Library Juice 3:16 Supplement - April 26, 2000
Is this a great time to be a librarian, or what? A discussion on PUBLIB.
[PUBLIB] Great time to be a librarian?
Joe.Schallan[at]ci.chandler.az.us
Thu, 13 Apr 2000 21:38:01 -0700 (PDT)
On Publib, Thomas J. Hennen, Jr., wrote:
>And, as Pogo might have said to the Alligator: "Is this
>a great time to be a librarian - or what?"
I don't think this is a great time to be a librarian at
all, because I don't think we have a significant future.
Information technology is overtaking us, and because we
have done such a poor job over the years both on customer
service and on self-promotion, we'll have few voices
raised on our behalf when the pressure comes to scale
back libraries.
We won't vanish, of course. Our fate will be
marginalization. Many towns and cities, and universities,
will want to hang on to their showpiece libraries for a
bit longer. A lot of the brick and mortar out there is
pretty. Some (small) number of Luddite users will still
want our paper-based resources.
But we won't even have as customers the folks on the
supposed wrong side of the "digital divide," except
perhaps for the homeless. For everyone else bandwidth
and hardware and access will become plentiful and
cheap . . . no one will be too poor for it. A connection
to the net, like a color TV set, is something virtually
everyone will have. Heck, the connection and the TV set
(and the radio and telephone) will all be the same thing.
Our profession DID have something special to offer --
the expertise of great librarians -- but that will be
lost. Having so successfully hidden our light under a
bushel basket all these years, we will find that only a few
people will understand and care about the loss. A few will
comment on it nostalgically after the last reference desk
has been closed.
I worked in the publishing industry from 1978 to 1988.
In those days we had phototypesetters. In the mid-
1980s desktop publishing software began to appear,
offering the end user of typeset materials the chance,
for the first time, to specify his own type styles,
sizes, layouts, and so on, as his own needs dictated.
No more waiting for galleys to come back!
One of my typesetter friends wasn't worried. What does
the layperson understand about appropriate use of
type, about correct hyphenation and line breaks, about
visual vs. literal centering, about kerning? "They'll
always need us," my friend said.
Today, the photocomposition industry is dead and my
friend is selling new cars.
What he said about a typesetter's particular expertise
was, and is, true. But the market rolled right over his
expertise anyway, because some of it got built into
the page design software and the rest wasn't seen
by his cusotomers as all that necessary after all.
Library work is no less liable to be "disintermediated"
than anything else . . . in fact, it may be MORE liable.
Here's what it boils down to. We will be giving our
customers a choice: Pay taxes to support a person sitting
at a desk with a computer and a phone, whom you will
have to visit or call or e-mail, who may or may not be
friendly, who may have to place you in a queue, who
may not be able to respond instantly, and in front
of whom you may feel awkward or stupid, or . . .
Just get what you need off the net, in the privacy of
your home or office, on your own terms and time, for free
or almost for free, without having to use an intermediary.
It isn't rocket science to see the choice our customers
will make. Americans don't like intermediaries. Be it
shopping at Costco or using the web to avoid travel
agents and stockbrokers, eliminating the middleman is
an American social imperative.
Librarians sure look like intermediaries to me.
Our choice, as librarians, comes down to either
sensibly handling our coming marginalization or
figuring out how to radically reposition what we do
for people. (But, like the extinct photocompositors,
we may find we are unable to provide a product or service
that people actually want from us.)
When books and information are cheaply and easily
available via a medium that comes into the home or office,
or even into the palm of the hand, on a 24/7 basis, then
what is the purpose of a public library?
I would humbly suggest it is well nigh time for us
to start considering the answer to this question.
Views my own, of course.
Joe
===================================
Joe Schallan
Information Services Librarian
Chandler Public Library
Mail Stop 601, PO Box 4008
Chandler, AZ 85244-4008
(480) 782-2838
joe.schallan[at]ci.chandler.az.us
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 05:21:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan Hill <hillsa[at]oplin.lib.oh.us>
To: plib2[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu
Subject: [PUBLIB] It IS a Great Time to be a librarian!!!Mr. Schallan, with all due respect, in northwest Ohio, it IS a great time
to be a librarian!
