Keynote Speaker, Cathy DeRosa

Cathy DeRosa is VP for the Americas and Global VP of Marketing at OCLC, where she is responsible for marketing, library services and support and advocacy programs. She has contributed to a number of publications on library use, awareness, brand recognition, funding and privacy issues in the digital age.

In 2007, OCLC was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore attitudes and perceptions about library funding and to evaluate the potential of a large-scale marketing and advocacy campaign to increase public library funding. A study was done to identify library supporters.

How do we identify potential supporters of library funding? They spoke to local elected officials. They are fans of the library, but when asked about money, 73 % thought the libraries have enough money to operate.

What makes library funding possible? The study tried to segment the population into those who would and those who would not support the library.

The study found eight things:
There’s a lot that people don’t know about their public libraries. They know traditional services and Internet access; they do not know the many other services. Most important, they do not know impact, reach or results
Most people claim they’ll support the library at the ballot box—fewer are firmly committed to it.
Library support is only marginally related to visitation.
Your perceptions of the librarian are highly related to support. This pertains to all staff, not just the librarian. (Passionate librarian).
The library occupies a very clear position in the realm of ‘purposeful information’ where it’s very difficult to compete. Relates to encyclopedias and other means of purposeful search.
Your belief that the library is a transformational force in people’s lives is directly related to your level of support. Quotes: “Makes you feel good about yourself,” “empowers you,” etc.
Elected officials are more connected to and supportive of the library than the public – and yet most feel the library has sufficient funding. This group of “probable supporters” is very important.
Increasing support for libraries may not mean a trade-off with financial support for other public services.

Support for libraries is not demographic. Attitude and perceptions matter more. Divided into:
Super Supporters: demographically average.
Probable Supporters: these are the ones we need to focus on.
Barriers to Support: financially strapped; detached (interestingly, the most financially able to support); the Web wins.
Our local officials are usually in the second group. We need to focus on them. What are the messages that matter? We need to re-frame the message: stop talking about the services we provide, etc. We need to talk about transformation. Highlight what a transformational place a library can be.

We learned in 2009 that everything can change.
People have moved from the trade-up to trade-off mindset.
People are rediscovering the things they find most valuable in their lives, which is a wonderful opportunity for libraries.

What they will try in 2009 (research in Georgia and Iowa; time frame: June through September): what messages they can create to help identify potential supporters, and change the perceptions of probable supporters?
Shows potential to create a movement within the community
Shows the potential to shift perceptions of the library from “information” to “transformation”
Activates Probable Supporters and mobilizes Super Supporters
Creates a foundation to drive commitment to financial support for the library, when the time is right
Makes the library personally relevant
Raises awareness, drives action and sparks conversation
Has stopping power and staying power.

See OCLC website for more info: www.oclc.org/reports/funding/default.htm

Positioning the Academic Library for the 21st Century: a New Model of Library Centrality. Thursday, May 8 8:30

Positioning the Academic Library for the 21st Century: a New Model of Library Centrality. Thursday, May 8 8:30
KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Susan Parker, Ph.D. Deputy University Librarian and CFO UCLA library. Research interest: the role of the academic library
Susan C. Scrimshaw, President, Simmons College, formerly dean of the U of IL at Chicago School of Public health. Research interest: gender, ethnicity, race, culture and their impact on public health.
This series on library advocacy is underwritten jointly by MLA and ACRL.

The 16 second elevator speech. If you had an administrator all to yourself for 16 seconds, what would you discuss: Budget, How busy the library is, Library is the heart of the University, How to improve outcomes.??????

What does Library is the heart of the University mean to YOU. What does it mean to your administrators. Does it transfer enough to realize actual resource support???

THE CENTRALITY of the LIBRARY is a value The Library contributes so fundamentally to the success of the University that it is absolutely central

TWO SEMINAL RESEARCH SOURCES ON THE CENTRALITY OF THE LIBRARY IN THE UNIVERSITY
1. Hackman’s research : Power and centrality in the allocation of resources in colleges and universities; Hackman, Judith Administrative Science Quarterly; 1985 Vol. 30, p61-77, 17p. She divided University units: Core and Peripheral and assessed How well units connected with the mission

2. Grimes’ 1998 book: Academic Library Centrality; Grimes, Deborah Jean; 1998, Chicago : Association of College and Research Libraries.

