A big thanks to Helene for her encouraging thoughts about this little ‘ol blog. And she’s right, I do tend to let time pass between each posting. Since I can’t seem to keep up with all the cool new 2.0 stuff that so many others do so well, I decided my focus would be more on the attempts of one IT Manager to make the leap into the new, exciting library world that is ours for the taking.
But honestly, nearly a MONTH since my last post? Sheesh – what have I been doing? Well, happily I’ve been building lungs, a heart, a brain, and fabulous other parts of a wee one – our very own Leapin’ Baby who is due (yes, it’s too perfect to make it up) at the very end of February…in the leap year of 2008. And at work I’ve been pulling together the details for what I hope will be the first of many practical examples of what I’m calling my “Trickle Up” Theory.
We’ve all heard of the trickle down theory. Something starts at the top of the org chart and gradually makes it way down, down, down so that all are effected or impacted by it’s mission, idea, or priority. In libraries, I see this happening when talented, dymanic folks who are in leadership positions have a vision of innovation, risk taking, and open dialog. One needn’t look far to see library systems with such trailblazers. Since I tend to look more closely at the public library world, I see places like Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library and I instinctively want to clap my hands and cheer. Probably the most famous TSCPL visionary is David Lee King, but after hearing the Library’s Executive Director, Gina Millsap and Deputy Director of Operations, Rob Banks speak on the topic “Dump the Org. Chart: Get ‘er Done!: Management for a 2.0 library” I realized very quickly that David Lee King thrives not only because of his own passion and hard work, but because the library system he works for recognizes, encourages, and rewards his passion and hard work.
That, in my opinion, is the ideal “Trickle Down” theory in action for libraries. And though the innovation may not have begun at the top (probably didn’t, in fact) the point is that their management embraced it and promoted it as valuable to the success of their organization. By having library management see innovation and exploring new technologies with such priority, the culture of the library is bound to change. The pity is that for many other libraries, another more negative form of “Trickle Down” theory is in action, one based upon outmoded and outdated ideas of what a public library should be.
And it’s for these organizations that I have a suggestion: make a concerted effort to implement the “Trickle Up” Theory. That is to say – if excitement, commitment, and action can take hold amongst the majority of library staff found in the lower portion of your org. chart, then I do believe you’ve got yourselves a pretty powerful “Grassroots” contingency.
“Mutiny!”, “Chaos!”, “Disloyalty!” you say?
“Bring it on”, I say.
This isn’t dissent for dissent’s sake. This isn’t rabble-rousing based on a minority viewpoint. This is reflecting the world outside our library’s walls. And the longer we spend time trying to convince our customers and our employees that we are somehow “different” than the rest of the world, the more we’ll see this wish coming to fruition. Yeah, we’ll be different all right – completely irrelevant and known only in our country as places where we charge overdue fines to dead customers…
The Leapin' Librarian 