Practicum Update

Loving my practicum experience thus far and wishing that I could just focus my time, energy, and effort at my site this semester instead of taking a second class. My project for the semester entails working with the library's legal collection -- the 340s -- which includes resources for the area attorneys (CADL houses materials for the county law library) and building pathfinders/annotated bibliographies for the patron-base. After surveying the collection, I'll putting together a survey for the two populations in order to better understand their information needs.

I've been drawing on a lot of content in which I learned from my Collection Development class (dankeschön, Dr. Holley) as well as recalling my professional experiences in working with the legal community as well as clients needing legal advocacy. I'm thrilled to be working on this project for the library!

30Y.30L Tour (#13): Brandon Township Library

Image by Andy Thompson

On Wednesday, December 7, the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I took a drive to Ortonville, Michigan to meet with Paula Gauthier, Director of Brandon Township Library.

Why did I select this library? Well, first off, I grew up in Oxford, Michigan, a small suburban town in northern Oakland County. Brandon and Ortonville were practically in my backyard which constitutes my old "stomping" ground. Secondly, I wanted to mix in a few larger libraries to add depth and diversity to the 30Y.30L campaign. And third, the very same architect which designed the library that started it all for me, Oxford Public Library, created Brandon Township Library -- a stunningly beautiful library with an impressive website to boot!

Location
Brandon Township Library is nestled in the rural-suburban Village of Ortonville, Michigan which is located in northern Oakland County. From Purdy-Kresge Library, home of the School of Library and Information Science, Brandon Township Library is about 50 miles northwest of Wayne State University's downtown Detroit campus. For me, however, the drive was a bit longer! For simplicity's sake, BTL is about 80 miles, or 1.5 hours, southwest of Sandusky District Library which is my "home" library.

About My Visit 
Because of the library's size, in comparison to the smaller rural libraries visited, I traveled from department to department meeting both public and technical services staff. The end result was amazing: I not only networked with some fabulous and innovative people, but ended up filling half of a brand new legal pad with anecdotes, ideas, and observations.

It's safe to say that I was completely engrossed in my visit and interviews because four hours passed from the time I walked in the door and it dawned on me that I hadn't eaten since the night before! Yet...I drove away completely energized and excited about my visit. Since I was down in the suburbs, I had a late lunch/early dinner with my mum at one of my favorite restaurants, CJ's, in downtown Lake Orion.

History
From the library's website:

The Library was established in 1926 by the Women’s Club of Ortonville, which raised money for a library by giving teas, shows, bridge benefits, and tag sales. By 1940 there was an average of 3600 books per year being checked out by cardholders.

Service Area, Size, and Operating Budget
As the name hints, Brandon Township Library serves only its namesake. In the recent past, the library had a contract to also serve Groveland Township which is now covered by Holly Township Library.

Like many libraries, BTL also serves out-of-area patrons, but for a fee which is completely understandable and justified in my opinion. (After all, people residing within the area are paying for library services by way of taxes. Why should someone like me, who pays taxes in Watertown Township, get free services in Brandon Township? I really need to write a blog post about the misconceptions surrounding library funding!) Any way, I digress...

The population in Brandon Township is about 15,200 giving BTL a Class 4 designation. According to the Library of Michigan, a Class 4 library serves a population of 12,000 to 25,999 and needs to:

• Be open a minimum of 40 hours per week.
• Employ (at least 35 hours per week) a director with at least a level 2 certificate. The director will complete the New Director’s workshop within one year of becoming a director and complete the Advanced Director’s workshop within two years of becoming a director.

(To read more about librarian certification, please visit my Eastpointe Memorial Library post.)

Statistics from 2010: BTL has  about 79,000 items in its collection and circulated about 159,000 materials.

