Our local library district has a new library director, and we just went through our first budget cycle. The director followed the process used in earlier years -- she built a detailed line-item budget and presented it to the board in a special budget review meeting. We walked through the budget line by line, asking questions, and based on those questions and some updates the budget was revised. The trustees were provided the final budget during the regular monthly meeting and were expected to review the changes and to approve the budget. This year, there were some major changes but only on a few line items, and the trustees approved the budget in that meeting, although with objections about the process.
The library director should have been given some guidance as to what the board was looking for in a budget, and how it should have been presented to us. The guidance was not provided for philosophical reasons -- the board president believes the director needs to put together the budget that the library needs without being given any guidelines or goals, beyond knowing the changes in taxes that will be available. This certainly seems to be the tail wagging the dog if a board believes that fiscal responsibility is of utmost concern, as the pot will most always be spent.
Surprising was that no summary diagrams were provided. Granted, this was historic practice, but as the new director used her first budget as an opportunity to rename line items and remove some traditional items, this would have been quite useful. I ended up building my own graphics and presenting to the board, and I believe the way I presented set the stage well for the budget modifications and subsequent approval.
Here's what I will recommend to the director for future budgets:
I am primarily interested in summary budget comparisons to previous budgets and actuals. From this summary, which should be presented graphically as well as in spreadsheet, I should be able to see how large budget items compare and how the totals compare. As trustees we need to be able to say how much the budget changed each year, as well as the items that went into it that changed.
Secondly, I need to know that our budget funds our long-term plans as we expect. In this year's preliminary budget, we were surprised to uncover that our "savings" had dropped to zero while our budget had increased by roughly 3x inflation. This was discussed and changed to more appropriate numbers.
Third, I need to know that we are not increasing long-term liabilities with the budget. In our case, we were surprised with unforeseen unfunded pension issues. Normal funding of the pension is in the budget, as well as catch-up payments, but not enough to cover the new issues. The trustees will absolutely need to define how rapidly we meet these obligations over the next couple of years. Any other long-term liabilities need to be tracked and validated in the budget cycle.
Fourth, I believe a yearly budget is a good place to define investments and divestments in services we offer. Instead of just giving line items that may hide these new or ending programs, we should specify these at this time. If we do it during the budget, we can gauge the savings of divested services and ensure that shut-down costs are covered. And we can understand new programs and new ongoing costs that can be expected. This need to report these items will also set the expectation by the board that the library will be moving forward and not just providing status quo services. The board needs to know this kind of information as the public often asks how we are reducing costs or investing in the library.
These should be minor additions to the budget preparation cycle, hopefully reflecting work that is already being done but not shared.
The detailed line items are also of interest, but most of what I've seen in previous board meetings in going over these are that there are as many questions about small line items as large line items -- often more time is spent on small items! Think postage vs. payroll... I think this reflects the board member's need to provide recommendations while sticking with safer, low-cost budget items. The first step is admitting you have a problem, and I'll admit I've done this in the past. I'll make the effort to reduce the time I spend nit-picking when I see those other items!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
The new library director's contact list
Our suburban library has a new library director starting soon. If I had a say, I would recommend that the following contacts are added to her email/telephone list at the top, in order that these folks be contacted first with a self introduction. Why? I think the role of our library director, beyond day to day operations, is to position the library to take advantage of opportunities made available to better our library, its patrons, and the district.
1. Contacts at local large companies. We have 2 Fortune 500 companies based in our small suburb. I would like to see the corporate giving person as well as the librarians for these companies on speed dial. I see the opportunity for collaboration to better the district with these folks.
2. Head of Chamber of Commerce
3. Heads of other local business and charitable groups, including Kiwanis and Rotary.
4. Mayor and village manager of our village.
5. School principals for all local public and private schools.
6. Library heads at local university and at local arboretum.
7. Library or administrative contacts at other local colleges and trade schools (there are more than 4).
8. County tax officials (always need to check on taxes)
9. Protective services - chief of police and fire chief
10. Contacts at largest vendors - architect, outside maintenance, janitorial, printer, ...
11. Local press - not so many left, but include Patch
12. Partner organization heads - Friends group and Foundation
13. Influential local groups - e.g. Womens Club
14. Directors of every neighboring library
15. Local TEDx organization leader, other local lecture organizations
16. Insurance contacts
17. Managers of local real estate management companies with available retail space
18. Hotel managers (space availability, program tie-ins, audience for programs)
19. Local visitors bureau
20. Local Realtors organization
21. Operators of local venues for our programs or joint programs (schools, churches, hotels, restaurants, ...)
Many of these people could be sources of funds for the library or for programs. Some can provide space for programs, or content or audience. I would like to think that the library director will be ready to find any opportunities that come up with these people and organizations. I would want to see relationships created with the people so that the library is considered when opportunities come up. I would like to have the library have the attitude of "Let's make a deal".
1. Contacts at local large companies. We have 2 Fortune 500 companies based in our small suburb. I would like to see the corporate giving person as well as the librarians for these companies on speed dial. I see the opportunity for collaboration to better the district with these folks.
