The Library as a gamechanger in times of social crisis
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TURNING WHISPERS INTO ROARS – THE LIBRARY - THE GAMECHANGER IN TIMES OF SOCIAL CRISIS As the threat from Covid-19 increased, library services across the world rapidly realigned, this period saw a dramatic transition to online-only provision of library services, operations, access to collections, and audience engagement at an unprecedented speed. This DIGITAL PIVOT provided a shift for us from collections to connections to supporting our communities, their learning, the caring and new programming. It is a unique moment in time for us to explore opportunities and experiences during this period of extraordinary and rapid service realignment. Now is the time to capitalise on how libraries have supported their communities, to build on the success and promotion that the digital pivot provides. The opportunities this has presented for the library’s audience to shift, grow and change, bringing more people into contact with the library, in different ways, and for different purposes.
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The Library as a gamechanger in times of social crisis
- 1. TURNING WHISPERS INTO ROARS The library - the gamechanger in times of social crisis Liz McGettigan @lizmcgettigan liz@sol.us
- 2. The world has never changed so quickly!
- 3. ..and by the end of 2020 the number of internet-connected devices will top 50 billion
- 4. …digital has undoubtedly changed the way we find information
- 5. …and absolutely changed the way we communicate
- 6. …it has changed the reading experience
- 7. …and the ways people Learn have been transformed
- 8. Covid has forced a rapid Digital Pivot that will change us and our libraries forever
- 9. …once books were the only currency for Joe Public to learn, and the public library filled that gap
- 10. ….. but now it has never been easier to access information and knowledge, to learn and read without libraries!
- 11. People underestimate us because they’ve forgotten just how many times our business has been disrupted over the centuries. They’ve forgotten how we survived those disruptions so many times and yet we continue to be embedded in society’s community, cultural and democratic life. We have centuries of experience of adapting and transforming!
- 12. and when Covid hit you stepped up fast! Virtual story times Click & Collect Virtual book clubs Improved web content Your social media got smart! Trusted information Phoning patrons to check on them Podcasts History & heritage trails Borrow a Bot Contactless mobile apps CMS Access to your WiFi / Hotspot lending ……………….
- 13. …..you fast tracked new contactless access and apps, discovery layers routes to services, new digital experiences
- 14. Digital will continue to change rapidly! 5G for example will have a huge impact – with the biggest uses for it in virtual and augmented reality. Phones will transform into devices meant to be used with virtual reality headsets how will this change your plan?
- 15. People will become more content-hungry and the amazing collections and treasures public libraries hold make valuable, engaging virtual content. how will this change your plan?
- 16. COVID has let us see the power and reach investing in our digital platforms and tools can give libraries. Enabling us to be a gamechanger • Freeing us up to foster people and community • To support more learning and employability • To enable innovative digital education • To support entrepreneurs and smart citizenship.
- 17. …but we must now pull it all together into a coherent view if we are to become the “go to” community catalysts and powerhouses we know we can be
- 18. ….engaging the new multifaceted, connected customer requires new interaction channels, delivery models, and personalised services. …and only a few of us are delivering …
- 19. ……..but you can provide a cost-effective, rich and trustworthy digital offer - because you value privacy and refuse to exploit users’ private data. NOW is the time to replicate the access, value and trust people have of us in the physical world in in the digital world …Netflix only better
- 20. .. so lose the fear You can see the future as a scary unknown – or as a very real opportunity to plan and prepare for!
- 21. .. Lose the fear • of seizing the opportunities digital presents • of not having the organisational structure/ budget to deliver • of just going for it! • …… get brave and take risks!
- 22. A DEVELOPING MISTRUST OF GOVERNMENT We are that rare public institution that bucks this trend. We can and do underpin and support our communities We are places where all kinds of people can gather and this is the best way to repair the fractured societies COVID has compounded Promote and emphasise our USP -ethics and values and become the “go to people”
- 23. GROWING SOCIAL AND INCOME INEQUALITY ..will drive problems that will be felt very acutely at the public library, such as homelessness - likely to become even more challenging as safety nets for mental health, and other social services are impacted. Become the go to people! Take plans, ideas and solutions not problems to the top tables and partners
- 24. POOR LIBRARY MARKETING AND PROMOTION • Our biggest weakness yet greatest opportunity! • Many of us don’t even have our customers emails ! • We do so much, so well but “too quietly preaching to the converted” If we want to be community powerhouses we need to let customers and funders know! Show them just what we do and what we could do!
- 25. THE “F” WORD FUNDING Get your plan to the top table! Consider how you could realign from collections to connections. Find new partners and businesses in your community Burnout from our battle for funding is one of the most significant threats to library staff Funding is likely to get even worse so we need to give the funders reasons to keep us open and thriving and making a difference to our communities
- 26. TEAM SKILLS/ MIX We need other professions on our teams! We need fundraisers, events managers, marketers, promoters data analysts, web experts, social media people ….. Library education and schools will need to change We need skills that can help us put a greater emphasis on community engagement, political advocacy, promotion and marketing of services. We need innovators and change agents? ..but we need them grounded in our professional ethics and values?
- 27. SPACES AND PLACES Our spaces have changed and will continue to change as contactless experiences and technologies become the preferred options ..rethinking the space will be a symbolic and practical job that can reinstate your library as ‘heart of the community ’
- 28. ..this Australian, social all-digital library café bar? Well ahead of its time! This all digital library e-resources but with coffee, wine and conviviality!
- 29. Across the world -the best libraries have become part of the solution fabulous spaces - flair, versatility and variety
- 30. Australia - building its way out of the crisis
- 31. ………. reinventing ourselves ..in many ways .. US bookless Libraries? once unthinkable- now in many places it seems almost inevitable.
