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May 29, 2007
Sacramento Public Library Librarians say "no" to popular materials
The Sacramento Public Library librarians are presenting a:
"petition with 600 signatures from staff, former staff and patrons to the library’s board at a Thursday meeting. It asks leaders to reconsider modeling library branches after a popular book or music store while casting off books with lasting value."
Why are they doing this? They feel that management is forcing:
"a departure from amassing a rich research collection to pandering to the whims of the YouTube generation."
The Library has copies of Paris Hilton's book and the Jackass 2 movie. And, according to the article, they want the library director to resign over this. The article in the Sacramento Bee tells all.
The biblioblogosphere is all over this, naturally, and reactions are generally those of shock and head shaking. Jon Blyberg says "So we’re in the business of placing value on content, now," and Karen Schneider can't bear to think of herself as being in the same profession as these librarians.
Frankly, I was shocked to see this issue rise up at all, and embarrassed that it's happening at a California library, and in our state capitol of all places. I was a speaker at the Sacramento Public Library's Staff Development Day last year. There were a number of people who seemed very engaged with the Library 2.0 topic of my talk, but the bulk of the audience was disinterested in the topic and even worse, seemed offended and threatened by what I was saying. This was not the first time that had happened to me, but it was one of the more negative groups I've talked to, unfortunately. No kind words, gentle explanations, or invitations for discussion seemed to help. I was even grabbed in the hallway after my talk by one librarian and told that all this "2.0 crap is sickening" and that it was "forcing" this particular librarian to consider early retirement rather than deal with all this "useless stuff that only the kids care about." Right. Nice. The scary thing is that this was coming from a children's librarian. After my talk, several other people emailed me with similar disavowing of all things digital.
These are not new issues. Libraries have been dealing with popular vs. "quality" materials forever. Most public libraries give the public what they want. It is their library after all, funded by their dollars. And if 100 people want to check out the Jackass 2 movie, then by all means, buy some copies. Better that than buying some weighty art book that circulates once in its 10-year shelf life. I would encourage these librarians to look at the library's mission and see if what the library director is doing meets that mission. If not, then they have something to use to prove their point. Their strategic plan (found here) certainly upholds the circulation of popular materials, though.
The Librarian in Black is sad today. And I offer my condolences to any Sacramento Public Library staff who feel differently and are fighting the good fight to promote customer-centered services. We're with you.
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» More on those angry librarians inSacramento from The Letter Z
When I first wrote about the librarians in Sacramento who are circulating a petition protesting, among other things, the librarys collection development policy, I said that I thought the blog posts I had seen on the topic were fairly one-sided a... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 1, 2007 12:17:56 AM
Comments
I have worked for SPL for almost a year now. Maybe I should wait till my probation is over before writing this. Even with my short tenure I have a couple of things to say (I have 5 years experience working for the Library in Reno also.) And I did read a copy of the petition. Interestingly enough, the person trying to get me to sign it had not read it. I did not sign it for several reasons. Firstly I must say that for librarians with degrees and other supposedly well-educated or bookish employees it was very poorly written. It was not objective; it was full of emotional rhetoric and meaningless buzzwords with no real substance. The petition was poorly composed, disjointed and fragmented. I would have been embarrassed to sign it even had I agreed with it. And most importantly, I am not in favor of censorship. I am in favor of a customer/patron driven library that serves the needs of the customer/patron. I do think however, from my limited experience, that there is NO attempt on the part of SPL to find out what the customer/patron/community needs are. It is strictly a top-down operation, input from the community/potential customer base or employees is not solicited nor valued even though each could be considered experts of their own needs and experiences. And considering only what checks out as an indicator of a communities needs is closed and circular thinking and not necessarily a smart indicator of how to make the library a vital and vibrant part of the community who is worthy of more tax dollars.