2. Head of Chamber of Commerce
3. Heads of other local business and charitable groups, including Kiwanis and Rotary.
4. Mayor and village manager of our village.
5. School principals for all local public and private schools.
6. Library heads at local university and at local arboretum.
7. Library or administrative contacts at other local colleges and trade schools (there are more than 4).
8. County tax officials (always need to check on taxes)
9. Protective services - chief of police and fire chief
10. Contacts at largest vendors - architect, outside maintenance, janitorial, printer, ...
11. Local press - not so many left, but include Patch
12. Partner organization heads - Friends group and Foundation
13. Influential local groups - e.g. Womens Club
14. Directors of every neighboring library
15. Local TEDx organization leader, other local lecture organizations
16. Insurance contacts
17. Managers of local real estate management companies with available retail space
18. Hotel managers (space availability, program tie-ins, audience for programs)
19. Local visitors bureau
20. Local Realtors organization
21. Operators of local venues for our programs or joint programs (schools, churches, hotels, restaurants, ...)
Many of these people could be sources of funds for the library or for programs. Some can provide space for programs, or content or audience. I would like to think that the library director will be ready to find any opportunities that come up with these people and organizations. I would want to see relationships created with the people so that the library is considered when opportunities come up. I would like to have the library have the attitude of "Let's make a deal".
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Paying for Staying - Bonus for Employee Anniversaries in the Library
The library has a board policy that includes a token recognition for employees for every 5 years of employment at the library. By token, I mean that at 10 years the employee was awarded $25, and at 20 years the award has climbed to $50, and at 30 years it hits $100. A nice recognition, but nothing to change minds when considering a change in employment. Based on a recommendation from employees, a board policy change was put into play and passed the policy review subcommittee. The new policy award amounts were increased roughly by 10x. So under the new schedule, at 10 years the employee would be recognized with a $200 bonus. At the high end, 30+ years, employees would see bonuses over $1000 every five years. While I'm sure our long-term employees love this, as a board member, I see issues with a 10x increase in monetary bonuses for longevity and the message it sends:
1. In my experience in large corporations, we had token recognitions similar to those in the original schedule. My spouse works for the local park district and received much less for her anniversary than our original schedule provided - a true, non-monetary token. I don't understand why library workers should be rewarded so generously when other workers don't see these kinds of bonuses in similar public and private jobs. I understand that some companies do pay more generous bonuses, but that hasn't been my experience at all. In sum, it's too much!
2. One of the reasons purported for this increase is to increase retention. We don't have a retention problem during normal times, and in these hard economic times, we really don't have a retention problem. I believe a case could be made that a little more turnover could be good for us -- many of the good ideas we've heard from employees are coming from recent hires.
3. While the original schedule is mostly a token, this new money is not a token -- it is really additional compensation. This would apply to all employees, and we have a large percentage of part timers. So at 10 years, this bonus might amount to a week's pay! For the full-timers, this is probably closer to a day's pay at 10 years, but would be closer to a week's pay at 30 years. This seems unfair to me, although other schedules that take differences in pay into account would likely be much more complex -- this isn't good either. Another point this brings up is that this has not been treated like a compensation policy. We approve salary ranges yearly, but this move did not consider the impact to salary ranges. If an employee is at the top of their range, do they get the bonus? I don't know, and I can see arguments on both sides of that issue.
4. This costs money. Our financial person estimated that we would increase our expenses roughly .1% of our budget, or roughly .2% of our budget for salaries and bonuses. While this appears minimal, it's another step to spend more money on employees and less elsewhere, like programs and books. And as mentioned above, this doesn't appear to be an investment with positive payback. It also pays out more as the employee nears retirement. Does this increase retirement costs for these employees? That's my bet. Was that taken into account in our numbers? I doubt it.
5. Any increase of 10x in a cost seems excessive in the current economic and political environment. I'm not sure if any of our local taxpayers are seeing such an increase in any of their compensation/bonus plans.
Preferred Alternative
I understand that employees don't see much benefit to receiving a token bonus. However, I feel the bonus is only a token of our appreciation and shouldn't be considered a way to get a windfall every five years and to juice retirement pay. My preferred alternative is to keep the schedule as it is, and to offer other forms of compensation or bonus that aren't tied to staying in a job, but are rewards for good ideas and for work behaviors that we want to see more of, merit rewards. I feel that the library director would be responsible for details about this kind of bonus program, and for operating it. The library gets value out of this kind of program -- better customer service, new ideas, more qualified and informed employees, etc. Examples of ways to accomplish this that I would prefer would be expanding the top of the salary ranges to allow higher performers to earn higher salaries without promotions, or a bonus program for ongoing education and certification, including library topics and customer service skills. With these incentive plans, at least we would be making an effort to follow our values with respect to the library and to the librarian.
With a high-payout anniversary bonus program, the value the library receives appears to be possibly retaining employees with more than ten or fifteen years of experience at the library, at least until after collecting an anniversary bonus. While there are savings in hiring and training, there are costs, especially lost opportunity costs, bad pr, and program costs, that weigh against this program, in my mind reducing or eliminating value to the library. If we're investing new money in a compensation program, I'd prefer it to provide value.
