No one is arguing that as libraries we need to evolve. The Hyperlinked Library Model allows us the room to grow in the way that our community needs us to. While I was reading the 2011 White Paper Michael wrote, The Hyperlinked Library, I found myself highlighting all over it because there are so many great points and fantastic ideas that I wanted to remember to come back to in the future. One of the quotes that really stuck with me came near the end:
“When asked what I see for the future of libraries – of all kinds of libraries – I imagine a space where users will connect, collaborate, create, and care” (Stephens, 2011).
Connect, collaborate, create, and care. Wow. If we can accomplish all of those, what a meaningful space we will have made. I could sit here and go on and on about each of these, because I think they are all important and all values we should undertake, but I want to start by taking a closer look at the first one.
Connect.
Over the past six months at my library, I have been hard at work with one of my coworkers to establish a new program based on one offered at another branch. It is called Teen Tech Tutors. This program is intended to bring together tech-savvy teens and tech-inexperienced adults in a drop-in computer/device/technology class. Our goal is to have the adults, in this case our “students” to come in with any and all of their burning technology questions, and get paired up with one of our awesome teens, or “tutors,” to get the answers they seek. We are making it our goal to connect people who are unsure of themselves and their technology with digital natives who are willing and able to help them. We are also doing this because we have a huge need in the community for technology assistance. Currently, my coworker offers weekly one-on-one computer classes by appointment. The problem? There is such a high demand in our community for his services that he is booked out for the next 6 weeks.
As I’m writing this I am realizing we are also tying in closely with the next word as well.
Collaborate.
We are creating a space where multiple generations of library users can come together to both learn and teach. One of the most important aspects of this project, for me at least, is also showing teens that we value them as people, and we recognize their strengths. I love teens; I love working with teens, I love talking to teens, and I think they are an often overlooked and under-utilized group of people. And what better way to show them their value than to let them collaborate with a group of adults who need their help? They get to take on the role of tutor, a role with power behind it, and collaborate with people who are relying on them to teach. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out, because I think it’s going to be great. When I first heard about it at another branch, I thought it was a very innovative idea, and knew we needed to do it too if we wanted to keep up with the times. These days it seems like a lot of my job while working at the information desk involves assisting patrons with computer help. When I observed a session at the other library, I was fascinated to see the mix of questions; it ranged from helping people use our library system’s online collections of ebooks and audiobooks to showing them how to post photos on Facebook.
I can’t believe this is finally, finally coming to fruition – we finished our last tutor interview today, and next week we will be calling to set up trainings with all of our teens to go over the various online resources we have.
But I digress. My point here is that I think the Hyperlinked Library Model holds a lot of opportunities for change and innovation. Just by using those four little words (connect, collaborate, create, and care), we can help evolve the library into something else, something patrons want, something patrons need. I enjoyed reading about all of the different ideas that are out there. I also like that this model allows room for interpretation as well as growth; we won’t all follow the same path, because our communities are all going to be drastically difference. The thing that isn’t different is the need for innovation, for transformation, for making ourselves relevant.
Embrace the change, because it’s coming. Without it, our libraries may not all survive. Eddie Vedder sang it best: “It’s evolution baby / Do the evolution/ Come on, come on, come on.”
References
Stephens, M. (2011). The hyperlinked library. Retrieved from http://mooc.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/StephensHyperlinkedLibrary2011.pdf
Vedder, E. (1998). Do the evolution [Recorded by Pearl Jam]. On Yield [CD]. Seattle, WA: Epic.
Hyperlib Garden of Readin' 
Hi Holly! I can totally feel your excitement! For me it always seems to deconstruct to the very simple idea of the human experience, the human condition. The hyperlinked library is not about technology, it’s about the human connections, human innovation, human creativity, human collaboration, humans caring for humans that technology facilitates. The hyperlinked library has transformed the library-of-old from place to people, from books to ideas, from local to global (and back to local). An evolution indeed! but perhaps it can also be a de-evolution? a return to being more human? Perhaps what we are looking at is the possibility for being better at being human, through technology?
And here I transgress: DEVO – 1980’s new wave band – perhaps way ahead of their time… DEVO is short for de-evolution, of course their concern was more akin to the dysfunction of society, the lack of cerebral connections, the lack of human distinction. Really, their ideas were about being better humans, through human connection, through creativity, participation, etc. Check out songs like Freedom of Choice… just thought I’d share as a pairing to your Pearl Jam suggestion.
Also, if you haven’t already joined the cult following of Blade Runner, one of the fantastic yet understated elements in this brilliant film is the motto of the Tyrell Corporation (the creator of Nexus 6 – the perfect AI creation of a synthetic human): “More human than human.” Just throwing this one out there for a balance.
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@janemhoff I’m glad my excitement came through! I have all these feelings and I want to share them because I think libraries are awesome and we have so much potential to do great things. I love your idea of de-evolution and a return to being more human. I hadn’t looked at it quite that way, but I think that is ultimately what we may be aiming for – using technology to strengthen our connections to others and to develop that network that we may not get elsewhere. What a great idea and so thought-provoking!
DEVO! Yes!! I forgot all about them when I was writing this post. A couple of weeks ago we had an after hours gaming program with three different types of video games, including Rock Band. I was scrolling through the list and Whip It was on there. We totally did it. The teens were all like what IS this and I was so sad for them. It was hilarious! But anyway, what a great pairing! Thank you! (I’m totally listening to Freedom of Choice right now.) I think DEVO had a lot of interesting ideas!
And I haven’t watched Blade Runner, but it’s been slowly moving up my list of potential next obsessions (though Doctor Who is definitely next on the list). I love that you suggested it! I am all about a well-placed reference. Thank you!
