1. When the Tide Goes Out, Everyone Can See Who’s Swimming Naked
October 20, 2011
Presented by
Joan Frye Williams and George Needham

2. Remember us?

3. April 26 – Sustainable choices

4. Existential sustainability

5. How does our community see itself and its future?

6. Operational sustainability

7. How well do our services match community expectations?

8. Political sustainability

9. Are we asking the right questions?
Ask about things they know and care about
Don’t ask how to run the library
Let them dream big: don’t point out constraints
Listen, don’t explain

10. Financial sustainability

11. How can we diversify?

12. April 27 – Sustainable practices

13. Don’t assume that libraries are the “go-to” place for information

14. Enticing, not explaining

15. Don’t assume that people can’t find the “good stuff” on their own

16. Sharing, not guarding

17. Don’t assume that getting the books back is more important than getting the people back

18. Relationships, not transactions

19. Don’t assume that there’s only one right or fair way to do everything

20. Tools, not rules

21. Don’t assume that your library is primarily a window on the outside world

22. Local, not generic

23. Don’t assume that information is an end in itself

24. Transformation, not information

25. Don’t assume that the way to stay safe is to be perfect

26. Efficiency, not perfection

27. Work worth doing

28. How can we…?

30. So what’s up, Docs?

31. First, the good news…

32. Now, the not so good news…

33. Your challenges
Think of the challenges you need to overcome to move your library forward
Focus on what you need to accomplish, rather than how other people need to change.
Write each of your challenges on a separate Post-it note (one per note), legibly please.
On the flip chart paper, work with your colleagues to clump the Post-it notes into common themes
Circle and name the themes.
Prepare to report your results!

34. More than one route to success

35. Build on our strengths

36. Access

37. Organization and problem-solving

38. Content curation

39. Coaching

40. Co-creation

41. Community convening

42. Convergence

43. Narrative

44. Infiltration

45. Build capacity

46. Beyond inventory control to support for learning and creativity

47. Beyond processes to results

48. Beyond rationing to abundance

49. Beyond anonymity to market knowledge

50. Beyond remedial advocacy to peer engagement

51. How
we?
we?
How
can
we?
can
can

52. How will we…?

53. Find your motivation

54. Stay connected

55. Move forward…together

56. Don’t give up: she hasn’t sung yet

57. Let’s continue the conversation