Posted by: Sacramentoknits | November27, 2007
It might be helpful to know that the Staff Training Day was held in mid-October. The staff's contract was up in June. A class and compensation study revealed that most of the staff was underpaid by 12-30%. The management took a good chunk of the money that was supposed to be set aside for the staff and created new management positions while Anne Marie got a hefty 10% raise. Is it any wonder that morale and enthusiasm was low?
Posted by: Maggie | June 9, 2007
As a watcher on the sidelines I want to say a few things.
I see much written about consultants. 1.5 million dollars spent over several years against a $25m + budget is nothing. Business benchmarking is important in analyzing these percentages. As a tax payer, I do not mind paying consultants.
The petition somehow does not say what it wants. Being direct in situations like this is important. Clearly the dialog suggests ousting the leadership. The petition (from what I can infer) does not say that. What is it the petition originators want?
I, for one, would not want the petition people to take over. I have heard reference to poor people as "those people". I have heard suggestions of breeching the first amendment. I have heard suggestions appropriate to a PRIVATE Library. Library's are for those who use them.
There can only be one direction in a business which upsets autonomous thinkers at the local level. Still one system with one direction is important. No one local library should stand out from the others.
All this time and energy spent on grievances rather then moving the Library forward is discouraging to this tax payer.
Posted by: sideline view | June 5, 2007
This has made me sick since first reading the petition. It seems the union found every disgruntled employee they could scrounge up and had them publicly air their grievances. If they had simply focused on the lack of communication and true leadership from management, it would be much easier to support the cause. We have lost tons of great staff members because of the negative attitudes expressed by a few long-term employees who know that it would take an act of Congress to get them fired. We still have lots of vacancies, and I only hope that a large mass of forward-thinking librarians will gather together and apply--We really need some fresh blood, and not all of us are scary Luddites, I promise!
Posted by: Sacto Staffer | June 1, 2007
Thank you Bo! I really appreciate you posting this link.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | June 1, 2007
This show on Sacramento's Capital Public Radio offers some additional perspective on this issue. It features interviews with some of the people involved:
- Diane Boerman
Account clerk for the finance department, Sacramento Public Library and Shop Steward for the librarians union
- Roger Dickinson
County Supervisor and Library Board Chairman
- Susan Hildreth
California State Librarian and President of the Public Library Association
- Terry Chekon
Retired librarian
- Judith Anshin
Library patron
Posted by: bokinney | June 1, 2007
The LiB would be happy to link to any other resources out there from the SPL staff. The LiB has told this to the SPL people who have written to me with their views, as well. Telling me something privately isn't going to get your point across to the public at large.
And, for what it's worth as a suggestion, to those few people who have e-mailed me baseless and very nasty letters because of this post: Cursing, insulting, and yelling at someone who simply linked to a newspaper article you have a problem with is not in any way going to help your cause. In fact, and not surprisingly to those of us who are rational, it does the exact opposite. Want to be heard? Express yourself in a professional manner.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | June 1, 2007
The used book dealer was putting on a publicity stunt to get rid of the 20,000 excess books he'd accumulated (many of them copies of bestsellers like the Da Vinci Code) when he couldn't make nonprofits fix the problem for him. He bought too much stock of the wrong books -and continued to do so (20,000 is not something you accumulate overnight)- and is blaming it on a decline in reading. Pffft. When I go to a used book store, I'm not looking for The Da Vinci Code or Harry Potter. I'm looking for harder to find books that aren't going to be sitting on the shelf at Borders in perfect shape for not much more money.
The problem with news articles is that writers focus on what will really make readers sit up and take notice. In this case, librarians complaining about an undue amount of Jackass 2 movies is apparently more interesting than laying out all the grievances, including salary and consultation fees. That's a shame, though, because that leaves out pertinant information, and I'm hoping someone remedies this with some very pointed letters to the editor that LiB can link to.
Hint, hint.
Posted by: Meg | June 1, 2007
Sarah, I too have had a fair number of emails come my way about this and I guess I am separating the collection development issue from the SPL petition issue. They do indeed seem separate.
