Way North of Miami

If you are involved in the public sector and participate in the winter/spring budget season then you feel as though you have come through a storm that takes a long time to pass.  The fact is that we are all involved because people pay taxes using their hard earned income and leaders make decisions to support public endeavors like PPL.  In return, the Library commits itself to a full effort every day to make Portland a better place by opening the doors – for every resident regardless of age - to lifelong learning in so many ways.  But even if the Library is successful, leadership from the City needs to possess a basic value system that sees the work of the Library as an essential part of a great City. There have to be leaders who see broadly the landscape of education and can see down the road.

Recently the Mayor of Miami, Carlos Gimenez, stated “the age of the library is probably ending” as a justification for closing 22 branches of the library system.   The comment prompted a blog posting by Thea Montanez, President of the Hartford Public Library, that gets to the heart of the matter.  We at PPL do not take the financial support of our community for granted.  Over the past five years there have been significant challenges to urban library systems such as Portland’s.  The leadership of this City, despite the financial stress experienced by all of us, has believed in this Library and its unlimited potential to change lives and to be a major partner in building a great City.

We are thankful for the great and farsighted leadership in this City that holds the values and vision to see the exact opposite of Mayor Gimenez’s world view.

Quiet and More

I spent last Friday in Augusta at the Maine Humanities Summit sponsored by the University of Maine Humanities Initiative.  I also participated on a panel of academic and public librarians to explain the role of libraries in the “public” humanities.  The attending group was made up of the converted, those of us who see in others and experience in ourselves every day the “Power & Pleasure of Ideas” - to borrow a phrase from the Maine Humanities Council.  We spoke of public libraries being a provider, presenter, collector, promoter and organizer of the humanities.  So it was on fertile ground (and with gratitude) that our individual presentations were received.  There was little if any surprise just appreciation.

I am always fascinated by the surprise that folks have upon rediscovery of the public library or coming up against the popular notion that the public library is not long for the world.  Paul Krugman’s recent New York Times blog post “In Praise of Public Libraries (Personal and Trivial)” speaks to the simple delight in finding a space in the community that has some infrastructure, a culture of sharing and no expectation of you except civil behavior.  Meanwhile, beyond offering a sweet spot in the daily grind, public libraries everywhere are gearing up their summer reading programs and reaching out to kids and families to do what we can to bring the beauty of the arts and the humanities (literature, history, art, music and much more) to the neighborhoods and towns across the country.  Quiet magic – day in and day out.  No chest pounding, no vapid self-promotion, just quiet and sustained effort to experience the “Power and Pleasure of Ideas”.

About Libraries

The variety and range of libraries and the issues that are part of their daily and strategic concerns are not always obvious to the general public.  There is not a shortage of coverage of specific issues facing libraries such as e-books, funding, etc. and occasionally there is a more general survey about the future of libraries or how they are evolving.  For national audiences, the May 14th Wall Street Journal article, “The Library’s Future Is Not an Open Book” does a fine job giving a sense of the challenges and rationale that urban libraries face nationwide and how it is being addressed through planning and architecture.  One will see echoes and demonstrations of PPL in that piece.

For Mainers seeking to understand our statewide library landscape the newest issue of the Maine Policy Review offers a wonderful blend of comment on the history, philosophy, service and strategic challenges associated with Maine’s libraries.

Derivative Can Be a Good Word

Derivative tends not be a compliment as it implies lack of creativity or more recently a bad financial instrument. But let’s be honest, many great ideas in all areas aren't new (like bookmobiles) and libraries mostly work with the basics of those ideas and spin them to serve some niche.  PPL like other libraries lends a variety of unexpected materials including telescopes (brought to us through our partnership with Cornerstones of Science), Kill a Watt energy detectors (given to us by a private donor),and most recently ukuleles modeled on the idea first demonstrated  by the Newport (Maine) Cultural Center and neighboring Falmouth (Maine) Memorial Library.  

Even Isaac Newton acknowledged the contributions to his work of those before him. It is a pleasure (and an ethical obligation) for us to acknowledge this tradition of public libraries.

READ With …….

Start with your kids and then each other and then with yourself!  PPL is grateful to be among the founding partners of the newly formed ConnectEd effort in Portland.  We plan to have a major impact in the effort to increase Pre-K reading in Portland. We won’t be in it alone as we will be working with terrific partners like the United Way, Portland Schools and other organizations.  But it will take passionate individuals as well who believe deeply that reading is the greatest gift that parents, schools, libraries and society as a whole can bestow on any one individual.

