1. It’s not about technology. WJ is successful because we have great people and we work with great people–and those people make great things happen. That is our not-so-secret weapon.

2. Hang in there. There are few virtues as valuable as persistence. There have always been and will always be tons of new and creative initiatives in libraryland: I think what sets us apart is that we just keep at it and keep at it and find ways to keep it stable and keep it going. I love that!

3. Take the middle path. It’s not content or community, it’s not big libraries or small libraries, it’s not folksonomy or taxonomy, it’s not top-down or bottom-up. Balancing seemingly irreconcilable opposites is one of the main keys to our character and our strength.

4. If it’s going to be difficult, it might as well be fun. Humor has saved us from ourselves over and over again. This is a high-stress business and it helps enormously to find and enjoy the absurdity of it all. I am so grateful for the amazing collection of funnybones that I’ve been privileged to work with.

5. We’ve only just begun. As our Seattle staff has grown from 3 to 30 and our network of partners has exploded exponentially, it’s become ever clearer that WebJunction has the potential to represent and support the consciousness and vitality of the library world in even greater ways than we have so far. Building on our considerable success so far to realize WJ’s potential as a comprehensive platform for library staff–that’s what keeps me excited and motivated and passionate about WJ.

OK, I am an old-timer so I will maunder on a bit more, as old-timers are wont to do. Here are a few select memories from my five years at the WJ:

2003. Writing my first Crossroads newsletter in June 2003 a few weeks after I started at WJ (Web-what?), and getting markup from Chrystie Hill on my copy, in which every instance of the word “you” was crossed out and replaced with the word “we”. The beginning of my online community education.
2004. Putting the one-year anniversary cupcake on the site in May 2004, one of our first custom home page graphics, I shudder to admit, but at least it was a small step toward the much more graphically dynamic site we have today.
2005. The first OCLC blog salon at ALA 2005 in Chicago, when it seemed like we really hit a new critical mass of awareness and interest. There were people who actually recognized what we had started writing on our baby-infant blog. (And I got inspired to write my very first parody song ever, “The Blog Party“.)
2006. Getting a fresh round of funding, validating the work we’ve done and propelling us into the future. “You mean we’re for real?” Boy that feels good.
2007. Presenting the Government Documents librarians workshop in Denver in spring 2007, and seeing the palpable excitement in a room of a whole new type of mostly non-WJ-savvy users about the possibilities for the site. Something clicks: hmm, maybe this really is real.
2008. Welcoming an influx of dedicated, professional, committed staff who see WebJunction as, yep, a real thing, not just an idea. This is great–they actually know what they’re doing AND they think WJ is a cool place to be? Wow, that is an accomplishment!

And the best is yet to come…

All you need to do is stop by a participating comic store and make your free pick from a selection of titles like Archie, Superman, Hellboy, World of Aspen, X-men, Tiny Titans and many more. Seriously. These are free. I know you are thinking: “What’s the catch?” Nothing is free, right?

Well, apparently this is. Thanks to some major discounts from comic publishers, the past few years have allowed thousands of comic retailers in the US, Canada, and internationally to give away millions of comics to happy readers.

Hard to believe but this year is the 7th Annual event. Retailers decide at what level they want to participate and can set their own eligibility rules, but the basic premise boils down to free comic books for readers on May 3, 2008. For full details you can refer to the FAQ, check out the Free Comic Book Day, website, or see what the good folks at I Love Libraries have to say.

Whatever you do, don’t wait too long. This is only happening on Saturday. Check out the Comic Shop Locater to find your nearest store. Then get out there and get your (or send your patrons out for their) free comics! Because in my book free comics beat free cones any day!

This time we’re highlighting an issue near and dear to my heart as a borderline problem patron—online fine/fee payment options. True confession: we’ve got four high-powered library users in the family and well, we pay a lot of late fees.

Let me say I don’t begrudge the fines at all. In fact, I wish I could take care of them more quickly and conveniently—such as when I’m reserving and renewing materials online. That’s why I was so happy to see WebJunction member mckeogh bring up what I consider a very Library 2.0 topic:

“I was wondering if any library has instituted a system that allows patrons to pay their fees (i.e. overdue fees) online. Has anyone done this? If so, what have been the challenges? What system, software do you use?”

If you have any thoughts or input on the topic, please join the original conversation in the discussion forum or comment right here in the blog. (I’m personally wondering if any libraries out there take PayPal or Google checkout—chime in if you know of any place doing so).

As always, if you have if you have a question you want to ask the larger WebJunction community or you see an interesting question coming in, please post it in the Question of the Week topic.