The "all of mankinds wealth and knowledge" is not yet digitized and
available via your home Internet connection. As for our rural library
system, we are constantly changing to meet the anticipated needs of our
users. Call us futurists, call us realists, call us visionaries, call us
librarians.
No matter how our "professional organizations" such as ALA and PLA
try to re-name what we do, we still are a preschoolers door to
learning. We still offer to get that unique item via interlibrary
loan. We still provide Internet access to those many who lack the
funds to acquire home connections. We still introduce to the public
new technologies such as books on cd, e-books, and who knows what is
down the pike. We still provide current, up-to-date, authoritative
information in a variety of formats for our patrons. And, we have an
absolute grand time doing it all!
Our rural community will probably never be able to support a book
store, so we are the only game in town when it comes to storytimes
and summer reading clubs. We are embracing new ways to partner with
schools and local business and industry to provide exciting new
services to our patrons. And, we are looking at the possibility of
major expansion because of our real and anticipated growth.
In our community, we are doing a good job at public relations. We do
not leave that job up to ALA or our profession as a whole. It is each
of our jobs at the local level to blow our horn.
So, when it is touted that libraries and librarians will become
obsolete, I emphatically and enthusiastically say NOT SO!!! Not in
Paulding County, Ohio. And I would bet, Mr. Schallan, not so in
Chandler, Arizona. Thank YOU for reminding me why it is a great time
to do what we do.
**************************************************
Susan N. Hill, Director/Editor
Paulding County Carnegie Library
Rural Library Services Newsletter
205 S. Main Street
Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-2032; fax (419) 399-2114
URL: http://library.norweld.lib.oh.us/Paulding
**************************************************.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
[PUBLIB] Re: Great time to be a librarian?
Anne Christensen (achriste[at]lib.ci.phoenix.az.us)
Fri, 14 Apr 2000 17:58:52 -0700 (PDT)It has been so good to return to publib and see familiar names
again! Great topic, but for once I am going to disagree with Joe. I got
the impression he feels it's not a great time to be a librarian. I think
it's a rocky time - but a great time!Yes, our jobs are changing. But that does not signal the end of
librarianship! The city council here has just indicated that MORE hours
of service are one of their priorities in our system. (For those of you
not in map librarianship, Chandler, AZ is in the same county as Phoenix,
AZ - although not in the same library system)
Issues of staffing, exhaustion, and collection aside, I'd say that's
a pretty good indicator that many people looking at our profession believe
we *do* have jobs that are needed by the public, that we are not
marginalized, and that we have a future.
When we started investing heavily in electronic resources and remote
access products, we, too, thought our jobs were going to end. At first it
looked like our advanced degrees (MLS and otherwise) were going to be used
to assign computer terminals and monitor them so we could be sure
minors weren't accessing or being shown obscenity. We were living La Vida
Chat-rooms.
It took a couple of years but this activity has slowed somewhat. Yes,
there are still sticky moments. But it's not a lot worse than having two
"investment dudes" duking it out in the Business area over the Value
Line. (True Story!)
What changed? First, our users became more saavy. They didn't need us so
much to hold their hands anymore or to teach them to click the mouse. We
also became more proactive. Thanks to grant funding, we have been
offering Internet training classes since 1996. The public response is
overwhelming, but it has made a difference. Last year, funding became
available to convert an area of the first floor to a training room *and*
hire a trainer! The public (and the city council) knows we can help them
face this bewildering new world.
Second, we managed to increase our visibility as a place where users could
find *more* than electronic resources. Our reading, viewing, listening,
and other culturally-related programs got bigger. Grants and funding
increased. Attendance became almost more than we could bear. And these
were no fluff programs. Children's services were still doing storytimes
and summer reading programs and all the wonderful things they do. Adult
services also got in to the act offering programs realated to film and
culture, art exhibits, author readings, and many other culturally-related
topics. Here again the public (and the city council) realized we could do
more than set up stuff for them to point and click at.
Third, users who have searched the net until they're blue in the face for
information have returned to us again. This is part of one and two above.
