Karen Dyer
September 2, 2001
Presented to the Alameda County Library Advisory Commission on September 5, 2001 and currently being reworked into an article for “Public Libraries Magazine”
ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR LIBRARIANS AND THE LONE TRUSTEE
The Second Annual Stanford-California State Library Institute on 21st Century Librarianship was held from August 5 to August 11, 2001 at the Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Participation was by application and acceptance. The participants were librarians, managers and directors. Attending: One hundred four from California, 38 from 22 other states, one from Singapore (National Library Board), one from Egypt (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) and one California trustee. The participants came from several different types of libraries: law, public, school and other). I was the trustee.
Participants stayed in the Stanford dorms. Rumors flew ahead of time: Bring something soft for the hard bed, bring an alarm clock, bring a fan…Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring a bathroom. Although a little old for dorm life, I managed.
In thirty words, the Institute was intensive, interactive, physically exhausting (walking the Stanford campus), mentally exhausting (data overload reached before the end of the week), exciting, incredible, fascinating, and definitely a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!
Themes included: leadership, technology impacts, libraries in the digital age, organizational effectiveness and the future role of libraries. Thrown into the mix was some risk-taking activities. One distinguishing feature (of many) was that very few sessions were presentations on specific programs or services offered by libraries. Instead, the focus remained squarely on the participants--what can you do to lead your library into the future? Also, many speakers were from outside the library world, inviting us to take their broad topics of, for example, leadership, and apply them to our own library institutions.
Each day began with a plenary session (“…fully attended or constituted by all entitled to be present…” Merriam-Webster) based on one of the themes mentioned.
Retired Superior Court Judge of 18 years and now Vice Provost and Special Counselor to President of Stanford University, LaDoris Cordell began the daily session with the theme of leadership. She spoke about the law, shared some of the situations over which she has presided and also spoke of social injustice. She was blunt. Ms. Cordell experienced racism even during the time she was a Superior Court Judge.
When race no longer matters, only then has enough been said. LaDoris Cordell
Building bridges can add to our quality of life, not detract from it. LaDoris Cordell
New York Times Senior writer, John Markoff, discussed major stories he has covered relating to Silicon Valley, Computers and information technology during the past twenty years. Theme: Information Technology.
The visionaries are always wrong. John Markoff
Dr. Mike Keller, University Librarian of Stanford, spoke about the need for libraries to continue to be the contact point as society turns toward the digital era Theme: Libraries in the Digital Age.
Music librarianship is not art, it’s not science—it’s witchcraft. Mike Keller
I will not cease from mental Fight, nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand; till we have built Jerusalem, in England’s green and pleasant land. William Blake as quoted by Mike Keller
Marty Manley, President and CEO of Alibris, spoke on Analog Leadership in the Digital World. Theme: Organizational Effectiveness.
What’s valuable about libraries isn’t the books, it’s the librarians. Marty Manley
Luck is too important to be left to chance. Marty Manley
Lastly, lest we have no controversy in the week, from Marty Manley: Fire more people!
The last plenary speaker was Rick Luce, Research Library Director of the Los Alamos National Library. He pioneered the digital library known as The Library Without Walls which involved producing databases via the web, personalizing web alerts, and content linking. Theme: The future of libraries.
Some of Mr. Luce’s comments (as well as some of Mr. Manley’s) were clearly outside the “comfort zone” of the audience.
Most libraries do too many things. Rick Luce
The only edifice we will build in twenty years is what we deliver to the desktop. Rick Luce
(Participants were instructed to snap their fingers in approval and “ssssssss” in disapproval. Mr. Luce stuck to his guns!)
Different isn’t always better, but better is always different. Rick Luce
Following the daily plenary session was a daily session with Dr. Marilyn Manning. Dr. Manning works with organizations to solve difficult people problems and with managers who want their teams to work together better. She is one of only fourteen speakers internationally who hold both the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designations.
Dr. Manning presented sessions on leadership, managing change, and stress management.
