Technology in libraries: pondering our purpose vol. 1

Most of November and December were too filled with frustration and exhaustion for writing. But now, it's 2007, I'm working on having a better attitude about things, so away we go.

We had the chance to hear AN EXPERT speak earlier this week about Library 2.0, social networking software, and various other buzz-topics involving libraries and techno-geekery. I'm not sure why a person who takes what other people have researched and written and packages it into something palatable to a particular organization is considered 'an expert' who should 'be paid' to 'regurgitate others' research,' but that discussion is for another venue. However, to be fair, the EXPERT did say a lot of stuff that our administrative types need to hear about flattening the organization and creating greater transparency. Did they hear that stuff? I dunno.

This EXPERT talked about all the cool stuff various library systems are doing. AADL is doing pretty awesome stuff with mashups and having librarians blog and allowing the public to comment on those blogs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg is far and away the coolest public library system on earth in my opinion, with it's ImaginOn this and participatory learning that. And there's that library system in Illinois (Peoria?) with its SecondLife library. There a lot of awesomeness to go around.

I found myself wondering, as I did two summers ago in Queens how all this awesomeness filters down to the public I actually serve. Our library system offers downloadable audiobooks, but folks in my community can't afford mp3 players, and have only a passing acquaintance with using computers and the English language. My primary constituency, teenagers, might be both receptive to and capable of playing with these technologies, but how do I hook them? They are mostly content to dwell in the MySpace ghetto, looking at scantily clad women and displaying their gang affiliations. (very broad and unfair generalization, I know.)

A colleague from another branch complained that our physical holdings suck in terms of breadth and depth, and that we're putting too much emphasis on technology--that we aren't serving our customers well. It was on the tip of my tongue to disagree with her because, let's face it, why do something for real when I can do it virtually? I'm a member of generation Nintendo/Cyberpunk. But I think our suburban demographics are really shifting, so that we're serving what was once thought of as the inner-city populace. I could pay lipservice to the whole "libraries bridging the digital divide" school of thought, but how are we doing that, really? We currently have isolated technology pilot projects going on here and there throughout the system, but we don't really hear about them until they're done and none of them are happening at my library.

We have a administrative division dedicated to technological innovation, but I'm unclear as to how that really looks at how the technology can be applied to serve the public we actually have, rather than the public we want to serve.

I guess the short way of saying what I want to say is this: I have kids who are totally disengaged from larger society. They dwell in their little tribes, and as a result get into all kinds of trouble. They can't see any big picture, and thus can't imagine a future for themselves. I believe that we can use technology to engage them such that they see their world in a slightly different way, and I think that might be enough of a whack upside to head to change a few kids. I am not able to do this right now, and it frustrates me. I don't even know if changing the world view of children falls into the mission of our library system, and if if doesn't, then why doesn't it? Literacy means all kinds of things that go beyond just reading. I don't think 'being able to read good' is an end in of itself. I think it's a stepping stone, a tool. I think we can use technology to trick kids into reading and learning more than they intend to. But, like I said before, I'm not getting to do that. And I'm also a little unclear as to how to start doing this. Argh. Need help.