Transitions

It is now public and official. I will be leaving the L E Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire as of July 5. There has been a breakdown in the relationship between me and the Library Board.

This is not new news to the folks in Eau Claire (thanks to the newspaper) or to my children and family.

There is a limit to what I can say. I am leaving here with my head held high. This is a great community, and I have received incredible support from my staff here and from many members of the community.

Where I will go next is still up in the air. I have a number of irons in the fire. I will have interviews at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. Where my personal adventure takes me next, I don't know.

I will continue to live in Eau Claire for the time being. After all, it is relatively cheap to live here. In early July, I will retrieve the last of my personal belongings from Connecticut and have all of my "stuff" in one city -- Eau Claire. It is sort of half-way between the coasts, even if it is further north than the mid-point.

Rest assured that this blog will not disappear, and I will even promise to blog some or all of my adventures in Anaheim.

Stay tuned!

Outside Rock/Country Concerts and Festivals

The news of the opening of the Woodstock Museum got me to thinking about some of the summer events advertised in this area.

This weekend is Sawdust City Days, sponsored by the local paper. I went last year, and it is a carnival with some big music acts each evening. It is really a big carnival or small state fair.

In July, on the same weekend the 17th through the 20th, there are competing outdoor music festivals which are outside the community and include camping as an option. Closest to Eau Claire is Country Jam. It is an open area west of town. Last year the headline act was Bon Jovi who was on tour promoting his new country album. This year's Saturday headliners are Clay Walker and Carrie Underwood (in separate shows).

A little bit away from here Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin. Thursday performers include Boston, Godsmack is on Friday, Saturday includes Goo Goo Dolls and Stone Temple Pilots, Sunday concludes with Matchbox Twenty.

When I arrived in the area 18 or so months ago, I was surprised at the number of outdoor concerts with big names. Part of why it can happen here is the low price of land makes it economically feasible to keep a large enough plot of land to hold these kinds of events. At the same time, it is not outrageously far from population centers. From the Twin Cities to Eau Claire is about an hour and half (depending on where in The Cities you live). Cadott is 105 miles, so under two hours. The flyer I picked up for Rock Fest notes that it is 265 miles from Milwaukee and 340 miles from Chicago. From those cities, Eau Claire is about 50 miles closer.

I guess that the lessons learned at Woodstock (about security, etc.) have paid off.

WAPL -- A Summary

I summarized PLA the other day, now it is time for WAPL. The same certification rules apply, and given that I have five years to complete 100 hours of CE, I am well on track. With last year's more than 20 hours, and almost 25 hours so far this year, I have nothing to worry about (I think). As a further note, Terry Dawson compiled what he (and I) believe is a complete list of blog posts on WAPL. If you are interested in the various views (and some of us blogged the same sessions), visit his list.

The Keynote address at WAPL was critical. In it David Ward of Northstar Economics presented the basic information from the economic impact study which his firm completed. In it he positioned the public library sector as a key to economic development. David presented a number of key economic concepts. The message which we who are library workers need to deliver to our stakeholders including elected officials, city managers, and business leaders is that for every dollar invested in the operation of a public library, the community receives, at a minimum, $4.06 of direct economic impact.

After the keynote, I attended the break out session which included further discussion of the economic impact study. The focus of this session was how to present the results of the economic impact study. There are several talking points, and here is what I learned (I sent this as a quote to the WLA Executive Director yesterday): "For a long time we have known that the Library was the single busiest destination in Downtown Eau Claire with over 1,500 people visiting us each day, seven days a week. What this study shows is the dollar value attached to those visits. If 30% of our visitors spend and average of $25 per person, the economic impact of having the Library downtown is $11,250 per day, which is more than it costs to run the library for a day."

The other key concept is that for every $1 of tax dollars invested in operating a public library, the local economy gets at least $4, and for every library job there is another job in the community. One of the key issues about the $4 is that most of that money is spent within the local community since that is where our library workers live.

We need to frequently communicate that message.

I am skipping the luncheon speakers for both days, I may blog that separately, if I feel so moved.

