Three words, kids: Missing. Presumed. Erased.

Or, An Epic Rant in Forty-Seven Parts**

Oh, what is she going on about NOW?

Well, it's time to rant about preservation. Must be Tuesday, you say. Yes, yes it is.

You know how it is--budget cuts, times are tough, bla bla bla. Well, a friend who works for the BBC mentioned on Facebook that today was the last ever taping of Blue Peter (a super-long running British kids show, think Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers) at its current location, at the BBC's famous Television Centre.That's because it is marked for closure.

A brief bit of history, for those of you into that sort of thing: Television Centre in London was the first building in the world entirely dedicated to recording and transmitting TV programs. In fact, it has been in operation for over fifty years for such a purpose. A crazy number of shows have been recorded there. Including some that have made their way to US audiences, like Monty Python, Absolutely Fabulous, Fawlty Towers, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and my personal favorite, Doctor Who (which has existed, in one form or another, since 1963). And that's just the ones you might have heard of. Think of the hundreds and hundreds of others I haven't mentioned here.

Amazing stonework (barely) saved from the bulldozer.

My heart broke when demolition was mentioned as a possible end for the structure. I kept thinking of the Chicago Stock Exchange, which is now just a memory, and a beautiful 1893 sculpted arch resting all by its little lonesome in a park on the corner of Columbus Drive and Monroe Street, and a careful transplant of the stock exchange floor inside the Art Institute of Chicago. A few reminders, some photos, and memories of how much we don't like old things and want to clear them away for new things, even if they're architectural masterpieces, or hold a ton of history.

Look at that awesome stencil work, people!

The Chicago Stock Exchange was designed in the late nineteenth century by  Louis Henri Sullivan, the founder of the architectural style known as the Chicago School of Architecture, and his partner Dankmar Adler. Its structural design and simple ornamentation gained it wide acceptance as an architectural masterpiece. In the 1960s and 70s many great examples of 19th century architecture in Chicago were removed to make way for newer developments, and despite the effort of early architectural preservation activists, the Stock Exchange was demolished as well. Another piece of history, gone.

I'm glad that Television Centre is no longer on that particular chopping block. But it's still slated to be sold and re-envisioned as part of an effort to create a flashy, shiny, cool cultural district. Which, I'm sure in 100 years' time will be heralded as an architectural and historical achievement that must be preserved, and so the cycle continues. I'm just not fond of the idea of casting a historic location (and all the history and culture they contain) aside due to budgetary concerns.

Now, see, I'm a librarian. I work in an archive doing digital preservation. I know we can't save everything. There isn't enough room in the world for all the stuff we generate. Picking and choosing and culling are all necessary. Otherwise, we'll never be able to find the important stuff (and what's important to one person/group is not important to another) for all the clutter. I'd just prefer that preservation decisions were based on a collection development plan, and not out of fear, or budgetary panic.

Budgetary panic eventually subsides. Economies bounce back, and the intense furor that people once felt to get rid of everything "unnecessary" dies down to a memory. And then we tsk and look back with 20/20 hindsight at how, maybe, we shouldn't have gotten rid of XYZ in a frazzled, well-meaning attempt to quell the rioting of those who would pitch their own mother out a window to save the equivalent cost of a loaf of bread and a sack of oranges on some random line item of a budget.

Yes, yes, budgets need to be cut, savings needs to be found somewhere, but I think SOMEONE needs to ask the question about what's REALLY important now, and what will REALLY be important later.

Don't rely on benign neglect to do the job of preservation.

British folks and American Doctor Who fans will know what I'm talking about when I say "missing, presumed wiped." This is what happened to a lot of early television. It couldn't be fathomed that saving a TV program on tape would have any value to anyone--tape wasn't cheap, and all it did was sit there and take up space. And television had not yet discovered the syndication market. Why would anyone rebroadcast a program? It was like a live theater event--once it was over, the moment was gone.

And yet... well, people did want to see things again. Or for the first time, if they missed an initial broadcast. And it's much cheaper to show reruns than constantly generating new content. Rebroadcasting was a goldmine that no one could comprehend in the late 1950s and early 1960s. And so a lot of cool stuff was lost. This might be ringing bells for Americans now... lost episodes of The Honeymooners and other very early television broadcasts, when the world was making the technological shift from radio to an audio and visual format. Amazing history, just gone because no one thought to either save it to tape, or if they did, they didn't think to KEEP that tape.