1. In my experience in large corporations, we had token recognitions similar to those in the original schedule. My spouse works for the local park district and received much less for her anniversary than our original schedule provided - a true, non-monetary token. I don't understand why library workers should be rewarded so generously when other workers don't see these kinds of bonuses in similar public and private jobs. I understand that some companies do pay more generous bonuses, but that hasn't been my experience at all. In sum, it's too much!
2. One of the reasons purported for this increase is to increase retention. We don't have a retention problem during normal times, and in these hard economic times, we really don't have a retention problem. I believe a case could be made that a little more turnover could be good for us -- many of the good ideas we've heard from employees are coming from recent hires.
3. While the original schedule is mostly a token, this new money is not a token -- it is really additional compensation. This would apply to all employees, and we have a large percentage of part timers. So at 10 years, this bonus might amount to a week's pay! For the full-timers, this is probably closer to a day's pay at 10 years, but would be closer to a week's pay at 30 years. This seems unfair to me, although other schedules that take differences in pay into account would likely be much more complex -- this isn't good either. Another point this brings up is that this has not been treated like a compensation policy. We approve salary ranges yearly, but this move did not consider the impact to salary ranges. If an employee is at the top of their range, do they get the bonus? I don't know, and I can see arguments on both sides of that issue.
4. This costs money. Our financial person estimated that we would increase our expenses roughly .1% of our budget, or roughly .2% of our budget for salaries and bonuses. While this appears minimal, it's another step to spend more money on employees and less elsewhere, like programs and books. And as mentioned above, this doesn't appear to be an investment with positive payback. It also pays out more as the employee nears retirement. Does this increase retirement costs for these employees? That's my bet. Was that taken into account in our numbers? I doubt it.
5. Any increase of 10x in a cost seems excessive in the current economic and political environment. I'm not sure if any of our local taxpayers are seeing such an increase in any of their compensation/bonus plans.
Preferred Alternative
I understand that employees don't see much benefit to receiving a token bonus. However, I feel the bonus is only a token of our appreciation and shouldn't be considered a way to get a windfall every five years and to juice retirement pay. My preferred alternative is to keep the schedule as it is, and to offer other forms of compensation or bonus that aren't tied to staying in a job, but are rewards for good ideas and for work behaviors that we want to see more of, merit rewards. I feel that the library director would be responsible for details about this kind of bonus program, and for operating it. The library gets value out of this kind of program -- better customer service, new ideas, more qualified and informed employees, etc. Examples of ways to accomplish this that I would prefer would be expanding the top of the salary ranges to allow higher performers to earn higher salaries without promotions, or a bonus program for ongoing education and certification, including library topics and customer service skills. With these incentive plans, at least we would be making an effort to follow our values with respect to the library and to the librarian.
With a high-payout anniversary bonus program, the value the library receives appears to be possibly retaining employees with more than ten or fifteen years of experience at the library, at least until after collecting an anniversary bonus. While there are savings in hiring and training, there are costs, especially lost opportunity costs, bad pr, and program costs, that weigh against this program, in my mind reducing or eliminating value to the library. If we're investing new money in a compensation program, I'd prefer it to provide value.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Library Planning Concept - Sources of Funding
I wanted a place to track some ideas about where our local library could fit in the community in the next five to ten years. Earlier writeups described scenarios for future technology support and usage, as well as where the library has a physical presense in the community. I now want to move away from those (predominately) “sinks” of funding to focus on sources of funding for our local library. In this case, I will focus on a few areas that I feel are worth exploring, as they key on some strengths of our library, as well as trying to overcome some weaknesses. Your mileage may vary, as they say, since your library’s strengths and weaknesses will be different. See if there are any ideas here that are new to you, and let me know.
Our library is currently funded about 98% by tax dollars. The remaining funding consists of donations from the library Friends organization, non-governmental grants, sale or auction of assets (including media), “gifts” from developers of property, investment returns, and gifts from patrons. Another source of non-tax funds is fees and fines, although in our library’s case this will be shrinking based on recent policy changes. I have outlined some areas that could be evaluated by a library director to consider for expanding non-tax funding. I would suggest in a library our size, about $4mm annual budget, should have a director or designate spend at least 25% of their time on evaluating and pursuing additional revenues in this way -- I believe the “low-hanging” projects in this list could generate a substantial return on this time investment -- at least in our case. Benefits achieved could be used for mitigating tax increases and to building the value of the library by investing in physical plant and services.
1. Tax income
a. Review policies and procedures to annex and de-annex property not covered by library service
b. Review policies and procedures to capture non-resident fees
c. Evaluate opportunities to merge with neighboring library districts. If neighboring libraries aren’t district libraries, investigate whether the municipal library neighbors would consider becoming a district if we see any joint benefit. Consider property changes if there is sense to library and taxpayers.
d. Evaluate appropriation policy - budget to cover costs or target specific amounts (zero based or growth based budgeting)
2. Personal Giving
a. Build a strong, visible and active non-profit Foundation. Determine proper support of foundations dedicated to the library
b. Nurture strong, visible, and active Friends organization. Create agreements of how funding requests occur and how programs are funded (our Friends funds programs at the library and at the local Park District).
c. Create an approach to handling legacy requests, including marketing and recognition programs, naming options.
d. Consider approaches to handling other requests for gifts, including ways to provide donor recognition.
e.