After lunch I went to a session on strategic planning for results. Cheryl Becker talked about the new PLA publication which served as the basis for the library's recent RFP for a strategic planner. I learned some of the key concepts underlying the process, and now more clearly understand the nature of one of the responses to the RFP. It was a critically important program for me.

My "official" day ended with CE in Your Pajamas. At the very least, go to the blog post to see John DeBacher in his PJs for the program! The panel covered a number of different technologies used for distance CE including some live demos. It was well worth it to learn about some of the many options out there.

Friday morning I was a little late getting to the program Have You Heard About? which was an incredibly fast paced move and demonstration of a huge number of various technology sites and tools around the web. They used a del.icio.us page (which is linked here). It has helped me to begin to understand del.icio.is a little, even if I don't use it much....and there is a wealth of information to be mined here.

I did not blog the one other program I attended, and the two luncheon speakers are on the WLA blog (Thursday, Friday).

WAPL - Joining the WLA Blog

As I was getting ready to blog the last WAPL program, I got to chatting with Lisa Strand, the WLA Executive Director. After we chatted, she said, "Oh, I should invite you to the WLA Blog." Well, even as I was blogging, I got an email inviting me! I have signed up, and will cross-post. Actually, I will probably put most of the additional programs on the WLA Blog, and post my personal comments here (with a link from there).

WAPL - Economic Impact of Wisconsin Public Libraries

This was the breakout session after the keynote. The state library will be posting the slides from the keynote. They also promised to publish the slide show this break-out session. [Links to be added when verified.]

David Ward talked about how to present the study on the economic impact of libraries. He started by talking about his company, as a background. They do a lot of work in regional economic studies. [I have heard his parts of his basic economics speech and on his business before. He spoke to the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce a while back.]

He talked about the "new economy" and the importance of regional organization and thinking. He talked about the New North, and other joint planning efforts including Momentum (which includes Eau Claire).

It is important to set the context by talking about the four economic trends highlighted in his main speech. He offered slides for use to libraries who are making the presentation.

There are so many things happening in the world today that people are confused.

His income gap slide (which shows family income by educational attainment) shows the critical role for libraries which support people's acquiring a better standard of living. From 1976 to 2000, real family income (that is adjusted for inflation) has decreased for those with less than high school education and only a high school education.

Economic multipliers are acquired from various sources some are often available locally.

Be careful to not overstate your case. Libraries are not an economic engine. First mission is to provide services. But....public libraries are in important part of the new economy.

One slide showed three key points:

1. ROI is $4.06 for every $1.00 of taxpayer investment
2. Overall (conservative) economic impact of $753 million
3. Library serves as a knowledge/information resource base

The last point may be the most important and includes not only the collections by the value of the people.

Messages to use:

1. Public libraries are a good and necessary investment in a rapidly changing economy.
2. Public libraries are a consistent source of information and technology. They won't be acquired closed down or moved offshore.
3. With an increasing gap in income levels, public libraries level the information and technology playing field.
4. A growing wave of retiring baby boomers will use libraries as a key part of their working and non-working lives.

He then went to questions.

There has not been a study done of Minnesota. The state economies of Wisconsin and Minnesota were equal in size in 1990, that is no longer true. Minnesota has half a million fewer people. Some think the brain drain is the reason, but that may not be true. However, Wisconsin does not attract "new brains" while Minnesota does. Financial risk-taking has always been greater in Minnesota than in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a manufacturing state with a guarded mind-set. Minnesota has had a broader vision, and companies like 3M encouraged spin-offs. There is change in Wisconsin, but it is slow.

It is important to use the ROI argument in print but verbalize the services argument. The economic multipliers come from the Implan Group in Minnesota (ironically).

WAPL -- Keynote Address: Economic Impact of Libraries

WAPL is the public library division of the Wisconsin Library Association. Each spring there is a meeting. For me it is a lot like going to the PLA National Conference because it is all programs!

The Keynote Speaker was David Ward of NorthStar Economics. About a year ago the state's LSTA Advisory Committee recommended an economic impact study. NorthStar Economics won the contract through a competitive bidding process.

