You do the math

When I first saw this spot, last year, from the Vancouver Public Library I was just happy to wallow in a bit of nostalgia and to see some old co-workers (I worked at VPL for many years). This time when I ran across it on Tame the Web and started down the road of “oh [...]

Vive la transformation!

I like reason and humour. And when faced with sentimentality or other emotions that make me uncomfortable I default to flippancy and irreverence. I’m not saying this is a good thing, It’s just a fair warning that you have to buy me a drink before you can get mushy with me.
And then along came [...]

You get what you ask for - maybe

Who hasn’t heard that tough questions are hard to ask? But it’s not really the questions is it? “Do you love me?” isn’t a tough question if you know the answer is “yes”.
Designing customer satisfaction surveys that are meaningful, is not for the faint of heart. Developing questions that bring back answers that we [...]

Using Evidence

Have you ever thought about the connection between marketing and evidence based librarianship (EBL)? No, me neither. But the other day I tuned into The Age of Persuasion with Terry O’Reilly on CBC. It was the “According to Hoyle” episode where Terry does a quick and dirty run through of the rules of marketing; endorsing [...]

Anchors and community development

Before librarianship there was 20 years of playing around in community development. 20 questioned filled years of trying to figure out what community meant, what development meant, and what it meant to be part of it. 20 years of questions that I carry to work with me every day.
Sometimes the questions fade into the [...]

The message is the message

Library Stuff pointed to Elisabeth Leonard on Libraries for writing “Rather than sound like medication, we need to find a message and a tone that are appealing — and that builds on our true competitive advantage.” She was looking at the airline industry and one company that was running a marketing campaign based on knowing [...]

And the policy is…

Just give me the coffee.
 

I recently had an interesting conversation with some thoughtful (and funny) folks regarding the library policy manual; its history, role, future, and most importantly its weight and thickness.
Since then I have become a little more aware of policies (or the lack of policy) at places I frequent. As some [...]

A time for celebration and work OR a working celebration

Here’s a report that It’s All Good says is “For all you public librarians out there”. And they are right, anyone, but especially public librarians, who is interested in the position of public libraries in community development should read this report (yes its from the United States, but others including us Canadians can figure out [...]

Wow factor?

According to Designing Better Libraries it is time for libraries to deliver the Wow Factor. Some may, and have, taken offense at this suggestion. Yes there are libraries down to what feels like their last coping mechanism (and penny) to provide core services. They don’t feel that they can provide a wow experience by adopting [...]

Cultural habits versus cultural values

Two thoughts collided in my head while waiting in a Charleston hotel lobby. One thought came from observing a group of conference going librarians standing nearby and nodding in tight-lipped agreement with a colleague loudly declaring “we don’t have coffee and socializing in libraries, that’s not what we are about”. The other came flying in [...]

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