So young! So imperialistic! So Kipling!

Recently, a recording of Sir Ian McKellen's first television performance was discovered. I don't believe any other tapes from the series in question still exist. But it's fascinating to see the arc of his acting career, from infancy to now. And that ridiculous kids' show, Doctor Who, which has been kicking around for nearly 50 years. That's quite number of production staffs, television styles and aesthetics, actors and writers to go through. A single idea, carried out over multiple generations with multiple actors in the lead, that's certainly something worth studying and observing. But a lot of its early episodes were wiped. Every time an old episode, or part of an episode is found in an attic or at a station that should have destroyed the tapes decades ago, fans rejoice. But the history isn't just important for fans, it's important so that we know where our culture came from. Like it or not, television is a dominant medium with a long history that is deeply embedded in our culture.

The early days of Television Centre

Sure, I'm certain the BBC isn't foolish enough to just toss the contents of Television Centre out at the curb. I think there're plenty of Doctor Who fans who may well riot if that happens. Everything will get spread around other production centers, good bits of it probably lost, waiting to be rediscovered again in several decades' time like sunken treasure. But it will lose its context, and its home. That building will become something else. Walls will be rearranged to suit some other purpose and there may only be remnants of its original footprint hanging around. The gestalt of the place--the whole unit as a living and functioning piece of history will be gone.

There's been a ton of fuss raised in the public forum, both in politics and in journalism about the BBC, as a public institution, and how it spends the people's money, what its focus should be, how its spending should be conducted, and how it could or should save money in this economy. Way more to trudge up here. I'm just another voice chiming in with unwanted opinions at this point.

Thanks, publicly-funded PBS, for playing this in the US!

I know I have very little claim to this story, or to the history of Television Centre. Unlike my friend, I never worked there. The television shows that were produced there are only a second-hand part of my personal history. Its not part of my personal cultural heritage. Shoot, I may watch BBC television on Netflix and purchase the available Region 1 DVDs, but I certainly don't pay the licensing fee that British citizens pay to ensure the upkeep and survival of the network, one of their great cultural institutions. I can raise a fuss, but I don't have much of a leg to stand on.

I'm also not a nincompoop (despite what you've heard from others). I know times change, spaces get repurposed, old things sometimes MUST go, to bring way for new things. That's life. The only thing constant is change. I'm simply advocating smart choices, instead of fearful ones. Also, if left unchecked, the urges of the cost-savers would demolish or dismantle ANYTHING not turning a profit. No more libraries, no more natural history museums, goodbye to art programs and scientific research that does not present an immediate return on investment. Your favorite historic landmark? Too expensive to upkeep. Leveled and turned into a strip mall. Social services and public works? Too expensive. You think I'm kidding, but without the other side pushing against this idea that everything needs to be profitable and not just for the public good, we'd  experience that other extreme of there being NOTHING that isn't profitable left in our culture. That said, without penny-pincher realists pushing against my preservationist side, I'd be buried hip-deep in collections of things I just couldn't bare to part with and public works or cultural institutions that do not have SOME sort of worth approaching equal to their investment (maybe not monetarily, but at least socially or culturally)

However, this strikes me as one of those moments (and we probably have eleventy-billiondy in the US every day) where we COULD have saved something... and probably SHOULD have saved it... but we didn't. And then we don't realize what we didn't save until it was gone. I'm a realist--I know money doesn't  grow on trees. But I believe we should think things through, and act on strategy and long-term goals, and not short-term fear and panic.

Everything I could be saying here is based on preservationist anxieties. This cultural district thing could be awesome for West London. The Bee's Knees. When it's drawing in millions of people and dump trucks full of money, people will point to this post and talk about the paranoid American.

Artist rendering of the future fancy-pants cultural quarter

Or, y'know, it could crap out, and then there're a bunch of empty buildings no one can afford rent on. Just because you build it, that doesn't mean they will come. I've seen waaaay too many city development plans die horrible deaths after they eminent domain'd people out of businesses and homes to get higher rollers in the area--the higher rollers, even with tons of incentive, couldn't afford to stay, and the cities have gone from small players pulling in small profits to billions spent on development, and only empty buildings to show for it.

Betcha we'd save BUCKETS if we shut this puppy down for good.

