Library News and Notes

During World War II when the future of democracy was uncertain,
Franklin D. Roosevelt described libraries as "the great symbols of the
freedom of the mind," and defined them as "essential to the
functioning of a democratic society." The public library—one of the
only places you can still go that is free from marketing—truly is a
cornerstone of liberty and the bulwark of  American democracy.

How? The public library provides free access to information, and holds
library records confidential. We are dedicated to helping citizens
become better informed, and more effective. If you want to know what’s
on the Board of Selectman’s agenda, we can help you access that
document  online, for free—and you don’t even have to show your
library card. Want to know what was discussed at the last Assessor’s
meeting? We’ve got a copy of the minutes. Want to know more about
who’s running for elected office? We can not only help you get the
candidate’s official platform, but we can show you tools like
VoteSmart, that provides biographies, voting records, issue positions,
ratings, speeches, and campaign finance information, for all
politician. Without your informed participation, America could easily
cease to be a democracy.

The Grafton Public Library has much in common with the League of Women
Voters. Our mission to support personal, educational, occupational,
cultural and recreational endeavors of members of our Grafton
community is as wide in scope as the League’s “broad educational
efforts.” We too, invite participation by soliciting patron feedback
in person and through our website and social media, and that effort
will be expanded in the coming years. The Grafton Public Library is
not my library, but your library, and I encourage your suggestions for
services, programs, and materials.

Like The League, the Library is nonpartisan, not only do we not
support or oppose candidates for public office, we take the same
unbiased approach to collection development, striving to providing a
variety of materials from many voices. We too, believe deeply that the
public should have access to different views on the issues facing our
communities and our nation.

The role of the public library is evolving from simply providing
information to providing tools, and with that, comes an expectation
that library staff know how to use those tools and can assist our
patrons not just with content consumption, but with content creation.
We are moving from a information gatekeeper model to a strategy guide
model, where we provide just in time learning, and teach people not
only how to search our library catalog and electronic databases, but
can show you how to set up your email account, start a blog, format
your resume, download eBooks to your Kindle, Nook, or laptop, or
smartphone, oir lock down your Facebook privacy settings.

Did you know that the use of social media is fast becoming a feature
of political and civic engagement for many Americans. 60% of American
adults use either social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter,
and a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life
Project finds that 66% of those social media users—or 39% of all
American adults—have done at least one of eight civic or political
activities with social media:

posted their thoughts about civic and political issues,

reacted to others’ postings;

shared a link to a political story or article

pressed friends to act on issues
"liked” or promoted material related to politics or social issues

encouraged people to vote

followed candidates

joined groups formed on social networking sites that are involved in
social or political issues

You are in the majority if you used Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,
YouTube, or other social media during the last election; if you don’t
know how, and want to learn, the Library is the place to do that.
The Library’s only agenda, if we have an agenda, is advocacy of our
wealth of resources. It is vital, more now than ever before, that the
Grafton community understands what it is their tax dollars are
funding, how we provide excellent return on investment, and what they
are missing by not using—and supporting--their local public library. I
have an story about something that happened to me, last week, that I’d
like to share.

Finding a good hairdresser is harder than finding a new doctor,
dentist or mechanic, upon moving to a new town. I decided to take my
chances on a local barbershop for my trim, and was delighted with the
results--but disappointed to hear the commentary from the stylists,
upon learning I was the new library director.

“Oh yeah, my kids used to go there when they were little,” said one.

“How old are they now?” I inquired

The response was that they were between the ages of 9-12-tweens, as we call them in libraries.

Ever the advocate, I began to detail what we have to offer for that
age group: summer reading program, family game night, a new survey of
teen services for ages 10-19… and was interrupted by the stylist, who
dismissed me with “well, it was great when they were younger, but it’s
a different world now; Google puts everything they need at your
fingertips.”And the implication was, we don’t need the library
anymore.

Google may put the world at your fingertips--I use it all the
time!--but it's not always the best first stop for homework or
information needs. Ads can be difficult to discern from legitimate
search results, and the results themselves may not offer any hints
about the authority, bias, timeliness, or scope of the information.
With millions of hits returned on a search, it’s unusual for a
searcher to dig beyond the first few pages of search results. And
fewer know that the Boolean logic librarians are expert in can work as
Google hacks: putting a phrase in quotes, limiting a search to a
specific domain, using a minus sign to eliminate a word, or starting
the search with peer-reviewed articles.

The Commonwealth provides free and unlimited access to Encyclopedia
Britannica and the Gale Virtual Reference Collection: 50 electronic
reference books on topics like women’s history, fashion, environmental
issues, US history, literary criticism, terrorism, pollution, and
more. The best part is, you don’t even need your library card to log
in; as long as your computer’s IP address shows that you live in
Massachusetts, you have access.

I wouldn’t say Google is putting me out of job – I’d say the job is
changing. The 21st century library is more than just a brick box of
books: it’s a balance of physical and digital materials that inform,
entertain and educate, with a virtual space—a 24/7 digital branch
library—that is as important as the physical space. In 2012, the Grafton Public Library served 56,000 patrons and circulated 103,000 items to our 7500 cardholders.

My hope for the future is that not only do those numbers increase, but
Grafton residents can articulate how the library has changed their
lives, from changing attitudes to gaining knowledge to changing
behavior.

The next year will bring much needed handicapped accessibility
renovation, and construction to bring the building up to code, a
review of all library policies and procedures; increased digital
collections to reflect the 119% growth in electronic eBook, eAudio,
and eVideo checkout; a streaming video service for independent films
to augment our DVD collection, an online summer reading program so you
can participate from anywhere; professional development for the staff;
and making sure everything we do creates goodwill for the Library. I
hope you’ll be part of that journey.