Category: Presentations News

Announcing (and seeking help on) my next book, Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today’s Complex World. At the beginning of the year I said my focus for the year would be on expecting more. That’s what this book is all about. Taking what we know works for great libraries (a commitment to learning, a focus beyond functions, co-owning the library with the community) and explaining that to non-librarians.
While I wrote this book to be read by people outside of the profession, the reason I wrote it was to help fantastic librarians make their case to those who oversee the library. I feel we need to do a better job advocating the power of libraries to our communities, and bringing those communities into the conversation of our future.

First an overview, then the details, then the request.

An Overview

Here’s the blurb for the book:

Libraries have existed for millennia, but today many question their necessity. In an ever more digital and connected world, do we still need places of books in our towns, colleges, or schools? If libraries aren’t about books, what are they about?

In Expect More, David Lankes, winner of the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature, walks you through what to expect out of your library. Lankes argues that, to thrive, communities need libraries that go beyond bricks and mortar, and beyond books and literature. We need to expect more out of our libraries. They should be places of learning and advocates for our communities in terms of privacy, intellectual property, and economic development.

Expect More is a rallying call to communities to raise the bar, and their expectations, for great libraries.

Unlike my Atlas of New Librarianship this one is written to be short (about 130 pages) and small (6×9 paperback) emphasizing examples and geared towards the general reader. It is based on conversations I have with public library boards, provosts, school administrators, and the general public.

The Details

The manuscript is done and is just about to go into final edits. I’m hoping to have the book out early summer in time for ALA.

I will be publishing this one as both a paperback and an ebook (and by popular request, with an index). I’m also looking for a low price point.

The Request

I’ve decided to self-publish the book. I have had a great relationship with great publishers in the past, but I thought it was time to put my money where my mouth was in terms of self-creation and exploring the realities of libraries becoming publishers. Right now my plans are to use CreateSpace for the print version, and an ePub solution for the ebook version. I’m interested if folks have gone this route and have any advice.

Here’s the video from the Harvard debate (to understand why I am arguing that libraries are obsolete see this post and this post)

More information about the Harvard series available here.

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has added Kristin Fontichiaro and R. David Lankes to the roster of facilitators for AASL’s 2012 Fall Forum, “Transliteracy and the School Library Program.” Fontichiaro and Lankes will join media studies scholar, Henry Jenkins, in providing a comprehensive overview of transliteracy and its importance in education during AASL’s national institute taking place Oct. 12-13, 2012, in Greenville, S.C. More information on Fall Forum can be found at www.ala.org/aasl/fallforum.
Fontichiaro will work with Fall Forum attendees to deconstruct the concept of transliteracy into smaller, more manageable facets. She will focus on the inquiry and rigor of assignments and how to collaboratively work with teachers to empower students with transliteracy skills. With Fontichiaro’s guidance, attendees will build a definition of transliteracy and a supporting vocabulary to take back to schools and use to engage their educational colleagues in the process.

Lankes’ portion of the institute will further elaborate on the collaborative nature of transliteracy. He will advise attendees on how to advocate for and highlight the relevance of school librarians in environment of ever-changing educational priorities. He will guide attendees through building community engagement and cultivating school boards.

Kristin Fontichiaro is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, where she coordinates the school library media program. She also co-teaches a teaching with technology course in the University of Michigan school of education. Her most recent edited volumes are “Navigating the Information Tsunami: Engaging Research Projects that Meet the Common Core State Standards, K-5 and Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers.”

Fontichiaro was named an Emerging Leader by the American Library Association, a distinguished alumna by the Wayne State University library and information science program and a 2012 Library Journal Mover and Shaker. She blogs at http://bit.ly/fontblog and writes the “Nudging Toward Inquiry” column for School Library Monthly.

R. David Lankes is a professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship at Syracuse University’s school of information studies, director of the library science program for the school and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse. Lankes has always been interested in combining theory and practice to create active research projects that make a difference. His more recent work involves how participatory concepts can reshape libraries and credibility. His book, “The Atlas of New Librarianship,” won the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature.

Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society. He also seeks to understand how information approaches and technologies can be used to transform industries. In this capacity he has served on advisory boards and study teams in the fields of libraries, telecommunications, education and transportation including at the National Academies.

The AASL Fall Forum is a multi-day national institute held during non-AASL national conference years. A more intimate event, the institute focuses on one topic of importance to the profession. Transliteracy and the School Library Program will be held Oct. 12-13, 2012, in Greenville, S.C., and via satellite sites in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, North Texas and the California Bay Area. More information on programming, sites and registration can be found at www.ala.org/aasl/fallforum.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.

You may have seen the announcement that I’m part of a debate at Harvard on the proposition that libraries are obsolete. The twist is (at least it was for me) is that I’m arguing for the proposition – that is that libraries are obsolete.

So why the hell am I doing it? Do I really think that libraries are obsolete? What’s more why should you help me?

First I do not believe that libraries are obsolete. I do, however, believe that it is very worth debating that point. Part of that is my scholarly training. I believe in the Socratic method where you assume opposing sides of an argument (even, as in this case, you don’t agree with the stance) and then argue to the truth. But there is a much more compelling reason I took this on.

We must inhabit the arguments of our detractors if we are to refute them. More than that, to be true to our professional ethos, we must enter this debate with intellectual honesty. If we are here to support conversations, we must support those we agree with and those with which we disagree. Also, if we are to remain relevant we must enter into conversations with the community as whole – whether they agree with us or not.

So that’s why I need your help. What arguments have you encountered against libraries. Why do folks want to eliminate funding, or your library altogether? I promise if you provide them, I’ll make a post (or twelve) doing my best to counter them after my Harvard debate.

Please use the comments below or email me [email protected].

And in two weeks or so if you see a video of me arguing libraries are obsolete, realize I am doing it out of love.