When we can point out to them that we have resources paid for by their
taxes in both print and electronic form that they could never have found
via internet search engines, they are ecstatic. The public (and the city
council) are beginning to realize that the librarians could do more for
their information needs than Yahoo ever could!
It has been a tough few years. That's part of what made me unsubscribe to
publib for a while! It took concentration, effort, nerves of steel, and
dedication. It also took library management that was completely in
support of these projects. In fact, many of these things were
management ideas that actually worked!
I believe that we're now seeing a different sort of light. (If it's not
at the end of the tunnel, at least it makes the tunnel look better.)
We're seeing that, while our jobs are radically different than they were
4-5 years ago, they're still valuable, they're still valued by the public
(and city council), and, most importantly, we are still librarians - and
proud of it.
If you're just now getting heavily in to electronic resources and remote
access, be of good cheer. The road is difficult now, but it does smooth
out later on. Be proactive, keep your sense of humor, remember the big
picture and hang tight because, folks, it really can be a bumpy ride...
Anne Christensen
Librarian II
Phoenix Public Library
achriste[at]lib.ci.phoenix.az.us.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
[PUBLIB] Re: A great time to be a librarian?
Joe.Schallan[at]ci.chandler.az.us
Sat, 15 Apr 2000 21:05:50 -0700 (PDT)
Susan Hill wrote at length about why it is a great time in her
library. I am glad to hear it. It's a great time for me, personally,
mainly because I'm in a library system dedicated to the idea of
providing great customer service. We try to do the essential stuff
but also the little things that surprise and delight people. From the
top down we try to think outside the envelope; we try to innovate.
It's a great place to work.But my original posting wasn't about my personal situation, which is
a happy one; it was about technological and social trends and their
impact on libraries.I'll stick by my guns. You can see disintermediation headed our way.
Today's costs for access, today's limited selection of digitized
materials, today's primitive e-book readers and clunky palm-sized
wireless information devices are simply wayposts on the journey to a
time, not too far off, when everyone will have access via
sophisticated devices and software. Many, many people will perceive
that they have no further need for trips to a brick-and-mortar
library and no further need for the ministrations of an intermediary.
They may be wrong, but this is what they will think.Here in Arizona a petition drive is underway to place before the
voters a measure to eliminate the state income tax. Already cities,
which receive a portion of their revenues from the state, are bracing
for severe shortfalls. City council members will know about the
electronic alternatives to traditional library services, and some
will have succumbed to the already widespread notion that the net has
obsoleted libraries. In some of our cities, gate and transaction
counts are down, and city officials hunting for places to cut will
certainly notice this as well. There will be considerable pressure to
curtail library-related expenditures.Information doesn't want to be free, as has been supposed, but it
certainly wants to be disintermediated. And if it can be, how much
can a large city save by eliminating librarians and their salaries
and benefits?My questions still stand. In an environment of cheap and easy books
and information, available directly to the seeker 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, and in a political environment in which governmental
support cannot be assumed, what happens to libraries? Do we have a
role? Will we be redundant? What innovations can we offer to prove
our continuing worth?Joe, assuredly happy in Chandler, AZ, but seeing storm clouds in the
crystall ball
=================================
Joe Schallan
Information Services Librarian
Chandler Public Library
Mail Stop 601, PO Box 4008
Chandler, AZ 85244-4008
(480) 782-2838
joe.schallan[at]ci.chandler.az.us.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
[PUBLIB] Good times, bad times
P Hamilton (phambone[at]yahoo.com)
Sun, 16 Apr 2000 21:10:37 -0700 (PDT)Thanks for clarifying your thoughts, Joe. I can relate to all the views
thus far elaborated, and would add that what is available on the Internet
is just data. How to find relevant data, how to refine what you want from
all the dross, just how to think about how to ask for what you want -
these are the skills that the public will find most useful. And funnily
enough, for most librarians, this comes as second nature. In a world
where there are still thousands of adults who cannot read, I don't think
the population is going to become 100% 'net literate very quickly. I
think helping people use Internet tools as well as we/they do print
materials is a terrific and marketable skill.See also T. S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday" for this thought:
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
Peggie Hamilton
College Preparatory School.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
[PUBLIB] Re: A great time to be a librarian?
