When the Library Of Congress appointed Carla Hayden as the Director in 2016, everyone in the library world was excited, and not only because she was the first actual Librarian to hold the post but also because she came from a Public Library background. And it was not any public library background. She came from Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore, a library that was always ahead of the curve in putting its patrons first.
Click here for more about Hayden.
Knowing this, I have been optimistic about her tenure since she began, and for being in a very solidly "old boys" club she has not disappointed. No only has seen made sure that the LoC's holding are more diverse and inclusive of the entire American experience, including making sure things like comics are represented, but she has also made the National Book Festival a more accessible event as well.
The one thing hat has been slow, hough, making the LoC building easier and more relevant for people to visit.
Well that is about to change as the LoC is embarking on a transformative project to make its access to our history and its wealth of information more accessible to every citizen. Click here to read about the plans. From that article:
“At the Library of Congress, we want you to make a make a personal connection, to find yourself here and explore your own history, so you can tell your own stories,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said. “We want to transform the visitor experience for the people who visit the Library of Congress in person and the millions more who access us online.”
Over the next few years, the Library will deliver a new experience, “A Library for You,” to bring that vision to life.
“By opening windows to our world,” Hayden said, “by sharing more of the Library’s treasures with the public and engaging children and young adults in its collections, we will greatly increase Americans’ access to knowledge.”
Washington, DC is home to dozens of museums and archives that are for the "People." They are free and open to the public, just as the LoC has been, but unlike the LoC, those museums made the visitor experience their top priority. Allowing the American People free access to American treasures and interesting exhibits has always been those museums mission, and now the LoC will join them.
Do not underestimate how HUGE a change this is. For is entire existence the LoC has begrudgingly allowed snippets of access, a single item in the lobby here and there, always falling back on the excuse that they cannot do more because their main job is to be the Library for those serving in government.
However, when you put a public librarian with a history of prioritizing access to the people in charge, the entire look, mission, and accessibility of the LoC has been able to change in less than a decade.
This news is great for everyone in our country, but today, I want to bring it all back to you, and your service at your local public library, I challenge all of you to be more like Dr. Hayden. Are you providing as much access as you can a your library? Seriously look a yourselves. Do you gate-keep? Do you make it hard for people to find what they want? Do you ever move something solely because it would be easier for them to access it?
The LoC used to focus on providing only needs. They never thought about serving the wants of the people. They never thought about access to spaces and information just for fun, curiosity, and enjoyment. And now it is time for he real talk because check yourself: if they can put the people first, you certainly can as well.
This entire blog is about prioritizing the leisure needs of our users. It is about communicating with them to see what they like and what they want. It is about making access easier. And it is about anticipating their needs. I get a lot of backlash from people in the library world who do no agree with me and my tactics. They think I am forgetting about the "rules" and what I as asking for is "too hard." Or they use money s an excuse. Trust me, I have heard it all.
Well, guess what. Dr. Hayden and the entire LoC agrees with me. I no longer have any room in my life for your excuses and your "I can't." Done.
Use their announcement to start a deep dive into your library, or even just your department. Are you running your public library with the users in mind, or are you simply doing things the way they have always been done because it is too much work to center the user? May I remind you, your entire existence is there to serve the community.
In fact, as I like to say, you need to keep working to make access easier because until every single item at your library is checked out at once, your work is not done. You might see this as extreme or as so impossible that you should not strive for it. To that I say, no it is your real goal and since you will never reach it, I call that, "job security."
Don't know where to start, or think your library doesn't need this advice? Okay, check this first. Are your series books shelved in alphabetical order? Chances are they are. So what, you may be thinking. That's what we do, we alphabetize.
Now ask yourself this: How many people read series books in alphabetical order?
I am not going to wait because the answer is ZERO, NONE, NO ONE. Click here to read more of me ranting about this.
Why do we do this? Because it worked within our other systems and we never gave thought to how patrons would browse or use our collections. We blindly followed our "rules." But we followed them with no regard for the end user. We did what was easier for us, not what made sense for readers.
This is exactly what I am talking about. We rarely put the patrons first. This is not a smart choice. It is not your library, it is their library. As long as we have a system so that we can find things when they are asked for, why aren't we making them available in the way our users would most easily find them?
Dr Hayden was on the forefront of this idea. She took flak for it thought out her career, but you know what? She was right. Let's follow her lead.
How can you begin? Ask your patrons. Ask questions like, what didn't you find today? Or ask them to give feedback as to what parts of the collections they wished they had easier access too. Ask where they stumble when using the library. Many people are too embarrassed to ask for help because they feel like it is their fault when they can't find what they need. Or even worse, they don't even know we have something we have spent money on because it is too hard to find.
This is very common. And, it is our fault.
So yes, this LoC news is a "good news" library story for a change. But I am challenging all of you to use it to take a long hard look a yourself and your service. If Dr. Hayden can change the entire culture of the Library of Congress in less than 10 years, you can make patron friendly changes at your library. No more excuses. Get to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment