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Late last year PVLD launched the Zerunyan Center for Business, Entrepreneurship and Community Development , intended to be the hub of our services for the business community.  It is also PVLD's first foray into public/private partnerships, in this case between the Library District, local City Council Member Frank Zerunyan, and local corporate and individual sponsors.

The Center is still small, and we have had our share of growing pains as we work through all of the issues associated with bringing new partners with new perspectives (and in some cases a lack of understanding of what we already do) into "our" library world, integrating operation of the center with other library activities and programs, integrating fundraising for the Center with our other fundraising efforts, and identifying which programs and services are most needed by our local business community.

At the same time it has been very rewarding to see how the community, and particularly the business community, has responded.  Apart from enabling the library to expand its services, the Center has also been a means of attracting new library supporters and donors who see (maybe for the first time) that the library is doing something that is directly relevant for them.

I have been wrestling with both how to work through the growing pains and capitalize on the opportunities that the Zerunyan Center presents, so I was excited to come across this Kiplinger article on how "Libraries Are Building Business Buzz" on Friday. 

Apart from great ideas for services for business, it was interesting that the library examples in the article all seemed to be primarily publicly funded, albeit with support from donors.  None of the business centers seemed to be the kind of comprehensive public/private partnership that we have envisioned...no wonder we are having growing pains!

Growing pains aside, I was pleased to see a national publication like Kiplinger's confirm that we are on the right track as we grow our services for business.  In addition to the Zerunyan Center with its dedicated space, collection of business-related materials, and planned outreach programs we offer a variety of business-oreinted online databases; "quiet study" rooms that are used by local business people for small meetings; rent our larger conference and community rooms for use by businesses and business organizations as well as the non-profit community; Notary, scanning, copying and other services of interest to the business community; and are about to launch a new business networking website for our local community.

The article gave me renewed energy for tackling our Business Center issues and continuing to grow our business services...a shot in the arm at just the right time!

Late last year PVLD launched the Zerunyan Center for Business, Entrepreneurship and Community Development , intended to be the hub of our services for the business community. It is also PVLD's first foray into public/private partnerships, in this case between... Katherine Gould

Going through some saved posts from other blogs I came across a some interesting data about the proliferation of digital technology.  All are courtesy of Stephen Abram at Stephen's Lighthouse -

First, from Forbes Magazine  The Decade in Data by Oliver Chiang:

–Percentage of U.S. households with a broadband connection in 2000: 6.3%
–Percentage of U.S. households with a broadband connection in 2008: 63%
–Number of e-mails sent per day in 2000: 12 billion
–Number of e-mails sent per day in 2009: 247 billion
–Revenues from mobile data services in the first half of 2000: $105 million
–Revenues from mobile data services in the first half of 2009: $19.5 billion
–Number of text messages sent in the U.S. per day in June 2000: 400,000
–Number of text messages sent in the U.S. per day in June 2009: 4.5 billion
–Percentage of U.S. households with at least one digital camera in 2000: 10%
–Percentage of U.S. households with at least one digital camera in 2008: 68.4%
–Percentage of U.S. households with at least one MP3 player in 2000: less than 2%
–Percentage of U.S. households with at least one MP3 player in 2008: almost 43%
–Number of pages indexed by Google in 2000: 1 billion
–Number of pages indexed by Google in 2008: 1 trillion
–Number of Google searches per day in 2001: 10 million
–Number of Google searches in 2009: 300 million, estimated
–Number of total Wikipedia entries in 2001: 20,000
–Number of Wikipedia entries in English in 2009: 3.1 million
–Number of blogs in 2000: less than 100,000
–Number of blogs 2008: 133 million
–Minimum free hard-disk space needed to install Windows 2000: 650 megabytes
–Minimum available hard-disk space needed to install Windows 7: 16,000 megabytes (16 gb)
–Amount of hard-disk space $300 could buy in 2000: 20 to 30 gigabytes
–Amount of hard-disk space $300 could buy in 2009: 2,000 gigabytes (2 terabytes)

And some videos that make the point that the world truly is changing -
 

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

And last but not least, a tongue in cheek look at one of the effects! (I can't seem to get the cartoon to size properly, so click here for the original)

Have a great weekend!