Karen G. Schneider (kgs[at]bluehighways.com)
Mon, 17 Apr 2000 06:02:55 -0700 (PDT)Joe has captured my thinking on this very closely.
It is often difficult for us to distinguish between the world as we wish it
to be, and the world as it will be. The reality is that we are quickly
moving to a society of ubiquitous computing where as things stand, the
trade-off between instant access and the chance to go through a skilled
intermediary will not end in our favor.
My only point of disagreement is that I am still convinced that information
wants to be free. I don't mean without cost-value; I mean it wants to be
accessible. I often put it another way--information flows along the path of
least resistance.
Also, there are services libraries can provide--such as activities for
children and adults--that some communities value very strongly. How can we
continue to provide those services? *Should* we continue to provide those
services?
Finally, in a presentation at PLA, Steve Garwood raised the concept of a
national digital library--"THE Internet Library," as he put it in his talk.
Quoting directly from his presentation, this library would include:
"Virtual Real-time Reference (24/7 access) - "Borrowable" E-Books
(multiple formats) - A universal catalog of print books - Reliable links to
quality sites - Periodical Access - Virtual Story Hours - Etc. (Most
Important: it's all ONE place)"
His question is, "so what's stopping us?" The answer would be very
complicated, but a simple response is, "the past." I think survivability of
librarianship will mean consolidation of library resources into a few or
even one major resource. There will still be room for local information
services, but in a radically different form.
Karen G. Schneider kgs[at]bluehighways.com
Assistant Director of Technology
Shenendehowa Public Library, Clifton Park, NY
http://www.shenpublib.org.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 01:30:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Pat McMahon <pmm[at]tinet.ie>
To: plib2[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu
Subject: [PUBLIB] Re: A great time to be a librarian?I have been enjoying the PUBLIB digest for several months now, but this
is my first contribution. I am County Librarian in Galway County Libraries
in Ireland.....the west of Ireland, which includes Connemara and the
Aran Islands.
I have been using the following quotation for some time: "Even in the
smallest town the public library will be the institution which builds a
sense of local community as we enter the new century." I fell that more
than ever we now need a a brick-and-mortar library...a social space with
quality book collections. It is and will be a great time to be a librarian.
I hope to elaborate on this with short contributions in the months ahead.
Patrick McMahon,
County Librarian,
Galway,
Ireland.
pmm[at]tinet.ie.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
[PUBLIB] Great time to be a Librarian?
James B. Casey (jimcasey[at]lib.oak-lawn.il.us)
Mon, 17 Apr 2000 13:14:54 -0700 (PDT)
Joe Schallen's challenging and thought provoking
post on Publib (excerpt below), fails to take into
account the human equation:
--------------------------------------------------
"You can see disintermediation headed our way.
Today's costs for access, today's limited selection
of digitized materials, today's primitive e-book
readers and clunky palm-sized wireless information
devices are simply wayposts on the journey to a time,
not too far off, when everyone will have access via
sophisticated devices and software. Many, many
people will perceive that they have no further need for
trips to a brick-and-mortar library and no further need
for the ministrations of an intermediary. They may be
wrong, but this is what they will think."
----------------------------------------------------Just because some of us have big kitchens and
refrigerators full of food, do we decline to partonize
gourmet restaurants? We can drink coffee at home
too. Why is going to Starbucks such a craze? You
can see every sporting event conceivable via cable or
dish, yet the stadiums are getting bigger and bigger and
attendance is higher than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
Just because we can rent practically any movie or
see it at home via HBO or digital cable, do people
stay away from movie theaters? No. We have
mega movie theaters now.
People don't want to stay cooped up in their
homes. They want to go places and do things.
More importantly, they want to follow their ever
developing interests. If you stimulate an interest,
the appetite for more and more and more will grow.
It is BECAUSE OF the Internet and high tech
that more and more people will come to their
Public Library and use it more than ever before.
In fact, many Library users are becoming info
junkies! They won't get off the Internet unless
by pain of expulsion from the Library -- or death
(some patrons may come to equate the two).
