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“School Libraries: What Next?” Ebook Project

This looks like a great project. In light of full disclosure I have been asked to right the forward.

We are delighted to accept submissions for a collection of crowd sourced short essays on the future of school libraries from multiple perspectives, to be published in e-book format to coincide with Treasure Mountain and AASL in October 2011. We believe this e-book is a way for librarians to take the lead as content creators and publishers with custom, community-significant content for patrons. We imagine e-readers as publishing platforms for us, not competition.

Whether you’re an ardent supporter or see the proverbial handwriting on the wall, what do you see as the next 10 or 20 years of school libraries? This book will also tackle an “elephant in the room” question: with the nation’s education systems in an economic depression and many school librarians being pink-slipped, what is the future of school libraries? How might they be reinvented to remain deeply significant – for student learning? Should they? What past practices will we need to jettison? What stalwart beliefs must we hold tightly?

We’re posing a set of essential questions that will encourage you — and us! — to think deeply about the future of school libraries in the areas of:

  • Gaming
  • 21st-Century Learners
  • Who and When Do We Teach?
  • Reading
  • Emerging and Multiple Literacies
  • Networks and Organizations
  • The Physical Library
  • The Virtual Library
  • Collaboration
  • Collection Development
  • Librarian Coursework and Professional Development

You can learn more about our project, the topics we are exploring, and how to submit by visiting the links on the Submissions page. The Submission Guidelines document will let you know more about the length, style, and topics.

Thank you for your interest in our experiment – we hope you will join us! Please visit the project page by clicking here.

Best,

Kristin Fontichiaro

Buffy Hamilton

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Reinventing Librarianship

“Reinventing Librarianship” Keynote ALA 2011 Virtual Conference.

The session was recorded by ALA and should be available soon (I will update this post).

Excerpts: “This then is your collection and what a truly awesome collection it is: more massive and sprawling than anything in ancient Alexandria. It is composed of seniors have seen their expected lifespan nearly double from 40 to 70 over the past century. Imagine that vast sea of experience and unbridled talent and seeking impact and legacy.

Our collection is in children; realizing that our concept of a childhood was only truly born with the labor laws of the 1800’s and the rise of a middle class that did not depend upon the income of youth.

We see the power in the woman of our community collection. From the right to vote to the majority of college degrees including doctorates in under 100 years.

Our collection is in minorities too long ignored and now actively enriching and expanding a culture of opportunity. Minorities that will soon actually make up the majority of US citizens.

This is your collection this is your business.

And what’s more, this collection doesn’t come with a 28 circulation limit. It isn’t beholden to outdated concepts of intellectual property. And, on the bright side, no one will ever question if this collection is becoming obsolete.”

“At the center of all of this richness and amazing diversity of community lies the facilitating role of librarians. Doing as they have done throughout history: helping communities and members make better decisions, to learn and grow their knowledge. For at the root is learning.”

“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 need of our communities is too great, and our promise for improvement too 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. These then are our grand challenges, and just as the physicians before us, if we rise to meet them, we too shall be rewarded.

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!

Now these are just words. If all I do is preach them and return to the ivory tower I have committed the sins of hypocrisy and vanity. But you if you cry hallelujah and wait to seize the opportunity than you have committed an equally great sin. The sin of omission. If you stay silent, or wait for change, or take the easy path or see yourself as less than capable- less than worthy? Then you leave our precious communities to lesser goals and flawed stewards.

We must not let this happen.”

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

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The Future of Librarianship

“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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Atlas Reading Group

From the New Librarianship website:

Hello librarians and friends! I’m Emma Montgomery, a LIS graduate student at Syracuse University, and for six weeks this summer I’ll be hosting a Twitter reading group for The Atlas of New Librarianship. Starting the week of June 20th I’ll be reading a thread of Dr. Lankes’ book each week and posting thoughts and questions on Twitter using the hash tag #atnewlib. I hope you will all join me! The goal is to have a community through which we can engage with and explore the issues raised in the Atlas. So grab your copy of the Atlas, tell your friends, and I’ll see you on Twitter!

Please join in!

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Lankes to Participate in Salzburg Global Seminar

Salz
I have been invited to be a part of the Salzburg Global Seminar “Libraries and Museums in an Era of Participatory Culture” which will be held in Salzburg, Austria in October. The session is being convened jointly by the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
From the seminar description:

Abstract

As key stewards of our culture and heritage, libraries and museums have traditionally enjoyed, and to a great extent still do enjoy, a unique role and special responsibility within societies around the world. But as economic disruptions and rapid technological innovation have brought about dramatic societal changes, libraries and museums, too, are being forced to revisit and rethink their own roles and responsibilities within these changing societies. The 21st century indeed poses perplexing challenges, but at the same time offers intriguing new opportunities for libraries and museums. It is a critical moment for leaders within libraries and museums to reflect creatively and strategically about the role and place of their institutions in an era of participatory culture and to recognize and seize the opportunity for reorientation and reinvention.

Building on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) initiative The Future of Museums and Libraries as well as on past museum and library sessions convened by the Salzburg Global Seminar, this session will bring together approximately fifty leaders, advocates and constituents of libraries and museums, cultural and educational policymakers, cultural sector researchers, representatives of library and museum education programs, technology experts, sociologists, journalists, and library and museum association representatives to debate the changing roles and responsibilities of libraries and museums in their societies. The participants will consider the following key areas: societal changes that are shaping the future of museums and libraries; collaboration; education and training; communication and technology; sustainability; value and values. Together, the participants will develop a set of recommendations for libraries and museums to meet the new challenges posed to them in this era of participatory culture. The recommendations, in turn, will be shared with the larger library and museum community worldwide.

This session is being convened in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C.

SALZBURG GLOBAL SEMINAR

The Salzburg Global Seminar is a unique international institution focused on global change—a place dedicated to candid dialogue, fresh thinking, and the search for innovative but practical solutions. Founded in 1947, it challenges current and future leaders to develop creative ideas for solving global problems, and has brought more than 25,000 participants from 150 countries and regions to take part in its programs. The Salzburg Global Seminar convenes imaginative thinkers from different cultures and institutions, organizes problem-focused initiatives, supports leadership development, and engages opinion-makers through active communication networks, all in partnership with leading institutions from around the world and across different sectors of society. To learn more about the Seminar, please visit www.salzburgglobal.org

THE INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES

The U.S. federal Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of governmental support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national and international levels and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.

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Grand Challenges of Librarianship

“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

“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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