3. Corporate Giving
a. Determine best approach to target local businesses, including whether to target general requests or specific project funding requests.
b. Build relationships with large and small local businesses to help determine what funding amount and projects would be considered.
c. Consider approaches to marketing to possible corporate donors and methods of donor recognition.
d. Evaluate future opportunities for developer donations in district.
4. Sourcing
a. Evaluate strengths of library that can become the base for sourcing to other entities. For instance, provide outsourced librarians to local school districts, local colleges, and local corporations.
5. Grants
a. Determine policy on competing for grants. Invest more time and effort in grants tied to strategic projects. Evaluate needs for dedicated grants writer.
6. Asset sales
a. Continue providing donated and culled media assets to Friends and Better World Books for resale. Optimize return and control of funds by considering other auction approaches for media assets, including direct eBay/Amazon sales of highly valued media.
b. Look for other sources of assets that might be valued more by others than by the library. For instance, donated or purchased art items may no longer fit the library and could be auctioned.
c. Consider options for library owned real property. Is there value in selling or trading any property?
7. Investment returns
a. Optimize short term investment returns of working capital.
b. Optimize longer term accounts, such as Special Reserves for future projects.
c. Consider investments that throw off intermediate returns as well as planning for future expenditures. For instance, would purchasing property for future expansion allow us to make short-term income, such as parking fees or rents?
8. Fines and usage fees
a. Optimize fine and fee schedules to limit community pain while maintaining or growing specific usage fees -- for instance should excessive interlibrary loan requests include a postage or administration fee? A goal would be to ensure requests well beyond the normal/common are paid for at least in part by the requestor.
9. Media selection
a. Consider “subscription” or sponsorship service to sell some choice in media acquisition to subscriber. For instance, a Dr. Who fan could donate $25 per year to the library with the understanding that the library will purchase more Dr. Who videos than in the past. This could also target specific media, such as XBox games, or a business need such as specific types of managerial books.
10. Asset creation and sale/licensing
a. Consider information assets that can be created or packaged by the library that could be offered to the public.
i. Local history information, packaged in DVDs for sale.
ii. Local genealogy information, including public records such as detailed historic census info, as well as library generated information such as cemetery records, house histories, and historic pictures packaged as data DVDs.
iii. Lisle information packages for Chamber of Commerce and realtor usage.
b. Consider information assets that can be created that could be offered to other libraries.
i. Software applications for new uses of catalog.
ii. Process documentation that can be packaged and sold to other libraries, such as catalog evaluation criteria, shared laptop cleaning processes, etc.
iii. Migration of needed apps to new platforms, such as iPad, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows 7, etc.
iv. Training material for new technology uses.
v. Consulting, such as sharing or leading processes to generate a library strategic plan.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Library planning scenario - Technology
This is another focus view of where our local library district could find itself in five to ten years. This is one scenario that could occur given events and decisions likely to play out over the next few years.
The library is as known for technology usage as it was for books twenty years ago. Residents and other users of the library, including students at local colleges and trade schools, preschoolers going to school in the district, and businessmen and women working in the district, have been able to use the library to review new and not-so-new technology, to take classes to learn new things, to use technology to better showcase their own creativity, and to participate in collaborations with others, such as electronic meeting rooms that host real-time book club discussions and bulletin boards.
Where libraries have traditionally focused on information in print, our library was also focused on providing meeting spaces for patrons. With technology, we have been able to have an impact on both. In the print world, we still see users demanding their traditional bound paper books and periodicals, and those are still provided, although we are seeing our mix shift to providing additional digital books, both e-books for readers as well as downloadable audio books. The library has been able to find vendors that can provide our patrons with almost immediate access to millions of books and periodicals through a subscription kept by the library, downloadable to their reader device. As there are still many of these in existence, an effort is made to support the top three or four devices with their proper formats, and the library has a technology policy in place to ensure that our patrons can make technology decisions and can count on us to provide content support for a specified period of time, much like a software vendor defines support for a version of a software package.
While patrons no longer need to visit the library building if they download content over the internet, they can come to the library to see new devices on display and be able to checked out new readers and players to try them out. This was accomplished in part through grants from some of the same companies that sell the readers and players, as a way to broaden their audience.
The library has taken a number of steps beyond the sharing platforms used exclusively by the book clubs to track meetings and readings, and now offers a software meeting place that can also handle live interaction between people discussing a book. This can be accomplished at any time using chat, but during the physical book club meeting, people can participate from remote locations, viewing a video and audio feed of the meetings. This same technology is made available to patrons to run their non-business meetings, and has been widely used by scouting groups, homeowners associations, interest clubs, etc. The library has partnered with software service vendors to make available web-based collaboration spaces that have tools that can be used to maintain typical small to medium scale local endevors, including governance capabilities, archiving of out-of-date information, group calendars, and live online meetings.