Oak Park Public Library --- 12 miles north of our
own library's service area --- just passed a $30
million referendum for a new and larger public library
building. Our neighboring Worth Public Library just
passed a 33% increase in their operating budget. It
was the first time they had passed one in 20 years.
A neighboring library to the north just received $1.2
million from the politically astute Speaker of the
Illinois House of Representatives for a new Library
facility. Our Library and two others in our vicinity
have received at least $125,000 in grants from the
State over the past few years. Another Library which
just completed a new main library building in 1991
passed a huge bond issue for a NEW and larger building
in 2000. ---- All of this in a Chicago suburban area
which is already studded with public libraries and
where the voting public is renowned for it conservative
voting.
The kinds of services Libraries have been offering for
years will not only be in demand, but in greater demand
than ever before ---- along with new services geared to
the high tech and Internet realities. Patrons will not only
come to the Library, but they will come and stay longer,
browse more, and come for purposes of recreation as
well as research (also a form of recreation which is
gaining popularity). We will need coffee bars, lounges
and more space in which to house our growing patron
base.
It will be a great time for Libraries and for the Information
revolution. Whether it is a "Great time to be a Librarian"
will depend upon what Librarians do to strengthen their
profession and their standing in the community. We could
easily be pushed aside while others come in and take over
our increasingly popular and coveted turf. That is where
those of us in ALA and ALA Council need to do more.
Our best advantage in this process is our committment to
serving the public and our uncanny skill at getting the most
out of relatively few dollars. Oddly enough, the biggest
problem might be Librarians who don't know how to
spend and manage huge increases in funding and windfalls
of money.
James B. Casey --- ALA Council Member (and candidate
for re-election)... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 18:29:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Karen G. Schneider" <kgs[at]bluehighways.com>
To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>,
Subject: Re: great time to be...
Jim brought up Starbucks, and on the way in to work today I had hte same
experience I have every day.I go to a very nice coffeeshop that is the only place in the area where I
can get my morning fix of cappuchino. They make a great cappuchino.
However, they don't think they are in the coffee business. They believe
that they are a gift shop that sells coffee on the side, and furthermore,
that what people want in the morning is companionship.What I really want in the morning is a cup of cappuchino. I don't care how
I get the cappuchino. I do care if it's good cappuchino, so that rules out
nasty instant mixes, etc. And I don't care to put a cappuchino maker in my
office (assuming my boss would let me do that--I haven't asked, but if I
were supervising me, I don't think I'd allow it). If I could make my
computer generate cappuchino, I surely would.If I could get my computer to generate cappuchino, I would be missing out on
some potentially important human interaction every morning, since there are
days when after my commute I vanish into my office and plink on computers or
documents for hours. But I'd give it up anyway for the extra ten minutes in
my day that was not devoted to a pit stop for cappuchino.Still, I am not a recluse. We go to concerts, parties, social functions,
etc. I go to church, coffee hour, and Bible study, would do a book study in
my area if time permitted, and am fairly gregarious, given my schedule. So
it's not that I'm avoiding human contact; it's just that (along with buying
airline tickets, computer mouse extension cables, books and CDs, etc.) when
it comes to my morning cuppa, I don't feel the personal need for a mediated
human experience. Even if it's good for me, I don't want it. If you tried
to convince me that stopping for cappuchino was good for my soul, you'd
probably fail. I'd rather save the time and bank it against getting home
that much earlier.We can go on all we want about what we think people want, but people want
what they want, whether or not it's good for them. What we really need to
figure out is what people will really need and want from librarians ten
years hence, and how we can provide it.Karen G. Schneider kgs[at]bluehighways.com
Assistant Director of Technology
Shenendehowa Public Library, Clifton Park, NY
http://www.shenpublib.org.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 04:50:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Thomas J. Hennen Jr." <thennen[at]haplr-index.com>
To: publib <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Great time to be a librarian - May you live in interesting times.
Greetings,
It is a Chinese curse, of course, to say: may you live in interesting times.
