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Category Archives: Libraries & Advocacy
The institution (“Brick & Mortar” as well as”Click & Mortar”), the practitioners (i.e. “Librarians”) and the profession of Library & Information Science (the commitment to the organization and retrieval of information, including the responsible safeguard of materials as well as the fair dissemination of it)
How to be a Good (Library) Boss
by Bahark Yousefi 
Thursday, May 19, 2016
I am in the business of encouraging librarians to apply for library management jobs. When I come across smart, awesome, politically progressive librarians (which happens with delightful frequency), I try to convince them to consider management. This is not because I think management is the only path forward for these wonderful humans, but because I want more smart, awesome, and politically progressive folks at those tables. I want them there because libraries need to be changing in big, fundamental ways, and right now, as things stand, that’s where the power to push for those changes resides. Often, the librarian (aka my target) will ask me what I think it takes to be a good library manager and my answer, without fail, is “be a decent human being.” Now, as true as that may be, I appreciate that it is not very specific. What follows is an attempt to expand the list, in no particular order:
- Be a decent human being (still #1).
- Be the kind of boss that tells employees about their rights and then helps them claim and exercise those rights.
- Be absolutely committed to transparency. Do not assume that you know what others need/don’t need to know (of course, be mindful of all the legal and ethical stuff).
- Have a vision. Care very, very passionately about something and make sure everyone knows what that is.
- Make absolutely sure that people who work for you have the resources to do their work. If resources are scarce, then change their work. Do less with less and more with more. Read more…
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The progressive librarian: 10 ways to be more forward-thinking
by Sarah Tanksalvala
For librarians, being more progressive means embracing new ways of approaching their job and the role of the library in a university. Progressive librarians are working to revitalize libraries by making them more than simply places that store information. Part museum, part lab, progressive libraries are exploring and defining their services based on people’s needs.
“Librarians find themselves in the midst of trying to reinvent themselves and what they do,” says Sebastien Marion, virtual services librarian at New York Institute of Technology. “The challenge is how to go from book-storage places to collection places to places that engage with skills.”
Progressive librarianship has a number of defining components. Progressive librarians support reading culture, in an academic environment in which many are pushing for all-digital libraries. Progressive librarians support personal learning, and see the library as a place where personal learning and lifelong exploration can take center stage.
Here are 10 tips for librarians looking for ways to become more progressive.
1. Focus on the human component: Libraries might be seen as places to go work quietly, but progressive librarians look for ways to make libraries more human-centric. Read more…
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Is the future going out of print? Why we’re confident books will survive the digital age
Robert Fulford | June 6, 2016 2:59 PM ET
Mikael Damkier/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The philosopher Francis Bacon, looking out at the future from his vantage point in the English 17th century, said that everyone should consider the effect of three inventions that were unknown in ancient times: Printing, gunpowder and the compass. “These three have changed the appearance and state of the whole world.”
Printing was the innovation Bacon put first, and the one that concerns us most in 2016. Printing made the modern era possible by disseminating the books that opened new ways of thinking and encouraged new human aspirations. Under the influence of printing, the Protestant Reformation, the Renaissance and modern science all sprang to life. It was a revolution – “the Unacknowledged Revolution,” as one modern historian called it because (despite Bacon) most of the world didn’t understand what was happening.
Today, on the other hand, we know the change that confronts us. The printing era shows signs of coming to an end. Bookstores everywhere are closing down because many people prefer to read books in digital form or perhaps prefer not to read. What is at stake? Literacy, literature and the culture of books, with its vast libraries and its flourishing (but often unprofitable) publishers. All of it is in danger. Read more…
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5 Hidden Costs Of Not Interning Before You Graduate
Guest post written by
Kaytie Zimmerman
I write about money and career for millennials at optimisticmillennial.com.
Summer break for college students has finally arrived. They have plans to spend time at the beach, lake, or music festivals. Relaxation is important, but they may not realize that there are hidden costs if they don’t use this time to complete an internship before they graduate.
The costs are in the form of career potential, earnings, and time. All of these are important, but which are most significant to a new graduate?
Inability to Compete with Other Graduates
As students don their black robes and graduation caps this spring, they’ll enter a competitive pool of job seekers. Do you know how you stack up against your peers?
In 2014, 75% of graduates left school with at least one internship completed. Further, employers are now looking for work experience above other factors in selecting entry-level candidates.
It comes back to the all-too-painful chicken and egg reality most millennials have faced. They are told they need experience to get a job, but they need a job to get experience.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education and the American Public Media’s Marketplace survey, internship experience is the single most important credential for recent graduates to have on their resume in their job search.
Adding an internship to your resume before you hit the real world will at least keep you on pace with your peers, if not give you an edge.
Lose Out on ‘Foot in the Door’ Opportunities
Most job seekers are familiar with online job submissions being referred to as the “black hole” where their resume disappears, never to be found again.
One of the ways to get a foot in the door to your first job is to find an internship at a company that regularly hires their interns as full-time employees. Read more…
Stephanie L. Gross, MSLIS 