Going through some saved posts from other blogs I came across a some interesting data about the proliferation of digital technology. All are courtesy of Stephen Abram at Stephen's Lighthouse - First, from Forbes Magazine The Decade in Data by... Katherine Gould

I've written before about Netflix and whether a Netflix-style service and/or fee structure could be implemented by libraries, but my husband and I only became Netflix customers ourselves about a month ago. We both work in public libraries, so it... Katherine Gould

I've written before about Netflix and whether a Netflix-style service and/or fee structure could be implemented by libraries, but my husband and I only became Netflix customers ourselves about a month ago. 

We both work in public libraries, so it is not as if we don't have access to free/low-cost (PVLD charges a modest rental fee for movies and my husband's library supplements its movie collection with a rental collection purchased by the Friends of the Library) but even library insiders like us found many shortcomings with using the library as our source of movie entertainment.  If we just browsed the shelves often we found that recent titles we wanted to see were checked out, and if we placed items on hold they invariably became available at a time when we could not watch them.  Add to that the difficulty of finding TV series discs in the order in which they should be viewed and we decided to take the plunge and try Netflix.

We signed up for the "one movie at a time" plan (we can have one movie at a time, but unlimited movies in a month) and despite initial concerns about how to manage our "queue" of requested movies so that got titles when we were in the mood to see that particular move so far our expectations have been exceeded.

Netflix' back-end systems and arrangements with the post office mean that it is usually only 2 to 3 days from the time we drop one disc into the mail until we receive the next.  We can drop a movie into a neighborhood mailbox on Saturday, get an email time-stamped on Sunday that it has been received, and have the next movie arrive on Monday!  One time we got an email survey asking us to tell them when a movie had arrived, and it had arrived the day BEFORE the earliest date indicated on the survey!

We also have always been able to get the item at the top of our queue when we wanted it.  I can only assume that Netflix' inventory is both broad and deep.

Finally, we had an experience this week that made me realize that Netflix has paid as much attention to its customer service systems as it has to its inventory and delivery systems.  On Saturday morning I dropped a Netflix envelope containing the last DVD we had watched into our usual neighborhood mailbox.  On Monday morning we received an email from Netflix saying that they had received the envelope and DVD sleeve, but no DVD.  The email gave an online option for reporting a lost DVD, aND also a six-digit code to be used when calling customer service.  I was certain that the DVD had been in the envelope when I dropped it in the mailbox, so I called their customer service number.  The recorded message said the wait time would be up to five minutes, but that if I entered the six digit code it would be shorter.  I entered the code, and a live US-based operator came on the line within a minute.  I told him that I was sure I had mailed the DVD, he responded that it was "no problem, sometimes things go missing in transit" and told me he would report the DVD as missing and then go ahead and send the next item in our queue.

Almost immediately I got an email saying

We're sorry to hear that Herb and Dorothy was lost in the mail. Unfortunately discs do go missing during shipment from time to time, so it is our policy to accommodate for the occasional disc lost during shipment. According to our records, you have reported the following disc(s) as lost in the mail:

Date Reported Title 03/01/10 Herb and Dorothy

If we receive any of these movie(s) from the post office, we'll let you know as soon as they arrive.

If you've requested a replacement copy, it will be shipped to you as soon as possible, otherwise, your next movie should be on its way soon. We apologize for the inconvenience.

-The Netflix Team

Within five minutes the issue was handled.  No need for lengthy explanations, no delaying our next movie until this issue was resolved, no "lost item" charge, no making me feel like I was the one who had done wrong. 

I think it will be some time before we have library systems that are capable of handling the logistics of a true Netflix-style service, and I question whether the needed investment in technology, inventory and delivery mechanisms will ever make it financially feasible in the public-library environment....BUT I do think we could learn a thing or two about customer service from how Netflix handled my issue.

What if our default position was NOT to charge for a lost item?  What if every time a customer reported a lost item they got a nice email like the one above?  What if instead calling a missing item a "Claims returned" implying the customer is claiming one thing but we don't really believe it we called it "gone missing" or some other term that reflects the likelihood that the problem is ours not the customers?

