Archives - Page 2

  • Lots of Ways to Be a Leader
    Vol. 24 No. 2 (2018)

    Abstract: In this issue, you’ll find more stories of librarians who, by leading from their individual strengths, have made their libraries, communities, and the Oregon library community better places to be. Jane Corry and Elaine Hirsch kick off this issue with a discussion of the planning and coordination that went into the first LIOLA, and how their own strengths—as defined by the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment around which the LIOLA curriculum was based—influenced and guided that process. Hillsboro’s Courtney Gill writes about how a collaborative, compassion-driven leadership model, combined with strategic outreach partnerships, produced the HPL Cares series of community service-based library programs. Mark Richardson talks about how he has employed the four-stage Situational Leadership model and his own supportive leadership tendencies in helping his Teen Council discover their strengths. Julie Gaida, acquisitions specialist at Pacific University and the head of a department-of-one, discusses how she overcame the insular nature of her position and made lasting connections with the campus community and her fellow Oregon librarians. Finally, librarians who want to exercise leadership from a non-administrative or non-supervisory position will find much wisdom in Melissa Little and Dawn Marie Lowe-Wincentsen’s articles; both address how “followers” can, with confidence and authenticity, be agents of change. Melissa’s article might even help you get into a titled leadership position, which is pretty cool work if you can get it.

    This rambling introduction concludes with a full-hearted endorsement of the program that inspired this issue of the Quarterly in the first place: Leadership Institute of the Oregon Library Association (LIOLA). LIOLA is essential for every librarian or library-adjacent person who has ever wondered if their style of leadership (or not even leadership, necessarily; just their style of being a person in the world) makes them an asset or a liability to their community. I just described you, didn’t I, you impostersyndrome- having basket case!? Even if you are a world-class weirdo, LIOLA will teach you how to recognize, celebrate, and then mobilize your unique strengths for the betterment of your library and your universe, and to recognize, celebrate, and mobilize the unique strengths of others. You’ll also get to meet other cool library-types from across the state and get one-on-one advice from bonafide mentors in the field.

    Guest Editor: Jane Scheppke, Crook County Library

  • The Specialness of Special Libraries
    Vol. 24 No. 1 (2018)

    Abstract: This issue covers "The Specialness of Special Libraries," with a focus on the special libraries found in the state of Oregon. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, “(s)pecial librarians work in settings other than school or public libraries … Law firms, hospitals, businesses, museums, government agencies, and many other groups have their own libraries that use special librarians” (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018, para. 10). According to the American Library Association, there are approximately 6,966 special libraries or information centers (“special libraries include Corporate, Medical, Law, Religious, etc.”) in the United States (American Library Association, 2015, para. 5).

    Guest Editor: Sue Ludington, Lane County Law Library

  • Sushi, STEM, or Goat Yoga: Successful Library Programming
    Vol. 23 No. 4 (2017)

    Abstract: Llamas, Adulting 101, Henna Art, Raptors, and Trivia. Most people in Oregon typically would not think of these words in connection with their local library. Yet, all of these are programs that have been served up in our local libraries just in the past year alone. With hundreds of programs covering even more diverse topics than these, perhaps the more typical things people think about when it comes to programs are an author talk, storytime, or book talk in the library. These are still staple library programs, but with this Oregon Library Association Quarterly issue we will be sharing some unique ideas that you can replicate at your library. From coffee and conversations to build community relationships to llamas (yes, llamas!) to encouraging upcycling, the common thread of all of the programs in this edition of the Oregon Library Association Quarterly is that they are replicable and they come with “Here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t work,” feedback from your colleagues to hopefully help you jump-start your own ideas of what is possible at your library. Each community is unique, and most librarians typically know their own community and what may or may not work well.

    The library as a community center has been a widespread concept for libraries in Oregon as well as on the national and international front for decades, and it is one of the myriad of reasons libraries are simply not going away. Most programs are tied to literacy while others serve to fit a niche or gap in the community served. Programming in libraries today includes a literacy aspect that fits the core tenet of the library as a place where learning and developing literacy take place side by side and most libraries also include STEM, art, and other cultural programs that are important for the community both educationally and holistically. More often than not, programs fill a gap that the community may not have an option for otherwise.

    Guest Editor: Esther Moberg, Seaside Public Library

  • Small Libraries, BIG Ideas
    Vol. 23 No. 3 (2017)

    Abstract: The Oregon library community consistently amazes me with its innovative, enterprising, and patron-focused activities. Indeed, we hear about these many activities through Libs-Or, OLA conferences, and this journal. While certainly not by design, many of the voices we hear come from libraries along the I-5 corridor. Cool things happen in those libraries, of course, but this issue of the OLA Quarterly amplifies voices we hear less frequently: the rural institutions that constitute the majority of the libraries in Oregon.