My biggest problem with the petition is the same as yours--it's destructive to morale and divisive--totally inappropriate as a first-step approach to liaising with management. Not only that, petitions are meaningless--I never sign them. The average person puts about 2 seconds of thought into signing their name before returning to what they were doing. Penn and Teller were able to get hundreds of environmentalists to sign a petition banning dihydrogen oxide by saying that it was in virtually all the food we eat and in the air we breath. Yes, hundreds of environmentalists signed a petition to ban water.
Posted by: John | June 1, 2007
Clearly many people have different takes on the situation at Sacramento Public Library. I've received about 20 emails on the subject, about half from library staff at SPL who are glad the article came out and feel really strongly that the petition was a bad idea--kind of like using a sledgehammer to hammer in a nail. Another 7 were from people sharing similar experiences with their staff/directors. And 2 were from people from SPL who disagreed with the article and wanted to offer up their own take on the issue. And 1 was from someone who just thought it would be fun to attack me, apparently...not even bothering to read my post, but calling me to task for linking to a newspaper article that she found fallacious (which is fine, it may be, but direct that ire at the newspaper...not me). At any rate, whatever the situation at SPL, if staff and the public have a problem with the director, there are ways to deal with that. And frankly, as has been said on other blogs, I feel that a lot of the issues being raised as reasons to discipline/fire the director are just plain petty. Working in any profession means sometimes disagreeing with the decisions being made by others. Speak up for what you believe in, exercise your rights and power within your position, and do the best job you can. I may disagree with you, but I'd respect you for sticking up for yourself (as long as you do it professionally).
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | May31, 2007
Perhaps someone with a direct connection with SPL could provide a copy of the petition (or a link to it), so those of us who have no other means of access could judge for ourselves?
Posted by: Gibna Kebira | May31, 2007
Great blog posts about SPL! I think part of the underlying frustration is w/ the decline in reading. Did anybody read the AP article about the used book dealer who protested by burning up his books? Check it out at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003725402_books29.html
Posted by: Joel Tochterman | May31, 2007
Dear Librarian in Black,
Thank you for writing your article. I must add that Sacramento Public Library Librarians certainly see the importance of a "popular" collection and want to meet the needs of all of their varied communities. There are other issues behind the petition. Sacramento Public Library Administration has decreased the staffing levels at branches while greatly lining their own pockets and expanding their staff. Staff feels they are not valued, and Anne Marie Gold and her deputy, Alison Landers, have a "my way or not way" attitude. There is a huge ocean between rank and file/branch supervisors and managers and Administration. The issue is definitely not all about the collection and how materials are collected!
Library Administration is getting huge salaries, but they cannot do their jobs without hiring consultants, who also get huge sums. Why have an Administration? Why not just hire consultants?
Diane Boerman, a staff member who spoke at the last Board meeting, stated that the Library Authority approved Administration's expenditure of nearly one half a million dollars to consultants since Ms. Gold was hired! This is astonishing for a public library, and it should be deemed misuse of public funds. The taxpayers, along with Sacramento Public Library staff, should indeed be outraged!
Sincerely,
Deborah Levy
Posted by: Deborah Levy | May31, 2007
Librarian in Black,
Thanks for the story. There is, however, a problem with it. I am a librarian with the Sacramento Public Library system, and actually agree with the essence of the system's current collection development policy. For this reason, and a few others, I chose not to sign the petition. Well and good. The petition was, however, so much more than simple grousing about collection development. Staffing, Management-labor relations, and safety and security issues all held greater sway than those dealing with CDV. If you wanted a copy of the petition, I'm sure our Union folk would have sent a copy.
Me and my immediate colleagues work hard, take public service very seriously, believe in the promise of technology, and share optimism over the very salient position that SPL will have in the future of our diverse city.
p.s. I’m mortified to hear that you were treated so rudely at the system’s training day. On behalf of my colleagues, I apologize. There’s no place for boors in our profession.
