As the director of a mid-sized public library in southwestern Ontario and as a kids’ librarian by heart and by training, I am asked at least once a week, “How can I get my kids to read more?” My personal favorite is “My seven year old son only reads dinosaur books. How can I get him reading other stuff?”

My automatic response to these questions is always, “to raise a reader you need to be a reader”. If your children see you reading, dollars to donuts (I think that is a uniquely Canadian, Tim Horton’s phrase), they will grow up to be readers. If your children see you watching television 24/7, they will be television watchers 24/7. It doesn’t matter whether you are reading cereal boxes, magazines, or websites, reading is reading. The best way to get kids to read is to model the behavior.

The second way to raise a reader is to read to them. There is nothing finer than being read to. Whether you are 2 or 82, there is something magical about sharing a story. I have to admit that, as I cruise through the Acquisitions Department and come upon a new picture book (especially a Robert Munsch title), I have been known to pick it up and read it aloud to anyone who will listen. There is magic in being read to!

Canadians have a whole day dedicated to encouraging family reading and literacy.  ABC Life Literacy Canada is a non-profit organization that encourages Canadians to read. They connect and mobilize businesses, unions, government, communities, libraries, and individuals to support lifelong learning. Like the Guelph Public Library, ABC Life Literacy Canada envisions a Canada where everyone has the literacy skills they need to live a fully engaged life.

On their website (http://abclifeliteracy.ca/), I particularly like the facts about the impact reading with your kids will have on their whole life. For example, “just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically and can help a parent improve their skills as well.”

I recommend ABC Life Literacy Canada. For the latest news about literacy and promoting reading, follow them on Twitter or their Facebook page.

Happy Literacy Day!

Kitty Pope                                                                                           #50 January 2012
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

I am sure it will come as no surprise that new data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/default_an.htm) show the number of people working past age 65 has mushroomed in the last decade. In Ontario and Quebec, it has grown from 117,000 workers over age 65 in 2000 to more than 294,000 in 2010. The annual employment growth rate for people over 65 in Canada is in excess of 11%, and the growth rate is even higher for university-educated employees.

Freedom 55, a uniquely Canadian marketing campaign of the insurance giant London Life, was a national slogan in the 1980s. It promoted the idea that, with wise investment planning, you could retire at age 55. It is now clear that Freedom 55 is dead in 2012! We all sort of had a hunch that this was happening as we watched our employees delay retirement, but now we have statistical conformation of the trend. People are simply working longer. By choice or by necessity, the average Canadian can expect to be in the work force for more than 40 years! Yikes. 

Workers are delaying retirement, because:

► they simply cannot afford to retire. The financial crisis of the last few years significantly impacted their retirement funds, or they have ongoing family expenses and debt that have delayed saving for retirement

►their skills and experience are in high demand. Companies struggle to find young, skilled employees to take their place.

►there is a growing number of workers who still want to work, but not at the same level. They take jobs that are less stressful or offer flexible hours and working conditions

The entire work life cycle of Canadians is changing. People are staying in school longer. They are having kids later in life, and they are carrying significantly more debt. This means they are unable to start saving for their retirement until their kids have completed their education.  Retirement for most Canadians in 1990 was expected to last 15-20 years.  In 2012, retirement is expected to last 20-22 years. The longer you live, the more retirement funds you need.

This trend is impacting libraries as we manage our staffing levels and plan for the future. People are simply working longer.

Kitty Pope                                                                                               #49 January 2012
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

A business case is defined as:

► the strategic reasons and quantifiable benefits for initiating a project or service.

► capturing both the quantifiable and unquantifiable characteristics of a project.

► putting business applications into project management and evaluation.

Developing a business case includes:

● Background research: including project scope, context, benefits, outcomes, options considered, and strategic business reasons for implementing or rejecting each option.

● Benchmarking: comparing the project/service with other similar services and assessing best practices.

● Gap Analysis: identifying the variance between current organizational capabilities and optimal performance.

● Risk Analysis: indentifying and assessing factors that may jeopardize the success of a project or service.

● Financial justification: including estimating funds, ROI, and staffing needs for a real-time total costing of the project.

● Action Plan: including time lines.

How are libraries using business cases?

► To evaluate department performance. At GPL, we do one department service review/ business case annually; they are outlined in our Strategic Plan.

► To evaluate and propose new library services. (e.g. Do we want to lend eReaders?)

► To plan new facilities and renovation projects.