This daily 90-minute session with Dr. Manning presented opportunities for team work, creative thinking and negotiation. For example, one day we broke into groups with groupings of two teams. The two teams had to negotiate the solution to a transportation problem. Some teams
chose what they called a “win-win solution” by solving the problem with equal scores for each team. Other teams, more competitive, negotiated loudly and long, determined to garner the most negotiation “points”.
Note that in the above game the negotiation was about transportation. However, the lessons were applicable to any other topic.
For further information on Dr. Manning, please see her website at www.Mmanning.com.
After a daily luncheon fit for royalty (all meals were delicious and elegantly presented, with healthy inbetween-meal snacks), participants had the opportunity to partake of one of three sessions going on each afternoon. It was difficult to pick one of the three.
It’s great to be nice, but I hope it’s not the only thing we are known for. Eugenie Prime, afternoon speaker (Assertive Leadership)
Congress shall have the Power…To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. The Constitutional Basis of U.S. Copyright Law as quoted by Dr. Susan M. Kornfield, afternoon speaker (Copyright and Intellectual Property)
…The library is a learning place, a helping place, a community hub… Make it visible, easy to browse, available and have lots of copies…Gary Strong, afternoon speaker (Libraries as Community—Future). Dr. Strong is director of the Queens Library and former California State Librarian.
If you are here this week, and go back and share nothing with your colleagues, shame on you for being here. Gary Strong
They have captured my body, but they cannot capture my mind. Victor Frankl, "Man’s Search for Meaning", as quoted by Phil Batchlor, afternoon speaker (Libraries and Politics—Leadership). Mr. Batchlor is the County Administrator of Contra Costa County.
There are over a dozen speakers I have not mentioned.
One of the fun risk-taking activities resulted from the announcement before our last dinner at Stanford that we, the participants, were to be the evening’s entertainment. We had the time during dinner and dessert to come up with something, as a table, to present to the group. Paper and pencils were supplied. (One of the many nice things about this Institute is that people did not gather in the same groups; therefore, the groups that did the negotiation exercises, the study groups (unmentioned so far) and the dinner table groups consisted of different people.)
Our group sang a song (full of inside jokes from the week at the Institute) to the tune of "Ball in the Jack". Unfortunately, or perhaps for you, fortunately, I cannot find my scribbled lyrics!
In addition to all of the above, study groups met all week. Our first assignment was to find our group and set up a time and place to meet each day. This was no mean feat as we only had name tags on—not the name or number of our study group. We did have a participant list divided into the specific groups to use. As if by unanimous consent, everyone put their group name and number on their name tags! There were four case studies (one for a school library, one for a public library, one for a law library, one for special libraries). I was in a public library group (Carnegie 2). There were 13 Carnigie groups who presented their solutions to the case study on Sunday morning (last morning of the Institute) in front of the other Carnegies. The Deweys, Ranganathans and Cutters did likewise. This was a very exciting activity and was also tremendously entertaining as well as educational.
One night was spent at the Sun Microsystems’ Tech Museum in San Jose (reserved for our group) with Italian and Chinese cuisine--and an open bar! Another evening was spent listening to a jazz group. Other evenings were spent in optional classes such as web development or visioning, and in small discussion groups over topics such as e-books, e-reference and knowledge management.
The networking continues to this day. A listserv is still up for all participants to discuss issues and to share how they are using and communicating what they learned at the Institute.
This was an institute for librarians. It is my opinion that one or two trustees who are very well educated in library matters, have been trustees for some time and perhaps who also work on a state level can fit in nicely and provide an alternative perspective. I was welcomed by all. Many participants thanked me for the work I do. I do not know how many trustees applied, if any, but I would say from casual discussion with the principals of the Institute, that it is a selective process. I am very honored to have been a participant in this Institute.
I hope I was able to give you a little of the “flavor” and a little bit of knowledge from the Institute. Please feel free to browse around at http://institute21.stanford.edu for more information.
If you see yourself as the keeper of the books, sooner or later you’ll be shelved. If you contribute to the solution of other people’s information problems, you will always be in demand. A Participant.
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