We all run into them now and again….  Techno-resistant librarians. I used to think such an attitude would cost them their jobs.  No more. Now I think those retro-librarians might cost ALL of us our jobs.

What is the impact of 21st Century Librarians operating under a 20th (19th?) century mind-set?

The Times They are A-Changin’ (Bob Dylan)

Your old road is

Rapidly agin’.

Please get out of the new one

If you can’t lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin’.

I attended a workshop about integrating Apple technology (ipods etc) into Gananda’s  curriculum. Exciting stuff. I was amazed and humbled, when several of my Gananda colleagues referred to me as the “most creative” member of our team.  The head presenter from the Apple team (a former librarian) was excited to hear that.  She then mentioned a recent workshop she’d done for a neighboring district.  Sadly,one of the librarians there reacted very badly to the presentation.  She said “I did not sign up for all this tech stuff when I became a librarian.  I went into it for books.”

Talk about cringe-worthy!! These workshops are presented to school teams that often include  superintendents and  building principals.  Library jobs are at risk.  How does this kind of attitude play in front of  a group like that?

Now… Think about the legion of us on the cutting edge of technology….how many present in-services to  teachers…how many work with hesitant teachers and give them the courage to try new things.  And on and on and on.  And yet still, we fight that #$&^ stereotype of the “bookish” librarian.  Yes…many of us go into the profession for love of books, reading and research.  But guess what – we STILL get to do that.  We just have more formats at our command.How great is that?!

I suspect these “throw-back” librarians give us all a bad name.

The incident reminded me of  my all-time favorite blog comment:

Librarians WILL care about technological trends and how they affect their jobs in a few years – when the first generation raised on WiFi and high speed internet and web-enabled toilet seats reaches college age.

Guess what. That time has arrived.

That question was posted on LM_NET this week.  The original post placed some blame on the failure of library leaders to adapt to technological change.

Yes – some in the library world have been oblivious to the systemic change brought about by new technologies.  But many have been on the forefront of  that change. Doug Johnson, Joyce Valenza, Buffy Hamilton, Cathy Jo Nelson – just to name a very few.

I recently read a blog post – Be an agent for the customer: Hospitality Revisited.

Here is an excerpt:

…the difference between Agents and Gatekeepers …(from Danny Meyer’s book, “Setting the Table”) … An agent makes things happen for others. A gatekeeper sets up barriers to keep people out. We’re looking for agents… did I present myself as an agent or a gatekeeper? In the world of hospitality, there’s rarely anything in between.”

I think the librarian as “agent that makes things happen” is where we belong.

The library should be the place where everything happens.  Librarians are the ones in the strongest position to be an agent for change in our schools.  We know the curriculum, we know the teachers, we know the students, we know the technology. The library should be the place where we move heaven and earth to bring all these  things together to educate students. If gates and barriers are put up in front of students and teachers, it is the librarian’s job to find a way around, over or under those barriers to bring kids together with the tools they need to become 21st century creative learners.

I plan to ask myself this question frequently in the future:  “In this situation, am I an agent or a gatekeeper?”