How was this progress possible? One move was tied to the realization that a single person charged with IT tends to be overwhelmed with operational issues and didn't have time for all of the planning issues involved with looking far ahead. By dividing the job into two, the operations IT side got the optimization that saved some budget -- including sunsetting applications when no longer useful or valuable. The planning side got a czar that could review the technology (hardware, software, services) that could be brought into the library, generate the grant requests to fund them, and manage the relationships with local colleges for technical help. The planning czar also is responsible for a local technology focus group that provides guidance for the future direction of the library. This group was developed as a superset of the city's technology planning commission.
One of the other focuses that has enabled a mid-size suburb to excel in the technology options they offer their patrons is the focus on the practical side of technology. This includes the adaption of limited sets of technology that was not in the mainstream but which had a specific use tied to the goals of the library and the community. For instance, while computers or iPad-type devices start at around $500, the library chose instead to focus on the use of small sub-$100 computers (think Chumby or mini iPad) to display library information at the library as well as community information at local businesses, hotels, restaurants, train stations, and government offices. Funded through a unique grant with the Chamber of Commerce and paid for in part through hotel taxes, the library was able to provide a platform to share community news and information provided by local media outlets, including the Tribune and AOL. Other "advances" that were not cutting edge included supporting cell phone device access to the catalog.
The library also began offering additional sources of local information. After a trial of a number of local information sources, patrons repsonded positively to having a fire and police radio broadcast over the internet. They also liked the video feeds of the library so they could see how busy the library was, including the seating areas and the computer availability. They also appreciated live videocasting of local events such as the French Market -- this allowed people to see what was being offered before they left their homes. The live broadcasts of local government meetings was not popular, but recorded sessions were heavily used.
Technology also played a role in other new offerings of the library, including video and audio production capabilities that patrons could use by checking out time on the systems. Students developed films and art projects and created documentaries for radio, including displays for our local history museums. Another offering was the support of a "maker space" in conjunction with local hobbiest groups -- a sort of meeting area for physical creation.
Future writeups are planned to discuss two additional focus areas, 1) the marketing of the library and 2) how the library fits in a broader political context, the library's "meta-place". I'm hoping I just coined that term...
The library is as known for technology usage as it was for books twenty years ago. Residents and other users of the library, including students at local colleges and trade schools, preschoolers going to school in the district, and businessmen and women working in the district, have been able to use the library to review new and not-so-new technology, to take classes to learn new things, to use technology to better showcase their own creativity, and to participate in collaborations with others, such as electronic meeting rooms that host real-time book club discussions and bulletin boards.
Where libraries have traditionally focused on information in print, our library was also focused on providing meeting spaces for patrons. With technology, we have been able to have an impact on both. In the print world, we still see users demanding their traditional bound paper books and periodicals, and those are still provided, although we are seeing our mix shift to providing additional digital books, both e-books for readers as well as downloadable audio books. The library has been able to find vendors that can provide our patrons with almost immediate access to millions of books and periodicals through a subscription kept by the library, downloadable to their reader device. As there are still many of these in existence, an effort is made to support the top three or four devices with their proper formats, and the library has a technology policy in place to ensure that our patrons can make technology decisions and can count on us to provide content support for a specified period of time, much like a software vendor defines support for a version of a software package.
While patrons no longer need to visit the library building if they download content over the internet, they can come to the library to see new devices on display and be able to checked out new readers and players to try them out. This was accomplished in part through grants from some of the same companies that sell the readers and players, as a way to broaden their audience.
The library has taken a number of steps beyond the sharing platforms used exclusively by the book clubs to track meetings and readings, and now offers a software meeting place that can also handle live interaction between people discussing a book. This can be accomplished at any time using chat, but during the physical book club meeting, people can participate from remote locations, viewing a video and audio feed of the meetings. This same technology is made available to patrons to run their non-business meetings, and has been widely used by scouting groups, homeowners associations, interest clubs, etc. The library has partnered with software service vendors to make available web-based collaboration spaces that have tools that can be used to maintain typical small to medium scale local endevors, including governance capabilities, archiving of out-of-date information, group calendars, and live online meetings.
How was this progress possible? One move was tied to the realization that a single person charged with IT tends to be overwhelmed with operational issues and didn't have time for all of the planning issues involved with looking far ahead. By dividing the job into two, the operations IT side got the optimization that saved some budget -- including sunsetting applications when no longer useful or valuable. The planning side got a czar that could review the technology (hardware, software, services) that could be brought into the library, generate the grant requests to fund them, and manage the relationships with local colleges for technical help. The planning czar also is responsible for a local technology focus group that provides guidance for the future direction of the library. This group was developed as a superset of the city's technology planning commission.
One of the other focuses that has enabled a mid-size suburb to excel in the technology options they offer their patrons is the focus on the practical side of technology. This includes the adaption of limited sets of technology that was not in the mainstream but which had a specific use tied to the goals of the library and the community. For instance, while computers or iPad-type devices start at around $500, the library chose instead to focus on the use of small sub-$100 computers (think Chumby or mini iPad) to display library information at the library as well as community information at local businesses, hotels, restaurants, train stations, and government offices. Funded through a unique grant with the Chamber of Commerce and paid for in part through hotel taxes, the library was able to provide a platform to share community news and information provided by local media outlets, including the Tribune and AOL. Other "advances" that were not cutting edge included supporting cell phone device access to the catalog.
