One extremely important thing I’ve learned since starting to teach Public Libraries at Catholic University is that there is nothing new in public libraries. Everything we do now, every controversy, every success, and every scandal has happened before sometime in this nation’s history. And while the internet is new, fear of change is not. In the 1920s, the increased popularity of the radio caused some librarians to be concerned that it would “wean people away from the written word”. Do you hear the echo to the past that I hear?

I find this connection to the past very comforting. I am part of a long and strong tradition of librarians–flaws and all. Even down to this quote:

“It is the more intangible question of influence on the community and value to the individual. The library supplants the schools, extends their service through life, and takes their place. It serves as a center of recreation and inspiration, a storehouse of mental treasure available for the varied needs of our citizens. In arousing worthy interests and ambitions, satisfying mental longings, bringing practical advice, information, cheer and comfort to the average citizen, the library proves it’s value and worth.”

–Bangor (Maine) Public Library Director, 1927

(as always, thanks to the magnificent book Part of our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library by Wayne Wiegand)

Last week, I was fortunate to speak to educational publishers and wholesalers at the Educational Book and Media Association conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. I was on a panel with Kent Oliver, Director of the Nashville Public Library, Dr. Annie Norman, State Librarian of Delaware and the panel was moderated by Rebecca Miller, Editorial Director of Library Journal and School Library Journal.

The topic of our panel was Public Schools and Public Libraries: the logistics of partnerships. DCPL was asked to be on the panel because of the partnership we’ve been working on with DC Public Schools for the past couple of years. It’s still pretty much a baby project and we’ve had some bumps along the way. That’s probably why I was asked to lead the challenges section of the panel.

I hope the participants found our panel helpful. I certainly learned quite a bit about the world of educational publishing. I learned that they are passionate about educational books and helping kids learn and grow but they know next to nothing about public libraries. They don’t know our funding structure, how we operate, or how we make decisions. I’m glad EBMA brought us in because as schools start to work with public libraries more and more, educational publishers will discover that we do things very differently than schools. I hope this opened the door for these conversations.

Of all the time I’ve spent outside of the U.S., most of that time has been in Mexico. From the first time I visited, I fell in love. I’ve spent most time traveling on my own but we decided to try an all-inclusive resort this year. And while I enjoyed it, it did not feel like the Mexico I love. The one day we left the resort and went into town, was great. And we were lucky enough to stumble on a public library!

I sent this note to the 400 Public Services staff at DCPL:

This was a hard week for many people I know and love. Not to say it wasn’t hard for me, but while I’m nervous about the future, I am very locally focused and I know I do everything I can do every day to serve my community. And that’s really all I can focus on right now.

Or, as David Kipen said this week in his LA Times editorial, “refuge-wise, libraries are the ultimate “third place,” the urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s “sanctuaries beyond the realms of home and work.” Nowadays, what with bring-your-dog-to-work days and bring-your-work-home jobs, home and work are becoming almost interchangeable. We need a third place more than ever, and libraries — with quiet courtyards and alcoves, or provocative public meetings and programs — increasingly offer that very place.”

Read the whole thing here: http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-kipen-essay-20161110-story.html

A little over 10 years ago, the District of Columbia made an incredible investment in the crumbling infrastructure of the DC Public Library. Since then, DCPL has built new or renovated 16 of the 26 locations. This week, we opened our 17th new library. The Woodridge branch is in NE DC and is on a stretch of street that really needs some new design and services. The old branch was demolished before I moved to DC so I never experienced the old building, but I’ve spent enough time in some of our older buildings to know what it was like. Due to some construction/soil issues, the project was delayed for over a year, so as you can imagine, excitement was very high at the grand opening this week.

We were lucky to have a lot of VIPs come to the opening. The D.C. Mayor (and her parents…she grew up in the area), two D.C. Councilmembers, the Deputy Mayor for Education, Executive Director of the Urban Libraries Council, Executive Director of the American Library Association Washington Office, and…..Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden! I thought only the library folks in the room would be excited to see her but even the Mayor was excited to welcome our first female, African American Librarian of Congress. Members of the community packed the mid-week ribbon cutting, which really tells me how excited people are for their new library.

I wasn’t involved in the design of this building, since it started before I moved to D.C. but I spend about 75% of my time in design/construction meetings for the other projects we’re working on and it was extremely gratifying to see how excited everyone was for the opening. I know it will make all of the hard work worth it.