All noble enthusiasms pass through a feverish stage, and grow wiser and more serene. – William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)
If there’s one thing that I constantly struggle with in my professional life, it’s my somewhat hyper approach to learning, experiencing, and communicating. My silent thoughts prior to important meetings always include the phrase “…and just keep me calm…”
This isn’t to say I’m an emotional trainwreck, or I have problems acting like a mature adult when the occasion requires – it’s just that during most of my waking hours, my mind is going a mile a minute. I’m constantly making notes for myself, constantly looking around to see what’s out there, constantly making connections in my brain about how “technology A” can influence and improve “service B” at our libraries.
This feverishness, surprise surprise, is fueled all the more by the vast changes going on in our little ol’ professional of librarianship. The urgency to share thoughts and get decision makers “on board” to just begin the process of looking at the services we provide to our customers is something that consumes my brain. Anyone else feel that way?
As I review the much anticipated (at least, for me since I heard of it’s impending release during CIL 2007) Pew Internet & American Life Project publication: A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users. I’m reminded that our profession is still in for a challenge in providing relevant, useful services to our customers. This is particularly so for public libraries – as our customer base spans from the very young to very old. And if, as this survey indicates, that “49% of Americans only occasionally use modern gadgetry and many others bristle at electronic connectivity”, then I ask myself – how many of this 49% are my library customers? Heck – how many of this 49% are our library STAFF?
One thing I wish the survey had spent more time on was giving us more information on respondents age. It was covered in Part 5: Demographic Differences across Groups, but I found myself wanting more. The reason I say this is that I still firmly believe that we need to do work now to ensure that our future taxpayers – the group that supports us financially – continues to see the library as vibrant, innovative, and relevant to their everyday lives. Yes, Mr. Board Member/Commissioner/Manager/Director – one day those 15 year old Text Messaging, MySpacing, Twittering kids WILL be taxpayers somewhere. And what they’ll want and expect from their local government and their libraries methinks might be verrry different from what we’re providing folks now…
…yep, looks like I’m still in that “feverish stage” in this my “noble enthusiasm”. I’ll keep shooting for the “wiser and more serene” though.
Question: what “stage” are you in right now?