There will be many ways to reach children, families and individuals in the City.  Our commitment is to utilize everything in our power -  our staff, volunteers, deposit collections, branches and our new bookmobile  - to infect this City with a reading bug.  The bookmobile funding plan, design and service strategy has been three years in the making.  It arrived today after a 4 day cross country drive from Las Vegas looking like an old friend who is ready to lend a hand.

JUST READ and JOIN US!!

A more interactive PPL

The digital presence of PPL is one of the three “environments”, along with our physical facilities and soon to come bookmobile, which we need to master.  Each environment has its own unique set of dynamics and user experiences.  It is no secret that our current website is …. Well, to find the right word … packed.  It is hard to navigate and, although there are plenty of great resources on the site, it doesn’t do a good job helping us serve our many different users.

In the next two months, we will be finishing some projects that have been months in the making which will radically change our digital profile and how we will relate to our users.  Several new platforms will be unveiled that will make it easier for us to connect with our users, expand library collections and make it easier to find information.  In June our new website will be rolled out.  We have been working with VONT, a local web marketing firm, for over a year to integrate social media, such as Facebook, more effectively within our site and to incorporate new tools, such as BiblioCommons.

 

BiblioCommons will provide a new library catalog experience, allowing users and staff to share lists of items and provide much better access to our collections.  Finally this spring our digital collections will begin to utilize the Digital Commons platform.  You will be able to use search engines to explore collections such as Maine News Index, Children’s Theater of Maine, Portland Press Herald Still Film Negatives, Maine Jewish Oral History Projects, Casco Bay Weekly and many more.

We are very grateful to the Sam L. Cohen Foundation for their support toward these projects.

Coming to You On All Kinds of Roads

In the spring of 2010, the Library publicly put forth its Portable Library concept.  The effort included a number of elements but the basic idea was to transcend the physical locations of the library by going to where the people are working, living and recreating.  The Portable Library Team includes, among other things, deposit collections at places like the METRO waiting room on Elm Street, coffee houses and a bookmobile. 

The bookmobile, funded in part by support from Key Bank, will arrive in Portland sometime next week and will be on the road in April.  It will bring books, programs, internet access, training and the ability to sign up for a library card to locations throughout Portland.  Many folks have fond memories as children of PPL’s full scale bookmobile from 1972 to 1994.  

Here’s to a new set of memories and a lot of fun!

Creating a kinder and better Portland

Public libraries are increasingly being recognized and encouraged to employ to full advantage their ability to offer safe spaces for civil discourse and civic engagement.  To that end, this spring PPL will begin a two year civility and civic engagement initiative that will include public forums addressing issues of broad community interest, drop in opportunities at the Library and a series of smaller community conversations to discuss the aspirations that people have for our City.  The two year effort is funded through a generous grant ($48,000) by the Emanuel & Pauline A. Lerner Foundation of Portland. We are very grateful for their faith in PPL.

As we begin implementing aspects of the project, our Business & Government Team will provide more details and ways that citizens can participate.

In the context of visions for Portland, we are supportive of Mayor Brennan’s effort to “create a kinder community that's inclusive, diverse and has a role for every resident to play.”  

 

One spot culture!

Portland Public Library is the city's cultural center serving 666,000 visitors annually at four locations through a unique combination of print, media and digital resources complemented by robust internet access, lectures, classes, exhibits, programs and performances for all ages.

Yesterday and today are prime examples of what that statement means.

Last night approximately 200 people attended Maine Poet Laureate Wes McNair’s launch of his memoir The Words I Chose: A memoir of family and poetry at a special Brown Bag Lecture in the Rines Auditorium.  Tonight’s First Friday Art Walk looks to repeat the December Friday Art Walk, which welcomed over 1,000 people to see the Edward Gorey exhibit Elegant Enigmas and hear electronica music (Algorithm) and dance (Portland Ballet), both inspired by Gorey’s art work. Add to those events the annual Four Freedoms poster project by King Middle School students and well, you get the picture.  