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Ummmm sorry meant DIGRESS…. brain is on overload. Haha! hilarious mistake actually.
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“The thing that isn’t different is the need for innovation, for transformation, for making ourselves relevant.”
Thanks for this sentence. We are all different as staff, communities, and employees. It is learning how to harness these differences and giving them a voice in our library environment that will be the key to success!
Thank you for your post.
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@krislib Lately at work I have been considering various differences in communities and trying to figure out ways to tweak things to work for my branch. The Teen Tech Tutors example I used shows that some things can translate across branches/communities. There are two more branches now considering it as well, and we all have vastly different communities. However, today I was talking to a coworker about the possibility of splitting my book group into two – a middle school and a high school group. At one of the other branches in our system they do that really successfully and have two solid groups. After we discussed it though, we both ultimately decided that wouldn’t work at our branch based on our teen community. So I agree with you – harnessing our differences and giving them a voice is absolutely going to be the key to our successes!!
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@holly
I am curious. What is the method(s) you use to get the teens excited about this group?
Thank you for sharing such good and inspiring work with us! 🙂
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@krislib Thanks for asking! We ended up reaching out to the schools – both the at the district level and to individual teachers/counselors, to try to get the word out. We are only accepting high school students as tutors, so we focused on our two local high schools, though I also talked to the middle school librarians to see if there were any 8th grade students they wanted to recommend for it. There was not a huge response from the teachers, but we were able to get our posters and flyers approved, so we sent those in, as well as blank applications, and asked that they be displayed in the school. We also took them with us when we did school visits about summer reading, and handed out applications to any teens who came up to our table during lunch.
One of the major selling points for our teens is that it counts as community service; the school district requires at least 30 hours of community service for graduation, so this is a fun way for them to earn their time. We also offer to write letters of recommendation either for college or for job applications, which I believe was also important to a couple of the students who responded. So far we have 4 signed up – a freshman, a sophomore, a junior, and a senior. Over the next couple of weeks we are trying to set up some trainings so they can come in and play with a bunch of different devices and learn some of our online resources. Our system has a device ‘petting zoo’ that has everything from an iPad mini and a Samsung tablet to a Nook Glowlight and Kindle Fire, and a few other things as well. They get to be exposed to a lot of new and unfamiliar tech, which I know was another draw for a couple of them.
I think the key has been emphasizing both the community service credit and letter of recommendation – school started here today, so we are preparing to send information out again: we want to remind teens, especially seniors who are just now probably thinking ‘oops, I need to get this done,’ that the library is an option for volunteering.
Does that answer your question? I love talking about our program, so if I didn’t completely answer your question or if you have other questions, ask away! I love it 🙂
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@holly
Thanks Holly for taking the time for such a detailed answer!
We have had teens do tutoring as well, but I found the 30 hours were limiting because the few we got going to help just got the parents excited about the service when their hours were up. Then the other was dependability.
As a result, I try to find teens who are willing to commit more than 30 hours for continuities sake.
Great idea about writing the letter of recommendation! 🙂
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I appreciate your framework using my quote… intrigued as to how you think you are doing with the “care” part – sometimes that one can be elusive. But I think it grows from the other ones working in tandem.
This resonates: ” I also like that this model allows room for interpretation as well as growth; we won’t all follow the same path, because our communities are all going to be drastically difference. ”
Makes me think we are on the right track.
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@michael I’ve been considering the “care” aspect over the past couple of days, and I agree with you that it grows out of the others. I think by combining the connect, collaborate, and create aspects, the care part blossoms. Through the different services we offer, we show our patrons that the library is part of the community, and hope that it will earn a place in their lives as they get more involved and become more engaged with us: as you said “The library is part of the community and the community holds the library in its heart.” So I think by offering a variety of services/programs to our patrons, we show them that we care, and in turn they begin to care about the library.
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@holly I would agree – and if those programs and services engage them on every level, it’s even better. I guess that’s the UX part that is so important.
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Holly,
We also have tech-tutors at our library. The tutors are volunteers from the community who are willing to help us offer services by donating their time and knowledge to help others. Volunteers come to the adult section of the library and help patrons with their computing needs. We also have tutors who commit their time to giving patrons one on one assistance in one hour sessions.
I think the caring aspect of our job is so important. As staff we care about our patrons needs. We are constantly thinking of ways to improve our library services and help patrons with their day to day lives. Our community is one of our most valuable resources. They have been the life line of our library helping us assist others when our budget has fallen short. We care and we express that by hosting programs that can be staffed by volunteers. We can enhance our services by having volunteer coordinators who can organize and coordinate our efforts. We love our patrons and our volunteers without them our library would be what it is today .
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@melody That’s so awesome that you also have tech tutors! It’s such a great program, and I like the variety of the types of tutoring available that you mention.
I definitely agree with you about the importance of caring. It is definitely our job as a service-oriented organization to make ourselves relevant to the community and show them that we are there to support them. Without our respective communities and volunteers, we would not be able to stand. As you point out – without them, the library would not be what it is today. Thanks!
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I love the Tech Teen Tutor program. What a fabulous idea. It really embodies the idea that libraries can cultivate a participatory culture. Having worked with teens, I truly believe that providing them with opportunities to show their capacity to be empathetic as well as responsible and resourceful is such a powerful message.
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@holly great quote to focus on. What came to mind immediately was the reference desk. This is the place where most of librarain-user contact occurs (at least at my library), and our reference desk is like The Wall in Game of Thrones. Hmmmm…now thinking of all sorts of black watch/librarian metaphors. Back to my point– I think that libraries have these archetypal structures and services (the library desks– circ, reference, etc., reference services, instruction, etc.) and sometimes small changes to these structures/services signal much bigger changes.
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