Big Ideas – 658.8 – Marketing, Management, Leadership, Libraries

Big Ideas, General, Leadership, Uncategorized

Stand in Their Shoes and Speak English

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 658.8

I had the pleasure of touring North Carolina State University’s Hunt Library last week with some colleagues. We went there to tour their public spaces that support learning and collaboration and we saw some really great stuff – from flexible DIRTT walls to gaming studios to modular, wired furniture. Trust me, the joint is as cool and amazing and inspirational as everything you’ve heard.

Amidst all of the innovative spaces we saw, though, my biggest takeaway was an piece of paper tacked up in a staff area:

ncsu-sign

I love every single thing about this.

I love the use of the word practice, because that’s what these are. Each of these behaviors must be learned, honed, practiced. I love the format that echoes a checklist. Indeed, if every interaction with a user include each of these items, both staff and user will walk away satisfied. I love how each item on the list is phrased in a memorable way – Share the Screen. Stand in Their Shoes. Refer Right. Stated this way, these best practices can easily become catch phrases and readily become mantras and therefore easily become practices.

I’ve spent the last year learning about the UX mindset and framework. As I’ve written about previously, one of the first things that I grasped was that UX is really about empathy. Empathy – considering what the experience of our users is like from their point of view – is what moves UX from just a focus on customer service to a commitment to delivering great customer experiences. The more that libraries can move beyond customer service to considering customer experience, the better we – and our users – will be.

And at its heart, that’s what this list is all about – empathy. Standing in their shoes. Walking them where they need to go. Speaking their language, not ours. These in particular remind me of what UX expert extraordinaire Aaron Schmidt has printed on pencils:

ux-pencils

I love that UX sprung forth from the world of tech and web design and has spread into service design and delivery and all touchpoints. And I love that the world famous, high tech library that I went to visit blew me away with this empathetic, user centered approach to its service.

Big Ideas, General, Leadership, Uncategorized, UX

Because of UX… (Part 1)

August 19, 2016October 20, 2016 658.8

At Chapel Hill Public Library, we had the great good fortune to spend the past 12 months working with Aaron Schmidt on a library-wide UX assessment and improvement project. The project was possible by the State Library of North Carolina, through an LSTA grant.

It was an AMAZING year for me, for CHPL staff, and for our users. I began the year as an UX noob and a year later, I am far from an UX expert. But I have learned and grown – professionally and personally – and will continue to do so.

I’ll admit, I wrote the grant as a means to an end – I wanted a new website and a new floor plan for the library, as both were far from optimal experiences for our users. UX was the way to get there and Aaron Schmidt was the ringer we brought in to get it done.

However, soon after reading his book, meeting him, and delving into the work, I realized that UX was WAY more than a means to an end – it’s the way we ought to do business. Not just CHPL. Not just public libraries. All the libraries in all the places should embrace, understand, and utilize UX as part of their core business model.

Why? There are lots of good reasons, but for me, the biggest one is that libraries are for people. As I’ve often said…

peoplebiz

UX helps libraries of all types remember what’s most important – the people that use us. The people that sometimes struggle to use us. The people that often use us and seldom use us. The power patrons and the noobs. The people that love us and those that don’t –yet. The people that want to achieve something great – or just complete a simple task. As I’ve often said… Continue reading “Because of UX… (Part 1)” →

Big Ideas, General, Reader's Advisory, Tips & Tools, Uncategorized

#TBT – Going Rogue for Summer Reading

June 2, 2016October 20, 2016 658.8

In honor of the season and the day, I am reposting an article I wrote for Novelist a few years ago for this early summer edition of Throwback Thursday. At the time, this felt like edgy stuff – ditching the CSLP theme felt like a crazy move! However, based on responses to the piece, I learned that many other libraries were also (and were already) rethinking summer reading.

summer-in-the-city_(1)

Fast forward to 2016 and libraries are still doing just that – rethinking, reframing, and redesigning summer reading programs to create more value, reach more people, and have a greater impact. Inspired by what many other libraries are doing, Chapel Hill Public Library is embracing the summer challenge framework and expanding the scope beyond just reading to embrace experiential learning as well.

