Sunday, January 28, 2007
Change or die
I recently read the Fall 2006 "Seeing Eye Guide," a quarterly magazine published by the Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ. Jim Kutsch, the newly-appointed president of the Seeing Eye (and the first president in its history who is visually impaired), was interviewed for an article in the magazine. He says something that struck home with me:
"The response of 'We've always done it that way' isn't justification for continuing to do something.... It is important to ask ourselves, if we came in today and built the very first dog guide school, how would we do it? And yet, we need to preserve those practices that are key to our continued success. We have more than 75 years of accumulated learning from which we have the privilege of drawing."
These words can be applied to libraries, as well. Change is stressful and it can really be hard to handle, but I believe it is necessary for individuals and organizations to take a good hard look at the way things operate in our libraries, and at the services we offer, and be willing to change if necessary.
If libraries are unwilling to work to achieve a balance between traditional and new services (and it is definitely hard work to try and do this), then libraries will die. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in ten years, but if we are unwilling to change to accomodate new technologies and the changing needs of our patrons, then yes -- I do believe the library will eventually be put out to pasture because it no longer meets the needs of the citizens who might use it. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:50 PM
"The response of 'We've always done it that way' isn't justification for continuing to do something.... It is important to ask ourselves, if we came in today and built the very first dog guide school, how would we do it? And yet, we need to preserve those practices that are key to our continued success. We have more than 75 years of accumulated learning from which we have the privilege of drawing."
These words can be applied to libraries, as well. Change is stressful and it can really be hard to handle, but I believe it is necessary for individuals and organizations to take a good hard look at the way things operate in our libraries, and at the services we offer, and be willing to change if necessary.
If libraries are unwilling to work to achieve a balance between traditional and new services (and it is definitely hard work to try and do this), then libraries will die. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in ten years, but if we are unwilling to change to accomodate new technologies and the changing needs of our patrons, then yes -- I do believe the library will eventually be put out to pasture because it no longer meets the needs of the citizens who might use it. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 7:50 PM