Brandon Township Library employs 20 staff and currently (2011) operates with a budget of $905,149 which experienced a -12% change from just a year ago. Due to the current economic climate, the 2012 budget will experience a -16% change from 2010. As a result of the economy, the library has lost 9 staff due to a combination of lay-offs and retirements and will cut public service hours by closing the library on Fridays. By dropping Friday service hours, the agency will be just 1 hour above the minimum for a Class 4 designation.

About the Director
Like several directors interviewed for this project, Paula's professional roots began in the education field. "You get back what you give," said Paula. She wanted a career that was giving. Following that philosophy, her passion to help others and teach inspired her to pursue a MLS from the University of Michigan.

Paula has been in the LIS field for a total of 31 years. Of note, eleven of those years she was branch manager for the famous Kent District Library in the Grand Rapids area! To date, Paula has been with Brandon Township Library for just over 10 years with 6 of those in her current position as director.

Her favorite part of the job: "Building collaboration in the community." Following that same train of thought, later in the conversation, Paula said, "You can't be a successful library director if you stay in the building." Her least favorite part of the job: "Keeping the library operating under the current fiscal conditions."

Advice to the those entering the profession: "If you're going to enter the profession, only do it if you are innovative and forward thinking." She went on to add, "The digital age is upon us. Stay relevant in the 21st century. We need to embrace it."

While Brandon Township Library is not currently hiring, Paula shared some thoughts on the type of candidate she would be looking for:

• A big background in technology...a candidate that would meet the tech needs for the various patron populations;
• experience with social media and the ability to appropriately manipulate it for the library;
• experience in website development;
• knowledgeable about providing 21st century services to the various patron populations; and,
• a candidate that comes to an interview with three really great ideas in which they developed themselves. 

Intellectual Freedom
Last year, when I was required to visit several libraries for LIS 6010 with Dr. Maria Gonzalez, I began asking librarians how the Harry Potter series was received in the community. The series has experienced controversy over the years and has landed itself on the frequently challenged materials list compiled by the American Library Association.

As far as Brandon Township is concerned, it was received very well by the Brandon/Ortonville community. The library hosted a Harry Potter lock-in for one of the midnight releases. Kids were sorted into houses, made wands and developed their own spells using a Latin dictionary which staff would then translate and judge. 

Notes and Observations 

• From the youth services 2010 annual report (compliments of Fran Hotchkiss and Robin Loughlin), BTL delivered "a total of 677 planned programs with a total of 14,067 in attendance. [They] had a total of 4,029 children use the computers for educational games, 3,395 reference questions, 2,412 readers' advisory questions, 4,190 directional questions, and a total of 1,598 individuals used the story room for quiet reading."
• As mentioned above, BTL has a story and craft room that is attached to the children's area. They even have a special bathroom with a miniature toilet just for kids! (See my slideshow.)
• The children's area has a circulation desk! 
• BTL has a vending machine available to patrons in the library's lobby. 
• Paula made and donated the quilt that hangs in the board room. 
• The library has a natural-gas fireplace. 
• Beyond the geographical location, Oxford and Brandon are sister libraries -- the same architect created both buildings. 
• In the library's lobby area, there are several displays setup that help promote the various elements of the collection. One of the displays was actually purchased from the now defunct Borders.
• Jeanette Marks, teen librarian, gave me a tour of the teen and adult areas. I found out that her background was also in the human services/social work field prior to obtaining her MLIS from Wayne State University. There is a photo of the two of us featured in my slideshow. 
• Through collaboration with MSU-Extension, Ortonville Downtown Development Authority, and the local 4-H group, the library was able to develop a unique and innovative program called Entrepreneur Explosion which is targeted at teens. After attending a lecture series, of sorts, interested teens will be challenged to develop a business plan. If their plan is selected, they'll win office space rent for a year!
• BTL has a local history collection that is housed in its own room. 
• The library saw a need in the community and created a Business and Career Resource Center! Patrons can develop their resumes and build business plans. Colleen Stringer does the collection development for this section. The room also houses the library's business periodicals and features a bulletin board for job leads and fairs. 