Posted by: siliconbeaver | May31, 2007
Ben: If you work for the Library and have a different perspective, post it here. That is why I have comments on my site opened up--so people can engage in a dialog. Anyone else from SPL is welcome to do the same--or post their own story somewhere. The web is an open place. If the people from the unhappy group of staff/former-staff/public aren't talking anywhere, I'm not sure that this is our fault. And, by the by, I did go to the source. I talked with four different librarians at SPL before posting my original post. According to all of them, the media's portrayal, while somewhat sensationalized, was not inaccurate. While they all agreed that the staff had many issues with the director, all of them agreed that the focus on popular materials in the collection was the chief complaint. One of the four did feel the director was not doing a good job, and had signed the petition, but did still agree that the story in the Sacramento Bee was an accurate portrayal of the situation. So, some of us did do our research. Short of contacting every single employee at the Library, what else would you have had me do?
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | May31, 2007
"Everything is about moderation, balance, and using our good judgment to help our communities."
Judging from some of the comments to the Sacramento Bee story--presumably written by residents of the community--balance is exactly what the petitioners are asking for. They think that 10 copies of Jackass 2 is imbalanced and, lacking further information, I'd have to agree. We don't know what items were not purchased because the budget had been used for this movie and the Paris Hilton {cough}book{cough}. What's next, subscriptions to The National Enquirer and The Star?
Posted by: Sharon | May31, 2007
I suggest that you all read Sonny Crawford's comment on http://www.blyberg.net/2007/05/25/buzzkill-20/
He summarizes beautifully what the real issues are.
Posted by: Deborah | May30, 2007
I'm amazed at the blogging community with regard to this issue, because you're all taking the Sacramento Bee article as gospel. As good librarians, wouldn't you want to go to the source of the information rather than quote a light weight newspaper? The community has serious issues that were ignored by the Bee. Even the library authority board scheduled a meeting next month to address the issues when it came to light that there has been fiscal mismanagment and insults to the community by the library director. But no...you all assume that the staff are a bunch of idiots who don't like pop culture. Why not talk to the staff or don't you want to hear the real reasons there has been a vote of no confidence issued to the board?
Posted by: Brian Johnson | May30, 2007
Sharon and Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad Librarian: I don't think anyone would disagree with you. Libraries are here to enrich, but also to entertain. The public library also needs to serve as the citizen's first-stop-for-research. I don't think we disagree. However, entertainment materials do play a role in the collections of public libraries. They do. Period. It's not going away. People rely on us for education, enrichment, exploration, and entertainment. I really like David Lynch's work, but I know it's not for everyone and I sure as hell am not going to inflict it upon my users in a library setting. That's ego-centric and asinine. As a librarian I may have to buy a copy of something that I consider stupid, like Danielle Steel novels. I don't like it, but my community does, and they're asking for it, so who am I to tell them that they shouldn't be reading that, but rather this nice WWII biography that I purchased? And don't tell me "THE LIBRARIAN, THAT'S WHO!" because that's bunk. We work for the public, in public libraries. And my own values about what people should be reading should not supersede what the public is asking for. And while we do need to exercise great caution as to building collections, the whole collection is transitory too. The average book lasts what, 10 years, if that? It's all transitory. Collection building is a fine balance between popular and "lasting quality." You want that book on Missions to be there when the kid needs it for his report, but you also want to have the Star Wars serial novels he wants to read in his play time. Everything is about moderation, balance, and using our good judgment to help our communities.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | May30, 2007
BookPirate, thank you for commenting. It is surely true that there are great librarians, children's and otherwise, that work for Sacramento Public Library. The general vibe I got during and after my talk, though, was not great...and I can only speak from my own experiences unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately). One rather progressive librarian did talk to me before my talk to tell me that she'd had problems getting any forward movement on anything technology-oriented, and that she hoped that my talk would open the eyes of other people some more. I don't think my talk had that effect, sadly. I'd like to think I'm a persuasive speaker, but sometimes the deck's just stacked against you.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | May30, 2007
That's true Jessamyn...every place has its own aura. There are three places that I've presented that I really did not enjoy, and I think I just revealed one of them in this post ;) The other two are in traditionally conservative areas as well, which causes me pause. I don't know. I do think that we should all have a speakers bureau at the very least where we can share this type of information.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LiB) | May30, 2007
I'm only a library graduate student, but I have over 50 years of library experience as a patron (not a "customer"). Maybe I'm being overly idealistic, but whatever happened to to the idea of the public library as the "people's university"? What happened to the idea of the library as one of the cornerstones of democracy, democracy which requires a well-informed citizenry or else risks being lost? When did all that change?