At PPL this evening, February 1st at 6:30 PM, you can hear Tom Allen, our former congressman, launch his new book Dangerous Convictions: What’s Really Wrong With the US Congress, see the Prints: Breaking Boundaries exhibit and get a dose of Shakespeare in our Atrium at 6:00 PM through the interpretation of the Naked Shakespeare troupe.  (Check out our website for more information!)

Nothing quite like it so please come by for a taste of it all.

Help Build Some Great Maine Libraries

The history of public library funding in Maine has been overwhelmingly reliant on local funds.   Except for an occasional state bond referendum providing limited funds, there is no money for public library construction and there is no money to assist public libraries in their operations.  Past support, such as a .10 per capita state support, have long since disappeared so that library funding is provided by a combination of  local taxpayer  and private funds.   I suppose, given the tremendous use and affection for public libraries in this state, you could describe the situation as either perplexing or shameful.

That might be about to change.  The Maine Library Commission gained permission to include the Maine’s public libraries as a check off option on state tax returns.  All funds will be dedicated to the Maine Public Library Fund.  So hopefully the hundreds of thousands of Mainers who use their public libraries might take a moment and contribute and then reap the benefits of their generosity. 

For more information, please check out the Maine State Library's web-site at http://www.maine.gov/msl/tax/index.shtml 

Not a World Apart

Last Tuesday we at PPL had one of those days that inspires, energizes and reminds you why at a very, very basic level librarianship is a noble and true profession.  Maria and Esther, librarians from Busia County, Kenya came to visit us for the day.  They are on a mission to create a community library that will become the cultural center for their community and to positively impact every aspect of community life.  The day was jam packed and as these things often go we learned much more from them than I suspect they learned from us. The day was initiated by Eva Kaplan, a Portland native now working in support of Maria’s Libraries.  We face similar challenges differing only somewhat in scale.  The qualities needed to meet the challenges were the same: enthusiasm, intelligence, sense of purpose and humor. 

But Eva and the crew can recount their trip much better than I, but we were honored to have hosted their visit and privileged to learn from them. http://mariaslibraries.org/2012/10/23/maria-and-esther-visit-portland-public-library/

Art Everywhere

I have recently returned from a 4 month sabbatical, the intent of which was to get some perspective as to the future of Portland Public Library.  I interviewed colleagues in various parts of the country, sat, thought and read all kinds of things.  One of my major areas of investigation involved creativity.  I have come to the strong conclusion that, in going forward, the major asset required in employees and to be expressed organizationally is creativity.  You need starting points of curiosity and intelligence, both individually and organizationally, but I think you also need to make it possible for people to be creative by caring about the physical work environment and having the right structure.

When I returned from my time away, the first thing that I appreciated was the quality of the Main Library and the building as a whole.  On Friday May 4th, Alice Spencer of the City’s Public Art Committee gave a talk on the Little Water Girl, a public art work featured prominently in the Library.  By early June it will have been seen by one million visitors since the reopening in April 2010.  And even more special was the award received by our architects, Scott Simons and Associates, on Monday, May 7.   At the Maine Chapter of the American Institute of Architects biennial awards ceremony, held at the Portland Museum of Art, the Library received one of three Honor Awards and was the only non residential structure to be so honored.

http://aiamaine.org/awards2012/2012-award-winners/

It is good to be back.

At Your Service

Over the past three years we have been having many conversations within the library system as to how best to respond to an external environment that has been and remains unpredictable from a fiscal, programmatic and technological viewpoint. It has become important to understand in-depth – beyond assumptions and clichés – who it is we are serving, not serving and what resources do we have available to employ in that service.

There is a great deal of talent in the Library system and PPL faces a challenge as to how to best take advantage of that talent. One of the barriers is the traditional library organizational structure that focuses more on how (lending, public computing, reference, etc.) we do things versus concentrating on the who we are trying to serve. We have taken a big step going forward in redesigning our structure to identify the who and the topics that we intend to concentrate on over the next few years. To begin this engagement we have created Teams of staff that have skills and expertise associated with the scope of each Team.

The Teams are:

Business and Government
Children
City of Readers
Cultural Center (Arts and Humanities)
Health
Portland History
Science and Technology
Teens

Over the next few months we will publicize each of these Teams and describe in more detail their mission and scope. We will be looking for volunteers to support the efforts of each Team.

AMPED!

“It is not a tsunami we are running from; it is a wave we are riding.”


