In the News

Forgot to link to the ProJo article on the fundraising forum yesterday.

Also, I was debating whether or not to react to the reaction to the rape in New Bedford. I hear that in some communities, the pitchfork-weilding citizenry are on the march. That's not happening in my neighborhood, maybe because no one's under the impression that it's particularly safe. So instead of commenting myself, I direct you to the most avant suggestion I've read so far.

"Funders don't want to fill your pail; they want to light your fire."

I went to the fundraising forum on my dinner break yesterday, and I really wish that what they'd handed me when I walked in was a glossary of terms as opposed to a chart about sustainable library funding.* The whole meeting reminded me of my days as an archivist (cue the harp music and image distortion), when I used to spend hours pouring over 18th century church records. You'd think that after all that pouring [CORRECTION: that should be poring, as one of my esteemed colleagues pointed out], I'd know the difference between a bequest and an endowment, but it's still sort of fuzzy.

But the meeting made me want to know. Here were two library directors, one from the Westerly Public Library and one from Hartford, who could rattle off fundraising strategies, statistics, and William Butler Yeats quotes with dazzling accuracy. They were passionate library advocates with tantalizing anecdotes that make you think, oh, if only I were so clever.

But enough gushing. As I was saying, fundraising is complicated, and has its own vocabulary. Fortunately, certain things transcend the vernacular, and here's what I took home:

• "Library leadership needs to reach out to supporters." That's a quote from the director of the Hartford Public Library. She also said that she "put a public face on the library," making sure she was at the table when decisions were being made and partnering with organizations and individuals who could also be library advocates. Further, she recruited people to the development committee who she felt were "boundary spanners," as in people who could bring the gospel of library services to the people walking in darkness.
  
• Every library is funded differently--in every city, in every state--so there's no one way to do funding. You have to employ a variety of strategies.
  

A few fun facts:

• At the Westerly Public Library, they put a tip jar at the circulation desk for loose change, and they make $1,000 a year that way.
• The Hartford Public Library has many funders who live outside the city. These people have some personal historical connection, and they care about the maintenance of the institution on principle.
  

There were about 25 people there, a couple library employees, two guys about my age who had a journalistic air about them, some recognizable PPL higher-ups, union peeps, and library reform stalwarts. I hardly think it attracted anyone besides the usual suspects, which is too bad, because I believe it would have been interesting to a wide variety of non-profit types.

I couldn't stay for the Q&A, but I walked out thinking, this totally confirmed what I think. Which may be a sign that I'm becoming sort of stuck in my position, which is: why doesn't PPL make more information available to its employees and the public? I know that there are some limitations on what you can or want to say when you're battling it out with the city. But I think PPL could do more to remind people how important the library is, or to warn them of threats to library services. Where's our "public face"?

*OK, I admit it: I really wish they'd handed me a cup of coffee and a nice glazed donut, but if it had to be a paper product ...

Fundraiser, fundraiser, make me a match! Find me a find! Catch me a catch!

There's a pointed and well written letter to the editor in today's Providence Journal. Of course, I like the slant, since it's the same as mine. It also says that "The mayor, under the new agreement between the city and PPL, is expected to serve as the honorary chair of a new fundraiser for the library." Maybe by pretending this is going to happen, we can make it happen?

That actually worked for my sister when she wanted to get a cat. Instead of asking my mom for a cat, she started asking, "When we get a cat, what will we name it?" So I'm all for asking the city and PPL, "when we get a fundraiser, who will we appeal to?* how will we communicate with them? what information will we communicate in order to motivate them? and how will we establish accountability so the funds are used as advertised?"

Whether or not we can actually expect a fundraiser, it is in the memorandum of agreement between PPL and the city. Voila: "The Mayor of the City of Providence will serve as an honorary chair of a fundraising appeal for branch libraries and will identify and recruit an appropriate individual to serve as the other co-chair. The city and the PPL will agree on the use of the funds to be raised in this appeal based on the recommendation of the Library Partnership Advisory Committee. " Page 6, people.

At the community meetings last year, PPL administration talked about its fundraising efforts, but if you check the language above, it puts the mayor on the hook and PPL off--as far as fundraising for the branches goes--which is unfortunate, because I want everybody to be on the hook like it's a coat check. Just like I want everyone to have a website with lots and lots of information (I'm just dying to stalk the Library Partnership Advisory Board online...)

Anyway, here's a discussion question: What is PPL? A central library with branches? Or branches with a central headquarters?