Food for thought....

 

We just got back from a week in beautiful Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Whale watching, snorkelling, and just chilling out...heaven! Now its back to cold hard reality with rainy, cool weather and a plateful of issues awaiting me back... Katherine Gould

We just got back from a week in beautiful Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico.  Whale watching, snorkelling, and just chilling out...heaven!  Now its back to cold hard reality with rainy, cool weather and a plateful of issues awaiting me back at work.

Oh well...when things get stressful I'll just look back at these photos and dream of our next trip!

Last fall I had the privilege of serving as a mentor for the Eureka Leadership Program for emerging California library leaders. During the residential leadership institute that kicks off the program participants work in small teams to build leadership skills... Katherine Gould

Last fall I had the privilege of serving as a mentor for the Eureka Leadership Program for emerging California library leaders.  During the residential leadership institute that kicks off the program participants work in small teams to build leadership skills through action learning, exercises, and case studies.  During one of the exercises the team that I was working with came up with an idea for a mobile library cart to enable library services to be delivered and promoted at locations throughout a community.

Today our Eureka team got an email from team member Thomas Vose, the Manager of the Lake Elsinore Public Library in the Riverside County Library System.  Thomas had taken that idea of a mobile library cart and turned it into a reality -

This picture shows the cart at its debut at a local outlet mall.  Thomas reported that people were able to sign up for library cards and check out materials, and that he plans to take the cart to the local Senior Center and park, and to an upcoming Children's Fair in the community.

Apart from being proud of Thomas for grabbing onto a good idea and making it a reality, I love that he was able to implement it at virtually no cost using equipment that the library already owned....a standard book cart and book bins, a laptop computer, and a simple signage stand. You can see how it could be expanded for a larger event just by adding more carts of library materials.

What a great way to expand the reach of the library and build community support - and all it took was some iniative and ingenuity.  Now you know why Thomas is an emerging library leader!

Michael Stephens of Tame the Web posted this video from Down Under on his blog today. I found many aspects of it thought-provoking - most of all the assertion the definition of the "future" as 2015. Many of the concepts... Katherine Gould

Michael Stephens of Tame the Web posted this video from Down Under on his blog today.  I found many aspects of it thought-provoking - most of all the assertion the definition of the "future" as 2015. Many of the concepts outlined in the video are things that PVLD (and many other libraries) have been evolving towards for some time, but it will require a significant increase in the pace of change to truly be the library of the future depicted in this video in five years!

I love the idea of creating an organization like the one portrayed (especially the "genius bar" model and the idea of having staff working virtually to provide services that are not tied to having our buildings open...), and am  trying not to think about the challenges of changing organization structures and compensation systems that may be embedded in labor contracts; physical libraries that cannot easily/cheaply be reconfigured; the management skills needed for an organization of this kind; and all of the others things thay could slow our progress.

Food for thought, though! 

This weekend PVLD experienced a major problem with our website and our web-based SOPAC online library catalog. The website was down from Friday evening through noon today (Tuesday), and the SOPAC catalog is still down. We don't know (and may... Katherine Gould

This weekend PVLD experienced a major problem with our website and our web-based SOPAC online library catalog.  The website was down from Friday evening through noon today (Tuesday), and the SOPAC catalog is still down.

We don't know (and may never know) the cause...a piece of code gone haywire or a hacker attack are the most likely explanations. 

The bad news is that our website hosting service (the company we pay to maintain our website and SOPAC on their computer servers) had never backed up our systems despite billing us for backups with every monthly invoice.  This meant the loss of several months worth of enhancements.  Yikes!  Needless to say we will be acting to recover our payments from them.

The good news is that our Digital Services Team of David Campbell and Erik Adams did an amazing job of keeping their cool under very trying circumstances.  All employees were alerted to the problem in an email that David sent out in the wee small hours of Saturday morning, and by the time the library opened on Saturday a rudimentary web page with access to our library catalog and basic functions like the ability to place holds was up and running.  By Saturday afternoon that rudimentary site also had tabs for access to our online databases/resources and calendar of events. 