A colleague at Portland Public Library made this comment as part of her post mortem of the recent MPBN Maine Watch program called
“Public Libraries Evolving." At odds with the continued and decades long prediction of the demise of public libraries was an articulation by the public librarians on the show that was upbeat, realistic and most of all ringing in the reality of record public library use. So whatever the next wave is – no matter how high – we have the attitude and skill to ride.

We’ll be here.

“To be Sharp, Yet Open”

I like the woods in any season which leads me to read a lot of nature writing.  I am re-reading Bernd Heinrich’s A Year in the Maine Woods  at the moment.  In the prose of the best nature writers there are many passages such as the one below that resonate with a broader application beyond the purposes of the book.

“Very few people know the birds exist here at all, so I feel like I am delving into a deep secret.  If I can find out how they do it, then I’ll know something that nobody in the world knows, and that prospect excites me.  I do not yet want to form a hypothesis to test, because as soon as you make a hypothesis, you become prejudiced.  Your mind slides into a groove, and once it is in that groove, has difficulty noticing anything outside of it.  During this time, my senses must be sharp; that is the main thing – to be sharp, yet open.”

Portland Public Library, like all public libraries, is undergoing tremendous and complicated change and the need to stay sharp, engage, observe, see clearly and yet be wide open (stay out of the organizational and personal ruts) to the possibilities and potential within the current environment is our critical and essential bundle of qualities.  The assertion that the role of libraries is in fact changing may or my not be accurate depending on your perspective. One thing that is abundantly clear to even fairly casual observers is that the HOW part has already, and is now daily, changing hugely and I would argue for the better.

Portland Public Library, at this moment in its history, has never been better equipped to respond to the needs of the community.  We have the information tools – digital and print - and the needed infrastructure that, thanks partnerships and networks of funders, present a potential to be an even greater force in the daily lives of our users.  I would not suggest that we have enough staff but that is the ever present ‘complaint” of all organizations now.  But, I do believe that the imperative that we become true experts in the knowledge and effective use of all tools at our disposal is a critical competency that we need to acquire.  It is easy to get bleary eyed at the enormous number of electronic journals in a data base and to not delve deeply into the value of the content and then deliver it to meet user needs.  The recently completed community survey strongly stated the public expectation that PPL have great collections, safe, comfortable and productive environments and a staff that is helpful, skilled and committed.

Farewell to Some Friends

The impending retirements next spring of Richard D’Abate, Executive Director of Maine Historical Society (MHS) and Jim Morse, Superintendent of Portland Public Schools, will have an impact on PPL. Both men are first rate and approachable colleagues and thinkers and always interested in ways to work with PPL. Our relationship with MHS has helped to inform our building planning and the evolution of the Portland Room collecting. Jim Morse has been a big supporter of PPL through the budget and planning processes since his arrival three years ago. Most recently he vocally supported the funding for the Riverton Branch of PPL even though there was potential for the schools to benefit from additional space.

A lot of what makes PPL effective comes through our various partnerships and those relationships are only able to develop due to creative leadership of various partners and the ability to recognize mutual benefits.

I am very grateful for all that they have done to support PPL and I will miss both of them as will my colleagues at PPL.

PPL: The gift that keeps on giving

Budget discussions in any organization are an annual ritual but the perspective, if a business or organization is going to thrive, has to be on long term return on investment. Portland Public Library has the same ritual yet often we speak publicly only of the last year’s performance which is a limited view and articulation of our value.


People are dead right to ask “what are we getting for our money?” The answers echo over the generations and among tens of thousands of people. A couple of quick facts serve to illustrate the year after year pay back:

The 1,000,000th visit to the renovated Main Library will take place at some point next spring;

Among the 48,413 active card holders who live in Cumberland County only, 7,010,225 items have been borrowed over the life of their relationship with PPL with more borrowed every day. And, there were thousands of other people who preceded them over many years who are no longer active card holders.

Who uses PPL? Is it still relevant?

Case closed.

THE BIG LIBRARY IS HERE!

The Library of Congress (LC) is a cultural icon to the American people and it is an inspiration to not just our libraries but to cultural organizations everywhere. Its sheer size is daunting yet its mission language is decidedly simple, elegant and inspiring. 

“The Library's mission is to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.”