Also, I'm not sure when Library Reform updated their webpage, but they did.** And it has a very scary picture of children with scissors and gluesticks covered by a big red X!!!

*I know, I know, it should actually read: "To whom will we appeal?" But I always feel snooty correcting my own grammar.
**Is it because I was an archivist that I get frustrated when things aren't dated?

Fanfare

So much going on!

First of all, Mother Reader has the best coverage of the reaction to the Newbury, Caldecott, etc. Because of the snow day yesterday, I, to my profound embarassment, had to be informed of the winners by a dapper parent who was at my door when we opened, hoping to snatch my copies of the winners. I'm a little sad that Kadir Nelson didn't cash in, but I kind of like the Caldecott committee for picking such a genre-bender.

Second, the Daily Dose suggests you attend a Library Trustees Meeting. Sort of.

Third, I got an e-mail press release about the 2008 American Indian Youth Literature Award. The ALSC website hasn't been updated, but here are the winners, quoted directly from the press release (The YA title is no surprise--it's been showing up everywhere):

Picture Book

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom by Tim Tingle, illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridge. Cinco Puntos Press, 2006.

A beautifully inspired story of a friendship between Martha Tom, a Choctaw girl and Li' Mo, a slave boy and how their relationship brought wholeness and freedom to Mo's family and also to many slaves. Bridge's illustrations enhance the story by resonating the joy of friendship, the light of faith, and the leadership of children.

Middle School

Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, by Joseph Medicine Crow. National Geographic, 2006.

This appealing autobiography of Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow (Absarokee) is a winner with the young and old. The author recounts his adventures and training as a traditional Crow warrior and his service as a decorated World War II veteran. Walk, run and ride with him as you learn first-hand

about real-life on the Crow reservation before during and after encounters with newcomers. In a text that is not preachy, but and honest read, Joseph Medicine Crow tell how he over came many challenges to fulfill is role as Chief of the Crow Nation.

Young Adult

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Little Brown Publishers, 2007.

A realistic, bitter-sweet yet, humorous look at the life of Arnold, a Spokane Indian teenager making his way in life on the reservation while attending an all white high school. Alexie brings to life the challenges many young native people experience as they learn to navigate and balance Indian life in a modern world. Part autobiography, Alexie's Arnold reminds us of the complexities of coming of age, bigotry, bullies, loyalty to family and the meaning of love.

Speak of the Devil

Apparently, I am the devil. According to Wednesday's Projo article, "at the same time it is warning of the layoffs, the library has hired at least five librarians recently, angering the union that represents the library employees."

I'm pretty sure* that I'm one of those librarians, and I don't want to seem like a piker, so let me just point out that these librarians, with the exception of one, weren't hired to create new positions. They were hired to fill existing positions --they're not replacing the specialists.

Anyway, the specialists' positions are important, and it's a crime to terminate them. But PPL doesn't want to touch the endowment and the city hasn't done anything to raise funds. And no one else is doing anything because no one thinks they're really going to do anything. So of course everyone at the Childrens' Roundtable today was relating it to The Boy Who Cried Wolf, because we relate everything to picture books.

I don't have much to add to what I said last time, except that in one place, the article says the positions will end in March, and in another place, it says the money will run out in May. Oh, and the last press release on the PPL website is: Providence Public Library Receives $106,230 Grant from The Champlin Foundations.

Oh yeah, and it sucks to read in the newspaper that you're getting fired, before you hear anything about it from your employer.

*Note that I said "pretty sure," because I don't want to be guilty of spreading disinformation. Since no one's officially informing us of anything, I don't know much of anything for a fact. How's that for a disclaimer?

Punching the kids in the stomach

I've been lax in my reporting on the continued PPL fund-scrabbling. There isn't enough money to do what needs to be done, so here's the plan: eliminate the children's specialists in March. It's brilliant, really. I mean, which patrons are least likely to make the city and library feel their wrath? How bout school children? Sweet.

Apparently, the municipal library services board (without any power) was set up last year, and they've created this letter that people can sign and send to the mayor expressing their disapproval. You can pick up a copy of the letter at most branches (I think). Here are the facts in case anyone wants to pen his or her own:

At the 3 large branches, childrens services are offered by a children's librarian and a children's specialist (someone with loads of experience but no masters degree) , but at each of the 6 small branches, there is no separate children's librarian. There is one adult librarian and one children's specialist.

But after March, there will be just an adult librarian and a clerk working the circulation desk. Not only is that level of staffing (2 people!) ludicrous, but it precludes children's programming which requires the attention of the librarian.