He handed out both the slide show and the Executive Summary of the final report. The session was scheduled to be followed by a breakout session, which is scheduled to be repeated Friday morning. He started with one of his favorite jokes (I have heard him before). "An economist is someone who does not have enough personality to be an accountant."

He started with an overview of the current economic situation including the shift from agriculture to manufacturing and now to services. The second shift is in the nature of work. The proportion of work that is "nonroutine interactive" has increased dramatically while "nonroutine manual" has decreased. The analysis was done using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the occurrence of skills required. The chart shows types of skills base-lined to 1960, and graphed them over time.

He gave the example of the new economy using Google which is about a decade old, and is already 6 times the market capitalization of Ford and General Motors. He showed the size of the US economy related to the size of other parts of the world. Total world population is 5.5 billion but the US population is only 0.3 billion. The world economy is $48 billion. The US is only $14 billion and the EU is $13 billion.

The four key economic trends:

1. The nature of the economy is shifting rapidly as economic sectors expand and decline.
2. The nature of work is shifting away from manual labor to higher level analytic and interactive skills.
3. The pace of econonmic change has accelerated.
4. The US is an important but shrinking share of the global economy.

He showed the change in family income based on education. He also told his "Rotary" story about using key states for comparison of data. People from Wisconsin always believe that Wisconsin is behind Illinois, but cannot accept that Wisconsin is behind Minnesota -- smaller in population, and has even worse weather! [I don't get the rivalry....] Wisconsin is in the upper part of the lower third of educational attainment. The comparison of per capita income shows that Wisconsin is about $4,000 behind Minnesota. (There is a huge potential impact on state revenue.)

This was a basic introduction to the study. He held up the USA Today which had economics based stories all over the front page.

The study started in October 2007, the report is essentially done, and the presentation was the formal unveiling. There were surveys and focus groups and they reviewed other studies of public library impact studies. He reviewed the basics of impact studies which calculate the amounts acquired from various sources and spent. The model takes the direct economic impact and use the economic multiplier and calculate the "total spending impact." In Wisconsin that is $326 million. This is spending that mostly affects "Main Street businesses." A second part is jobs: there are 3,222 jobs, but another 3,058 jobs are created by the spending from people in the first set of jobs for a total of 6,280 jobs.

They also looked at the market value of services provided by libraries. He presented a chart which I will need to analyze more before talking about it. However it is included in the full report. They assigned values to materials, the value of a reference transaction, computer and Internet access (which has been consistently undervalued in prior studies -- Kinkos charges $0.30 minute), and then for programs. The total was $750 million which he advocates saying is 3/4 of a billion dollars.

After discussing the preliminary results they added values for meeting rooms, career and job info, periodicals and subscriptions, electronic databases, specialized materials, and wi-fi access. The best way to present the data is to talk about things like economic impact per capita.

The key message on the ROI is that the annual return for each dollar of public tax support is $4.06.

After some further review of the report, he ended with some observations:

• The value of libraries is particularly evident in rural and low income areas.
• Library use is increasing by baby boomers who are recently retired. (A key demographic to stay on top of!)
• Libraries are a central community gathering place and are very valuable.
• Despite concerns, libraries are increasingly important in the Internet Age
• Availability of specialized knowledge is crucial
• Electronic access to library is critical (example of picking up requested items).
• Important to inform the public about the mission of the library
• Operating money and space are key issues
• Even in the Internet Age it is important to maintain the physical facilities and maintain a knowledgeable staff.

It was a great summary of a report which will play a huge role in promoting the value of libraries in Wisconsin.

Leadership Eau Claire and Humor

Today was the April day for Leadership Eau Claire. It was "Media Day." We visited the local newspaper plant, a local TV station, one of the local radio station groups, and heard from media experts at UWEC. Going from one to another, we went by school bus. To entertain us on the bus, one of the members of the class entertained us with his accordion. Here is a clip.




[Added 5/2/2008]

Look for photos on Flickr soon! [Done!!]

Fun, but with some truth!

This is from a favorite web site of several of my friends. It describes this winter in Wisconsin ... and yes, it is still definitely winter here!

