Career guidance

Anyone who has read anything I've written knows that I am an ardent supporter and believer in libraries. I've worked as either a school librarian or library supervisor for over 25 years. I have seen first hand the great good libraries do for institutions and  individuals.

But for the first time in my career, if someone asked me whether to pursue librarianship as a profession, I might hesitate. At least for a moment. The hesitation comes after catching up on my reading this weekend and looking at the provocative documents below. Maybe I am simply tired from travel and stressed from the day job, but I found little to be optimistic about after reading these studies.

The Battle to Define the Future of the Book in the Digital World. Clifford Lynch, 2001
"For large classes of content, libraries may not represent a large enough market to cause publishers to accommodate library requirements, or they may be asked to agree to prices and license terms that are intolerable."

Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources A Report to the OCLC Membership, 2005
"In a world where the sources of information and the tools of discovery continue to proliferate and increase in relevance to online information sources, the brand differentiation of the library is still books. The library has not been successful in leveraging its brand to incorporate growing investments in electronic resources and library Web-based services."

"Respondents do indeed have strong attachments to the idea of the "Library" but clearly expressed dissatisfaction with the service experience of the libraries they use... The over all message is clear: improve the physical experience of using libraries." 

Do Libraries Matter?: The rise of Library 2.0 Ken Chad and Paul Miller, Talis, Nov 2005.
'The library's information provider crown is slipping. Justifiably or not, today libraries are increasingly viewed as outdated, with modern, Internet-based services, such as Amazon and Google, looking to inherit the throne."

 Studies like these - any quite frankly, any clear-eyed view of information's future - must lead librarians and those who care about them to ask two serious questions:

1. Will libraries in any form survive more than a few more decades (or years)?
2. Will future libraries sufficiently resemble current libraries that contemporary librarians would feel competent, comfortable and fulfilled working in them? Can or should new librarians enter the field expecting the same satisfactions/rewards as those of us who became librarians before the advent of the digital era?

Joyce Valenza came home from the Computers in Libraries conference charged up and optimistic.  I would like to be. Please, tell me why, if a young person asks, I should enthusiastically say, "Yes - pursue a career as a librarian!"

Is it possible to motivate a cynic?

The only consistent feature of all your dissatisfying relationships is you. (Despair, Inc.)

I hate liver. It’s one of the very few foods I would not eat even were I starving. But every once in a while I take a bite of it just to see if anything has changed. So far, I still hate liver.

I feel the same way about “motivational” speakers as I do about liver. I can’t stand them. But now and then I go see one just to see if my tastes have changed. Judging by the fellow who was brought in by our Chamber of Commerce yesterday, even fried and served with onions, I still don’t like ‘em. Why? And what can learn from ‘em anyway?

1. Being too smooth. This guy had every hair in place, a neat little suit, and chubby, oily little face just as smooth as his talk. He’s given basically the same talk in the same way at least 100 times. His enthusiasm was,well, well-rehearsed. He delivered his talk just like Toastmasters taught him to. And he seemed about as sincere as polyester.
Lesson: Better to be unscripted with a few surprises. Talk to people. Talk with people. Don’t talk at people.

2. Lacking originality. In the course of 180+ minutes, I did not hear one new joke or story or piece of advice. Not one. He attributed some stories as happening to him that I know I’d read somewhere else before. And I seriously doubt he wrote them originally. One little deception and he lost all credibility for me.
Lesson: If you don’t have something original to say, stay quiet. It doesn’t have to be profound, but it has to be your own. Every joke comes around in e-mail at least once a year. If you’ve read it, so have 90% of the folks in the group you’re speaking to. Write your own material, figure out a way to personalize the old chestnuts, or at least, attribute the source. It’s OK to embellish a story (IMHO), but the core story better be true and it better have happened to you.

3. Coming off as a pompous ass. It got real old, real quick hearing how darned good the guy was to his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his friends, the world at large, etc. Made me pretty much want to upchuck. Anybody that holier-than-thou, I  figure has to have some real deep-down dark secret. I am guessing he was wearing women's lingerie under that suit.
Lesson: Don’t be the hero of your own stories. Screw-ups are more interesting than successes. Sinners are more fun than saints.

4. Offering trite platitudes. Yeah, yeah. I know that “attitude” is everything. I know people like compliments. I know you should be creative. I know you need to listen. Tell me something I don’t already know.
Lesson: Offer some different advice. Larry Winget , the only “motivational” speaker I’ve found I actually enjoy, simply says:

Shut up.
Stop whining.
Get a life.

Now there is advice one doesn’t hear everyday – but most of us need.

Most of the folks in the audience yesterday with me were business folks. When the speaker asked, “How do you show people you value them?” the stock answers popped up – compliment, celebrate, recognize, etc. I didn’t hear one person mention, “Pay a living wage.” or “Provide health care benefits.” Now in my mind, those would be motivators.

But then, I’m a cynic.

Niceness or enabling: a fine line

I had the chance today to give a talk I don't often do - one about changing teacher attitudes toward technology. One of the sections examines the importance of "niceness" on the part the tech staff. Well, on the part of anyone for that matter. It's based on a corny old column.

I even promote niceness in my Machines book.

2.    It’s always, always, always better to be a nice person than an ass.
You will make mistakes at home and on the job. So keep this in mind: People will forgive your mistakes if you are generally a nice person; they never forget them if you behave like an ass.
One of my technicians once warned a teacher: "I am beginning to think it is easier to make you mad than to make you happy. Remember, you are a lot more fun to watch when you are mad." The teacher got nicer.

But after the session, I found myself giving contrary advice: "Too rapid a response to tech requests simply enables those who do not wish to learn how to diagnose and repair their own problems. Make a polite excuse which gives the person making the request 30-40 minutes to see if he can't solve the problem himself."

Tough love?

Here's another tough question: How do you deal with the teacher who "punishes" students by denying them access to the library or computer lab? I had no good answer for this question...