So, I've taken a long, winding journey to get to the spot where I'm at right now. I think acting on short-term fear and panic brings long-term misery and cleanup. In so many areas of life: government, budgets, social programs, cultural trusts, history preservation, etc we need to learn to take a deep breath, don't panic, and have a strategy for the long-term, not just what will look good on a line item this year, then let the next guy, or the next generation deal with the unfortunate fallout. Think about what's REALLY best, and not what is convenient or tidy. EVERYTHING we do has long-term effects and we should look back at some of our preservation successes and follies before we step forward into the future.

**Kind of like the 1980 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Did she just say that out loud? Yes, she did.  It was only five parts. It just felt like 47. It took longer to read the book than for the mini-series to air. Faithful adaptations are awful. Cos one of the major strengths of Jane Austen's novels is that they make better movies than novels. And I say this as someone who loves Austen and will defend her right to write about whatever the hell she wanted to the death, and, oh... never mind. Caffeine overdose combined with Adult ADD.**

The sad truth about working smarter, not harder

The story of a teacher who doesn't want to teach any more...

I think a lot of us start off like this teacher--full of ideas, natural talent, creativity and a go-get 'em attitude that we use to attempt to overcome all of the "little setbacks" in helping people. We are realists. We know that there will be cuts and changes, and things will happen. We keep up the attitude that we will adapt and use our creativity to get through the cuts and changes, since that is what we're good at.

But every year we get more taken away from us due to "budgetary constraints" and we get a little more added to our workload. Eventually there comes a tipping point when our creativity and tenacity just don't allow us to make up for everything that's on our plate. For the last... I don't know how many years... I've heard in library circles that we need to work smarter, not harder, and we need to "learn to do more with less." If I hear that phrase again, it will be too soon. With that attitude, both on our part, as being complicit in accepting less and less, and on the part of those who award budgetary allotments, we'll eventually be running the library on a volunteer basis out of the back of our cars, while still being expected to provide everything from resume writing help, technology education and childhood enrichment services with childcare, adaptive technology and a constantly rotating best-seller list.

At some point we, collectively, need to value what we do enough, and place enough value in our patrons (and wanting to do what's best for them) that we will take a stand against the CONSTANT slashing of budgets. I'm not talking about the case of a budget crisis where something needs to be done in the short term... but have you EVER had money taken away that was later restored? Probably not. We don't place value, as a society, in education, enrichment, libraries, or the arts. Heck, we don't even place them in paying and supplying our police and emergency responders adequately. Not only do we need to advocate for ourselves, what we do, and the resources we need to do it with those who determine our funding, but with the public at large. It should be a social outrage to expect so much of society-building things like schools and libraries with so little resources.

It won't be until WE change hearts and minds. No one's going to do it for us. I'm not saying "go forth and prostletize." Ok, maybe I am. But my intention is to get everyone thinking about how our willingness to just accept what little morsels are given to us, and put our nose to the grind stone with it isn't working, is going to catch up to us at that tipping point, and is hurting our patrons in the long run.

Interesting, but unsurprising statistics

Some pretty charts explaining the state of librarians in the workforce can be found here at the OUP blog.

The too long; didn't read (tl;dr) version:

Library science has been for the last hundred years, and continues to be a primarily female-driven profession. People working in libraries make more money than the median income in the US, but make far less than those with similar education in other places in the workforce. The number of librarians began growing after World War II, but has been in decline since 1990. The gender wage gap between male and female librarians was significant until 2009, when female librarians came within $100 (average) of their male counterparts (who still out-earn, despite the profession being female-driven). It's still a predominantly white profession. Most librarians are married, most work in the public setting.

This is all very lovely, what does it mean?

Like most statistics, they mean what we say they mean :)

However, I think many of us already knew or sensed that many of these things were true. Having good solid numbers based on census statistics is extremely helpful for advocacy, however. First of all, it gives us a clearer idea of some of the issues we face. Want more ideas in libraries? Want a more inclusive public persona for your library? Want more people to come into your library? A more diverse librarian population can help! Of course, this isn't just a problem in the hiring process--more men and more minorities need to see the library as a potential career for them, and WANT the job. I think a diversity of faces, backgrounds and talents can bring a lot to the library--not just in the idea-arena (and lets face it... librarians can be a bit set in their ways--we see the problem the way we see it, and can't quite get out of that box), but also in bringing folks into the library. One way to know that you belong in a place is to see other people like you in that place.