charlotte summer — Charlotte Mecklenburg’s Summer Break Program

chicago — Chicago Public Library’s Summer Learning Challenge

As I post this, and thanks to our fabulous Youth, RA, and Marketing staff, we are launching our 2016 Summer Challenge: Read More, Do More, Learn More – I’ll let you know how it goes.

chpl summer

Raise your hand (and comment below) if you and your library are rethinking the season and your approach to it. I’d love to hear about what you are doing!

Going Rogue for Summer Reading: A Totally Local Approach to our Busiest Season

Originally appeared in the October 2013 issue of Kids & Books

It all started in the fall of 2011. After another summer — our busiest season at Lawrence Public Library — staff from Children’s, Teen, and Adult departments gathered to discuss how the summer reading program went. Good participation numbers? Check! Engaging slate of programs? Check! Lots of happy readers? Check! Continue reading “#TBT – Going Rogue for Summer Reading” →

Big Ideas, General, Leadership, Management, Uncategorized

50 More Shades of Change

May 10, 2016May 26, 2016 658.8

“To practice leadership, you need to accept that you are in the business of generating chaos, confusion, and conflict.”

– The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools & Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World, by Ronald Heifitz et al

linksytwo

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how people approach change in different ways, according to their preferred “change style.” Just as there are different approaches to change, there are also different types of change – and it is just as important to understand them.

Technical change can be successfully executed with knowledge, skills, and expertise that already exist within the organization. The problem to be solved is clear, the solution can be provided by an expert, and resolution comes relatively easily. Technical change requires management.

Adaptive change requires an organization to think differently, question the status quo, and, in order to be successfully executed, it often requires a paradigm shift. The problem to be solved is hard to discern, the solution requires new learning and thinking, and that solution cannot be provided by the leader or expert – in order to be lasting, it must come from within the organization. Adaptive change is not easy. And it is often messy. Adaptive change requires leadership.

I was introduced to this model of change in a leadership seminar that was built around Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading by Ronald Heifitz and Marty Linksy. If you are leading through change, and I believe we all are, I encourage you to check out their work. For me, it has been incredibly useful as I seek to continually learn and grow as a leader.

Learning to recognize technical and adaptive challenges, and lead accordingly, is essential for success – and sometimes it is hard to tell the difference.

Just after I came on board as Director, I started a process with staff to review and revise our key policies and procedures. One area we attacked was our fines and fees schedule and borrowing limits. In my mind, this was a technical challenge – we needed to lower our fines, raise our borrowing limits, streamline our fee schedule, and abandon outdated borrowing policies. No big whup, we’d knock it out in an afternoon meeting. Continue reading “50 More Shades of Change” →

Big Ideas, General, Leadership, Management, Uncategorized, UX

Designing for Dementia (and ALL)

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016 658.8

I’m far from a UX expert, but I am learning more and more all the time, thanks in large part to working with Aaron Schmidt over the past year. Here’s the thing about UX – once you know it, you can’t unknow it. Once you see it one place, you see it in all the places. Like Mojo Nixon once said of Elvis, “UX is everywhere, man.”

Here’s a recent example:

This week, staff at Chapel Hill Public Library have had training sessions on how to best serve users facing dementia. Sponsored by Dementia Friendly Orange County, a non-profit whose goal is “to raise awareness and make life better for people with dementia and those who care for them.” Their new initiative is to train local businesses and organizations about ways to recognize and serve people facing dementia, leading to a “Dementia-Friendly Business” certification.

To help staff understand what’s going on with users facing dementia, the quote that was repeated throughout the session was “They aren’t giving you a hard time. They are having a hard time.” The trainers stressed that if you find yourself interacting with a user who is facing dementia, remember this to help you empathize, strategize, and ultimately help them.

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As soon as I heard this statement, I thought, “If you find yourself interacting with ANY user, remember this to help you empathize, strategize, and ultimately help them.”

