Category: Presentation

“The Future of Librarianship” Delaware Library Town Hall, Dover, DE.

Abstract: Take away the librarians, the staff, but leave the books, the computers, and the architecture and for a week you will have a fine sculpture of a library that every day will become more and more a snapshot of the past. But throw out the books and buildings and leave a dedicated corps of library professionals…invite the public in and they will construct the future.

Now more than ever, the future of Delaware, the future of any state is not in riches we pull from the ground or the glass we send streaming into the sky, but in the decisions and talent of the citizens. They are not passive consumers of libraries, or content, or an audience to democracy, but the very reason we are all here. They deserve a new librarianship, a new library that enables radical positive change. That is focused on knowledge and learning, that is focused on a conversation that is Delaware.

Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/Delaware.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/Delaware.mp3

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“Grand Challenges of Librarianship” Keynote Swedish Library Association’s Annual Conference 2011, Visby, Sweden.

Abstract: Instead of facusing on the future of our communities we all too often seem to chase them through technology hoping to find new relevance for our collections and buildings. In such a world every new tool is a potential threat, any perceived encroachment into documents or services an enemy to be rationalized and dismissed. This must stop. We must first identify Grand Challenges facing our communities and then evaluate our mission in light of these challenges. Only then can we refine, adapt, and create tools to improve society.
Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/Sweden-Lankes.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/Sweden.mp3

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“Radical” Keynote Florida Library Association’s Annual Conference 2011, Orlando, FL.

Abstract: We must go further. We must go deeper into our communities. We must bring radical positive change for our members. They are drowning in overpriced mortgages, our students are entering the job market with crippling academic debt, our children are struggling with underperforming schools.

And we must take a deep long look at ourselves. How can we expect radical positive change in our communities if we are unwilling to change ourselves? We must put every function, every budget item, every assumption under the microscope. We do this not to find efficiencies or downsize or “do more with less,” but to see if they meet the test of our noble and radical mission.

Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/FLA.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/FLA.mp3

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“The Heart of Teaching and Learning Into the Future” SUNY Oswego Library, Oswego, NY.

Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/Oswego.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/OswegoVim.mp3

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“The Post Recession Library” PLA Virtual Spring Symposium 2011, Online.

Abstract: They say a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. How can libraries and librarians use the economic downturn to reintroduce themselves to their community? How can we restructure libraries and the work of librarians for the future? What entrepreneurial services can a post-recession library offer to their communities suffering from unemployment? This session will talk about conceptual approaches and concrete examples of emerging from the downturn.
Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/PLA.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/PLA.mp3 (Sorry for the clicking…I’ll see if PLA has a better audio source)

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“Awesome Librarians” ILEADU Kickoff, Springfield, IL.

Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/ILEADU2.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/ILEADU2.mp3

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“Libraries and Broadband: Forging a New Social Compact” Delaware Library BTOP Launch, Newark, DE.

Abstract: The time for introspection is done. The time for trivia is done. The time for looking for the future of libraries in catalogs, and strategic plans is done. The needs of our communities is too great, and our promise for improvement to large. Our families worry about jobs and the ability to fight their way into a shrinking middle class. Our education system is broken – students unable to learn, or drowning under crushing debt. Our system of government increasingly polarized, our appetites for energy unsustainable, and the very memory of our society eroding behind walls of commerce and false scarcity and obsolescence. These then are among our grand challenges. 

And I know what you are thinking. I know that tomorrow you’ll be dealing with broken printers, and shelving backlogs, and the rising costs of subscriptions. But you must look up. You must never make what you do replace why you do it. And if you can’t link broken printers and shelving to the grand challenges of our society, then you ought to ask why you are doing them. We must stop reacting to the world around us and start inspiring it!

For too long have we defined the core of our profession – service – as standing ready to serve. No one ever changed the world by standing ready. We do it through action. This is the time – this is the place – we are the people.

Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2011/Delaware-Lankes.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2011/Newark.mp3

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“Libraries of the Future” Presentation to the Friends of the Dallas Public Library, Dallas, TX.

Abstract: It takes a community to raise a library.
Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/DallasPL.pdf
Audio: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Pod/2010/Dallas-Short.mp3

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Future of Libraries from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.

“Libraries and Broadband: Becoming Radical Change Agents in Our Communities” Vermont FiberConnect: The Library Link Summit, Stowe, VT.

Abstract: And so we come to the point. Why bring broadband libraries. We don’t do it as a means to bring facebook to the masses. We wire our buildings not as points of distraction or simply another service the library offers. Broadband is not a way to bring the world to the citizens of Vermont, but to unleash the passions and potentials of the citizens of Vermont on the rest of the world. Just as the roads of previous generations bound together empires and democracies We can use broadband to bring together the farmer and the lawyer, the entrepreneur and the student, the politician and the protestor in a grand conversation on the future of the state.
Slides: https://davidlankes.org/rdlankes/Presentations/2010/Vermont.pdf

Due to conference setup I was not able to capture the audio and screencast. However, the session was video taped, so I hope to add these later.