Author: yestoknow

I'm Tony Tallent and I am the Chief Program and Innovation Officer for Richland Library. I like to talk about writing, libraries, arts and communities. Contact me if you'd like to do that, too.

Show Me Me, Show Me You

Who do you want to see when you look at a new product, a new web site, a new community organization? You want to see you! And you want to see someone else. Someone with a name. A story. Seth Godin points to the frivolous but intoxicating site I’m In Like With You in his post “Learning From Flirting.”
What can we learn from this? It’s what the 2.0 movement has been saying for a while now: let the users speak! They want to! They love it! We love it. And ultimately…whether it looks pretty and is palatable in the old school sense or not…it is what is on the platter for the users we say we want to reach. Are you ready for it?

Helping Out. Simple Concept. Strong Results.

On Christmas day I volunteered with members of my family. Pretty simple concept. Pretty amazing results. Here are 4 things I took away from giving a few hours of my time to help serve Christmas lunch to in-need and/or homeless members of a community just outside of Charlotte:

1. Kid volunteers are wonderful! About 7 young volunteers (ages 5-9) greeted guests, helped in the kitchen and were fast to share hospitality (how fast can you ask “would you prefer hot cider or iced tea?) They were quick on the draw and full of pep and readiness. This is the next generation of action-takers and they are not shy! No doubts: kids who volunteer grow in ways that being involved only in their own lives could never provide. One 6 year old girl shared, “I could be at home playing with my new dolls, but I’d rather be here…” Alright to that! If you have kids and you are not offering opportunities for them to serve others, please get busy. This can do far more than “(fill in the blank) lessons.”

2.There is a bigger world out there. When you work in a nonprofit it is easy to feel like you are doing all that you can to reach a community’s needs. Guess what? There are many, many facets of the community out there that we are clueless about. Getting in to other areas away from your own field of service can snap you back into the bigger picture. I spent a couple of hours handing out gift bags to folks (most had held on to their “tickets” to receive these for a week or two to redeem them–this was just a way to gauge how many guest there would be) and I remembered what it felt like to have someone say “thank you” for something other than my handing them a debit card. Sounds shallow. Feels deep. Try it sometime.

3. People want to be jump in. Really engaging volunteers often feels like too much work. People do want to be involved, though. More volunteers than were needed showed up on Christmas Day to help out with the Christmas Lunch, but all were welcomed. What does this tell me? People need some help. People want to help. Give both parties a reason to show up and come face-to-face.

4. It feels good. I learned more about a community outside my own neighborhood than I ever could have from attending a workshop or “poverty simulation” (no, I am not making this one up) by simply showing up to help out. There’s still much to discover about our world and ourselves.As Dar Williams sings: “The world can’t be saved, only discovered.”

xo arrives at my door!

As promised, the xo I ordered back in November to support the One Laptop Per Child program (give one, get one) arrived before Christmas. I just got my hands on it about an hour ago. I’m ready to play…more as I figure out this little green and white wonder.

Things I’ve learned from Helene

This afternoon several fellow staff members and I said goodbye to one of the strongest voices in the Library world as she moves to Columbus Metropolitan Library. (You’re quite lucky, CML). Helene Blowers.
It is a wonderful and delicious thing to have someone in your life you regard as a mentor, teacher, leader, earth-shaker AND friend. Helene you’re all of these. You’ve moved mountains not only at PLCMC but within the library profession. Your name is synonymous with learning.

So–as I think Helene would do it–here are 5 BIG things that I’ve learned from working, chatting, dreaming and being with Helene:

1. Spend your time celebrating, promoting and drawing attention to the great work of others. It will reap benefits for all.
2. Leadership is about saying “yes” and standing back, watching, and applauding.
3. Give away the good stuff. Don’t hold onto it. Whether it’s information or permission.
4. Asking permission is for first graders.
5. Act on what you keep talking about. Otherwise it’s just talk. We don’t need more talk. More cake, less icing. Please.
5a: If you’re not dreaming and talking about it–start now. Cultivate those wild seeds that are trying to sprout.

Thank you, Helene.

Re-Quote Worthy and Simple Gets Things Done

I came across a quote from Dave Writes that was cause for an mmmhmmm moment. Dave quotes Georgescu-Roegen from Vanderbilt as saying this about his personal mentor:

He also taught me that things are never as complicated as they seem. It is only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.

Working to look smarter or to be sound more innovative or progressive often comes across just like that–you’re working at it…which often reads as arrogance or ultimately smoke-and-mirrors. How many times have you attended a meeting and suddenly realized an hour was spent talking about a perceived issue that could have been handled in a phone call or better yet by just acting on it and not talking about acting on it?

