Libraries and Communities

John CreightonCALCON 2011

October 14, 2011

Three Topics

•Organization First Engagement

•The Shift toward Platform Institutions

•Rational versus Emotional Attachment

The Challenge for Institutions

Be PART OF the community.

Don’t just provide services to the community.

Simon_Sees (Flickr)

Joesph a (Flickr)

Organization First Engagement

• Volunteer – help us do our work

• Research – how can we improve our services

• Educate – here’s what we are doing

• Implementation planning – input on our action plan

• Collaboration – leverage scarce resources

20th Century = Centralized Institutions

Smallbones Wikimedia

20th Century Problems

Scarce Resources

High Costs

Cumbersome Logistics

Limited Communications

20th Century = Centralized Institutions

Everything happened at a place at prescribed times

People willingly conformed their lives to the time, place and rules of institutions.

We gave awards to those who conformed best and longest.

Institutional Language

20th Century Problems slowly going

awayScarce to Abundant resources

High to Low costs

Cumbersome to Invisible logistics

Limited to Ubiquitous communications

Choice“You can have it any color you want as long as it’s black.”Henry Ford

11.7 Billion songs sold on iTunes in 2010Forbes July, 2011

Customization

Production

Co-creation

Creating Tensions between Old and New

What’s Different?

Given the opportunity, people will choose to design and manage their own experiences.

People value expertise but reject authority.

People will gravitate toward institutions that help them design and manage their own experiences — with advice not prescriptions.

People will give up quality for a greater sense of control.

How can we do better?• Provide good service at a low/fair price – get

the job done with minimal taxes

• Produce measurable results – “run like a business”

• Eliminate waste, fraud and abuse – show us how you spend the money

• Has an economic impact on the community – creates jobs

Les Chatfield Wikimedia

Tell me about an organization you would try to save?

• Respectful, fair and trustworthy

• Cares about me and my community; solves problems that matter to me and my community

• Place where I can get together with friends and other people in the community

• I can do work for the organization (as opposed to doing the organization’s work) with my friends

• I have some influence over the organization

• Good memories; part of the community’s social fabric – part of my identity

Rational Loyalty

versus

Emotional Attachment

What Is the Same?

Community

Community First

Be PART OF the community.

Don’t just provide services to the community.

Questions to Consider

• What are we doing well now to be part of the community?

• What could we do more, better or different to be part of the community?

• What needs to change to help us be more part of the community?

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