The library also began offering additional sources of local information. After a trial of a number of local information sources, patrons repsonded positively to having a fire and police radio broadcast over the internet. They also liked the video feeds of the library so they could see how busy the library was, including the seating areas and the computer availability. They also appreciated live videocasting of local events such as the French Market -- this allowed people to see what was being offered before they left their homes. The live broadcasts of local government meetings was not popular, but recorded sessions were heavily used.
Technology also played a role in other new offerings of the library, including video and audio production capabilities that patrons could use by checking out time on the systems. Students developed films and art projects and created documentaries for radio, including displays for our local history museums. Another offering was the support of a "maker space" in conjunction with local hobbiest groups -- a sort of meeting area for physical creation.
Future writeups are planned to discuss two additional focus areas, 1) the marketing of the library and 2) how the library fits in a broader political context, the library's "meta-place". I'm hoping I just coined that term...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Library planning scenario 1 - Place
First, a little background. I am working with a spectacular group of professional librarians and I asked them for ideas of where the local library would be in 5 or 10 years. I took the many responses and looked for similarities, and the most mentioned topic was related to place - the library facility and other locations to do the work of librarying. The following scenario is one idea taking those ideas and my own to a possible future, focusing on place. I'm not saying this is what we should or must do, this is just one possible storyline. I want this description of place to help people think beyond the current situation -- not with incremental changes but with major changes. Will these things happen? They already are somewhere.
The library trustees and director saw the usage of library facilities rising, through good times and bad, and decided to act on the community's demand for more meeting space. Although the main facility had been renovated within the past ten years, some modifications were made to increase the number of meeting rooms to handle diverse clients. Additional small group meeting rooms were created, and these have been used enough to require time limits to be enforced. The rooms are used by students working on projects or group study at nights and on weekends. Also at those same times, people are using these rooms for video and audio conferences through their laptops, for their work or their interests. During the work week, the rooms see usage from local residents that work out of their homes, such as sales people and engineers, to provide a local space with printing and internet access, and a chance sit through lunch, which you don't get at Panera without ordering.
As part of the space reorganization, the library also upgraded the technology in the larger meeting rooms. This allows these rooms to be used for professional quality meetings and has, in fact, drawn some users away from holding meetings at local hotels.
The library staff has also worked to extend the physical reach of the library beyond the walls of the facility. Starting with showcasing the collection and signing up patrons at the French Market, the library expanded to provide "pop-up" locations in partnership with local businessmen. One successful temporary library was opened in a retail mall near a local middle school, about 2 miles from the library, in an unrented retail space. The site was the location for a combination group study hall and science fair workshop, staffed by librarians and school volunteers, including a shelf of material to check out and for reference, and wifi for the students. The location started as a study area for quarter finals, changed to a workshop area, and then became the science fair showcase in the three months it was in existence. The costs were minimal but covered in part through grants.
Another way the library extended it's physical presence was through partnership with local hotels, schools, municipal buildings, major companies, restaurants, and local museums. The library took the lead to document meeting areas throughout the district that could possibly be used by the public. Through this knowledge the library was able to recommend to local groups where meeting sites could be used. The library was able to work out reciprocal arrangements with room providers, funded in part through the local convention bureau. The Boy Scouts meeting at the Hyatt? Why not? A lawyers convention using Village Hall's meeting room for a mock trial? Why not? The library maintaining the information and agreements? Who else?
The library also saw an unfulfilled need for a place for technology training for people throughout the area. The room was upgraded in technology and in furniture to provide for a computer training environment. Laptops are available to be networked for a training class in this room, or computers can be brought in through a service firm contracted to the library. The room is used for library programs to teach patrons computer and internet skills, but is also often used by local businesses to provide group computer training. The room has even been used by local businesses who have had issues with their facilities (flood, fire) to provide training.
The library's mission of maintaining local history has also pointed the library to jointly staff the local historical society's museum and to provide a historical display showcasing the holdings of the library. This kind of interactive display has also been used for short periods of time at local schools and business lobbies, to inform even people who may only be in town for their education or work that the library can provide services that could be useful.
Other place ideas: automated Redbox-type machine for books at train station and elsewhere, Redbox partnership on facility to reduce expenses on new DVDs, expansion for meeting rooms and other popular uses...
Next up, either Funding and Political Organization or Technology, TBD. Technology was the focus of most writeups from the local professional librarians we surveyed. Surprisingly, funding was not the main focus of any -- maybe because it is more difficult to think about.