We post the featured question here in the blog and on our community landing pages, hopeful that our WebJunction members will see topics from areas of the site they don’t normally frequent. The question is normally selected by WJ staffers, but please remember that this is your community and your input is always encouraged. If you’ve got a question you want to ask, or you see a good question coming in, please post it in the Question of the Week topic.

Without further ado, here’s our latest question: On the surface, it seems a pretty standard policy query; a deeper look reveals a twist.

“Does anyone have guidelines or a policy on the handling of truant students in the public library during school hours?“

-WebJunction member 4578

The twist here is that initial respondents in the discussion thread commented that their libraries’ large populations of home schoolers would make even identifying truants a difficult task.

Do you have a truant policy? Or a problem with school-aged children in the library during the day? Please share your tips, stories, and questions in the original thread, or here in comments.

Make sure you swing over to our latest Member Spotlight. This month we’re learning a bit about Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran, the Community Information Librarian with SELCO — a regional multi-type library consortium in Rochester, Minnesota.

Like most WebJunction members, Mary Beth has her hands full. In this case, her SELCO responsibilities have her working with 119 academic, public, special, and school libraries across S.E. Minnesota on continuing education, ILL, advocacy, grant writing, and marketing/public relations.

In the Spotlight article, Mary Beth shares a tip or two she used when starting their regional adult reading program, Hot Reads for Cold Nights, she talks about creating a homework helper program, and discusses how SELCO is using web-and-library 2.0 tools as part of their advocacy and outreach.

As you can imagine, there’s much more covered in the profile. And while you are soaking in Mary Beth, take a look at her lively blog: Impromptu Librarian. I just started digging in and found some great info. I don’t want to give away all the goods but here’s an example of her pragmatic pearls:

“So, what about this Library 2.0 stuff? Well, they’re swell new tools that can help you do your job better, that’s all. For all of the hype and occasional hysteria, all of these things are tools. Nothing more, nothing less.” -Mary Beth’s Impromptu Librarian Blog

As always, we’d love to hear your take on the Spotlight or any of our posts or features. Leave your feedback in the comments section.

If all you have is an evacuation plan, that’s like a football team only having one play. Or in football, only one audible signal when there’s a blitz…no matter what side it’s coming from! There are various patron scenarios staff should be prepared for: Noise issues, violence issues, lost children, odd patrons, suspicious activity, orderly evacuation and lockdown procedures.

“Ignorance does not have a plan. Its characteristics include lack of forethought, no concern of consequences, and disregard of the past. It’s often scattered, disorganized. Anticipation, focus, and organization are its enemies. Employ these allies, and you will counter and overcome ignorance, establishing and maintaining a library of excellence.“ Castles Against Ingnorance, p.72

Regarding del.icio.us resources for planning links, I have 15 items, and the largest shared with other members is the OCLC Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources report with 281 members, up from 248 users as of August ’07 (actually up to 286 one week after the webinar!). I can assure you that almost every one of them has library focused collections on del.icio.us!!!

If you’re not aware of it, the Perceptions report provides the findings and responses from a survey in an effort to learn more about:

•Library use by the public

•Awareness and use of library electronic resources

•The Internet search engine, the library and the librarian

•Free vs. for-fee information

•The “Library” brand

The findings indicate that “information consumers view libraries as places to borrow print books, but they are unaware of the rich electronic content they can access through libraries. Even though information consumers make limited use of these resources, they continue to trust libraries as reliable sources of information.” (http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm)

Knowing how you’re perceived goes a long way in establishing service goals; that’s the beauty of this report. And thanks to the Web 2.0 powers of sharing, you can discover a universe of URL’s, all oriented towards libraries!

Another resource I mentioned in the webinar and have as a resource in my book is: NLG Project Planning: A Tutorial. Institute of Museum and Library Services. Access Date 25 Jan 06. <http://e-services.imls.gov/project_planning>.

Although designed to help secure funding for National Leadership Grants, this interactive tutorial can help in any project planning. Try it, it’s fun and practical.

Does anyone have any other online Planning suggestions? If so, please leave a comment above!

My Librarything account contains 15 books dealing with planning everything from library careers to crisis management, including Demonstrating Results: Using Outcome Measurement in Your Library by Rhea Joyce Rubin. In clicking on the members icon (the little heads), you’ll see that the Librarything recommendations list 10 other books on various aspects of library planning: Technology, weeding, children’s services, even how to create workshops!

Obviously a serious library book, currently 8 members share it. One of them is another “best practices” example of a user profile on LibraryThing, Jennifry’s.

