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From the President
It's the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm still recovering from the food. Or, should I say, the leftovers. Which makes this a great weekend to get caught up on some reading. As a library director, I have to make time to read. Sad, but true. I should specify that this is "leisure" reading, since the volume of reading that I'm willing to bet all of us must do for work would keep most people busy well into their retirement years. I was jealous of anyone who had time to read for "fun." My book club even tired of hearing how I hadn't finished that month's book! Then I made time and read So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson, which made me think even more about how I wasn't reading.
In fact, I was so worried that I didn't read enough leisure material that I made a commitment to read after ALA's Midwinter Conference, when I had once again picked up many many advance copies of books that looked great. I started to copy CLA and PLA and a good number of other magazines that included a note in the author's credit about what that person was reading. Except I put it in my e-mail signature file.
The good news is that people began to "talk" with me about what I was reading. I think that this is good news because it means that other people are reading, too. Plus, it encourages a discussion beyond the subject of the e-mail, forging or strengthening a human bond. For example, one reader commented that she was also reading the book that I was, in preparation for a trip. I commented that I had relatives in the area she was visiting, and would be happy to provide their contact information in case she had time to stop in for a visit. My aunts are a riot, and so is my colleague, so it seemed like a good possibility. Another co-worker commented that she couldn't wait to talk with me about the book in my signature file, which I had only just started, because she had absolutely hated it! This made it a little off putting - how could I read a book that a friend disliked so strongly? - but I kept at it. As I found that I enjoyed that book more and more, I began to wonder at the fact that we are, and remain, friends. To each his own! For a brief period last week there was no title in my signature file, prompting one Friend of the Library to complain that they might be missing something, they are interested in what I read, and could I please fill it in? I filled it in and referred them to my LibraryThing page and told them to go to town on my small catalog.
Which made me think that my reading tastes are a type of social networking: I communicate with others, they tell me what they like and don't like and make suggestions about what I should read, and we create friendships that transcend our e-mail or work relationship. A few of these people, of course, I rarely see in person. Book clubs are the ultimate kind of social networking for the book lover, in my opinion, although LibraryThing is just one example of how we can encourage book sharing for our users and ourselves through technology, and share with others we may never meet in person. It's addictive and fun for the cataloger in all of us.
This week I finally got to something work-related that I thought was interesting reading. The OCLC newsletter, NeXT Space, published an issue in September that deals with social networking in libraries. One of the articles, an interview with nine experts talking about various aspects of social networking began with the following:
In June 2007, the world's top three social networking sites - YouTube, MySpace and Facebook - attracted more than 350 million people to their Web sites, according to comScore. And each time they visited, users stayed connected for at least an hour and a half; at Facebook the average stay per visit was nearly four hours.
The italics in the excerpt above are mine. Four hours!! On AVERAGE!! This was the hook that's had me thinking about my library, how many computers we have for the public to use, and how our rules and limitations keep folks from being able to use the sites as long as they might like. I think that it's something for us all to consider. I know that resources may be limited - they are for me - but how do our services match or meet what users are beginning to think should be commonplace?
And how do we balance the books with the technology? This is definitely a question that we've been asking ourselves for a long time, and one that deserves discussion. But not right now. I need a nap. And a good book.
Thank you to those of you who have taken time out to send me an e-mail to comment about not only the governance structure, but also the conference, my blog, and CLA in general. Keep it coming!
Have a great reading (& sharing) week!
Monique le Conge
2008 President
Posted on November 26, 2007 9:15 AM | Permalink