Library of Congress Mission

The Library’s programmatic expression of its mission touches every aspect of knowledge from the arts and humanities to the sciences. At the Portland Public Library the connections are direct. LC has for decades been a driving force in setting strategic direction for America's and the world’s libraries through establishing standards for information organization, discovery and sharing.

Two of our closest cultural collaborators are significantly influenced and inspired by LC. The Library of Congress Center for the Book was established in 1977 to promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy. The Maine Humanities Council has served since 1997 as the Maine Center for the Book and has worked hard to fulfill that mission.

Maine Historical Society has built a nationally respected tool called Maine Memory Network  which was inspired over a decade ago by the LC’s American Memory project. Maine Memory now provides on-line access to tens of thousands historical documents from not just the Society’s collections but from over 200 other organizations throughout Maine. Resources for teachers and on-line exhibits are also included. It has become the indispensable tool for preserving and studying Maine history.

We are honored to co-host the Library of Congress travelling exhibition today and Saturday on Monument Square. Our thanks are extended to our friends at the Portland Downtown District for their co-sponsorship.

Riverton Rising!

Last Thursday night's Open House was a sweet night for all of us associated with PPL and the Riverton neighborhood. After the uncertainties of the last two years the budget for the Riverton Branch was solidified this spring and we can now with some level of confidence sink our teeth into creating a first rate library experience at Riverton.

We have started with renewing the physical space effecting a transformation of the previous space from cramped, dark and cluttered

to an environment that employs the lessons learned in the renovation of the Main Library.

We have lowered the stack heights, maintained the same amount of linear shelving feet through a new shelving layout, widened the aisles and created specific spaces for adults reading, children’s programming and teens. It is now a light filled space with room to move!

The next stage is to continue to analyze and refine data regarding use of the collections and having the collections reflect the needs. After the first three months in the new space we will analyze the use of the collections and attendance and ask opinions of our Riverton users to see what specific changes we might make. Our plan is to surpass the records this year for lending (64,227) and attendance (50,671) at Riverton.

The Open House last Thursday was a joyful event with new City Manager Mark Rees, City Councilors John Coyne and Dory Waxman, Superintendent of Schools Jim Morse and PPL Trustee President Nathan Smith all in attendance. We had the chance to thank each other for the hard work and support and also unanimously to thank the Riverton Community Association led by President Chip Edgar for their passion and help in keeping PPL operating in the Riverton neighborhood. We are grateful to all.

Doing Better with Less?

Libraries don’t often speak in defined ways about productivity. In any job after a time you get a glimpse (or more likely “feel”) when there is a greater workload or activity. The questions you have to ask yourself after accounting for all of the variables are “Did I actually do more or better work or did I add any value to the organization or to the life of the library patrons?”


At PPL, which is first and foremost a service organization, we have to start with some broad measures that make an effort to quantify effort and activity and cost. One way to look at the overall return on the investment of people is to look at the relationship between the number of staff and the amount of lending or visits the library system experiences in a year and which must be “serviced.” This is an important question for an organization whose staffing has declined roughly 10% since 2008 and is significantly lower than any year since 1990. It also important to state that other infrastructure costs associated with library service need to be accounted for to the point that staffing – all associated costs – account for under 68% of the budget which, depending on your point of view is either low or very efficient - for a service organization.

The graph above reveals some interesting things and points toward a bright library future in the service of our users. The years 1990 – 1996 show a flattening in terms of lending and visitation per FTE * (Full Time Equivalent). In 1996, the first full year of operation of the Burbank Branch, lending and visitation begin to rise per FTE which is a measure of more activity per staff member. It also argues for investment in service locations that have a critical mass in terms of collections and hours. The period 2008 – 2011 reinforces this notion strongly as the Main Library first underwent hours reduction due to budget constraints and then a renovation that resulted in substantial reduction of space. Our system numbers fell accordingly. Once the Main Library came back on-line (April 2010) with improved and expanded spaces and a six day a week schedule (July 2010) the productivity per FTE rose dramatically despite 25% fewer hours due to the closure of the Reiche and Munjoy locations.

In September, we will publicly release the results of our community survey conducted late last spring. One relevant finding however to share now is that respondents indicated to us (in support of critical mass/efficiency) that fewer locations open longer hours and with strong collections was preferred over more locations with short schedules and small collections.

* Total number of staff work hours available divided by 40.