The Northbrook 8

This year's staff development project is called the Northbrook 8. It's modeled on the "23 Things" that's been used by a number of libraries for learning Web 2.0/Library 2.0 skills. We're looking at blogging, RSS, feed readers, instant messaging, photo sharing, social networking, social bookmarking, wikis, and podcasts.

The Northbrook 8 concept is outlined on a blog, which is complete with a Meebo help window that I agreed to help support. If you're not familiar with Meebo, it's a cross-platform instant messaging service, and in this case it has Northbrook 8 blog readers on one end, and me (and/or my Meebo partners-in-crime, er, -helpfulness) on the other end, ready to answer questions.

So this morning I opened up the Northbrook 8 blog and fired up Meebo, figuring I could read through the exercises while I manned the Meebo service. I was excited to see that there was already a user on the blog!

"Good morning," I typed cheerfully. "This is Andrea, your Wednesday morning Northbrook 8 guide. Let me know if you have any questions or problems." Then I sat back and hit enter, and heard a giant "beep!"

Confused, I checked the Meebo screen. Nothing out of the ordinary there. I clicked over to the Northbrook 8 page to see my cheerful greeting, waiting for me in the help window on the side margin.

Very slowly, the light began to dawn.

The early-morning blog reader was me.

So, I politely declined my offer of help, and mentally slunk off to slap myself in the forehead.

I guess this is a good illustration of the fact that the very nature of the Internet (for most of us, anyhow) is that there's always something new under the sun that we haven't figured out yet.

The whole idea of "learning 2.0" is that we have to be continually responsive, keeping an eye on the horizon for the next new thing. Because there's always a new thing. And the point for libraries is not for us to have the coolest toys or the newest trend -- it's for us to know that some subset of our users are already on to that next new thing, and we need to know what they're doing, so we can anticipate what they'll want from us.

Beauty

In honor of the Book a Month Challenge #4 and National Poetry Month, I'm reading poetry. I'm surprised and disappointed that I've let myself wander so far away from poetry, which used to be a favorite genre of mine. Anyway, to that end, I've been reading 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day (edited by Billy Collins) and The Poets' Corner (compiled by John Lithgow). Reading these poetry collections in little bites has been enjoyable, broadening, and seems entirely sustainable. I've added reading more poetry to my list of 34 things to do.

34 Things

In honor of my birthday, a new friend challenged me to make a list of 34 things to do in my 34th year (well, strictly speaking, I think it's my 35th year, but I think that's beside the point). She suggested they should be things I'd never done before, and most of them are. A few are things I've done before, but need motivation to do again.

I won't share the entire list (some are personal), and I haven't come up with 34 yet, but here are a few.

1. Read all of the 2009 Rebecca Caudill Award nominees.
2. Learn to knit socks.
3. Hide a geocache.
4. Create and send out a travel bug.
5. Lose 20 pounds.
6. Try out Facebook.
7. Launch a buzz marketing campaign.

Young Adults big library users, study shows

According to a recent survey by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Pew Internet and American Life Project, young adults (aged 18-30) are twice as likely as adults over 30 to use a public library to meet their information needs. The Associated Press reports the story. This is a pretty dramatic change from the Benton report of 1996, which suggested that public support for libraries was declining in the face of technology, especially among younger people.

Counting One's Blessings

'Tis the season for appreciating what we have, and cherishing our family and friends. I'm feeling reflective and very blessed as I prepare to leave the library I've called my professional home for 8+ years. A unique and too-good-to-miss opportunity has presented itself to me, so I will be moving on. It's hard, though, to balance the need for professional growth with the desire to stay among friends. I need (and want) to face new challenges, but wish I could take my colleagues, many of whom have become like family to me, to my new job with me.

I am excited, and a little nervous, about my new gig, as Youth Services Manager in a public library nearly as large as my current library. I do have the requisite experience for such a position, but it will be a new role, in a new environment, with new colleagues (one of whom has already informed me that she's been working at this library since before I was born). It's been quite awhile since I entered into a situation with so many unknowns (probably the last was becoming a parent). I plan to spend my early days getting to know the staff, learning the organizational culture, and figuring out what works and what doesn't.

Wish me luck!

All Roads Lead to Libraryblogland

Is it an inevitability that a techno-savvy librarian who likes to write must eventually write a library blog? Do not pass Go; do not collect $200; go directly to Libraryblogland.

I created this blog, not because I felt there was some grand contribution to library blog literature that wasn't already being made (and better) by Karen Schneider or Jessamyn West or many, many others, but because I wanted to participate in the Book a Month Challenge, which requires every participant to have a blog on which to post each month's review.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride as I embrace my destiny!