Welcome! To get started…
1. Write on an index card: 3 questions or
issues you want to tackle today
2. Write on the banner paper: the best
library advice anyone ever gave you

Futureproofing
Your Library
an “un-workshop”
Joan Frye Williams and George Needham
SEFLIN
April 30, 2009

“The best way to predict the future is
to create it.” Alan Kay

What future do you want to create?
 Your community
 Your library
 Your team/work group
 Personally/professionally

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Time is scarce.

Information is everywhere.

You carry your work with you.

Learning and play are
two sides of the same coin.

Collaboration can make you smarter.

Planning,
decision-making,
and
communication
take place
in real time.
Cooperatively.

Innovation is everyone‘s job.

We only
get one
Earth,
so we’d
better take
good care
of it.

Failure to
keep up with
the times is
embarrassing.

So what?

The challenge:
modernizing
our techniques
without
sacrificing our
principles

Principle or technique?

Which library principles matter most
to you?

“Clump” and name your principles

Table talks…
 What do civilians expect of us in this area?
 Which techniques are already working well?
 What do we do now that confuses non-
librarians?
 What else might we try?
 What might we stop doing entirely?
 What do we need to learn more about?

Think of a favorite book, movie, play,
poem, or piece of music…
 What is it?
 Why is it important
to you?
 How has that
affected your life?

Strategic
positioning:
Five approaches
that work

From exception…
…to mainstream

Bottom line
Less gate-keeping, more convenience

From altruism to…
…return on investment

Bottom line
Less perfectionism,
more efficiency

From a focus on
the past …
…to a focus on
the future

Bottom line
Less caution,
more flexibility

From frill…
…to necessity

Bottom line
Less modesty…
…more urgency

From information
to transformation

Bottom line
Relationships trump transactions

Do you have a problem with that?

“How can we…”

Evaluate your choices:
Will it show?

Evaluate your choices:
Can it grow?

Evaluate your choices:
Does it flow?

Evaluate your
choices:
Is it time for it
to go?

Show the passion!

Let’s continue the conversation…
joan@jfwilliams.com
george@georgeneedham.com
Listen to our podcasts,
“George and Joan: Thinking Out Loud,” at
http://feeds.feedburner.com/InfoblogGeorgeAndJoan