State of the Library
This video is about describing the general state of our library system. It is a 20,00-foot perspective of where we are today and how we can move forward in becoming a meaningful and impacting organization for the communities we serve. I am still learning and listening to you and our stakeholders to better understand what our needs are and how we can make a difference. But, I wanted to give you an idea of what I am thinking and where we are; it does not include everything that we do well or need to improve on. There will be more videos in the future that will address things more specifically.
I will be out learning and listening to you as we move forward. I hope you decide that we can be a leader in our communities and work together to bring success to fruition for everyone. Thanks for listening to me ramble for a while.
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Comments
Larry,
Thanks so much for this! I'm definitely looking forward to Metro standing out as a library leader, and I appreciate how you said there's nothing holding us back from doing so.
Putting our customers front and center is such a crucial part of our service and I've seen us sliding back from that. Thank you for identifying these overarching issues, and for giving us the inspiration and guidance on moving forward and improving.
Larry, I have never been more proud or excited to be a part of this organization than after having listened to the State of the Library. Thank you for your insightful, forward-thinking, and compassionate leadership. I share your vision of MLS being capable of achieving best on the planet status. I will do my part wherever possible. I look forward to seeing you at WA tomorrow.
Larry,
Thank you for speaking to us about your views on and hopes for the library system. I thoroughly agree that we should and could be a forward-thinking, customer centric, leader in librarianship. I believe that we just need to get out of our own way.
I look forward to seeing how the strategic plan and any upcoming changes will help to push us toward those goals and get us to a point where we are no longer stuck in the past. It is also so very exciting to hear that we will be trying to become enmeshed in our communities, as this is something I have personally been working toward for years.
I can't wait to be the first library to do something big.
A couple years ago, I read about a sourdough library in Belgium. I don't think it was a lending library, more of an archive. But I thought it would be so fun if we actually did give out sourdough starters. I had it all figured out: we would raise and feed the starters at the Service Center and fill customer holds from here. We could even loan out proofing boxes and lames and everything. I never told anyone about this nutty, expensive, impossible fantasy.
Of course, the pandemic hit and suddenly the whole world was making sourdough. We would have been the coolest library on earth. So the next time I have a nutty, expensive, impossible fantasy I will be sure to submit it for consideration!
Thank you, fearless leader!
Thank you, Larry. That was very well spoken. With our resources and experience, we have the opportunity to serve our community in new and exciting ways. I believe we can truly make a difference.
Thank you for sharing this! It is encouraging to hear your vision and how you see both our current situation and future potential.