I'm fortunate in that I live in a town that is home to one of the state universities. If I need one of the classics, or a particular reference book, and the public library doesn't have it, I can always go to the academic library five minutes away. But what about those who are not so lucky, and who can't afford to buy everything they want to read? Are they doomed to continue to subsidize the latest summer fluff movies, or the latest video game fad, because they are in the minority?
Posted by: Sharon | May30, 2007
I have to say sorry, but I'm on the side of the librarians. We ARE dumbing down our collections, and this is NOT beneficial to the students, adults and others who come seeking educational, not *just* entertainment style materials.
Libraries more than any other publicly funded service, promote education and exploration and seek to enrich minds. We are not here simply to entertain, but also to *inform*. To provide access to information.
While I do not object to providing popular entertainment, this should never be the "core" of a collection, nor the sole guiding factor in building a collection. Yes, that's right *building*. That which is classic and has lasting appeal and yes, (oooh, that content laden word "values") value should also be present in a collection.
Popular today is passe tomorrow. Trends come and go. Classical Greek histories, Roman texts, book on artist and art work, books about histories of trademarks, books on mythology - these all have their place *and* thir value too.
I am sure the staff and some patrons feel the library has gone adrift. Let us be clear - a library can never be and will never be just a Borders or a iTune shop. We are more. We must BE more. We must provide service *and* information. Not just edutainment or entertainment of the moment.
In short, libraries represent more than just the "popular". This is what those librarians are feeling and saying. We will lose our patron base AND our future if we play the "appeal to the numbers" game while ignoring our role as a provider of information.
Posted by: Baaad Librarian | May30, 2007
I remember from the article that librarians talked about how they liked selecting materials... not that it helped patrons, or that it built a better collection, but that they wanted to do it. I believe playing a role in collection building can be useful and enjoyable... but the focus on "me me me" bugged me.
Posted by: K.G. Schneider | May30, 2007
I'm not sure where to start. I have so many mixed feelings about the petition signed by SPL staff, and also about the media coverage and blog reactions that have followed.
As a former SPL employee (one of those eager to hear your Library 2.0 talk) I'm embarrassed to hear that you were accosted in the hallway by such a negative children's librarian. I would hate for the blog "world" to think that all, or even most, of the librarians at SPL are so extremely threatened by change. There are many forward-thinking, customer-service loving, tech savvy librarians working for SPL, despite current appearances. They are probably comforted by your condolences.
At this point, I wish I had seen the actual petition. From what I had heard as signatures were being gathered, there were several other issues staff wanted to bring before the board. I don't believe it was their intention to demand the resignation of their director over too many copies of Jackass 2, even if that does make for an exciting first 2 paragraphs of a newspaper story. I'm sad to see it all reduced to the age-old question of public-driven vs. staff-driven collection development.
Posted by: bookpirate | May29, 2007
I would be very very interested to make a little map of where a lot of us have done various sorts of "2.0 talks" to see what the responses were like generally. I've given very similar talks in a number of different places and been really surprised at the different feedback I've gotten. I think some of this is just how it's presented to the audience, but some may also be whatever mindset the organization has. It was interesting to hear your anecdote.
Posted by: jessamyn | May29, 2007
I must not read the same blogs as you...I hadn't heard any of this. How sad...
Posted by: Laurie | May29, 2007