Wisconsin Cold

This weekend has been warm -- for this winter. It has actually been double digits (above zero) including almost getting to 40 today.

Earlier in the week was the primary. So many of the national media talked about how Wisconsinites were braving the cold to vote. In Eau Claire, the turn out was almost a record with over 40% coming out to vote. Even my daughter blogged [no link, unless she asks for it] about how ridiculous it was to talk about being surprised at the cold in Wisconsin in the winter.

The locals here are talking about how this is like winters used to be. We have had below average cold and above average snow. Fortunately, here in Eau Claire we have not had the same dumping of snow that the southern part of the state has had. My observation has been that the snow has been pretty dry. The down side is the drifting (look at the first two photos on Flickr). But it is still light. With the cold it has stuck.

More snow is predicted for this week. We'll see!

WLA Conference - Summary Redux

The conference is over, but the association web master (web mistress?) has created a page with links to many of the presentations. So, if you want to check my report, or read about a program I did not attend, you can visit the 2007 Conference Page of the WLA web site.

Small World

When I used to talk to Library School classes, I always mentioned that this is a small incestuous profession. This was brought home to me yesterday. I was at a networking part of the Conference, when someone said: "Oh, you are the Michael Golrick, I have heard a lot about you!" Well, it turned out to be someone who worked in Tucson after me, and had heard about me. Likewise, I had heard of her from our mutual Tucson friends.

Ironically, after I moved East (to Connecticut), she moved to New York (Westchester County). As we sat and talked at breakfast this morning, we both moved to Wisconsin on the very same day last December, and started our current jobs on the same day.

For some reason our paths had not crossed until now, even though it has been 24 years since I left Arizona.

WLA Conference - Thursday Afternoon

No blogging this afternoon.

Lunch was an inspirational speech from Kevin Reilly, President of the University of Wisconsin system.

After lunch I was part of the panel for WLTA entitled "Library and Community Involvement."

After the break I attended the WLA Legislative update on state and federal issues. No predictions were made about when Wisconsin will have a state budget. Rick Grobschmidt did a great job on the budget issues. Paul Nelson covered the other state issues, and Jessica McPhail covered the the federal agenda.

What follows is the Annual Business Meeting, and then the Annual Banquet and Awards.

WLA Conference - Open Meetings

Krista Ross did a great presentation on the Wisconsin Open meeting laws. She originally did it for her library system's board of directors.

The open meetings law creates a presumption that meetings of governmental bodies must be held inopen session. The Open Meetings law applies when there is a purpose to engage in governmental business (including discussion, decision or information gathering on matters within its realm of authority) and the number of members present is sufficient to determine the governmental body’s course of action (i.e., you have a quorum).

The two most basic requirements are to give advance public notice of each of its meetings, and conduct all of its business in open session, unless an exemption to the open session requirement applies.

Notice must be given to:

1. The public (as a general rule, in 3 different locations where the public is likely to see it.)
2. Any member of the news media who have submitted a written request for notice
3. The official newspaper, designated pursuant to state statute, or if none exists, to a news medium likely to give notice in the area.

In general the notice must give “time, date, place, and subject matter of the meeting, including that intended for at any contemplated closed session. Governmental bodies may not use general
subject matter designations such as “miscellaneous business” or “agenda revisions” or “such matters as are authorized by law” as a way to raise any subject.

There are four open session requirements:

1. Accessibility: A meeting should be held in a place reasonably accessible to members of the public and open to all citizens at all times,preferably in a public place such as a municipal hall or school, rather than on private premises.
2. Tape Recording and Videotaping: Citizens have the right to attend and observe meetings that are held in open session. They also have the right to tape or videotape open session meetings as long it does not disrupt the meeting.
3. Citizen Participation: The law does not grant citizens the right to participate in the meeting. The governmental body itself is free to determine whether to allow citizen participation at its meetings and may limit the degree to which citizens participate.
4. Minutes of meetings and records of votes: Requires that a governmental body keep a record of the motions and roll call votes at each meeting of the body.