Who can deny that we do?That makes it a great time, something that is true even if libraries and
librarians as we know them will morph into something radically different in
the next few years. That morphing will likely be to the point that we may
no longer recognize libraries or, indeed, ourselves.Writing in PUBLIB Digest 1233, Joe Schallan, Information Services Librarian
at Chandler Public Library, Chandler, AZ responded to my posting of 9 April,
2000: We have met the Demographic and it is us!That posting was on the radical restructuring that the commercial firm,
NetLibrary has done in the under 2 years since its founding. Look to the
comparable types of radical re-structuring that the Internet has forced on
libraries in the last few years. I find myself both terrified and
exiliarated. See http://www.haplr-index.com/Demographic.htmWhat Jone Shallan has to say is certainly thought provoking. I cannot say
that I have not had many of the same thoughts in my less optimistic moments.
I expected immediately that it would lead to an interesting thread, and so
it has.Remember the quote about how young people today are going to hell in a
handbasket and how culture will be destroyed by these youthful barbarians...
and it turns out to be Socrates saying it? And no I am not going to look it
up, though I could on the web even if I cannot call a 24/7 reference service
to be sure...Well if you read library history you will see that when the first public
libraries went to open stack collections there were definitive statements of
the imminent demise of the institution. Many were the soothsayers who
announced our doom from the onslaught and misuse of collections by "heedless
immigrants" until, of course that immigrant Carnegie changed their tune a
bit. It wasn't all that long ago that some within ALA would have had us
believe that racially integrated libraries would lead to the end of
civilization. There was a time when librarians feared that cheap paperbacks
would spell our ruin, too. There were Chicken Littles to spell our doom
from photocopiers, film, comic books, and videotape to mention just a few
more. The list goes on of course.So yes, the times, they are a-changing. And yes, of course, the Net changes
everything. And yes, perhaps this time, the stakes are higher. And yes,
perhaps our competitors really will eat us alive this time - and leave the
public the poorer for it!But libraries really DO build community and it cannot be ALL virtual. When
libraries build community, communities re-pay the favor. We all need some
"face time" in our lives with real living people. If those people are
smiling and offering a welcoming place to cybercafe [that's like 'doing
lunch' only in a cybercafe equipped library doncha know?] the public will
keep coming. If we keep nudging opent that pre-schooler's door to learning,
parents will vote with their feet, their hearts, and their wallets. I know a
lot of great library people who plan to continue to add value to the library
experience as it evolves.The challenges are huge and daunting and downright scary. That's what makes
it interesting! The times, as in that Chinese curse, are indeed
interesting. The times they ARE a-changing. I, for one, think it is a
great time to seek wisdom and share knowledge. And I still ask, is this a
great time to be a librarian, or what?
Thomas J. Hennen Jr.
http://www.haplr-index.com
6014 Spring Street
Racine,WI 53406
Voice: 414-886-1625 Fax: 414-886-5424
thennen[at]haplr-index.com.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 08:01:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan B. Hagloch <haglocsu[at]oplin.lib.oh.us>
To: plib2[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu
Subject: [PUBLIB] Great Time. . .Hi, all!
I do a program for local groups on "The Predictions for the 20th Century:
Did They Get It Right?" One of the predictions made quite seriously a
hundred years ago was that the motor car would make the horse extinct.Living in a suburban-rural area, I see horses practically every day!
The point is that the way we use things will change, but I truly believe
that entertainment books will still be around at least throughout all of
our professional lifetimes (They're a lot easier to house than a horse!).
Programming is likely to increase, if current experience is any indication.
ILL of print materials that aren't available electronically will still be
part of our province. Literacy activism will still be important. Homework
assistance; etc. etc. All these will still be needed! We must position
ourselves to be as flexible as we can possibly be in order to take
advantage of new opportunities/challenges! If it's not exactly a great
time to be a librarian (although I think it is!), it's sure not dull!My 2 cents worth!
Susan
***************************************************
Susan B. Hagloch, Director
Tuscarawas County Public Library
121 Fair Avenue NW
New Philadelphia, OH 44663-2600
(330) 364-4474
(330) 364-8217 FAX"Information is the currency of Democracy." Thomas Jefferson
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L I B R A R Y J U I C E
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