the war on DOPA

(revised 8/4/06 due to some technical challenges)

So much has been said so brilliantly about why it's such a BAD idea. Most enraging how this only ends up preventing a certain socio economic group of kids from being part of their peer group today, and learning skills they will undoubtedly need in the future. See the "DOPA watch" link in my blogroll.

Email your senator, tell them to VOTE AGAINST IT, from a post on Meredith Farkas' Information Wants To Be Free


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Wait, Wait...

I love to tell staff at MPOW that to "get in to" new technology, they should seek ways to explore them thru their own passions. I simply mean that when trying to learn about blogs, it is best to find blogs about a topic that you most enjoy reading about. Like food or wine or dogs or whatever you love to learn about that is not related to work. Don't laugh, many kept trying to tie this with all new concepts and all at once, discover blogs through reading about a technical topic they are not too familiar with (like library 2.0) or simply getting oh, hum on the whole "more stuff about work" thing.
In this spirit, I was tickled to find that one of my favorite radio shows: NPR's "Wait! Wait! Don't tell me." is now podcasting parts (Not my Job) of the show every week! Yea! I am learning about podcasts and this one is a treat.


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cooooooooool

Keep it together!

OK, sorry, not had much time to write lately. Others are so much more "in tune" with the world anyways... Read from these great people:

Meredith Farkas brilliant post on skills.

Steve Backs covers most everything on customer service.

And then, under the heading of "Unplugging without unplugging." :
I have been an admirer of Selden Deemer's work for over 10 years. Always knew he was a real smart guy. Now I am a fan of his writing, and I know he's also SO, SO, COOL.

LATER!
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Hope and Reconciliation

The biblioblogosphere is all abuzz about Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public and Leadership Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century. I love the perspective it offers us on our own goals and on our diverse customers. Lots of thoughts race thru my mind when I look at some of these. I love that "Having enough computers..." Finally surpasses "Adequate parking." (not that I don't care about parking...) I love that current materials, self service and comfort are still high priorities.

Because of a lot of what I heard and dealt with in the last year, I most wonder how to reconcile some of these priorities that the public expresses.

Am I taking them too literally or could:

* Providing a safe and engaging space for teens;
and
* Expanding access to the Internet and other uses of technology;

be somewhat contradictory?

How many parents assume we are "safe places" for their children to be left alone in as soon as they reach a certain age. (How many of them got this impression by reading a "Safe Space" sign posted at each one of our doors?)

How many parents assume their children can't get on the internet, or can't get on MySpace, or if they are allowed to browse the web, would only do so under a very aggressive filter? How many of them understand that we sometimes don't even know their age when we serve them?

How can we reconcile some of these expectations with all of our realities?
Have you seen the Zurich commercial on TV that asked: "What if your business plan changes every 4 hours?" I really think of our libraries like that, as having our business plan change every couple hours, toddlers & mothers at 9 AM, PC users at 10AM (in droves), bookclub readers at 2PM, homework high school students at 4PM, music lovers in at 7 PM for a concert... And tomorrow, a "Band of Brothers" showing with actual WWII participants and later in the conference room, a "DAR" meeting...

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