Closed session:

• Dismissal, demotion, discipline, licensing, and tenure
• Compensation
• Conducting public business with competitive or bargaining implications
• Conferring with legal counsel about litigation

Notice must indicate the subject of the closed session. If vote unanimous, do not need a roll call. Must announce in open session the nature of the closed session.

All voting should be in open session, unless doing so would compromise the need for the closed session. Should have minutes of closed session which become public after the issue is resolved.

If you do not re-open in open session, you cannot meet or do any business for at least 12 hours.

Enforcement: Attorney General and the District Attorney have authority.

Penalty: any member of the body who "knowingly" attends; fine is $25 to $300 for each violation.

Other sites:

• League of Municipalities web site: www.lwm-info.org
• Wisconsin Department of Justice

Can go into closed session, without advance notice, but only for an item which is already on the agenda, but cannot come back into open session. If you put times on the length of closed session or on agenda it will limit the length of the session.

WiLS World - Correction

Tom Peters was not referring to a blog post, but to the book Everything is miscellaneous : the power of the new digital disorder by David Weinberger. [And if I did the link to World Cat correctly, you will be taken there to see which library near you owns it. I find it fascinating that it automatically adjusts for the location of the IP address of the ISP, rather than wherever you are really from. A private email and I will tell you how I know this.]

WiLS World co-conspiritors

I missed a fellow blogger at WiLS World! Sharyn Heili of Libraries and Librarians Rock was there also. Sorry Sharyn!

WiLS World - Net Neutrality

Bob Bocher, my e-rate hero, did a great presentation based on his work on the ALA level. (He is second from left in the photo I linked to.)

He posted his presentation before the program (way to go!), but did have paper handouts. His defense of the paper handouts (so 20th Century) was that the paper industry is important to the Wisconsin economy.

Common carriage dates to the Middle Ages when the crown required that "public service" entities like those managing river crossings, could not refuse service to those who have ability to pay. This carried over to telecommunication including AT&T (the old "Ma Bell") in the 1930s when the New Deal began to regulate telephones.

Bob gave a great overview of the underlying structure for telecommunications services in the US today. [It reminded me why he was so good as the Chair of the E-Rate Task Force a couple of years ago.]

The power point includes a great chart showing the growth of DSL and death of dial-up. He notes that the FCC considers "broadband" as 200K, and that is a fairly low level, "but of course the FCC often operates at a fairly low level."

Net neutrality is critical for who controls what happens, right now, end users control what happens on the network (gaming, for instance), but with out net neutrality, the provider of the pipe/fiber may exercise control over the priority for service across the Internet.

Innovation is at the edges of the network. What new and exciting innovations have come from telcos or cable companies? None. Innovations come from the edge of the network.

There are some real concerns which the network providers have. They must be able to manage the network: security, traffic management, illegal content. They also need a return on their infrastructure investments.

Have there been abuses or discrimination? Net neutrality was in effect from September 2005 - 2006, so that there has not been a long history. There is an allegation from Vonage that some carriers are refusing to allow Vonage packets.

Roadblocks are more possible the further the message goes. The more networks touched, the more the possibility that one network [controller of a circuit] may choose to not pass the information (packets) quickly. Question was asked, who would investigate, and there is not a good answer nor is there much trust that the FCC and FTC would effectively investigate.

If net neutrality breaks down, it would mean that libraries (and consumers) would be in a more difficult position in choosing a provider since you would need to ask about all their special deals.

The FCC did require ATT to adhere to net neutrality as part of its purchase/merger with SBC. This has tempered the rush to a legislative solution.

WiLS World - Day 2 -- Tom Peters

The morning began with the member breakfast which included an update on the scenario planning process for WiLS and then a report on the member survey which was done over the winter. Interesting stuff for those in WiLS and concerned with its governance.

Now on to Tom Peters and his talk Brave New Online Worlds: Social Networks, Online Communities, MUVEs, and the Future of Libraries.

Thesis: as we think about the future relationship between libraries and social networks, online communities, and virtual worlds, many of us do not see an important relationship. But this will have a profound effect on librarianship in the 21st century and beyond.