Learning how to develop and present a compelling business case is a management skill library land needs to embrace and love!

Kitty Pope                                                                                          #48 January 2012
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

However, all four generations agreed on what was important to them in their work life: salary, benefits, job security, work achievement, a supportive supervisor or boss, having the right information to do the job, and last but not least, having interesting, challenging work to do.

 P.S.  To all my friends and co-workers who are 40-something: my apologies. You aren’t that grumpy! 

 Kitty Pope                                                                                          #47 January 2012    kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

December is municipal budget season in Guelph. City departments, the police, health units, and yes, the public library are all vying for the taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars.

This year, GPL went in with a modest budget proposal of a 1.6% increase on last year’s budget and the request for one additional staff member, a Development Officer at a cost of $74,200 to increase our revenue line. The request was received politely by Council, but much to my surprise, the above cartoon appeared in the local newspaper the following week. I was shocked. I have been quoted, misquoted, photographed, and lampooned, but never before have I been cartooned.

The end result of this year’s budget process was that GPL received a 2.3% budget increase for 2012 including funding to hire a Development Officer. We are thrilled, humbled, and grateful all at the same time. But you know I am going to ask, what did I learn?

 ►All publicity is good publicity, as scary as that may seem to us in library land.

►Making the business case (by demonstrating increasing revenue, testing alternate service models, leveraging partnerships, and enhancing efficiencies) is fundamental in demonstrating to decision makers that public libraries are “doing business differently.”

►Service reviews add significantly to the libraries’ credibility as responsible and dynamic business units that, with rigorous evaluation, are improving.

►It takes a team to bring home the bacon! From staff, to the board, to city council, many folks have a hand it making a public library successful and relevant.

►Finally, to quote one of our city fathers, “you can compromise and still win.”

 So now the real work begins, as we learn how to build more effective business cases and begin mining an alternate revenue stream for GPL.

 Yahoo!

 Kitty Pope                                                                                           #46 December 2011
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

It’s Christmas, and instead of blogging about library land, I have been testing shortbread cookie recipes! After several attempts, I have selected this year’s pick of the litter.

Squirrel Shortbread Cookies

 1½ c. butter, right out of the fridge!

½ c. white sugar

½ c. light brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 c. all-purpose flour

½ c. rice flour or cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 Tbsp. butter

 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, beat together 1½ cups butter, roughly chopped, and sugars for 2 minutes.  Add vanilla, and beat another minute. In a medium bowl, combine flours and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix on low speed 2 to 3 minutes until it starts to clump tougher like dough. Dump onto parchment paper, shape into a flat disk, wrap in the parchment paper, and chill for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick, and cut into 3- by-1-inch fingers (I used a ruler to do this). Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet, and using a fork, prick each cookie. Refrigerate for another 20 minutes.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. (I put them outside on the barbeque. Except for the squirrels,  it works quite well.)

Melt the chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter in a glass bowl over hot (not boiling) water. When completely melted, dip the cookies in the chocolate (1/3 chocolate, 2/3 cookie) Let drip for a minute, and return to the wire rack to set. Store in an airtight container.

Serve on a glass plate with a spring of fresh holly or a Christmas ornament.

Happy Holidays from my kitchen to yours!

Kitty Pope                                                                                           #45 December 2011
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

It would begin something like…

“There are basically three things a library manager can do to instantly stop the library in its

tracks, reduce productivity, and generally waste time.”

1. Mess with the coffee in the staff room. This includes changing the coffee brand, moving (or hiding) the coffee maker, or forgetting to turn on the coffee. Mess with the staff’s coffee supply, and the library will come to a screeching halt.

I have never quite understood the whole morning coffee thing. At one library, after numerous requests to turn off the coffee machine at the end of the day (to avoid burning down the building), I hid the coffee machine. The next morning, there was pandemonium. Hours later, staff got a procedure in place, and the coffee machine magically reappeared from under my desk!  The lesson I learned…don’t muck with staff coffee; it is a huge time waster.

1. Take an employee’s parking space. This includes co-workers parking in a designated parking spot or even randomly changing where they normally park. Noting disrupts employees like taking their parking spot!

1. Move employee desks. This is the quickest way to bring the library to a standstill. Move, suggest moving, or even mention moving someone desk, and you can feel the organization grind to a halt.  Move a worker’s desk an inch or across town, and the disruption and loss of productivity is frightening .If you are planning to rearrange a work area do it as quickly as possible. The more time staff has to discuss who gets the window and who has a larger work area, the more disruptive it becomes. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING stops a library in its tracks quicker than moving employee desks!

