[I worked on a grant that
covers Cape Cod & the Islands. It serves those who educate and care for children.
As an outreach effort to children’s librarians on Martha’s Vineyard, LF
and I got ourselves on the early boat one day to the Vineyard in order to present our
resources before the libraries opened. The “early” boat (the Patriot
Party Boat Watershuttle) not only delivers the Boston Globe, but shuttles
such passangers as carpenters (and librarians) to the Island, those who have to get to the Vineyard way too early in the morning!
I couldn’t help using my new smartphone to capture the trip. Actually, I LOVE this part of the job--have resources, will travel; and even though I grew up and am comfortable around boats like this, I just wish I was more of an early bird!]
But back to the situation at hand: the future of social
media and librarians at sea….
Although I suspect that social media will only proliferate
and become a mainstream library service, perhaps even forcing large libraries to create such
positions as “social media librarians;” I have learned that the future is just
too hard to predict. However, one thing
is for sure: such technology is always changing, and since libraries rely in
large part upon technology, we must not only accept change as part of our work,
but we must also play an active part in pioneering, or navigating, the
development of social media as a valuable tool for libraries.
To be sure, the best we can do as professionals is to learn
how to navigate the sea of such changes.
I have thought about libraries being in flux for some time now, and I
liken it to sailing: good sailors always
check the weather forecast; but if the weather changes, they adjust their
sails; change their course; or ride out the storm; and, most importantly, they
can always rely upon Polaris as a guiding star.
What does that mean for librarians? I think we will need to read library
literature (a.k.a. the forecast) to know where libraries seem to be headed. We will also have to be prepared to learn new
tools in order to adapt to technology and the user. Most of all, I think we have to keep focused
upon Polaris (a.k.a. our mission) because in the midst of change, our mission
will be the one thing that will, indeed, remain constant.
In closing, thanks to everyone in class for being a great
crew! Thanks to Dr. Adams, too! I am confident that we all will all be better
adept at navigating the changes because of classes such as LSC 597: Social Networking
and Library 2.0.
To those of you who
will be graduating in May, congratulations and best of luck!
And to the rest, I will most likely see you in another class!
