On Episode 2 of the IP Address, I interviewed Saima Kadir. Saima is the manager of Virtual Library Services at Houston Public Library, yet she has a love of books as tangible objects. She's looking forward, towards the digital future, but hasn't lost sight of the value of the trained reference librarian.
Download Episode 2 of The IP Address
Attributions:
Intro: Year of the Dog - Walker Lukens
Song 1: Crazy Glue (Instrumental Version) (Josh Woodward) / CC BY 3.0
Song 2: house (johnny_ripper) / CC BY 3.0
Song 3: in a dream (johnny_ripper) / CC BY 3.0
Song 5: Cantina Rag (Jackson F. Smith) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Song 6: garden (johnny_ripper) / CC BY 3.0
Song 7: nicolas (johnny_ripper) / CC BY 3.0
Song 8: i am error (johnny_ripper) / CC BY 3.0
Outro: Intermission - Carousel Shy/Walker Lukens
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
A certain call...or You can google "human kindness", but you need a librarian to actually find it.
So I had this call today in telephone reference. It was a woman, probably older but not elderly. And she said, "Could you do me a favor? Could you call me back at this number so that I can make sure it still works? I don't have anyone else to call."
You know, it's certainly possible that she didn't have anyone else to call because it was 10:30 in the morning and people she knew were at work. Maybe she's home with the flu, or something. Maybe it was a brand new phone number and she didn't know whether it was receiving calls yet. There are all sorts of reasons she might have made that request.
But...
When you work telephone reference enough, you get to know the demographic of people who tend to call the library for information. They are older. Most of the time, they are working class or working poor. I have to be honest: Sometimes they are straight up crazy. She didn't have that air of crazy though. My guess is that she was on disability or something, because she didn't sound old enough to be retired. It was just so sad, to think about not having enough contact with people to be sure your phone number is actually working.
Then again, I was also kind of glad to get the call. I could have said, "That is not a service the library offers." But it was a local number, so I thought, why not? I am so happy the library is there for people like this woman. It feels good to be able to help them, in ways large and small. Like, sure, yeah, we'll call you back. And yeah, anytime we're open, go ahead and drop us a line.
We will listen as you describe your terrible debilitating medical condition or your financial woes or your legal troubles or how your son never calls you or that you can't remember where the post office is or how you are confused because the world is changing so fast. We will listen and we will find what you need or refer you to a place that can help. Or sometimes, we will just listen because we know that's all you really wanted.
You know, it's certainly possible that she didn't have anyone else to call because it was 10:30 in the morning and people she knew were at work. Maybe she's home with the flu, or something. Maybe it was a brand new phone number and she didn't know whether it was receiving calls yet. There are all sorts of reasons she might have made that request.
But...
When you work telephone reference enough, you get to know the demographic of people who tend to call the library for information. They are older. Most of the time, they are working class or working poor. I have to be honest: Sometimes they are straight up crazy. She didn't have that air of crazy though. My guess is that she was on disability or something, because she didn't sound old enough to be retired. It was just so sad, to think about not having enough contact with people to be sure your phone number is actually working.
Then again, I was also kind of glad to get the call. I could have said, "That is not a service the library offers." But it was a local number, so I thought, why not? I am so happy the library is there for people like this woman. It feels good to be able to help them, in ways large and small. Like, sure, yeah, we'll call you back. And yeah, anytime we're open, go ahead and drop us a line.
We will listen as you describe your terrible debilitating medical condition or your financial woes or your legal troubles or how your son never calls you or that you can't remember where the post office is or how you are confused because the world is changing so fast. We will listen and we will find what you need or refer you to a place that can help. Or sometimes, we will just listen because we know that's all you really wanted.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Episode 1: Paty Bustamante
On the first episode of The IP Address, I interviewed Paty Bustamante. Now the chief of the Central Library at the Houston Public Library, Paty didn't start off wanting to be a librarian.
Download IP Address - Episode 1
RSS feed: http://ipaddress.libsyn.com/rss
Attributions:
Intro: Year of the Dog (Walker Lukens)
Song 1: Time lapse (GarageBand cinematic effect)
Song 2: Fantasy (Podington Bear) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Song 3: Love Sprouts (Podington Bear) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Song 4: Mind Mapping (Revolution Void) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Song 5: Les Soirs (Oskar Schuster) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Song 6: Ascending obsolescence (krackatoa) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Song 7: Opening credits (johnny_ripper) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Download IP Address - Episode 1
RSS feed: http://ipaddress.libsyn.com/rss
Attributions:
Intro: Year of the Dog (Walker Lukens)
Song 1: Time lapse (GarageBand cinematic effect)
Song 2: Fantasy (Podington Bear) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Song 3: Love Sprouts (Podington Bear) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Song 4: Mind Mapping (Revolution Void) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Song 5: Les Soirs (Oskar Schuster) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Song 6: Ascending obsolescence (krackatoa) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Song 7: Opening credits (johnny_ripper) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Song 8: La ere gymnopedie (Peter Johnston) / Public domain
Song 9: Cylinder Six (Chris Zabriskie) / CC BY 4.0
Outro: Intermission [Carousel Shy (Walker Lukens)]
Lessons to walk away with:
1. You can try to chart a course for your future, but it pays to be adaptable.
2. Get a job/volunteer at a library, especially if you're looking to go into the public library. It's very important to see the reality behind the theories you learn in school.
3. Public libraries are changing shape. See number 1.
4. Whether it's with coworkers or with customers, successful librarians are always liaising with technology. So be a team player, but also seek out new trends and new ways to leverage emerging technology to improve teamwork and service.
5. Be engaged and informed in the world around you.
Bonus!
A picture of the Go Red for Women! display mannequins that we referenced in the interview.
This is the video that I ripped the audio clip from in the show opening. It is in the public domain, so I don't have to give attribution...but it's kinda neat, so I wanted to share it.
Outro: Intermission [Carousel Shy (Walker Lukens)]
Lessons to walk away with:
1. You can try to chart a course for your future, but it pays to be adaptable.
2. Get a job/volunteer at a library, especially if you're looking to go into the public library. It's very important to see the reality behind the theories you learn in school.
3. Public libraries are changing shape. See number 1.
4. Whether it's with coworkers or with customers, successful librarians are always liaising with technology. So be a team player, but also seek out new trends and new ways to leverage emerging technology to improve teamwork and service.
5. Be engaged and informed in the world around you.
Bonus!
A picture of the Go Red for Women! display mannequins that we referenced in the interview.
This is the video that I ripped the audio clip from in the show opening. It is in the public domain, so I don't have to give attribution...but it's kinda neat, so I wanted to share it.
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