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possible to have very high outputs with negative outcomes: a good example is a large retail
organization, which enjoys very high sales nationally. However, studies in every community
where that store exists has suffered negative economic, employment, healthcare, and wage
impacts. Excessive emphasis on outputs can be very detrimental to libraries: short term
popularity adding little to the community becomes irrelevant to the community welfare.
Libraries are successful when they bring about positive impacts: changes measured in skills,
attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, status, or life condition. These changes can be seen for
individuals and for organizations, including the community organizations and segments of the
population as well. Many urban libraries have documented their economic value to their
communities, raising literacy, educational levels, employment qualifications, small business
development, and so on. There is a history in FCPL of programs supported by the Institute of
Museum and Library Services and other foundation grants to test and demonstrate measurable
outcomes. For example Changing Lives through Literature, which significantly reduced the
recidivism rate for teenagers; library outreach to the elderly in congregate residences resulting
in stronger community connections and participation; cooperative programs for residents of Ft.
Belvoir which raised achievement levels at the base school so successfully that it that was
deemed a model for transient school populations nationally. For the past quarter century all
federal grants and many private grants required outcome measures for the programs they
supported. In other library sectors as well, outcome measures are required. I can think of no
library of excellence where outcomes are not the measure of the librarys success.
Instinctively the respondents to the recent community survey understood the value when they
chose early literacy programs as a critical prioritythe impact of those efforts is easily
measurable and understood. It would be shortsighted to think that is the only, or even primary
value, of a vibrant public library. It is not a free Red Box with some childrens resources! Project
Outcome, a national program for field driven outcome measurement launched in 2015 by the
Public Library Association division of the American Library Association, identified seven core
services to address for all public libraries:
Civic /Community Engagement
Digital Inclusion
Early Childhood Literacy
Economic Development
Education and Life Long Learning
Job Skills
Summer Reading
The structure of public libraries: A Partnership of Board, Friends, Foundation, Director, Staff,
County, Library Users
The public library traces its roots to the subscription library: a community bound together to
support commonly shared resources. Those roots are readily seen in many contemporary public
libraries even today: the New York Public Library, for example, is the merger of three private
subscription libraries, and though it receives substantial public funding, it remains a nongovernmental body. Because of these roots, the library is a community collaborative effort to
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ensure that both freedom of speech and freedom of the press are vibrant in our society. Every
oppressive government in the world crushes public libraries as one of its first priorities. The
existence of the public library is not a trivial aspect to our democracy; it is vital to it. Though we
may take public libraries for granted, they share history with free press and speech neither
existed as rights before established in our Constitution.
practice in the Commonwealth to welcome members of the profession to sit on library boards,
from the State Library of Virginia (which has some active librarians as well among its members).
FCPL is especially fortunate to have active and retired librarians on the Board, serving graciously
after distinguished careers.
Library users
The users of the library were originally called either subscribers or patrons, recognizing their
financial support; to call them customers is demeaning. Customers pick and choose products,
pay for them, may or may not benefit, may or may not be impacted by these products, and
ultimately contribute to the profitability of the seller. Individuals and groups use the library to
make a change in their lives. They are readers, students, historians, writers, entrepreneurs,
investors, poetry lovers, language learners ( not only English language learners, but many
preparing for trips, jobs or assignments to other countries), career changers, genealogists --seekers of information, the wisdom and enjoyment of the recorded word in all its forms at every
junction of their lives. The demographic market segmentation strategy works for sales
organizations, and other business applications, where there is direct correlation between
age/gender/disposable income/age and buying patterns. Indeed that capability already resides
in the County. The market segmentation for the library rests in identifying the unmet needs of
neighborhoods of interest, not location Fairfax County was identified decades ago as an
edge city, an urban county. Often originally serving geographical neighborhoods, churches,
parks, theaters, galleries, shops, ball fields, the list goes on to include other entities, now expect
participants based on interest as well. FCPLs Virginia Room is also a case in point.
Staff
The professional librarian is a curious and wonderful part of this heady mix, responding to daily
requests, enabling assisting staff to smooth the operations of organizing and moving resources.
After over 50 years of library service to libraries on three continents I can vouch for the
universally collaborative nature of the profession, within their library and within the
professional organizations. When John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid turned their efforts to
understanding how information is transferred in businesses, they found that social networks are
critical in the process. Librarians know that they listen, they share, they respond. The first
people to know community concerns are those on the front desk; those behind the desk capture
and organize information relevant to those concerns so that they can be found and used; those
in administration are the enablers of the process. To break the flow of that network is to cripple
it.