MODERN RESEARCH
Susan Parker’s own article: She and 6 others surveyed 6 public institutions, interviewed 6 University Presidents, 6 University provosts: “What does Library is the heart of the University mean to you?”
Attitudes of Presidents and Provosts on the University Library. By: Lynch, Beverly P.; Murray-Rust, Catherine; Parker, Susan E.; Turner, Deborah; Walker, Diane Parr; Wilkinson, Frances C.; Zimmerman, Julia. College & Research Libraries, May2007, Vol. 68 Issue 3, p213-227, 15p; (AN 25301281) EBSCO persistent link http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lxh&AN=25301281&site=ehost-live Cited References (5)
Authors: Lynch, Beverly P.1 bplynch@ucla.edu; Murray-Rust, Catherine2 Catherine.Murray-Rust@ColoState.edu; Parker, Susan E.3 sparker@library.ucla.edu; Turner, Deborah4 urned@u.washington.edu; Walker, Diane Parr5 dpw@virginia.edu; Wilkinson, Frances C.6 fwilkins@unm.edu; Zimmerman, Julia7 Zimnmerj1@ohio.edu

Parker et al. FINDINGS on the Centrality of the Library @ the University
Metaphor. heart of the University
Standards and Technology. Information literacy instruction/ technology
Mission: connection of the library to the university’s mission. Does that factor in funding? Parker claims there is a DIRECT
Research allocation: does favorable or unfavorable benchmark marks with other instituion affect
Indicators of Centrality:

One provost: “Library is the LIFEBLOOD”
It’s the psychological center of what it means to BE the University”
A Marketing Slogan. Something the Library Director
It is time to upgrade the criteria and look at libraries in a different mode

Top 3 indicators of Centrality in Parker’s study
1. LIBRARY’S ABILITY TO OBTAIN OUTSIDE FUNDING
2. VISIBILITY AND LEADERSHIP ON CAMPUS
3. CIRCULATION/INTERLIBRARY LOAN STATISTICS
Other values
4. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
5. QUALITY OF PERSONNEL
6. QUALITY OF SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY (and by extension, its community)

This suggests a new model of Centrality:
Increased visibility for the library in service to the University
Outside funding
Develop strategic goals that reflect the larger university mission and its values
Collaboration within and without the institution. Other units, other colleges, academic departments, individual faculty

A 2008 study by Judy Luther (President, Informed strategies) is well worth reading
White Paper
· University Investment in the Library: What's the Return? A Case Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2008, by Judy Luther, President, Informed Strategies ( HTML PDF)
Focus was on grantwriting. The study actually came up with a monetary “return on investment”

OLD STRATEGIES
· Describe the library’s measurable contributions to the institution. Circ statistics etc. Lately, add electronic resources/information literacy to the mix of statistics.

NEW STRATEGIES
· Determine and understand what the university values
o Examples at UCLA: Faculty retention, research grants, demonstrable impact on the institution & community
· Speak clearly and compellingly about the library’s contribution toward enhancing or furthering those values
o SOME libraries even hire lobbyists. Umass has a parttime lobbyist.


A CONVERSATION between Scrimshaw and Parker ON “WHAT IS THE LIBRARY???”

Traditional view. The library was a place where physical items resided, were collected, cataloged, preserved.
Modern view.
Clients LEARN how to access, but also get HELP in accessing. Faculty and students guided strategic access.
The library is the GATHERING part of the campus. For study, to discuss together. Meaning: gathering rooms with access to resources, quiet reading spots with comfortable chairs. This has big implications for the architecture.

STRATEGY – for working with Administrators. Advice from Scrimshaw:
Find a way to get key decisionmakers to have an EXPERIENCE in the library. Reports don’t cut it.
· Reference engagement
· Information literacy
Find excuses to show archives and access.

Question for an Scrimshaw as a University President: What impacts your decisions about funding the library? What influences resource allocation?

More requests than money. What criteria do I use in allocating money to the library?
· Inflation in subscription maintenance
· Incremental services: adding to collections (documenting the impact would be great, however, how can one measure the increase in student productivity, faculty productivity?)
· Role of the librarian. Look at where the conversations are held? Library Director should report to the provost table with the deans who are competing for the same money.
· Look at data points: use student satisfaction surveys, LibQual, use Benchmarking with sister institutions.

How can libraries be protected in tough budget times? A Question for President Scrimshaw.

In budget reductions, some institutions protect library resources. UIL @Chicago did. Scrimshaw supported digitizing art resources for example as a strategy. Access to information needs to be protected for the good of ALL the instructional efforts on campus and off.

Comments from Scrimshaw
Antiquated libraries need to be redesigned to accommodate the new paradigm, listening VERY CAREFULLY to the user community. The Simmons library: people have coffee, it’s abuzz with energy and activity.

What about Information Literacy? How should libraries set themselves up to make an impact?
Provide “short courses” for faculty and students tailored to specific literacy skills.

