the materials that people want. Closing the library doors means that circulation stats and other statistics will go down. In 2011, closing on Wednesday nights and Sundays meant a 36% drop in circulation in her library’s system. Mielke believes that a diminishing business in the form of circulation/ door counts makes it more difficult to point to the library as a vital resource that needs an increase in funding.

Jose Aponte (director of the San Diego County library) discussed the role of the air game (dealing with those external to the library system) and the ground game (dealing with those within the library system). The air game involved telling stories to convey what a library is to grab the attention of politicians. Usually the stories are inspirational examples of how the library is making a positive direct impact on the lives of those who use the library’s services within the community. In addition it is also wise (in the context of the air game) if the library director participates in a leadership role within the community (outside of just being a library director). For example, Aponte noted that he is on the board of the Greater San Diego Arts Task Force.

The library director must also be skilled in the vocabulary and operations of government leaders. In order to keep up to date Aponte reads magazines like American City/County government in addition to Library Journal.

Within the library system the ground game takes place. Some simple practices to increase staff morale were noted. For example, Aponte noted that he informs the staff about the library’s budget and tries to make sure everyone stays together on the same page as to what is happening with the budget. Also, he makes an effort to visit two libraries a month and to say hello to all members of the staff. In addition it is important to smile as appearances do matter. Aponte also makes sure that the library is hosting programs that are vital to the community. For example, 17% of the library’s programs are focused on health care. This is important as health care is an issue that is a concern to all segments of society. In addition there is a housing opportunities clinic in which attorneys come once a month to the library to offer mortgage counseling. According to Aponte, people build libraries and libraries build communities.

Last week I went to a Public Library Association conference session and saw that the Orange County (Florida) Public Library has an awesome way that they advocate for their library. They actually record videos of patrons who have had great experiences using their library. The videos are then uploaded onto You Tube. The library system uses these videos to make everyone aware as to how their library system is making a positive impact on the community. See the link http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAE3F28BCB39B5682&feature=plcp. Some of the videos discuss how some of the patrons utilized the library to find a job, which is quite important.

I will post another reflection on what I learned at the PLA Conference in the near future.

While I was walking around the area outside of the Philadelphia Convention Center during the Public Library Association conference last week I was able to get the newspaper One Step Away for one dollar. The One Step Away newspaper is a type of publication I have never read before. The paper is almost entirely produced and sold by the homeless. See http://www.osaphilly.org/.

This is Philadelphia’s first newspaper produced “By those without homes for those with homes.” I do not even know if this type of endeavor is being replicated in other cities. I think it is a splendid idea. I had never linked homelessness with the publishing business before so I was impressed with the newspaper immediately.

I especially liked the article on page 8 of the paper’s March 2012 edition. In this article KT Terry discusses Philadelphia’s efforts to celebrate the lives of Whitney Houston and Don Cornelius this past February 13.

I also liked in the March 2012 edition the article on page 12 by Erik Younge in which remembers Whitney Houston. He writes, “Whitney had that gift of breaking down barriers between people, bringing us all together just by the beauty and love heard in her crystal-clear singing.” Later on he ends with the line from one of her songs, “No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity.”

The other day Ben Tracy of CBS News interviewed San Jose mayor Chuck Reed about the pension issues in the city. The interview takes place in a beautiful but empty library. See http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57392812/calif-city-seeks-to-escape-soaring-pension-costs/. I am hoping that the library system will get back on its feet. The city has a new library, but needs funding to get it operating. Hopefully some creative thinking and hard work will get things moving again. I am thinking positively and I am hoping that things turn around. I wonder if some outside funding from the private sector could be found to return the four libraries to operating status.