Need to do some scenario planning to figure out the relationship between individuals, communities, and libraries and how that is changing. What is a community? It has:

• shared environment
• shared interest
• shared needs

Continuum: individual, family, communities, societies

Communities support "public goods" and there has been a change in support for public goods. Trend is away from high value for public goods. Public good institutions have had erosion in support. For example National Parks need to generate revenue through charging entry fees.

Libraries serve communities.

Can libraries create communities.

[My attention was diverted by a series of phone calls related to events in my personal life. I got back in time to hear Tom recommend that we read this post by David Weinberg.]

Correction/expansion: see my post on 7/29

WiLS World -- Break out sessions

R & D for Libraries by Pete Boguszewsski & Stephen Meyer

You have to have clear goals.

Those who try to get it right the first time fail just as often as those who don’t.

Virtualization lets you try stuff and fail without affecting services.

Free does not mean free as in free beer.

Open source lets you tweak.

Inside Evergreen by Jason Etheridge

Who?

• Georgia Pines
• Equinox Software (company formed by developers to support software outside and now in Georgia
• University of Windsor
• British Columbia Public Libraries
• IRC channels
• public mailing lists

Why?

• Old software sucked
• no room for growth
• software was dictating software
• hitting ceilings (overloading fields with information)
• finger pointing was futile

How?

• focus groups
• clean slate
• question every assumption
• be agile with many iterations and prototypes

Yes, but how?

• GPLS hired some software developers
• building blocks (open source) are often a commodity
• leveraged existing systems (PostgreSQL, Apache, Jabber, Mozilla, and help from Code4Lib
• Built the rest

Jason then gave a full tour with great details and examples of using the Pines system. It was very technical and detailed, but information packed.

WiLS and Pines

Lamar Veatch, state librarian of Georgia is about to/beginning to talk about PINES, the open source catalog created for the state of Georgia. Richard Grobschmidt from the state library agency here in Wisconsin gave a humorous introduction, look for a Flickr photo soon. Lamar is wearing the traditional WiLS World garb -- Rob is not. They are both active in COSLA, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

Lamar Veatch as the car salesman selling the features, brought Jason ... who is one of the team of four who wrote/assembled the software.

Pines = Pines Information Network for Electronic Services and is the single patron/catalog ILS for all 159 counties in Georgia. Provides the single, almost state-wide library card. 46 public library systems including 265 facilities and bookmobiles.

Started as a Y2K project which included providing services for even the smallest libraries. They also were having discussion about creating a single state-wide card. The leaders in state government endorsed the idea, and found sources for software.

High speed internet connection to all libraries. Backbone funded 25% by state money and 75% by E-Rate funds. That makes Pines possible.

Funding per capita is different. Ranked 45th in local funding per capita, but #5 in state funding per capita. This means that public libraries are much more dependent on state funding. State grants even provide funding for staffing in individual libraries.

Consistent policies across the state because of the needs of the software. Including fines and fees. Money stays where it was paid except for lost items whose funds go back to the owning library.

Pines Governance includes a board of 9 representatives elected by members with committees by specific task areas.

Goal is a "non-sucky" easy to use interface and better customer service.

System is funded and paid for by the state, so the local money stays local, and it not required in the local budget. This includes training, and planned system replacement. Cost estimate in install stand-alone system would be $15 million plus $5 million for maintenance including staff. Current budget is $1.6 million or about $1.00 per registered user or about 1/10 of the cost of free-standing systems.

Users don't care about jurisdictions any more. Don't care about boundaries.

[I was called out of the meeting, and got back just in time to collect the info below]

Evergreen Development Page

And the PINES home page

Key point and quote from Lamar Veatch: "We can control our own destiny, since it was designed for our libraries. It could run on a laptop for one library, but it also runs for a large consortium with sophisticated needs."

Bloggers at WiLS World

I have met some of my blog favorites here at WiLS World. A partial list (with blogs)

Dorothea Salvo - Caveat Lector
Andrew Pace - Hectic Pace
Tom Peters - on ALA Techsource
Barbara Misselt - Multitype Librarian

It is great to have names and faces and physically meet these folks!