Besides using specific tags for the 105 books in her collection, and a cool icon, she takes the time to describe the meaning of the tags in her collection in the “About My Library” section of her profile. This helps a fellow member understand her background and perspective as well as her taxonomy. Obviously well planned out!

Planning is also VERY closely related to Partnerships, tomorrow’s Resolution…

-Ed Rossman, Interim Branch Manager for the Bertram Woods branch of the Shaker Heights Public Library and author of Castles Against Ignorance: How to Make Libraries Great Educational Environments

Click here to access an archive of Ed’s webinar and a PDF of the slides he used.

As more “non-traditional” library users visit our facilities to only check out DVD’s, not books, or use the Internet, it can be a challenge to get them to buy into the standard library code of conduct, quiet behavior, civility. As I see it now, librarians had better learn to deal with the rowdy, uncivil, or mentally imbalanced people in society coming to the libraries to only use the internet. They’re fine as long as they’re non-disruptive to others. But oftentimes they aren’t. If not checked, they will drive out traditional library users.

The non-traditional library user today, who doesn’t care about books, reading, or learning, may be the traditional library user tomorrow, for those libraries still open.

Because as funding gets tighter, more and more citizens will refuse to fund public entities that spend taxpayer money offering internet access to people with no respect towards others, who’re disruptive, and who intimidate people from using services and space that all should be allowed to share peacefully.

If these patrons discourage “traditional” patrons from using the library, there can be some significant problems ahead. A New Years’ Resolution to stay compassionate, yet firm in dealing with people needs a good tool box of tactics.

In the webinar I briefly alluded to different methods of handling conflict.

We conducted a brief poll of “Friction Points” and although all 200+ attendees didn’t participate (I only gave about 30 seconds, and some folks were lagging due to their bandwidth problems), this is what we found:

In response to the question, How many of you have handled the following conflict situations?

There were about 114 participants in this question.

The results were:

• Inappropriate patron behavior - soliciting, eating, cell phones, rule-breaking: 96 (85%)
• Aggressive/unstable patrons: 78 (69%)
• Misuse of library - inappropriate online activity, sleeping, lounging on furniture: 74 (66%)
• Lazy employees: 57 (50%)
• Space issues - other interdepartmental turf issues: 55 (49%)
• Antagonistic attitude towards supervisor (behind the back gossip or criticism): 54 (48%)
• Alcoholic/substance abusing co-worker: 17 (15%)
• Security guard conflicts with staff / too hard vs. too soft: 10 (8%)

One exercise I have in my book, Castles Against Ignorance is to examine how you handle conflict in Friction Point situations. In both Castles and in the “Common Grounds” web site I mentioned in the webinar, I emphasize the practicality of using different styles for different situations. Five tactical styles for conflict are examined:

1. Forcing
2. Avoiding
3. Accommodating
4. Compromising
5. Collaborating

1. Forcing conflict style: resolves conflict by getting your way. Assertive, uncooperative and autocratic. Useful for rambunctious children and immature adults.

2. Avoiding conflict style: ignores conflict rather than resolving it. Could be temporarily used when human resources are low. You could use Observation as a behavior suppression tactic and still be using an Avoiding style successfully, but this is only on a case by case basis.

3. Accommodating conflict style: resolves conflict by giving in. In other words, bending the rules.

4. Compromising conflict style: resolves conflict through giving and getting concessions. Using an “If I…then you…” approach will usually solve the problem, short term. Not to be encouraged because some patrons will view this as a game. However, useful when arbitrating between two bickering, but otherwise mature patrons.

5. Collaborating conflict style: An attempt to jointly resolve conflict with the best solution that is agreeable to all parties. This is the only style that creates a win-win situation. It can also take time that you don’t always have on the floor, but if it’s a long running situation that you know you’re going to be dealing with, it is worth the time working on a solution.

What conflict style do you… would you… could you…be using in the above Friction Point situations, to get the best possible outcome for your patrons or library?

Here are some of the other exercises and resources I use in Castles:

Exercises:

1. Visit 3 different library systems and compare and contrast what tools/policies they have to handle conflict. Guards? Written policies? Visible signage on conduct?

2. Review past incident reports to see how the situations were handled according to the 5 styles of conflict resolution.

3. Try finding your own conflict style by taking the quick quiz at http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/cgpartnership/profile/pprofile1.cfm

Selected Resources Of Interest:

• Supervisor’s Guide – Conflict. Human Resource Management Services, North Dakota State Government. Access date 25 Jan. 06. <http://www.nd.gov/hrms/hr/supvguide/conflict.htm> - A great site that not only reviews the 5 styles but adds strategy to go with the tactics, such as, “make mutual benefit agreements”.
• Glass, Lillian. Toxic People : 10 Ways of Dealing With People Who Make Your Life Miserable. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1997. - This book would be really funny if it wasn’t so accurate. Although the topic is serious, it provokes thought and insight into some terribly sad personality types in a way that makes you both chuckle at and pity them. Her techniques are good ones that should be part of your repertoire for specific types of people and situations. Shared by 19 Librarything members as of 1/12/08.

