Staff Lounges

Beginning some time last year, I asked the Staff Advisory Council to undertake an assessment of the staff lounges throughout the library system. We knew that we had long needed to make some improvements to the lounge in the Young Library, but wanted to be sure that we also replaced and improved the spaces exist in our other libraries. After the assessment by SAC, Toni Greider and Mary McLaren have proceeded with plans for upgrades pending the availability of funds. We also determined that the chairs in the current Young lounge were in desperate need of cleaning or replacement. So, we have proceeded with plans for the Young Library lounge and the painting and recarpeting is underway. The color board provided by the interior designers can be found on the bulletin board in the lounger. Toni is also working her way through the lounges outside of Young and will be making needed improvements in those areas as well.

Spring Meeting of ASERL

The Directors of the ASERL libraries met in late April. While I was unable to attend the meeting, their meeting agenda can be found at http://www.aserl.org/ (click on meeting materials). Not all agenda items have additional information but this will give you a flavor of the issues under discussion and consideration.

SLIS Newsletter Highlights Outreach Effort to Pralltown Neighborhood

The spring newsletter of the library school highlights an outreach program involving Gail Kennedy and Susan Daole. A new student group of the library school began the community outreach program in the fall to the Pralltown neighborhood. The effort involves a story time for younger children and a book club for middle schoolers. A little more detail can be found in the newsletter at http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/SLIS/newsletter/spring09.pdf

SLIS Advisory Board Reconstituted

This spring newsletter of the library school also notes that they have reconstituted their library advisory board. Representatives from UK include Helane Davis and Reinette Jones.

Department Heads Minutes

The minutes of the April 9th department heads meeting have been posted in SharePoint at https://libstaffsrv.uky.edu/Admin/Heads/default.aspx

Article Highlighted by Stephen Abrams in his Blog

Stephen Abrams recently highlighted this interesting article in his blog:

The Library Rebooted
By stephen
I am enchanted with this series of article that I discovered in a free airline copy of the magazine Straegy + Business. The cover story was about the transformation of NYPL and was written by consultants at Booz & Company.
I heartily recommend it.

“The Library Rebooted” by Scott Corwin, Elisabeth Hartley & Harry Hawkes (Booz & Company)Strategy + Business, Spring 2009, pp. 78-89
“Reinventing the Role of Research Libraries” by Paul LeClerc, Pres/CEO, NYPL
“Why Libraries are Good Investments” by Stephen Schwarzman, Chm/CEO, The Blackstone Group ($100 million gift to NYPL

7 Imperatives for Library Leadership
1. Rethink the operating model
2. Understand and respond to user needs
3. Embrace the concept of continuous innovation
4. Forge a digital identity
5. Connect with stakeholders in ways that pure internet companies cannot
6. Expand the metrics
7. Be courageous

It's a must read and you can find the link to it here. (Requires free registration)
http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/09108?gko=ef8aa-1876-27600325