FCPL did become crippled. Not because of budget cuts, but because the network was broken.
There was a deliberate effort to discourage networking, both within and outside the
organization. De-professionalizing staff, the infamous Beta Plan failed to take into
consideration that librarians not only provide operations and services, they are the eyes and
ears for community needs and concern. Participation in professional library associations was
made difficult and frowned upon, making staff competency growth difficult. Library licenses
require only the degree without a continuing education update to maintain that license. It is
alone in that respect, and librarians have compensated by having participation in professional
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organizations, reading professional literature, and networking within local common interest
groups serve that purpose. Minimally, healthy exchanges with the public libraries sharing
reciprocity with FCPL would be expected: for decades the public libraries in the entire
metropolitan area have shared their collections with each others users. Exploring how that
agreement can be more richly used during this time of tight budgets for all can only be
beneficial.
Funding
Public libraries share the promise and challenge of all educational, cultural, and recreational
bodies: huge missions and promise, and not enough resources. There is no large American
public library of note existing on public funds alone: indeed, strong development offices,
Foundations, Friends, public/private partnerships, and grants offices are critical to their success.
The non-governmental funding allows strength unbound by the annual budget constraints of the
tax-provided money. Indeed, sometimes star successes are spurred by private funding coming
with designations reflecting a community-identified special resource, program, or enhancement
or a joint program with another educational or cultural organization. The public funds at FCPL
are decided annually, except for the buildings and their maintenance. Although this assures
some level of day to day operations, it also makes multi-year efforts difficult or impossible.
Most public libraries are only beginning to realize that they are on the same trajectory as other
cultural, educational and arts organizations but on that trajectory they are. Examples abound
close to home: in the case of University of Virginias total budget, the state contributes less than
6% of its total budget; approximately 5% of National Public Radio comes from the federal, state,
and local government funds; roughly 22% of George Mason University comes from the state.
Both were founded as publicly funded institutions. The trend is clear reliance upon private
funding is increasing, and FCPL is no exception. However, FCPL has never developed a long term
vision and projected the resources for fulfilling that vision. Great visions span many years and
involve participation of the entire community, eventually funding from many sources. This is
not a new unproven concept: examples abound among them is the San Diego Public Library,
which worked 18 years to realize its goal of a revitalized library, a new central library with a
charter school within its wall yes, a school within a library rather than a library within a school!
re-routed public transportation to its doorstep, a magnet for neighborhood redevelopment,
enlarged services and resources largely through the vision of an energetic board and council.
There are examples closer to home: A sister Northern Virginia public library has space adjoining
a rep theater; another has a thriving MakerSpace; and yet a third has a strong business library
serving both private and non-profit organizations.
Advocacy
Who are the librarys advocates? We all are: readers, citizens, Friends, staff, Board, Director,
elected officials, newspapers, publishers, teachers. . . . Of course we are. Advocacy, to crib
another line, takes a village. This is such a universally accepted norm that there is even an
advocacy section of the American Library Association with rich and valuable resources to give to
us. No voice supporting FCPL should be silenced how utterly un-American is that notion? Think
of schools and universities, long giving voice to teachers/faculty, administrators, students,
parent and community groups, businesses, and how effective that is in leading to the
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understanding that educational institutions are vital and integral to the success of the whole
society. Such is also true for public libraries. Coordinated advocacy is the best, of course, but
every voice needs to be heard. It may be worthwhile for the Board to sponsor a session of ALAs
Advocacy University for all willing and interested.
FCPL is on the path to a new beginning. It has some wonderful assets to make that beginning a good
one: And what does FCPL have to do that: a remarkable professional staff, a new director filled with
enthusiasm, an energized Board, steadfast Friends wanting to get the word out and contribute in so
many ways, volunteers every day keeping the library humming, a supportive County. There is the
makings to build a very good library.
I am a librarian, and so I often start making a point with saying, There is a book. Thus I conclude with
this thought from one of my favorite author/thinkers on information, John Seely Brown. In The Power of
Pull, he states: Small moves, smartly made can set big things in motion. Organizations can make large
scale transformations, the type typically associated with large investments, by beginning to take action
now through a series of smaller steps: Pragmatic Pathways. These steps are designed to help
organizations accomplish more with less by circumventing political and financial obstacles, leverages
disruptive technologies and building strong relationships in the broader ecosystem to share information
and risk. The goal is to help create transform the organization to be more fluid, constantly learning and
adapting. Good words. Good advice.