Here are 3 suggestions I have for keeping it simple-and-direct:
1. If it has to be a Team Project, make it a Team of Two (at least to begin with).
2. Set out to answer questions–not to set up a process.
3. Replace project initiative documentation with check-lists. Yes list! Lists are action-oriented. Project initiative documents are, well, documents. Documents keep you behind the desk, not in action.
4. Call people up and ask their opinions. Don’t email them documentation for review and recommendations.
5. Know when to say, “we’re all done here.” Then give it away.

A Must-Read for A New-Breed

Are you tired of working harder and getting no feedback to help move you forward? Are you over the ladder-climbing mentality that was set by your predecessor? Ready to give your boomer-boss the bump? Then here is your holy grail. Penelope Trunk lays it on out in a fashion that few “personal success” books do in The Brazen Careerist: The New Rules For Success. It does not get any clearer than this. It’s the book that reads like a blog–and could likely have as much impact! Trunk reminds us that it IS about YOU and YOU do have the right to be successful and YOU can make positive waves while at the same time actually having a life that has meaning to YOU while contributing to the success of your company or organization. This is the book for a new breed of leaders and trail blazers.
Get this book. Read it. Just imagine that it is hardback laptop.

Quote to get you jumping:
“”…when you’re starting a trend, often you look less like a trendsetter and more like a freak.”
Ahhhh, she had me at freak.

Blend Well and Serve it Up

Lately I have been thinking about how far we can get if we simply blend the “ingredients” of our daily lives, our work, our organizations. We’re all looking for new ways to do things. What if we think about all the things–the activities, the staff, the technology, the tools–we have and blend some of those existing things together to create something new. Familiar ingredients. New concoction.
This weekend I read an article in the Charlotte Observer with the tag “CMS mixes high-tech, old-fashioned in effort to get 10,000 kids up to speed on reading.” This article drove home the idea of blending. Old tech can support new tech. The Virtual can support the Real.
Have you blended lately?

Blasts from the past OR celebrate what people love

This morning cnn.com ran a story about the 25th anniversary of the Commodore 64. More interesting than the anniversary, to me, is the information shared about all the people who still love this early model of personal computer. So much so that one fan has created C64.com, a Web site dedicated to preserving the games, demos, pictures, magazines and memories of the Commodore 64.
People love and care for the things that have meaning in their lives. The Public Library can reflect this. Don’t know where to start? Find out what your very own staff loves or is so dedicated to that they could or already have a web site or blog all about it. Our staff also reflects the heartbeat of what is going on in the larger community. Give them a voice and and outlet for what they love–and they’ll love you for it.

Merchandising is pretty. Service is meaningful.

After spending half of a lunch hour searching through the “well merchandised” half acre of Barnes & Noble looking for a particular book (and never finding one staff person to assist or a self-serve computer terminal to search the inventory) I firmly say this: merchandising is not service. We’re confusing ourselves if we think so and tangle this up with the core of what we do. Merchandising is a very obvious thing to do and you can see the nice results. It’s not the answer to meeting needs of resource seekers.
Should we better merchandise our collections and resources? Yes–of course. Will it make a huge dent in customer service? No. It’s pretty. It makes the place look nice. It may increase circulation. But it is not service. People give service. This is what the big chains still don’t get. A user likely won’t remember that all the yellow books about travel were neatly stacked together on face-out shelves. She will remember a staff member who helped her search for what she needed or made her feel welcome or offered her an alternative. It’s the meaning behind the merchandise that is remarkable.

Family Portrait Day @ the Library

What do you get when you take friendly and daring staff, mixed with a talented on-staff graphic designer (who just happens to be a wiz at photography) and add in the holiday season? It’s Family Portrait Day @ the Public Library! The story is this simple and this extraordinary–giving our users a wonderful, free opportunity to have their portraits taken on a Saturday at Independence Regional Library (this means a 15 minute fun photo session and a disc of their photos less than a week later) plus allowing staff with special talents and skills to shine in new and meaningful ways!
Guess what? I bet you can do this, too in your Public Library. Willing to throw down less than $100 for supplies and a few hours of time giving your community a chance to have an unexpected experience at the library? Then you’re well on your way to stealing this idea. I’ll post more photos when they’re ready. (Yes, we had community members give us permission to use the photos in library promo). We also had families pose with their favorite books (or ones we had in the prop station, just in case).
The next Family Portrait Day will be at Plaza-Midwood Branch during the “Holidays in the Hood” Art Crawl that the community is sponsoring. Come on out for it…or, better yet, create Family Portrait Day at your own Library or civic organization.
Thanks, Ian, Emily and Erin for helping this idea come to life!