Sure, there are a few folks out there whose sole purpose is to give you a hard time. I’d argue that they are rare. Most people want to have a successful outcome and genuinely accept help, but they are often having a hard time. As I’ve learned through working with Mr. Schmidt and garnering some basic UX skills, that hard time is often caused by policies, procedures, places, and spaces that were not designed with the user in mind.

Here are a few more slides from the training about working with folks facing dementia. I think these are good ideas for working with all the folks:

dementia one

Patience, respect, and dignity for all. Simplicity in interactions and information. Yes, please.

dementia two

Helpful attitudes, easy signs, and simple options. Sign me up.

Use jargon-free communication? Monitor body language and tone of voice? Be patient and flexible? Let’s do that with all the people, okay?

You can find the training video here and more about the Dementia Friendly Movement here.

Big Ideas, General, Management, Uncategorized

Rethinking the Rules of Behavior: Part 2

April 18, 2016April 26, 2016 658.8

“A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes.”

– Wikipedia

Last week, I wrote about how we ditched the rules and came up with a set of Expectations for Behavior at Chapel Hill Public Library. This approach represented a pretty radical departure – both in the wording of the policy and the mindset at its foundation – so we knew that engaging staff on this approach would be critical to success. Here are some of the ways we did that:

We made it easy.

We created a three question test to use when faced with a situation:

Is the situation at hand illegal?

Is it unsafe?

Is it making others uncomfortable?

If the answer is yes, then staff should act. They don’t have to remember all the words of the policy, just these three measures to apply. Continue reading “Rethinking the Rules of Behavior: Part 2” →

Big Ideas

OMG! We got a JCD!

May 7, 2013July 28, 2015 658.8

Recently, I received two great phone calls within a few weeks of each other. The first was from Chapel Hill, NC, offering me the position of director at the Chapel Hill Public Library. The second was from the John Cotton Dana Award committee, letting me know that a project I spearheaded at Lawrence Public Library was selected to receive a 2013 John Cotton Dana Award. If good things come in threes, I hope that Publisher’s Clearinghouse pops up on my Caller ID next!

The John Cotton Dana Award is called “the most prestigious award of the American Library Association.” Here’s a little more about it:

“The John Cotton Dana Award, provided in conjunction with the H.W. Wilson Foundation, the American Library Association and EBSCO Publishing, honors outstanding library public relations, whether a summer reading program, a year-long centennial celebration, fundraising for a new college library, an awareness campaign or an innovative partnership in the community.”

LPL received the award for our Banned Books Trading Card project, which we summarized for the judges:

“With seven collectible trading cards featuring art inspired by banned books and created by local artists, Lawrence Public Library’s Banned Books Trading Card project sought to raise awareness of Banned Books Week in a unique way, engage the local arts community, and bring wider exposure to the talented artists living and working in our community. The project achieved these goals, garnered national media attention, and resulted in a few surprising outcomes that have given the project an extended life, long after the end of 2012’s Banned Books Week.” Continue reading “OMG! We got a JCD!” →

Big Ideas

Putt-ing the Fun in Library Fundraiser

May 10, 2012July 20, 2012 658.8

As with many public libraries these days, Lawrence Public Library is not a quiet place with shushing librarians and silent stacks. But for one weekend every year, things get really crazy with the Lawrence Public Library Foundation’s Caddy Stacks Mini Golf Fundraiser. Last weekend, the sounds of golf balls bouncing off bookends and families laughing together filled the library – and the cash register drawer was ringing, too!

Caddy Stacks was organized by Kathleen Morgan, the amazing Executive Director of the Lawrence Public Library Foundation (this is the same brain behind the Stack of Stories) and her equally amazing crew of volunteers. The idea is simple in its ~~insanity~~ ingenuity: For one weekend a year, there is a community-built, 18-hole mini golf course winding its way through the library both during and after regular hours of operation. Continue reading “Putt-ing the Fun in Library Fundraiser” →