Regarding building your own del.icio.us accounts, here’s a tip that can make it easier in the beginning. Every link has a “save this” link next to it. You need your own account established first. Create your account, then check out various links about libraries, confrontation or any other tag that interests you on my site, and with a click of a mouse, that site can be on yours!

But remember if you add a lot of random sites, they’ll appear random on your list because del.icio.us at this point only lists them in the order you add them, you can’t re-sequence them by alphabet or numbers like Librarything will let you do. If you want them grouped together in some way besides using similar tags, you have to practice Resolution #7: Have A Plan!

-Ed Rossman, Interim Branch Manager for the Bertram Woods branch of the Shaker Heights Public Library and author of Castles Against Ignorance: How to Make Libraries Great Educational Environments

Click here to access an archive of Ed’s webinar and a PDF of the slides he used.

Bonnie McKewon, administrator of Northwest Iowa Library Services (NWILS) tells WebJunction how an ongoing slide in funding helped the organization to change how they delivered consultancy services. As budget and staffing shortfalls made clear the impossibility of their current model, they embraced an opportunity to develop an innovative, sustainable virtual-team/consulting model!

The spotlight provides insight into their successful program.

Bonnie is also presenting the WebJunction webinar this week on Thursday January 24, 2008 on the topic of Let’s Collaborate in 2008. She’ll provide suggestions on how to reinvigorate cooperation amongst libraries. Please join us for the webinar or stay tuned for the archive and associated resources.

edit: An archive of Bonnie’s webinar is now available for viewing at your convenience.

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County is encouraging their library staff to Become Champions of Learning this week by participating in ELW. Proposed activities for the week include highlighting learning opportunities and tips for staff in daily email messages, surveying staff on training they would like to have available in the coming year and prizes for participants.

You don’t need to be a member of ASTD to participate in ELW. Even if your library is not taking part in ELW this year, there are plenty of occasions to provide year-round learning opportunities for staff. The following tips and resources can give you some ideas for planning your own ELW and making workplace learning a part of your ongoing staff development initiatives. We look forward to recognizing ELW again next year and sharing some of your stories.

If your library is participating in ELW this week, we encourage you to share your story by commenting to this post or on our Community Discussion Boards.

Resources for Getting Started with Employee Learning Week

• ELW Fact Sheet
• ASTD sponsored events, background and FAQs
• Marketing Materials
• Getting Involved with ELW

Suggested Activities for ELW

• Introduce new learning opportunities during the week
• Communicate learning and development tips to your workforce each day of the week
• Institute an employee development recognition event to recognize individuals
• Host a brown bag lunch where staff can share expertise around a certain topic
• Implement a wiki page for staff to share knowledge and best practices around the workplace
• Plan a Staff Development Day or mini-conference for library staff

Planning for Staff Training Initiatives

• Help employees create individual development plans to increase and enhance their skills departments in your organization
• Creating a Training Program in Your Local Library
• Six Components to Consider When Developing a Staff Training Program
• Plan for Training
• WebJunction’s Blended Learning page offers tips, best practice and case studies from libraries that are blending face-to-face instruction with online training
• Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki - Staff Training

Resources for Year-Round Learning

• WebJunction Webinars & Archives
• Personal Learning Environments for Library Staff
• WebJunction Online Course Catalog
• Weekly Tips
• E-Learning Institute – resources for managers, trainers and learners who are engaging in online learning

One the big take-aways for me was a story that guest speaker, Tracie Hall, told about growing up in a tough neighborhood in L.A. During the holidays, the police would drive down her street and toss out candy canes to the kids. They didn’t stop. They didn’t talk to the kids. They just sped through the neighborhood throwing candy out their squad car windows! Tracie pointed out that the police were missing out on a great opportunity to connect positively with kids and other residents and that this form of “drive-by” community outreach didn’t work.

Drive-by recruitment doesn’t work either. Libraries need to approach recruiting for diversity strategically with the long view in mind. Libraries also need to focus their efforts not only on recruitment but on keeping librarians from diverse backgrounds in the profession for the long-term.

For more information, check out the webinar archive and recommended resources. You can also join the discussion board topic we started on Recruiting for Diversity to pick up the conversation where the webinar left off.