The letter that the board has created points out that

• only $100,000 are required to continue the specialist's positions to the end of the year.
• PPL can't effectively fundraise, because people won't give their money unless they know it will go to the branches--not just some general fund.
• the Mayor agreed "to serve as an honorary chair of a fund-raising appeal for the branches" last summer.
• now is the time to raise funds!

If you would like to make a similar point to the Mayor, his address is

City Hall
25 Dorrance St.
Providence, RI
02903

Where your mouth is

I'm alittle late with this, but in case you don't read the ProJo religiously, here's a bullet point summary of the June 14 article:

• The city and PPL signed a contract, but the city council has to approve it.
• The city is contributing $3.3 million this year, with cost of living increases every year following.
• They're establishing something called a Library Partnership Advisory Committee. I assume this is a variation on the theme of "Municipal Library Services Board." In the words of the article, this board will "oversee finances across the library system, though the body would have no authority over the PPL’s trustees."* So what exactly do they have authority over? City/state money? Can the trustees trump them there, too?
• Ten people are being laid off.
• Fox Point, Smith Hill, Olneyville, South Providence and Wanskuck will be open 28½ hours a week instead of 30, and all branches will be closed for lunch and dinner (because there will no longer be enough staff to cover breaks).

Ignore the rah-rah nut graph about "ending a years-long dispute over library service and establishing the first written agreement in the history of their 100-year relationship." Seriously, does anyone really think the problems are over?

*I hear that there's already some formula for how to populate this board, but no one can tell me exactly what it is or how people will be selected. But don't worry, there are going to be representatives of the people.

Roses are red/pink slips are pink/we'll be blue in July/if it's as bad as I think

Today was the day we were supposed to know what the city and PPL had decided to do. You should have seen me digging through the pile of junk mail in my front hall, looking for that pink slip. It didn't come.

But that doesn't mean I still have a job. It just means that the city and PPL missed the deadline for making a decision. Translation: all the branches will be closed in 30 days unless the city makes a move.

The "Transition Team" is meeting one more time on June 7 at 4 p.m. Meetings are open to the public ...

Wish you were here

So lately I have been seeking inspiration from the mesmerizing fish tank at Jacky's Galaxie, my favorite Asian take-out place. (You can get a lunch combo with crab rangoon, chicken wings, fried rice, and nime chow for $5.) And it occurred to me while staring into it today that I should reflect on what I learned by stalking PPL through all those community meetings.

Otherwise, how will I ever talk other people into attending these kind of meetings? Most people thought the poster sessions were meaningless window dressing or face-saving last ditches. They told me that a) this happened, like, all the time, and it wasn't like this time was different or anything would ever really change or the libraries would actually be closed, and b) the meetings weren't about listening to the public--they were about telling the public what to think.

And I'm not saying they're wrong. But by attending those meetings, I learned that there are ways to subvert, redirect, disrupt, and transform them. And there are definitely ways to learn from them. So this is why I can honestly say, wish you were here. Because these are the techniques I observed and plan to use in the future:

• Change the seating arrangement. I learned this from the senior citizens who insisted they weren't about to risk their knees, ankles, and hips traipsing up to those easels. They demanded chairs and as soon as they got them, they demanded that the PPL reps come to them, and soon the whole meeting went from cocktail party to sit-down dinner, and it was a lot easier for people to listen to each other.
  
• Don't tell anyone who you are. It makes you harder to dismiss by categorization (i.e. oh, she's one of those people). If people see you actively approaching others and talking to them, they're going to start to wonder who you are, what group you represent, etc., and you'd be surprised who will come to you.
• Ask questions of the wrong people. And by "wrong," I mean anyone who didn't organize the meeting and expect to mc it. This could be a random bystander or another member of the organization who hasn't been groomed for the cameras.


• Dig up old documents. Like mission statements. Anything that will help you hold the organization accountable to its own principles or expose idiosyncrasies in the way the organization interprets them.


• Speak your own language. Obviously, I'm thinking of the people who spoke Spanish, but that's only one example. The point is not to let the people who organized the meeting choose the vocabulary you use. Call it like it is. Make them translate.
  
• Bring children. They ask the best, so-simple-they're-impossible-to-answer questions and make adults who refuse to answer them look like storybook villains.