    There are so many aspects of rural librarianship that set it apart from working in larger libraries. Sometimes those differences seem small. For instance, try shopping for groceries without running into a patron. Sometimes the differences are more significant. A single person could be the cataloging, finance, adult services, and maintenance “departments” all rolled into one! In addition to fostering a problem-solving attitude, working in a rural library instills in you an important lesson for all libraries: you don’t merely serve the community, you are the community, just like your patrons.

    Guest Editor: Buzzy Nielson, Crook County Library

    Editor Biography: Guest Editor Buzzy Nielsen is a rural boy with a smattering of big city sensibilities. In his 22 years as a librarian, he has worked in libraries of all types and sizes. His heart remains with rural libraries, however, which is why he currently directs the Crook County Library in Prineville. Buzzy is a self professed policy wonk and currently serves as OLA President.

  • Critical Librarianship
    Vol. 23 No. 2 (2017)

    Abstract: Libraries and archives are community spaces that acquire, organize, preserve, and make available resources for our patrons. Library workers connect people to these resources in various ways (technical services, reference, instruction, and more). It is noble and wonderful work, and it begs some interesting questions: is acquisition, organization, preservation, or dissemination a series of passive acts? Are libraries impartial spaces that give the real estate on their shelves to the words and ideas of others without judgment or context?

    Libraries and archives are community spaces that acquire, organize, preserve, and make available resources for our patrons. Library workers connect people to these resources in various ways (technical services, reference, instruction, and more). It is noble and wonderful work, and it begs some interesting questions: is acquisition, organization, preservation, or dissemination a series of passive acts? Are libraries impartial spaces that give the real estate on their shelves to the words and ideas of others without judgment or context?

    I was curious about these ideas and these questions, so I asked you, the Oregon library community, to tell us about how you see critical librarianship and if it plays a role in your work. I was delighted to get responses from incredible, inspiring librarians who were willing to share their stories.

    Guest Editor: Elsa Loftis, Oregon College of Art and Craft

  • OLA Today: Oregon Librarians Respond to Changing Times
    Vol. 23 No. 1 (2017)

    Abstract: This issue’s contributors and topics span academic and public institutions, rural and metropolitan libraries, political activism and personal narrative, and programming as well as abstraction. Considering instances of political action and librarianship, Oregon Library Association President Elsa Loftis begins this issue by profiling the organization. She cites its Legislative Agenda and its advocacy body, the Library Development and Legislation Committee, offering resources and steps toward political action that align with such guiding principles as Intellectual Freedom, Equitable Access, and Stewardship of Public Resources. Donna L. Cohen details a series of civic education workshops she has offered in recent months as part of an effort to combat the dissolution of social institutions and relationships that she views as playing a crucial role in forging and maintaining democracy—now losing out to the individualist and fragmentative drives of neoliberalism. Carolina Hernandez also writes about her endeavors to create and provide resources in the wake of the 2016 election, which have entailed improving upon existing fake news research guides by using pressing topical issues to draw connections to the broader importance of information literacy.

    Elucidating the importance of progress through failure as well as through success, Barratt Miller and Jane Scheppke offer a vivid account of programming gone awry: an event called Guns in America in Prineville that devolved quickly into a racially-charged shouting match among attendees. Verbal melee notwithstanding, the event left both with a greater sense of how to anticipate and address both implicit and overt bias among patrons, marketing strategies for controversial topics, security precautions, and other contingencies, which they present here in a thoughtful and edifying conversation. Pondering activist tactics on a more abstract level, I contemplate the role of librarians amid political upheaval as well as some of the risks that inhere in democracy and the tenet of access to all, emphasizing the need to historicize contemporary issues and reflect on the shortcomings and successes of Oregon librarians since the state’s segregationist inception. Finally, this issue closes with an elegant, poignant narrative from Victoria Cross that relates her immersion into American culture through the work carpool she joined and all that it taught her: a Russian immigrant’s tale in microcosm.

    Guest Editor: Lynne Stahl, Multnomah County Library

  • REFORMA Oregon Chapter
    Vol. 22 No. 4 (2016)

    Abstract: During the 2014 OLA Annual Conference in Salem, a group of librarians met informally for lunch to discuss the idea of creating a chapter of REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library and Information to Latinos and Spanish Speaking) in Oregon.

    In our second meeting at the end of 2014 in the Gresham branch of the Multnomah County Library (MCL), we formalized the creation of the REFORMA Oregon Chapter. By mid-2015, we became a Round Table in OLA. During this short period of time, we have increased in numbers, organized well-attended presentations during OLA conferences, held Mock Pura Belpré Awards, and scheduled quarterly meetings where participants have opportunities to share experiences and to network, as well as to present a different array of subjects related to our Latino and Spanish-speaking community.