30Y.30L Tour (#11): Eastpointe Memorial Library

On Monday, December 5, I took a road trip down to Eastpointe, also known as East Detroit, and met with Sue Todd, Assistant Director of Eastpointe Memorial Library. I've been asked, "Why Eastpointe?" Well, the answer is simple. Sue Todd is adjunct faculty at Wayne State University and my instructor for LIS 6510 (Children's Literature: Infant - 3rd Grade). I have thoroughly enjoyed her class and wanted to get a chance to chat with her about the LIS field and thank her for a wonderful semester.

Location
I had to laugh when thinking about how to write this section. If you have been following the 30Y.30L posts, you'll notice that I cite mileage and general direction from Purdy-Kresge Library in Detroit. Well...this library is just a hop, skip, and a jump from campus.

Eastpointe Memorial Library is just 10 miles northeast of Purdy-Kresge Library, home of the School of Library and Information Science, on Wayne State University's downtown Detroit campus. For those living in the Thumb area, EML is 75 miles southwest of Sandusky District Library.

Service Area, Size, and Operating Budget 
Eastpointe Memorial Library serves primarily the City of Eastpointe, but also the surrounding areas which include Harper Woods, Roseville, and Saint Clair Shores. I was astounded by the population numbers: Eastpointe (32,422), Harper Woods (14,236), Roseville (47,299), and Saint Clair Shores (59,715) -- giving the library's service population a total of: 153,672. Because the library's primary service area is Eastpointe and the population is less than 49,999,the agency falls under a Class 5 designation.

According to the Library of Michigan, a Class 5 library serves a population of 26,000 to 49,999 and needs to:

• Be open a minimum of 50 hours per week.
• Employ (at least 35 hours per week) a director with a Level 1 certificate. The director will complete the New Director’s workshop within one year of becoming a director and complete the Advanced Director’s workshop within two years of becoming a director.

You may have noticed that the libraries visited thus far have been a Class 1 - 3 agency which requires the director to have a minimal of Level 3 - 4 certification (depending on the class size); however, when a library is designated as a Class 4 or Class 5 agency, the director is required to have a higher certification. Here is the low-down on library staff certification from the Library of Michigan:

Level 1 certification requires:
(a) A master’s degree or its equivalent from a library school accredited by the American Library Association, and
(b) Four years of full-time library employment, or its equivalent, after receiving an MLS.

Level 2 certification requires:
(a) A master’s degree or its equivalent from a library school accredited by the American Library Association.

Level 3 certification requires:
(a) A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, and
(b) Completion of the Beginning Workshop offered by the Library of Michigan.

Level 4 certification requires:
(a) A high school diploma or equivalent, and
(b) One year of full-time library employment after receiving high school diploma or equivalent, and
(c) Completion of the Beginning Workshop offered by the Library of Michigan.

Eastpointe Memorial Library has an operating budget of $708,000. Comparing the budget to just two years ago, EML experienced -33% change!

Other relevant data:
Number of items in collection: 69,320; annual circulation: 158,038.

About the Assistant Director
Sue, an alumna of the School of Library and Information Science at Wayne State University, began her career in the LIS field 27 years ago when she first started at Eastpointe Library while working on her MLIS. However, certainly worth noting, she was a library aide during her middle school years and worked, while in undergrad, cataloging dissertations for Michigan State University's library.

According to the library's website, her first professional position was that of Adult Services Librarian. The year 2004 was a big one for Sue! It's when she first started teaching for the SLIS program at WSU and she became the Youth Services Librarian. Almost 5 years later, in spring of 2009, Sue became the Assistant Director of Eastpointe Memorial Library.

Favorite Part of the Job:
"Talking to the patrons. We have a good collection and good people on staff -- it's what keeps them coming back. The two go hand-in-hand: without the collection, we won't exist; without the people, we won't exist." Sue also enjoys when patrons who used the library as children come back with children of their own.