• Introduce yourself. You can usually pick out the politicians and trustees by their shoulder pads, but they often don't introduce themselves. It's great fun to shake hands and ask them what brings them to such-and-such-place tonight. (This may seem to contradict #2, but what I really meant above is that you shouldn't ally yourself with a particular group--don't make yourself too easy to categorize--I didn't mean that you shouldn't tell people your name.)


• Ask what you can do. At the risk of sounding like JFK, I'd like to point out that it's really disconcerting to people in power when you show them that you didn't just come to criticize. You came to be involved. It's a way of saying, this isn't over when you leave tonight.

Resisting puns about the blind v. the visionary

Last night's grand finale featured cameos by Peter Mancini, Lisa Churchville, and others. The articulate and well-informed audience as if by mutual consent raised one essential question: Why is PPL so committed to the main library and so ready to abandon the branches?

They eventually got a good answer. (Answers like this make you wonder why PPL passes up opportunities to make allies out of the public as opposed to enemies--and maybe enemies is an overstatement, but the first few meetings certainly didn't engender much goodwill--why is there so little communication between the private nonprofit and the people it serves?) The answer was that the city wants its money to go to the branches as opposed to the main library, so the current structure--with PPL funding the main library and public funds going to the outlying branches--is as much a product of city priorities as PPL priorities.

The problem remains that the branches are no one's priority, but now it looks like the branches will remain open. It's "services" (read: reference librarians) that are going to be cut.

I had to leave early--in the middle of a lively debate about the Springfield model versus the New York City model (for combining public and private funds to support public libraries)--but I did learn alittle about the Board's interpretation of its mission statement, and no, it includes no specific commitment to the branches. But there is one line I like: "We constantly reassess our services and methods and try to see ourselves through the public’s eyes. " So how do they see themselves now?

West Side Story

Well, you have to give PPL credit for improving their game. Since Knight Memorial, they've had a Spanish translator all their own, and at Smith Hill they actually got to use him. They had the Spanish-speaking crowd on one side of the library and English-speakers on the other, and the only drama of the evening came when someone from the English side of the tracks wandered over to Spanishville, and the translator apparently thought he'd only been hired to translate one-way.

Dale had a pretty receptive audience of people who admitted that before they just hadn't understood the unique arrangement between PPL and the city. They professed themselves now prepared to take the issue up with their city council people. However, one woman flummoxed Dale by asking if there was some way people could be involved in the current contract negotiations between PPL and the city. Dale reflected and decided that no, there really wasn't any way the people could be involved in telling the city what level of library services they wanted.

There was also one precocious kid with a crew cut (circa age 8) who sipped coffee from a styrofoam cup and, after informing Date that he read the newspaper every day and was therefore in the know, inquired as to the fate of his beloved branch. Dale told him no one was talking about closing the branches. I tried to give the kid a sympathetic look, since I know full well that no one in this cold, cruel world takes you seriously if you look to be under the age of 20. Even if you're white, male, crew-cutted, and drinking coffee.

Ultimately, the question is, who will advocate for the branches if neither the city nor PPL considers itself responsible?

That 3.3. mil

Here's what PPL proposes to do with it. Looks like the city and PPL are going to have a contractual relationship.

Good Knight and Good Luck

I suppose it was inevitable, but it was honestly unplanned. Usually I rehearse my impassioned speeches in the bathroom mirror and make sure I'm wearing something other than a t-shirt and flip-flops when I deliver them. But there I was, talking to one of the immaculately dressed trustees, feeling crestfallen by the tiny turnout at Knight Memorial Library, and when she asked me what I thought about fundraising strategies for the branches, I momentarily teetered on my imaginary soap box and told her what I thought.

But let me rewind. When I walked into the Knight Memorial meeting, I was greeted by a woman I hadn't seen before, who made small talk, offered cookies, and steered me toward a carefully selected PPL rep. You'd think I'd be tired of talking to Tonia and Dale, but I learn something new every time.

This time I learned (or realized, because it should have been obvious, but wasn't) that all of PPL's proposed "options of continuing branch services" separate city-and-state money from PPL money. What PPL is offering is to let the city (and/or representatives from the public) manage city-and-state funds. What PPL is not offering is to let anyone besides the trustees participate in what the private nonprofit does with its funds. And apparently, what the private nonprofit wants to do with its funds is channel all of them into the downtown library. So all of their solutions cut the branch libraries off from the main library--and from the precious endowment.

So fastforward to me and the trustee. She said she thought that fundraising for the branches would have to be done separately from fundraising for the downtown library. And that's when, right hand atremble, I said (or thought I was saying, because of course I don't remember exactly what came out) ...

