Scholar | Speaker | Writer | Teacher | Advocate
We had a great turn out for the Expect More workshop on librarian advocacy co-organized with Collaboratory partners EveryLibrary and Tech Logic. Thanks again to all Collaboratory partners for supporting this important work.
Below is a recording of the event, slides, and audio only version.
Orlando Collaboratory Event from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
Slides: Orlando Workshop Slides
Handouts: Orlando PowerMapping Handouts
Audio Only: http://DavidLankes.org/rdlankes/pod/2016/ALAChopped.mp3
“From Books and Mortar to Community Hubs” The Society of Chief Librarians Seminar 2016 – Changing Horizons: challenges, trends and new ways of delivering. Warwick University, England.
Abstract: Libraries have existed for over 4 millennia not by remaining the same, but by evolving, sometimes rapidly, to meet the needs of the communities they serve. This talk will explore the evolution of librarianship and key messaging for building support from communities.
Slides: SCL Slides
Audio:
SCL from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
Here is a nice short interview on the academic library ideas presented in my new book The New Librarianship Field Guide. To be clear the book is about all sorts of librarians and libraries.
As you probably know by now, I’m headed to the University of South Carolina. I’m very much looking forward to joining the School of Library & Information Science as director. A lot of folks have asked me why South Carolina. The simple answer is the amazing staff, students, and faculty and their desire to make a difference. During my research and visits I was struck by good people doing good work to make a real difference in people’s lives. It really does represent information in action.
One very clear example of this is Cocky’s Reading Express. For the past 10 years the school has been teaming with the University of South Carolina’s athletic department to travel around the state promoting literacy. It has all the hallmarks of active community-based librarianship. Partnerships with schools and communities; going out to the community; and engaging people (kids and their parents) in learning.
There is a myth that active and innovative library service is all about technology, or only for a certain type of library institution. Cocky’s Reading Express demonstrates that good ideas grounded in the community can make a difference in a building or with a bus. Good librarianship can be about learning code or learning to read. Innovation doesn’t have to be about dollars and startups, it can be about tapping into community resources (a mascot, a place, students, community members) to make great things happen.
The program is currently looking for resources to expand and maintain the program. I am asking you to support the project and spread the word. Yes, I am asking you to support my new school, but I am asking because it is a good project that deserves attention and support.
“Expect More: Creating Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World” Cuyahoga County Public Library Staff Development Day. Parma, OH.
[Please note this is the first of three times this talk was presented, so if it doesn’t sound familiar you may have been in a different session.]
Slides: CCPL-Staff
Audio:
CCPL from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
“New Librarianship and Resource Sharing” Dead or alive? Le frontiere dei servizi bibliotecari nell’era della condivisione: 15 anni della comunità NILDE. Rome, IT via Skype.
Slides: New Librarianship and Resource Sharing
Audio:
New Librarianship and Resource Sharing from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
We’re putting together a working session for folks interested in crafting messages, materials, and projects to promote librarians to the general public. We are doing an increasingly good job getting the word out about libraries growing relevancy and community focus, but folks need to know this is a result of librarians and library staff.
Please consider joining us in Orlando and sharing your ideas. Information below:
As people are starting to get their hands on the New Librarianship Field Guide I have put up a few items to make it more useful. Check out the Field Guide Related Links by Chapter. It gives you a “tweet able” core concept for each chapter and links to videos and presentations related to the topic. My hope is to keep this as a growing resource, and feel free to send me links and additional resource to add.
I’ve also put up a landing page for the book with quick access to new blog posts and materials around the guide.
[tl;dr version: How does my new book The New Librarianship Field Guide fit into my other books on new librarianship? Librarian or teaching librarians – read the Field Guide. Scholar or librarian looking deeper – The Atlas of new Librarianship is for you. Board member and non-librarians curious about libraries – Expect More.]
While there have been numerous articles and presentations concerning new librarianship, the core of the concept is found in three books:
The three represent stages of thinking and an evolution of the concepts in librarianship, but each remains relevant and each is targeted toward a specific audience.