Advice to those entering the profession:
Sue offered tons of advice throughout the interview! "Every job can apply to the LIS field...Know your patron base...If you see a patron coming out of the stacks empty-handed, ask them if they need help finding something...Make yourself available and approachable...You need to adapt to different personalities...Be open-minded. Be flexible. Jobs will be available. You need to make yourself relevant."

Notes and Observations

• Due to budget cuts, the library no longer has pages on staff. Everyone pitches in and shelves these days.
• EML has a parent-teacher collection in the youth department.
• The library has a wonderful courtyard/patio that is used for story time and the summer reading program.
• Youth services typically has the most sections to navigate. 
• Sue finds the collection shelved under J398.2 the most difficult to weed. 
• EML is participating in the Geek the Library campaign.
• The library belongs to the Suburban Library Cooperative.
• By the time I left the library, it was 6:30p and dark! I couldn't take any exterior photos. (I didn't get home until 8:30p.)
• EML is one of the few libraries in the Metro-Detroit area that has a Christmas tree on display during the holiday season.

Religious Search Engines Yield Tailored Results (NPR)

I am subscribed to WSU's School of Library Science Listserv. A thread has been started discussing this specific article and its impact on the information sciences field.

Religious Search Engines Yield Tailored Results
by Habiba Nosheen (NPR)
September 13, 2010

In a world where Google has put every bit of information at our fingertips, some people are now demanding less information when they surf the Internet.

Some Jews, Muslims and Christians are abandoning Yahoo and Google and turning to search engines with results that meet their religious standards.

Shea Houdmann runs SeekFind, a Colorado Springs-based Christian search engine that only returns results from websites that are consistent with the Bible. He says SeekFind is designed "to promote what we believe to be biblical truth" and excludes sites that don't meet that standard.

Houdmann says a search on his site would not turn up pornography. If you search “gay marriage,” you would get results that argue against gay marriage. And if you type in “Democratic Party,” your first search result is a site on Marxism.

But SeekFind isn’t the only search engine carving a niche market among religious Internet users. There is also Jewogle for Jews and I'mHalal, a Muslim search engine that started in the Netherlands.

Husain Benyounis, a 44-year-old Muslim man from New Zealand, starting using I’mHalal about eight months ago, and now he says he’s a fan.

“I do use it at home, at work and everywhere,” Benyounis says.

He says the search engine offered him content that he can trust would be appropriate for him as a practicing Muslim. And he is much more comfortable allowing his teenage son to surf the Web using I'mHalal. For example, a search for “sex” would return results giving the Islamic view on sexuality.

But there are glitches. Sometimes the search engine’s filters are too restrictive. A search for “sexuality” returned no results on I’mHalal.

I’mHalal creator Reza Sardeha, 21, says the search engine is still a work in progress. Sardeha got the idea for I’mHalal about a year ago after finding that for some in the Muslim community, the Internet was effectively off-limits.

“People were avoiding the Internet because they were afraid they or their children would bump into explicit content. It’s a shame,” Sardeha says.

Currently, Sardeha says, most I’mHalal users come from Pakistan, and the second biggest group comes from the United States.

Inclusive and Exclusive

According to Michael Gartenberg, a partner at technology research firm Altimeter Group, these religiously centered search engines are bringing new users to the Web.

“You have an emerging generation and emerging culture that wants to take advantage of technology … search engines and the things that they provide but at the same point, be true to their heritage … and not stray from their belief system,” he says.

But not everyone has been supportive of the idea. Some people call it censorship. SeekFind's Houdmann disagrees.

“In a sense, I guess kind of what SeekFind does is a form of censorship, but I would more describe it as selective inclusion,” he says.

Some who oppose such search engines argue that allowing people to only access material that they already agree with will lead to an intolerant society. But Gartenberg says he does not see it that way.

“It’s no more censorship than if I find something on television that I find offensive to me and I could change the channel,” he says.

I’mHalal says that within the first year since its launch, it is already getting 10 million users a month. With that kind of traffic, these search engines are likely here to stay.