By Sunday the website had been transferred from the non-performing hosting company to servers owned by the company that does our web development and was available in the library (at least in its October 2009 configuration which means minus some recent enhancements), complete with access to our pre-SOPAC online catalog, and by noon today a fully functioning website and online catalog were available to remote users.

David and Erik are now working to restore the website enhancements that were lost and to get SOPAC back up and running as quickly as practical.

In my career I have had many occasions to learn that "stuff" does indeed happen, and to come to the view that the important thing is not the fact that it happened but how you react.  Do I wish that this weekend's challenges had never occurred?  Sure.  Am I proud of how our PVLD team responded?  Absolutely.   I know David and Erik were thrown for a loop, and somewhat embarassed even though this was not their fault, but they just quietly went about fixing the problems in a way that kept the most important needs of our library customers in mind. 

Great job, guys!

Saturday night the Peninsula Center Library glowed as we celebrated "80 Years of Magic" at the Palos Verdes Library District.  From cocktails in the library to sit-down dinner and entertainment on the library roof over 500 guests had a truly magical time.  Many of our guests had not been in the library in years, if ever, so it was fun to show them all that we offer. 

We're still crunching the numbers, but we think it was a financial success,too!

The event would not have been possible without many, many hours of hard work by the Event Committee under the leadership of Cc Yu; library staff (especially Merna Marshall, Charles Crouse and the Facilities Team, and our IT staff); and dozens of other volunteers. 

We also were fortunate to have sponsors and advertisers  who generously supported the event.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed!

Volunteer Coordinator Dori Medina put together this slide show of the event.  Enjoy!

Saturday night the Peninsula Center Library glowed as we celebrated "80 Years of Magic" at the Palos Verdes Library District. From cocktails in the library to sit-down dinner and entertainment on the library roof over 500 guests had a truly... Katherine Gould

With PVLD's 80th anniversary event looming I've hardly had time to breathe much less post to my blog! Last Friday I did take a brief break from event planning activities to attend one of the California State Library's Transforming Life... Katherine Gould

With PVLD's 80th anniversary event looming I've hardly had time to breathe much less post to my blog!

Last Friday I did take a brief break from event planning activities to attend one of the California State Library's Transforming Life After 50 symposia.  Libraries from around Southern California that had won grants for projects to develop library services for Baby Boomers shared their projects.  PVLD's Debra Petersen and Louise Beebe did a great presentation unveiling the business networking website they developed using their grant (currently live in beta as www.infogalaxy.org and soon to be launched as PVconnect.org) and other libraries presented projects ranging from a Festival of Books to computer classes for Boomers to a One Book, One Community event.

As part of the day's activities the facilitators showed this amazing video, winner of an AARP competition called U@50 that had young people creating YuTube videos about what their life will be like at age 50.

The concept in this 2nd place winner is both simple in its presentation and devilishly difficult to execute...not to mention thought-provoking - if you aren't able to view it from this post, click here.

Last week I had the privilege of being interviewed as part of the "Community Connections" show on our local Rancho Palos Verdes public television station, RPV TV. Apart from the fact that I can't stand watching myself on video (there... Katherine Gould

Last week I had the privilege of being interviewed as part of the "Community Connections" show on our local Rancho Palos Verdes public television station, RPV TV.  Apart from the fact that I can't stand watching myself on video (there is nothing like seeing yourself as others see you to make you aware of all of your tics and quirks!), I think RPV TV did a great job of showcasing our libraries and our upcoming 80th anniversary celebration. 

Those who live on the Peninsula can see the broadcast at multiple times this week.  For those who don't RPV TV has also uploaded it to You Tube.  Because it is 1/2 hour long it was uploaded in three segments:

Part One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSfibo4M19g

Part Two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgbK59lJAQ

Part Three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OGE1qcrO5I

For those who are interested in what is going on around our community, but don't have an opportunity to watch RPV TV you can subscribe to the rpvchannel33 channel on YouTube and catch up on all of their great local content.

Thanks RPV TV!