Published in 2011 the Atlas seeks to present a holistic view of librarianship and is focused on answering the question, “what is a librarian?” It dives deep and wide into concepts such as knowledge and facilitation. It seeks to link the what and how of librarianship to a why founded around a mission: to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in communities.
Published in 2012 Expect More is written for non-librarians about the field and how libraries as institutions are moving from collection-centered to community centered.
Just released in 2016 the Field Guide is written for front-line librarians and library science students. It is intentionally linear (unlike the Atlas) and accessible by a broad audience. It is loosely modeled as a text book with resources for teaching and discussing the field. It incorporates updated concepts of librarianship from the Atlas and libraries as institutions from Expect More without simply being a digest version of both.
To be clear each represents an evolution of thinking from the previous work. These seek to both promote and document the learning of the field through conversation. As always these works seek to be of value, but don’t seek to be definitive. Any active and vital field will continue to evolve as the world evolves. The goal of any of these books is not to have everyone agree, but to provide a foundation for dialog and healthy argument.
I end with a request to the field. I know that there are aspects of my work and views that people disagree with; that is how it should be in scholarly discourse. From the treatment of knowledge, to the focus on communities, to the political implications of the work there is great room for debate and experimentation. These conversations have and should continue to happen on social media and in conferences. I ask that these conversations be constructive.
Let us all use social media and journals and other forums to debate and argue on the ideas. In the pages of these works you will find an evolution of my thinking that has come from engagement. Librarianship (new, old, or other) is ultimately about society making smarter decisions. I get smarter from engagement with those who disagree often more than a discussion with those who agree. Please share your thoughts in journals, books, and practice. And let us never dismiss useful ideas for failures of the messenger.
This week I’m posting on my new book, The New Librarianship Field Guide. I’ll be talking about what’s in it, but also how it fits with other work like the Atlas of New Librarianship. MIT Press is shipping these now, and Amazon is taking pre-orders with availability starting the week of May 20th.
To kick us off, here is the information from MIT Press’ Catalog.
OverviewThis book offers a guide for librarians who see their profession as a chance to make a positive difference in their communities—librarians who recognize that it is no longer enough to stand behind a desk waiting to serve. R. David Lankes, author of The Atlas of New Librarianship, reminds librarians of their mission: to improve society by facilitating knowledge creation in their communities. In this book, he provides tools, arguments, resources, and ideas for fulfilling this mission. Librarians will be prepared to become radical positive change agents in their communities, and other readers will learn to understand libraries in a new way.
The librarians of Ferguson, Missouri, famously became positive change agents in August 2014 when they opened library doors when schools were closed because of civil unrest after the shooting of an unarmed teen by police. Working with other local organizations, they provided children and their parents a space for learning, lunch, and peace. But other libraries serve other communities—students, faculty, scholars, law firms—in other ways. All libraries are about community, writes Lankes; that is just librarianship.
In concise chapters, Lankes addresses the mission of libraries and explains what constitutes a library. He offers practical advice for librarian training; provides teaching notes for each chapter; and answers “Frequently Argued Questions” about the new librarianship.
R. David Lankes is Professor and Dean’s Scholar for New Librarianship in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies.
“David Lankes continues to be a crucial voice in support of libraries as they evolve during tumultuous times. The New Librarianship Field Guide is an invaluable resource for all who care about libraries—and for anyone who wants to help build a bright future for knowledge and democracies in a digital era.”
—John Palfrey, Head of School, Phillips Academy, and author of BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of Google
“Libraries + librarians = community: Lankes makes the case and shows his work. He offers a well-structured argument for where libraries in this century need to be going, and how librarians can get them there, answering the question ‘Where in the hell is librarianship going anyhow?’ with charm and grace. Lankes’s invigorating and challenging ideas will help new and existing librarians find their purpose and achieve positive change.”
—Jessamyn West, community technology librarian, Open Library and librarian.net