The library trustees and director saw the usage of library facilities rising, through good times and bad, and decided to act on the community's demand for more meeting space. Although the main facility had been renovated within the past ten years, some modifications were made to increase the number of meeting rooms to handle diverse clients. Additional small group meeting rooms were created, and these have been used enough to require time limits to be enforced. The rooms are used by students working on projects or group study at nights and on weekends. Also at those same times, people are using these rooms for video and audio conferences through their laptops, for their work or their interests. During the work week, the rooms see usage from local residents that work out of their homes, such as sales people and engineers, to provide a local space with printing and internet access, and a chance sit through lunch, which you don't get at Panera without ordering.
As part of the space reorganization, the library also upgraded the technology in the larger meeting rooms. This allows these rooms to be used for professional quality meetings and has, in fact, drawn some users away from holding meetings at local hotels.
The library staff has also worked to extend the physical reach of the library beyond the walls of the facility. Starting with showcasing the collection and signing up patrons at the French Market, the library expanded to provide "pop-up" locations in partnership with local businessmen. One successful temporary library was opened in a retail mall near a local middle school, about 2 miles from the library, in an unrented retail space. The site was the location for a combination group study hall and science fair workshop, staffed by librarians and school volunteers, including a shelf of material to check out and for reference, and wifi for the students. The location started as a study area for quarter finals, changed to a workshop area, and then became the science fair showcase in the three months it was in existence. The costs were minimal but covered in part through grants.
Another way the library extended it's physical presence was through partnership with local hotels, schools, municipal buildings, major companies, restaurants, and local museums. The library took the lead to document meeting areas throughout the district that could possibly be used by the public. Through this knowledge the library was able to recommend to local groups where meeting sites could be used. The library was able to work out reciprocal arrangements with room providers, funded in part through the local convention bureau. The Boy Scouts meeting at the Hyatt? Why not? A lawyers convention using Village Hall's meeting room for a mock trial? Why not? The library maintaining the information and agreements? Who else?
The library also saw an unfulfilled need for a place for technology training for people throughout the area. The room was upgraded in technology and in furniture to provide for a computer training environment. Laptops are available to be networked for a training class in this room, or computers can be brought in through a service firm contracted to the library. The room is used for library programs to teach patrons computer and internet skills, but is also often used by local businesses to provide group computer training. The room has even been used by local businesses who have had issues with their facilities (flood, fire) to provide training.
The library's mission of maintaining local history has also pointed the library to jointly staff the local historical society's museum and to provide a historical display showcasing the holdings of the library. This kind of interactive display has also been used for short periods of time at local schools and business lobbies, to inform even people who may only be in town for their education or work that the library can provide services that could be useful.
Other place ideas: automated Redbox-type machine for books at train station and elsewhere, Redbox partnership on facility to reduce expenses on new DVDs, expansion for meeting rooms and other popular uses...
Next up, either Funding and Political Organization or Technology, TBD. Technology was the focus of most writeups from the local professional librarians we surveyed. Surprisingly, funding was not the main focus of any -- maybe because it is more difficult to think about.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Premium Service Level at the Local Library - Could it Work?
I had this idea, probably not original, but it might be of interest. The
germ of the idea is my company's software sales. Although the software is
expensive, we continually get customers to purchase a "designated support
engineer". This is a person who is responsible for having regular (weekly to
monthly) teleconferences with the customer to go over any outstanding issues,
and will visit the customer's site two or three times a year. They can also
manage issues personally through our company, and they end up also being the
first contact for interest in new software or capabilities. Companies will pay
us quite a lot per year for 1/4 time of a person in this role. Given
this concept, I wonder if the library could offer a "designated librarian", for
those that perhaps would be willing to pay.
I imagine the role as follows:
The designated librarian (DL) would be assigned to manage the interface between
this group and the library through in-depth personal service. This means that
the DL would be available during library hours, perhaps through a library
provided cell phone and email/twitter. The DL would take appointments to meet
with assigned constituents at the library, for library walk-thru, to get the
first library card or update them, to discuss research requests or information
searches, etc.
The DL would also spend time outside of the library, working with assigned
groups in their home. There, the DL would research what their constituents want,
specifically what authors/books/music/movies they would like to see more of in
the library, what data sources, what interests they have that could be met by
our events. We could provide a goal that a specific percentage of our puchases
would be targeted to these media, a number of events would be targeted to their
specific needs, etc. This woud also entail a personal delivery service, where
constituents call to request books or media and they are delivered to the house
at a set time. The DL would be computer literate to provide simple lessons on
using the library website and catalog. They would also configure systems to
enable downloadable audiobook/ebooks from the library. They would pick up book
donations for the Friends sale. The DL would be available for appointments, but
would also pro-actively set appointments to talk to people in their homes a
couple of times a year.
I also see the DL providing some direct help to constituents relating to
marketing and selling a house. If asked, I can see the library providing a
packet of information about the village of Lisle and the area for prospective
buyers. The DL could also be asked to work occasional open houses in conjunction with their realtor, to provide
prospective buyers with information about the library and the area. This appears
to fit in with our community part of the library's mission.
I see the DL providing research and legwork to, for instance, verify the
constituent has library access to partner libraries in other cities, where they
work or otherwise spend time. If they are interested in downloadable
books/audiobooks, the DL could also acquire library cards for other libraries
that share their collections of these, such as a local big-city library. They would also verify
access to other area libraries, such as college libraries.