- 32. Because our extraordinary places make extraordinary people We are society’s gamechangers
- 33. yes digital is awesome but it’s just our enabler
- 34. … because over the next 2 decades digital will fail to rival us in these 4purely human characteristics • Empathy • Sympathy • Passion • Curiosity …more than ever people will want access to “actual” people even when digital works perfectly
- 35. …excellence in digital simply frees us up to keep being about people -connecting, engaging and making a difference to individuals and communities ..our USP!
- 36. …. to become “ kindness hubs” ..gathering, social, spaces , bringing socially isolated people together again in the physical world
- 37. Human encounters, storytelling and physical artefacts will become more and more valuable ....and freed up by digital we will be well placed to enable great people-to-people experiences
- 38. No such thing as “normal”
- 39. The leaders of the future think connections not collections! By working together internationally we can shape a more resilient and inclusive hybrid library experience
- 40. New leaders must step up! Sell a new vision/ a plan to PIVOT real change, to reposition, modify, shift course TO DO – Be pushy – Lose the quiet modesty! get yourself to the top table and be the “go-to people”
- 41. …because libraries are just like pandas! “We are all in favour and get a warm fuzzy feeling about them. But saying how much we adore them doesn’t protect bamboo munchers or libraries from extinction” Robbie Millen The Times in 2016
- 43. who owns the future of the public library? …you do! Be the solution!
- 44. THANK YOU GO TURN WHISPERS INTO ROARS Liz McGettigan @lizmcgettigan liz@sol.us
Editor's Notes
- WOW! So nice to meet you even if only in the ether! 25 countries from Argentina to Nepal 1,000 people on Occupy! Isn’t technology wonderful! This couldn’t have happened 6 months ago before COVID! As the threat from COVID-19 increased, library services across the world rapidly realigned, and we saw a dramatic transition to online-only provision at an unprecedented speed. This DIGITAL PIVOT provided a unique moment in time to explore opportunities and experiences during this period. Like the rest of the world, the public library is facing a social, cultural and technological tsunami and this will continue so we need to think like a new player. In this difficult financial and political climate, how do we reinvent our network of public libraries to deliver a better, fairer, smarter and more democratic society? Lets take a look
- And we live in a world where digital is so pervasive that many spend most of our time looking at our phones like this.
- …in formats and in expectations
- Do we continue doing everything we did, or look for better and more relevant models? This is an opportunity (unfortunate to say the least) for us to reimagine how digital can change perceptions of the public library and free up staff and budget to enable greater customer interaction.
- How often do we hear the question will public libraries continue to exist? Libraries are obsolete now surely? Who needs librarians when we have Google? What can librarians do that Google can’t?
- …you developed what your community needed -digital help resources in health home schooling Home finance and so much more – filling a community need in this social crisis
- But many people still find the current offering of digital content through libraries fragmented and confusing. How many times have I heard “oh the library has ebooks?” - this is how many people who think of the library as obsolete see us!
- In this difficult financial and political climate, how do we reinvent our network of public libraries to deliver a better, fairer, smarter and more democratic society?
- .. Because you are the answer to so many of the big issues facing society! Things like
- We are that rare public institution that bucks this trend. We can and do underpin and support our communities Fake news, fake stats and fake information is so prolific now and is threatening to undermine democracy across the globe. So much of the news and information people are seeing is fake and the problem isn’t going away. A backlash against this phenomenon has begun and there is a growing demand for truth, respect and honesty – and libraries have that at their core. Now is the time to capitalise on this. We need to raise the profile of our values and ethics and our reputation for trust and accuracy to become the go-to people for truth and authenticity!
- There will be significant structural changes to our economy industries will be disrupted permanently. jobs will disappear and workers will have to re-skill Support for information/Online learning / CVs/ Health/Financial assistance will be needed Hand the funders a plan of what you can do! Give them solutions not problems
- We have been too modest! We each have a role to play in ensuring libraries across the world are fully recognized and funded for the unique and irreplaceable service they provide to their cities and countries in social cohesion, civic engagement infrastructure democracy
- As a lot of social services have been stripped away, we have seen the best libraries become part of the solution, teaming up with other organizations. Funding will always be an issue and we will need to find new ways to collaborate, promote, market, challenge where we are spending money and resources. It all starts with us and our attitude and willingness as to where we go from here!
- New ways of working will require different types of spaces It needn’t be costly and small changes can make a difference
- A great example
- We are magic places where serendipity enables innovation, ideas, creativity, collaboration and play, and it is more important than ever that we are seen in this way.
- This is an opportunity for us to reimagine the library’s SOCIAL SPHERE
- ..libraries are people places and those spaces will be needed more than ever
- While knowledge and learning is increasingly digital and screen-based the value of physical spaces and people experiences will grow. Human encounters, storytelling and physical artefacts will become more and more valuable ....and freed up by digital we will be well placed to enable great people-to-people experiences
- All of us will face changes in our communities. A downturn in the economy will bring new groups such as, home-schooled families. Higher youth unemployment, and unemployment in general will require library services to find ways to serve them. Create excellent digital experiences and be the physical place our communities want and need
- COVID has given us an opportunity to rethink what the future of libraries, technology, and urban change will look like. To be the gamechanger in this crisis we must make it an opportunity for radical, positive, permanent change and extend thinking beyond the norm.
- If we don’t want to face extinction like pandas, what must we retain and change today that will make a difference tomorrow? How do we deal with the pace of change and the impact of these new technologies
- … but we do exist and The reason we have libraries is to help a community get smarter, to create knowledge – to learn. That community may be a school, a town, a business, or even a whole country. Librarians transform communities by weaving together the brilliance of its people and the result is called a library.
- who owns the future of the public library? ….you do!