CONNECT Minutes for December 2012

Present – Buddy Johnson (DN, Chair), Julie Ballou (NW), Clyde Herrod (CAT), Rondia Banks (NW), Sheldon Beach (DN), Susie Beasley (CT), Kelly Dalrymple (WA), Wendy Gabrielson (DN), Jerod Gerfen (MC), John Hilbert (SO), Tulin Lafollette (CT), Julianna Link (VI), Sally McCurry (DC), Sharon Nolan (BE), Anna Todd (BI), Jeneal Walker (NW), Glenn Webb (CH), Meaghan Hunt Wilson (ED)

Guests – Kay Bauman (LO),Todd Podzemny (ED),  John Wood (IT)

Meeting was called to order at 2:00pm.

Welcome

Buddy Johnson welcomed the attendees and introduced the guests followed by a reminder about the mission and goals of the Connect Forum. He explained that the general theme of the afternoon would be “our identity as librarians.”

Connect Forum “24-in-7 Seminar” Activity

Attendees formed small groups of 5-7 people and were led by Clyde Herrod (CAT) under the following instructions:

Mission: With 7 minutes of group collaboration -- using exactly 24 words -- create a definition, description, or explanation of our theme, "Librarians"

Clyde gave an example by creating his own 24-word definitions of a jigsaw puzzle:

Dictionary Type: A jigsaw puzzle is a visual concept composed of many small interlocking pieces which, when connected correctly, reveal a complete picture, pattern, or design.  (24 words)

Particular reference: Five hundred small similarly shaped pieces with bits of color and form fit together to detail an image of an inviting early autumn scene.   (24 words)

Whimsical:  Why don’t these crazy pieces fit? Oh! This is the wrong piece! This is frustrating! No wonder some people call these things brain breakers!  (24 words)

The definitions from each of the four groups are recorded (direct link) and can be located on the Connect Forum Resources page and those unable to attend are invited to write their own 24/7 definition and post it in the comments section.

Library Event Coordinator Panel Discussion

A panel consisting of three librarians from the two pilot libraries with Library Event Coordinators (Banks and Walker from NW and Gabrielson from DN) was moderated by Julie Ballou (NW).  This panel offered librarians a chance to hear from other librarians about what it is like to be a librarian at a library with a LEC.  The discussion was part of the ongoing evaluation process from Library Operations in regard to the pilot LEC position.

Selected questions asked by the moderator and the answers are as follows:

1. Do you think that having a library event coordinator at your library has put more or less importance or created more or less of a sense of value for library programming?
   Panelists generally agreed that the importance or value of programming has not changed but that an opportunity for more programs was created.
2. What kind of input in program ideas do librarians have at your location?  What role do they play as program presenters, doing bibliographies, program-related displays, etc?
   At NW the LEC can provide input about programs, but the librarians generally decide what programs there will be. The LEC schedules the room, makes arrangements for things like refreshments, pulls books for displays or for story times, etc. as directed by the librarian. The librarian simply walks into a prepared situation, performs the program, and leaves everything else to the LEC.

   At DN the situation varies but the LEC has more input into selecting programming.

3. Who does the outreach to schools and other organizations?
   At NW the LEC contacts schools about programs and delivers materials but the librarians perform programs and interact with teachers and students. DN does not currently work regularly with schools.
4. Programming budget:  Who makes suggestions for purchases?  Who makes final decisions?  Who oversees the balance?
   At NW the LEC is not responsible for making final budgetary decisions, but does request purchases from the programming budget, make out-of-pocket purchases, and monitor expenditures.   At DN the LEC has more direct control of the budget and makes purchasing decisions.
5. Who does the room booking for programs?  Other organizations or individuals using the program rooms?
   At NW the LEC handles nearly all of the room bookings, including for other organizations. At DN the LEC works with the Headquarters Manager because of the nature of DN rooms. Both DN and NW agree that it is a great relief to have one person handle all of the arrangements and is much better for communication and smooth operation.
6. Who oversees volunteers?  How does this work during summer reading?
   At both DN and NW the SPOC oversees the volunteers. NW did not have volunteers ready for SRP yet so they worked with local schools to get teens. At DN the LEC organized the volunteers for SRP.
7. Who attends programming meetings?  Is the information shared with all staff as needed?
   At NW all librarians and the LEC attend the meetings and information is shared through meetings. At DN there are few meetings and they are attended by only librarians who do programs; information shared on need basis.
8. What are the benefits and drawbacks of having a LEC for your library?
   NW said that the benefits are that the LEC relieves staff of the burdens of programming on top of the regular librarian duties like desk time and collection maintenance; did not identify any drawbacks but specified communication was paramount.

   DN recognized that the potential for great benefit existed but the bugs had not been worked out of the system, chiefly in regard to communication and separation of roles and owing in large part to NW being a totally new operation and DN having been long established.

After the moderator’s questions were complete, attendees were given the opportunity to ask questions of the panel:

• How much control do the LECs have over the selection of the programs offered?
  The answers varied as NW said that the LEC could offer suggestions but that the librarians made the decisions about what was to be offered and who was to perform the program. At DN it was reported that the LEC had wider latitude on selecting the programs offered as well as the times and dates.
• When story times are offered, what are the roles? Who selects the books and reads the stories to the children?
  NW said that the LEC prepares the room and sets up refreshments, etc. and pulls the books and the librarians select the books and read stories then the LEC cleans up. At DN the LEC handles all roles.
• Who does the paperwork involved in programming like advertising, notifying MAC for the calendar, contracts, etc.?
  Both reported the LEC handles all paperwork.
• So what do the LECs do all day?
  NW reported the LEC there is constantly scurrying about making calls, setting up rooms, procuring supplies, doing programming paperwork, etc.; very busy. DN reported that owing to the size of the building and staff rotation they couldn’t say precisely what the LEC does on an hour-by-hour basis, but assumed it would be similar to NW.

Following the panel discussion, Kay Bauman (LO) addressed the group to explain the background behind the LEC position as well as the ongoing evaluation process. She explained that the LEC position germinated from her experiences as a librarian, where she learned the demands programs placed on both programmers and on staff who worked service desks; and later as a library manager when she had to juggle those same demands for her staff; as an administrator she saw that those same issues are common across all libraries. The LEC position is a pilot program in two libraries to see if such a position can alleviate some of the burdens of programming for staff.

The NW and DN library managers, Denyvetta Davis (LO) and Kay Bauman (LO) met numerous times in order to shape the position and have met several times after they were inaugurated to evaluate and assess its progress. The panel discussion at Connect was part of the evaluative process.

When asked about the future of the position, Kay said that the position does need to evolve more before it is ready for system-wide application. She added that staffing is part of the budgetary process, which is a prioritized process, and she did not anticipate an LEC position ranking high in the prioritization in the foreseeable future.

Librarians in Popular Culture

The Connect Forum concluded with a best practices exercise in which the participants shared examples of their favorite librarian characters from popular culture (books, tv, film, etc) and explained what qualities they best exhibited. The intended goal is that we can use the “example” set by these fictional characters to identify qualities to nurture and develop in our own professional lives.

A list of the characters and the identified traits are recorded (direct link) and can be located on the Connect Forum Resources page and those unable to attend are invited to share their own characters and traits and post them in the comments section.

Adjournment

The Connect Librarian Forum adjourned at 4:00pm.