    In the current issue of OLAQ, five librarians coming from different cultural origins but with the same enthusiasm to serve our community are exploring some of the issues presented in this introduction. Their articles reflect two common tasks for every librarian working with Latinos: outreach and collaboration.

    Guest Editor: Martin Blasco, Washington County Cooperative Library Services

    Editor Biography: A native of Argentina, Martín Blasco has worked with underserved communities for many years. Before becoming a librarian, he carried out ethnographic and social research among drug users in New York City. Upon receiving his MLS from Long Island University, he began working in Peekskill, New York, where his outreach work began not as an official title, but by necessity to serve new immigrants. He is working now as an Outreach Librarian for Latino and Multicultural Services at Washington County Cooperative Library Services.

  • UX in Oregon Libraries
    Vol. 22 No. 3 (2016)

    Abstract: This issue of OLA Quarterly is about the state of user experience efforts in Oregon. This collection of excellent articles not only emphasizes the importance of including the users in the design process, but they also stress the importance of actually including users at all! After reading these submissions, I hope that you will see that Oregon libraries value the opinions of their users and are user focused.

    In recent years, UX research has become more commonplace in libraries across the country. This is a good thing. The downside is that UX has become synonymous with the user interface. However, the user experience is more than just a human-computer interaction. The user’s experience encompasses the whole experience a user has with the library, whether that be while searching the library catalog for a book, retrieving the book from the stacks, or checking the book out. The user experience is not a single interaction, but rather a series of micro interactions. As a user moves across “interfaces,” she is constantly faced with challenges that she must navigate to complete her task successfully. To me, our job as librarians is to make those smaller interactions as fluid and unhindered as possible—in a word, seamless.

    As librarians, we are entrusted with the overall experience that our patrons have with the library. And this caring for the experience is not just limited to user experience or web services librarians; it is a task all librarians and library staff should participate in and contribute to. Libraries are tightly coupled systems. They are essentially systems, both cultural and virtual, nested within systems that are dependent upon each other. As we alter the input for one system, we more than likely affect another system farther downstream. As a result, it is essential for all library employees to take an interest in the user experience and listen to our patrons. It is important to take a systems level approach to our work and the user experience. Our patrons are the reason our libraries exist. As our patrons evolve, so must our services and service delivery model. As such, we should work to understand current needs and expectations to make the best possible user experience.

    Guest Editor: Joe Marquez, Reed College Library

    Editor Biography: Joe J. Marquez is the Web Services Librarian at the Reed College Library. He has written and presented on service design, UX tools, library space assessment, website usability, and marketing of the library. He recently co-authored Library Service Design: a LITA Guide and will have a follow-up workbook titled Getting Started in Service Design to be published in summer 2017. His current research interests involve service design in the library environment and space usage assessment. He has an MLIS from the University of Washington iSchool and an MBA from Portland State University. Joe is the co-founder of the LUX Service Design consulting firm.

  • Re-Envisioning with the Aspen Institute: Oregon Libraries Answer the Challenge
    Vol. 22 No. 2 (2016)

    Abstract: Challenge. We, in public libraries, are familiar with that word. Books and policies are frequently “challenged”, and we continue to face the challenge of offering more with less. The Aspen Institute’s “Dialogue on Public Libraries” was created to help advance the work that public libraries are doing to address community challenges and to support the transformation of public libraries in the digital age. This groundbreaking initiative seeks to change the public’s perception of libraries and concludes that the longterm health of libraries is essential to the long-term health of the communities they serve. Four strategic opportunities for action are identified to guide the continuing transformation:

    • Aligning library services in support of community goals

    • Providing access to content in all formats

    • Ensuring the long-term sustainability of public libraries

    • Cultivating leadership Oregon libraries have risen to the challenge and addressed these opportunities.

    This issue of the OLA Quarterly showcases libraries and library workers applying the four Aspen Institute “Strategies for Success.”

    Guest Editors: Pam North, OLAQ Guest Editor; Ann Roseberry, OLAQ Guest Editor

  • Access Services in the New Century
    Vol. 22 No. 1 (2016)

    Abstract: The spring issue of OLA Quarterly focuses on access services in the new century. How are core activities like circulation, interlibrary loan, space and stacks management changing? Staying the same? How can we better meet our patron’s needs, especially as our communities change around us? How can we ensure we are meeting the needs of all community members, especially those who are traditionally underserved? What have been our major success and victories in this new century?

    Guest Editor: Turner Masland, Portland State University

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