Adult Learning Less Than Stella It has been my experience that public libraries are experts in creating learning environments and experiences for children and teens. I do not know why this is, but it might have to do with the focus we have historically placed on early childhood literacy. As a profession, we do not …
Part 3 still focuses on adults in the 20 – 35 year age range, and their behaviors. Our goal continues to find ways to offer library programming that is meaningful and helpful to this group’s everyday life. Traditionally we have had trouble attracting this demographic to library programs. We do a great job in offering …
When writing part two of this series I initially looked at employment data for 20 – 35-year-olds. As I began to research the topic in greater depth, I began to realize that I wanted to understand how people in this age range are spending their time. Investigating this issue might provide us with the insight …
Strategic Portfolio Education for adults 20-35 Part I One of JCL’s central strategic goals is to provide adult programming. Over the years, I think it is reasonable to say that at JCL we have had mixed results when we have provided adult programming. Is it time to rethink our approach to adult programming? Do we …
I thought I would share this post that I created for our internal blog. It outlines the work that their managers do at their monthly meeting. What happens at the All Managers Meeting The saying “What happens in the All Managers meeting stays in the All Managers meeting” is not true. I thought you …
Can you have both a hierarchical and a flat organizational structure, or does one preclude the existence of the other? Some of the feedback I have received from staff has pointed out that while I have talked about flattening the organization there are still many decisions that are decided by the normal hierarchical model and …
Every so often I get an email asking my advice about what the new batch of library students need to know, and how library schools might change their curriculum. I have included the request below. This is a topic that the cabinet and I often talk about, and I asked for their help in answering …
I am often asked, “How do Americans value public libraries in their communities?” A recent comprehensive Pew study answers this question. 90% of Americans 16 and older stated in the study that closing a library would have an impact on their lives, 63% classified it as a major impact. To put this into context, 63% …
Library Governance Topic Working as an agency within County Government I. General introduction If I was ever granted three wishes, I think my first wish would be that all public libraries have a standardized organizational structure that was simple, functional and that everyone could understand. I would then, of course, ask for world peace because …
This holiday session I was out and about, thinking about buying a book for my brother who was coming down from Michigan to visit. I didn’t know what to get him and thought I would go out to browse around and see what I could find. I wanted this serendipitous discovery moment where I found …