There you have it: the first chapter in my imaginary public library management textbook.

Have a great week!

Kitty Pope                                                                                     #44 December 2011
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

It used to be a huge effort to organize focus groups, research panels, a SWOT analysis, and the hated questionnaire. Now, with new technologies and marketing research tools, talking to our customers has become easier than ever. There are weekly mini surveys for websites and customer satisfaction touch pads that efficiently collect data.

So, why don’t we listen to our customers more? I think it’s primarily because librarians are not committed to the process on an ongoing basis. The data collection exercise is simply unmanageable and therefore not sustainable. Supporting a ten question survey for ten weeks and then implementing the resulting changes is almost impossible. However, asking one simple question one day a month, listening to the responses, and implementing one small change may be very doable and sustainable.

I can already hear library folks saying, “Kitty, our staff doesn’t have time for anything new. Their dance cards are already full.” 

My response: start the conversation by asking:

• What can we stop doing?
• What has become redundant?
• What repetitive processes can be accomplished with technology?

You’ll be amazed at the ideas staff generate…like not shelf-reading the paperback collection!

Most often in library land, we get accolades when we ask customers about their experience. However, in between all of that praise are comments about what isn’t quite right, what didn’t quite work, and what could be improved. This is the gold; this is what’s really important and far more valuable than shelf-reading paperbacks. Listening to our customers on a regular basis is the difference between a good library and a great library.

Kitty Pope                                                                                          #43 December 2011
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

The quote that really got me thinking (and not cleaning) was, “It is not the questions that change; it’s the answers…” I had to stop and think about it. The same old questions, but over time, the solutions are different. How intriguing!

In library land, our age old questions are:

► How can we better serve the customer?

► What experience are we providing?

► How do we stay relevant?

We asked these very questions twenty years ago as we naively plopped an OPAC on a reference room table, believing the answer to better library service was access to the Internet and digital resources. (Side note: we also believed those computers would be no extra work. You know how wrong that was!)

We asked the same questions last month at GPL as we started lending eReaders. The same question, different answers. The key lies in that we must keep asking the question and not remain satisfied that how we answered it 20 years ago is still relevant today.

As I finished cleaning the shelves and started unpacking the Christmas stuff, I was thinking about how  libraries need to constantly be thinking about what we really provide our customers. The answer is all about not becoming complacent with success. It’s about always looking for innovation and staying relevant.

“It is not the questions that change; it’s the answers …”

Kitty Pope                                                                                           #42 November 2011
kpope@library.guelph.on.ca

Get a few retired folks, who are passionate about an issue, together, and you have traction.

I re-learned this a few weeks ago as I watched the Friends of the Guelph Public Library orchestrate their fifth hugely successful book sale.

A group of about 25 retired librarians and educators collected 46,700 lightly used books, CDs, games, and records. In 13 hours, they sold more than 32,000 titles and netted $40,000 to support the building of a new Main Library in Guelph, Ontario.

After five years, the book sale mob (and I mean that is the nicest of ways!)  is a well-oiled machine. From the sorters at “the factory” to the public relations and money guys, everyone has a job, and they stick to it! They make it look easy. Nobody organizes like librarians. We’ve written the book and put into practice the fine art of planning events and organizing resources.

The Friends of the Guelph Public Library start in the balmy days of the Ontario summer to find a location (for the last two years, an old factory), begin collecting books, develop a marketing and public relations plan, and marshal the work force. By early fall, the factory is buzzing with more than 100 volunteers who sort into categories and organize the growing pile of donations. The factory becomes their second home as sale week approaches. It’s a 24/7 affair.

Public libraries are an interesting conglomerate governed by an autonomous citizen board, financed by municipal dollars, and advocated for by a dedicated not-for-profit group, often called Friends. It’s a strange partnership, often complicated by competing agendas and goals. However, perhaps it is this oddity, this “three legged stool,” that keeps us focused, innovating, and most of all, loved.

The more than 49,500 customers and staff members of GPL are truly humbled and indebted to the Friends of the Guelph Public Library for keeping the passion alive and the goal of a new Main Library in plain sight. Together, and with your help, we are making a difference.

Kitty Pope                                                                                         #41 November 2011 kpope@library.guelph.on.ca