Question for Parker re: her team’s research conversation with Presidents and Provosts: Most surprising comment by a College President: “You people are badgering me for money all the time..” Scariest moment. Obvious that the President had not experienced the library, did not personally use.

What was the Best Elevator speech either Parker and Scrimshaw have heard?
· Staff member chased Parker into the elevator, gave her an idea on paper about how we can deploy our workstation resources and save $50,000.

· 2 days ago Scrimshaw met archivist who is cataloging Martin Luther King’s papers @ BU, talking about the incredible power of the letters… how it made her feel to see and hold a letter from Medgar Evers to Martin Luther King. Powerful moment for Scrimshaw to see what the long lasting contributions of librarians/archival work to scholarship for the future. Worth the money!

ADVICE: There are costs to partnering, but it’s often well worth it.

Brenda

Tom Ashbrook and the nourishment of reading

So the first story Tom Ashbrook told this evening as the keynote speaker was about how he believed that he became such a bibliophile. As an infant, his mother breastfed him for 2 years, and during those two years, she read a book about Africa to him when he fed. So, every time he's near books, or whenever he's reading, he feels so warm, and nourished, and comforted.

For serious, he totally said it.

When asked what he wanted to talk about, he thought maybe "the next library," although he didn't really know what it meant at the time. Is it the future of the library? What he wants to see in libraries? It's a topic near to his heart, because libraries are near to his heart, as a nourishing part of the community (even without the breastfeeding).

His business as an internet entrepreneur and a host on WBUR's OnPoint, he's on one end of the information business, and we as librarians are on the other end of the business. However, the two worlds intersect on different levels. He receives tons of book to review, and what isn't read and reviewed is donated to a branch of the BPL in Brighton. So many of the topics on the show come from interesting books he's read, as he sorts, prioritizes, and evaluates the books he wants to highlight. He, too, is giving context to content for the world.

He spoke on how history is "not distant and apart from us, something very much a part of our lives," how he "grew up with a powerful feeling of history," being close to history through books, which he believes bred him into a great journalist. He also believes that the curiosity and desire for education came from reading and going to the library and reading books. Libraries are an important part of the community as a repository of history, ideas, culture, democracy, and the world beyond the "chatter of the moment," holding an important place in communities.

What will the next library be? He's not sure. Newspapers, like libraries, seem to be facing a similar conundrum, where relevance and news models have displaced the role of newspapers in the world. To Tom, the key to the library not going the way of the newspaper is to stay forward-thinking, progressive, and ahead of the curve. And, keep building and supporting community.

If he had the keys to the library, he would:

• Rip off Barness & Noble


• Bring in a Starbucks


• Keep it all free


• Bring in Kinko's


• Hook up with Amazon to make books available for sale right off the stacks (if it's replaceable)


• Provide "acres of web access," and the "best kind of web access"


• Don't be a afraid of the commercial world, bring them in to help


• Hook up with Best Buy to get the best equipment in the library (and drive business to Best Buy, a symbiotic thing)


• Stay the center of community life, with an awesome community meeting room for all to use


• Help patrons become not just learners and information consumers, but producers (homework, books, pamphlets, blogs, podcasts, *anything*)

We live in a time where society is full of individuals in their own little worlds. He sees the next library as a "community integration centers," bringing people together. But that's just his "cheap advice from the peanut gallery." :)

Keynote I: Callie Crossley

Callie Crossley clearly loves libraries and librarians, and the feeling is mutual. So first she told stories about ways her life has connected with libraries: experiences in childhood, using her local Cambridge branch, her eagerness to hear Nancy Pearl talk today, mentioning that she's read Jessamyn West's blog (http://www.librarian.net, if you haven't seen it), and that she's a longtime book club buddy of Em Claire Knowles (I want to be in *that* book group!).

But do other people value the library the way we do? And she spoke of library closures and threats to library services--in Oregon, and closer to home, Medway, Saugus. How many people can articulate the benefits of the public library? Librarians have been working on expanding their mission, but that takes resources.

It's good that librarians advocate to engage the attention of the nation's policymakers. But this effort is too narrow; we need to engage the public, since as the bumper sticker says:
“When the people lead, the leaders will follow.”

"If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect."
Thomas Jefferson, Poor Richard's Almanack

Crossley herself encourages others to use free wifi at the library, encourages others to get reading suggestions there, and to get library cards. We need to “rebrand” libraries, with new terminology and imagery. We could use a tagline (e.g., “save the cheerleader, save the world"). We need to tell our stories with passion to let people know what libraries are all about.

She ended with: “Act now, tell the stories, save the libraries.”