If a set community were the subject of this type of service, such as a
subdivision, the DL could schedule meetings, like homeowners group meetings, at
the library. The subdivision might also be interested in starting their own
neighborhood reading group, and the DL could run the reading group at patrons
homes or in the library.
The constituents of the DL might need some level of research, for their work, or
for their personal life. This might include scholarly research or typical
internet-based reserach, such as finding a home value or used car availability.
It might also include ongoing education, including language training which we
can directly help with. The DL would be able to provide their expertise in
searching for the constituent, with the understanding that they are not the
expert in the field they are looking at.
I'm sure there are many other ideas that could come to play with the designated
librarian concept. I see this as being operated for newly annexed groups of
residences, sort of as a one year internal TIF - the service would be provided
for a year and paid for out of the new tax resources. After the first year, it would be a
separately chargable service. If need be, the service might end up needing to be
privatized if it won't work within the public structure of the library, but that
would come after testing feasibility.
I would think this kind of job would appeal to newly graduated library majors
interested in working with the public outside of the physical library.
I think this concept would provide delighted constituents, reduce demands on the
rest of the library staff, possibly open a new revenue stream, help us see
future constituent needs earlier, and provide a new kind of job within the
library that could be self-sustaining.
Do you think this concept, were we to offer it, would be of interest in our
current situation? And would it be viable coming from a governmental entity? (Probably, sort of like paying for quicker passports.)
germ of the idea is my company's software sales. Although the software is
expensive, we continually get customers to purchase a "designated support
engineer". This is a person who is responsible for having regular (weekly to
monthly) teleconferences with the customer to go over any outstanding issues,
and will visit the customer's site two or three times a year. They can also
manage issues personally through our company, and they end up also being the
first contact for interest in new software or capabilities. Companies will pay
us quite a lot per year for 1/4 time of a person in this role. Given
this concept, I wonder if the library could offer a "designated librarian", for
those that perhaps would be willing to pay.
I imagine the role as follows:
The designated librarian (DL) would be assigned to manage the interface between
this group and the library through in-depth personal service. This means that
the DL would be available during library hours, perhaps through a library
provided cell phone and email/twitter. The DL would take appointments to meet
with assigned constituents at the library, for library walk-thru, to get the
first library card or update them, to discuss research requests or information
searches, etc.
The DL would also spend time outside of the library, working with assigned
groups in their home. There, the DL would research what their constituents want,
specifically what authors/books/music/movies they would like to see more of in
the library, what data sources, what interests they have that could be met by
our events. We could provide a goal that a specific percentage of our puchases
would be targeted to these media, a number of events would be targeted to their
specific needs, etc. This woud also entail a personal delivery service, where
constituents call to request books or media and they are delivered to the house
at a set time. The DL would be computer literate to provide simple lessons on
using the library website and catalog. They would also configure systems to
enable downloadable audiobook/ebooks from the library. They would pick up book
donations for the Friends sale. The DL would be available for appointments, but
would also pro-actively set appointments to talk to people in their homes a
couple of times a year.
I also see the DL providing some direct help to constituents relating to
marketing and selling a house. If asked, I can see the library providing a
packet of information about the village of Lisle and the area for prospective
buyers. The DL could also be asked to work occasional open houses in conjunction with their realtor, to provide
prospective buyers with information about the library and the area. This appears
to fit in with our community part of the library's mission.
I see the DL providing research and legwork to, for instance, verify the
constituent has library access to partner libraries in other cities, where they
work or otherwise spend time. If they are interested in downloadable
books/audiobooks, the DL could also acquire library cards for other libraries
that share their collections of these, such as a local big-city library. They would also verify
access to other area libraries, such as college libraries.
If a set community were the subject of this type of service, such as a
subdivision, the DL could schedule meetings, like homeowners group meetings, at
the library. The subdivision might also be interested in starting their own
neighborhood reading group, and the DL could run the reading group at patrons
homes or in the library.
The constituents of the DL might need some level of research, for their work, or
for their personal life. This might include scholarly research or typical
internet-based reserach, such as finding a home value or used car availability.
It might also include ongoing education, including language training which we
can directly help with. The DL would be able to provide their expertise in
searching for the constituent, with the understanding that they are not the
expert in the field they are looking at.
I'm sure there are many other ideas that could come to play with the designated
librarian concept. I see this as being operated for newly annexed groups of
residences, sort of as a one year internal TIF - the service would be provided
for a year and paid for out of the new tax resources. After the first year, it would be a
separately chargable service. If need be, the service might end up needing to be
privatized if it won't work within the public structure of the library, but that
would come after testing feasibility.
I would think this kind of job would appeal to newly graduated library majors
interested in working with the public outside of the physical library.
I think this concept would provide delighted constituents, reduce demands on the
rest of the library staff, possibly open a new revenue stream, help us see
future constituent needs earlier, and provide a new kind of job within the
library that could be self-sustaining.
Do you think this concept, were we to offer it, would be of interest in our
current situation? And would it be viable coming from a governmental entity? (Probably, sort of like paying for quicker passports.)
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