busy busy busy December 14, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Library As Place, Users.add a comment
It’s finals week.
Today, our building is full. I mean… FULL. Every table, nearly every chair, and every single power outlet, including ones in hallways and outside office doors, are in use. We have students sitting on the floor using kickstands for tables, sitting just about anywhere they can find a corner for themselves and their laptops. I suspect that the earlybirds who snagged the beanbag chairs this morning are getting jealous looks…
Last week Keith suggested we look into buying inexpensive folding tables — glorified TV trays, really — for students to use when the more traditional seating options are full. (Chairs we have. Tables, not so much.) This week, as they use kickstands for furniture, that sounds like a brilliant idea.
Use of the study areas in our main library was up 22% in November 2009 over November 2008. I can’t wait to see the December numbers.
The Graffiti Experiment December 11, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Library As Place, Users.12 comments
Sometimes, it pays to experiment.
Several years ago, a colleague, Keith, and I decided to try to find an art student to do a mural in our exceedingly unappealing basement stairwells. The spaces in our main library’s basement were never intended for public use, but 20-odd years ago we expanded our stacks into those spaces regardless of intent. The upside was more space for use, but the downside is that the stairs leading to the basement are ugly and forbidding to users. They look like you’re not supposed to be there, because… users were never expected to be there. So Keith and I thought it would be cool if we could get an art student to paint a mural in the stairwell to brighten it up, make it more inviting. For one reason followed by another, the project fell through, and we never pursued it again.
Until now.
Every semester’s end for the past several years, Keith and I have set up Stressbusters — games, toys, decorations, candy — in our lobby to give students a way to blow off steam during the cram of finals week.
This year, we added a call to help us graffiti the stairwells to the basement. Keith suggested it, and I figured, why not? Worst case scenario is that they don’t show up, or paint ugly things we don’t like, and so… we paint the whole thing white and it’s STILL nicer than when we started. And who knows what we’d get? It might be cool.
It’s cool.
This is a project that could have failed spectacularly. I could be regretting my decision right now. I debated internally for a while before saying yes. But a few hundred dollars for paint isn’t much to gamble… and I could see the potential for both success and failure… and I’d rather take the gamble.
Experiment with your library. You never know where you’ll end up.
IOLUG presentation December 1, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, conferences.add a comment
In mid-November I had the honor of opening a day of discussions and presentations at the IOLUG Fall Meeting, and it was great fun. I’ve been blog-absent for a few weeks, but I just noticed I’m getting a lot of search traffic related to that event — so, my apologies for the delay, here are the slides from my presentation. Not as useful without me talking over them, but I hope they spark whatever all you searchers are looking for!
[.pdf] Yes, You Are Speaking In Public: Some Implications of Building a Personal and Professional Online Presence, November 2009, Indiana Online Users Group Fall Program 2009.
putting on my positive face December 1, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Musings, Users, reference.6 comments
I have, so far in this reference shift, refilled the stapler, directed two students over to the computer lab to find an available computer, helped one student find her professor’s website and then helped her open a .pdf file, told a student to turn down the volume on his iPod, and explained to two students how to print to the color printer. And also helped one student to find sources for her paper on the transition of the Jeep from military to civilian vehicle.
It would be very easy to get grumpy about all of that. I’m the Director of Libraries, for heaven’s sake. What am I doing refilling staplers and troubleshooting the printer?
I’m helping our students, that’s what.
I’m also watching how our library is used, and by whom, for what tasks, in what way, all of which is information I need in order to make informed decisions about how to lead and direct this library on this campus for these students.
And… I’m helping our students.
I wasn’t in the mood when I sat down here at noon. “Cranky” is the word that comes to mind. A little manic, even — I’ve got a pile of Big Problems and Big Decisions on my desk, and it doesn’t seem like there’s enough time in the day to get to them all. Personnel issues, budget issues, strategic planning decisions, documents to be written, revised, submitted, responded to… And meetings. Oh my god the meetings. So sitting still, smiling, and waiting to help whoever walked up to the desk… yeah. Not so much what I was in the mood for.
But. While I was out here, watching the students come and go from the reference computer area and listening to the buzz of mid-semester activity at our group study tables, I was also reading First Impressions and Rethinking Restroom Questions in the online version of RUSQ.
If you are tired of hearing “where’s the restroom?” then maybe it’s time to rethink your choice of jobs or how you perform it. Simply put, either stop working at a public help desk or take the challenge to rejuvenate your patron interactions and become a positive face for your library.
And so. I’m helping people. It’s what I’m supposed to do while I’m here, and why I do this work. I can do it with a smile.
crosslegged and thoughtful November 12, 2009
Posted by Jenica Rogers in Libraries, Library As Place, Musings, Users.6 comments
Usability. Great buzzword in libraries right now. I think we’re not at all certain what it all means, but we care about it…
I’m thinking about usability in libraries from the perspective of usability everywhere. What do I mean by that? Two examples.
I shop online a lot, because I live in an area where my brick-and-mortar shopping options are limited. And so that means I shop from my couch. And when I shop from my couch, I am always filled with glee when I can PayPal something, or use my Amazon account, because it means i don’t have to get up to go find my wallet to enter a credit card number. Does that mean I’m lazy? Possibly. Does it mean that I have more loyalty to sites that allow me to shop with the fewest inconveniences? Absolutely.
I’m also writing this while sitting in Hancock Airport in Syracuse, sucking up free wireless. That? Is awesome. I’ve gotten used to paying between $8 and $15 per day for airport wireless, and while I’ll do it if I need to work, I don’t appreciate it. Free wireless makes me smile, and like flying out of Syracuse. However, I’m also sitting crosslegged on the floor next to a pillar. I forgot to charge my laptop before I left home, and the only power outlet I can find in this terminal is nowhere near a chair. Fine. I’ll sit on the floor; I don’t actually mind, given that I’m going to spend the day on airplanes. But a chair would be nice.
And so. Back to libraries. What extra steps are we putting in the way of our users getting from point A to point B that aren’t onerous, but might be inconvenient? Do those steps have to be there? And what are we missing when we think about services our users want and need? Are we providing wireless but no power? (That works as a metaphor, but sad but true, it also works very well literally in many of our aging facilities.)
I ponder, as I sit on the floor.
Jenica Rogers