...that I became a librarian because I wanted to equalize access and remove disparities in society, and by funding the downtown library and excluding the branches, the trustees are choosing to reinforce disparities. They are priveleging people who can access the main branch and cutting off families and many working people, and most of all children. And if fundraising for the branches is done separately, then the wealthy communities will have better resources--and that's obviously already true, if you look at Rochambeau--and then libraries will just be part of the process of cacifiying socio-economic differences and dividing us and depriving people.

When you say things like that, that you really believe, you do it in sort of a glow of embarassment and earnestness, and later the memory is a little fuzzy. It doesn't help when the trustee tells you that you look about sixteen, which is probably your own fault for coming in flip-flops, but you were on the phone with your friend from Alaska until just 8 minutes before the meeting.

Anyway. I also learned that the union has the list of 53 employees PPL is planning to let go. The union is holding on to the list rather than issuing pink slips because they hope no one will actually have to go. But I should know about my own fate by June 1. As I left, the trustee wished me good luck. As though she had nothing to do with what happened. Which seems to be what everyone at PPL thinks: that it has nothing to do with them.

From glorious to glamorous

So at Olneyville I met (although I didn't realize it) the gentleman in charge of the library show at Firehouse 13. There's not a ton of info on the website, so here's the call for artists' work that was on the RISCA blog (although the deadline was April 13). I was first informed of this show by someone who wanted to know if I could get bootleg library cards for people from out of state--since the ads say you have to have a PPL card to get in. Very VIP. Anyway, I thought a gallery of library artwork was deliciously kitchsy, but now that I know it's also in support of our glorious cause, I thought I'd plug it, too.

El poder de la palabra

At Olneyville, the PPL reps tried the same strategy of setting up easels with the four options for branch services and inviting people to ask questions. Unfortunately, none of the PPL reps spoke Spanish. This proved problematic, since all of the community members in attendance spoke Spanish first and foremost. (I speak a few words of Spanish, so I admit that this is pot=kettle=black. Still, I could say "nombre" and "numero de telephono," so I did get the contact info of the most vocal community members.) Fortunately, one of the Olneyville librarians spoke Spanish, so the entire meeting was channeled through her.

Sadly, the cocktail atmosphere was completely disrupted by the fact that all the people who showed up for the meeting couldn't possibly squeeze into the teensy meeting room in the back of the library. Everything overflowed into the space in front of the circulation desk, and no one was able to enjoy the delicious decaf coffee. Dale Thompson was forced to personally answer questions about everything from fundraising to handicap access to why the library was spending so may dollars on those fascist, newfangled computer machines (???).

There was strong representation from the community (circa 30 people) and a real push by at least one woman to provide people with a petition to sign, or at least some formal way to show their support for branch libraries.

Word is that the PPL financial committee has crafted a tentative budget (subject to approval by who knows how many groups and individuals) that accepts the 3.3 mil from the city. The discussion now has to do with whether they'll cut people or branches to stay in the black. There's some formula for dividing the overhead costs by the different branches and calculating the price tag of each branch. This budget would probably involve 10-12 layoffs rather than 60, so that explains why no one (to my knowledge) has actually received pink slips yet.

What do PPL community meetings have in common with the 4th of July?

You'll have to bring your lawn chairs if you want to sit down and watch the show.

Apparently, Providence Public Library wants its community meetings to have the ambiance of 1950s cocktail parties. They have four representatives standing next to easels explaining the four options for continuing branch services. Dale Thompson invites "the people" to come up and ask questions. There aren't any chairs set up, so everyone has to sort of mingle. I guess it's easier to deal with people one-on-one than in an angry rabble.

In other words, these aren't meetings. They're poster sessions. With cookies, flowers, and coffee. Decaf, of course.

I went to the first poster session on Monday at Mount Pleasant Public and people were pretty frustruated because the easels, handouts, and socratic convos with PPL reps didn't actually make the situation any easier to understand. People want to know who's responsible for keeping the branches open. PPL says its the city; the city says it's PPL.

Michael Solomon and Joseph DeLuca, the city councilmen for the neighborhood, were in attendance, but there was no chit-chat between Thompson and the gentlemen. The standoff continues. I'm going to Olneyville's meeting tonight. And I'm really looking forward to Monday's meeting at Knight Memorial, because I have high hopes that South Providence will represent itself well.

And if you're wondering about that angry rabble, check out http://libraryreformgroup.org/.