The female-oriented nature of the library is something we really do need to overcome. There are a lot of "social conditioning" reasons why women tend to be less assertive than their male counterparts (see previous post regarding wage negotiation, which I'm guilty of as well), but proper advocacy means being assertive and stating what we need, be it resources for ourselves, in order to take care of ourselves and our families, or resources for our libraries, in order to do our jobs properly, and serve our communities fully. I'm sure others would argue differently, but I suspect that if library science were a male-dominated profession, wages would be higher, which would attract (and keep!) a top-notch group of folks that libraries just can't keep right now (how many friends have left for non-library positions elsewhere that paid better?).

I suspect that libraries would have better resources because libraries would be better at speaking up for themselves, their value, and what they do for communities and organizations. I suspect that librarians, as a profession would not be looked down upon quite so much as being women's work, or work for people who like reading, or English majors who couldn't find a job. Basically, a frivolous position for people who don't like hard work, or are marking time until marriage, babies, or a better job comes along.

Only two days ago my job was refered to by a patron as "cushy." I wanted to go into a litany of details that made my job fun, and wonderful, but also made it challenging and less than "cushy." (Packing up and moving, box-by-box an archive to be put into storage comes to mind)

I think we need to take a good look at these statistics, and evaluate what they mean in terms of what we see in the every-day life of our libraries, and also try to imagine what they could mean for the future, and where we can help improve things.

Another post containing valuable job-seeking advice.

Want more money? Ask!

My friend and editor, the ever-amazing currator and librarian extraordinare (why yes, I AM kissing up... however did you guess?) Lynne Thomas wrote a great blog post about something librarians, especially FEMALE librarians have trouble with--salary negotiation.


I'm guilty of this myself--I was raised in an Italian-American household where it was rude to "put anyone out" by asking for anything they weren't willing to give you already... especially if you were a girl. Be polite, be gracious, and don't rock the boat.


I think that while women have come a long way in the last hundred years, librarianship is still viewed as a "woman's profession," like nursing and teaching, and therefore automatically does not command the respect it deserves. It was viewed as a job for spinsters, older ladies, and a job that women would do until they were married or pregnant, then quit. Also, the stigma is attached to many professions traditionally staffed mostly by women--it's not intellectually rigerous or "important," since it's not "man's work." No one will say that out loud today (if they have any sense, at least) but that latent attitude still colors how people view the monitory worth of those professions.


Lynne makes a great point that negotating salary helps YOU get more money, but it also helps the profession, and other librarians. It does this by bringing up the base salary, and stating to hiring institutions that librarians, professionals with masters degrees (and sometimes loads of student loan debt), experience and smarts are worth more. It helps institutions and local governments accept the reality that they WONT find a serious, skilled professional to do the job of librarian for less than a livable wage.


I learned so much at my first librarian job, but they kept me at 35 hours a week, and well below an actual livable wage because they DIDN'T value professionals. In fact, I sought employment elsewhere when they went from wondering why they needed someone with a masters to do the job to wondering why they couldn't just staff the library entirely with volunteers. I saw the writing ont he wall then. The library's board was full of people who DID care about the library, and they weren't being malicious. They just genuinely did NOT understand what a librarian did, and the value of having someone with education and experience in the position.


So read Lynne's post, and practice these three important sentences:
"I'm really excited about this opportunity. However, the offer is a little below my range. Can we do any better, say [name a number $5000 more than offer on table?]"


Don't just do it for yourself, but do it for the profession and for advocacy! 

Pub crawls were odd things in Glenfield...

STORIES

There were no dragons in Glenfield. Allegidly. According to Willy the bartender at Landsend Pub, there had beenno dragons in Glenfield since the start of World War II, when Chester, Glenfield's last remaining dragon closed up his family estate on Willminton Lane and enlisted. The Army was happy to have a dragon, or so Willy the bartender says. They let him skip the physical when they saw just how far he could throw fire, which they probably shouldn't have done; when the dragon went on his first hike, he passed out from exhaustion, tumbled over a cliff and died.

Can I interest you in a rant about authoritarian school districts?

**update** somehow the wrong video got embedded. Seriously, I have no clue how that happened. Sorry! But, uh, the Batman fan film is awesome, if that's the post you saw first ;)



So, this school district suspended this kid indefinitely, just before graduation time, for posting things to his personal YouTube account...outside of school and outside of school hours. Way to be counter-productive, guys!

(Beware: curse words)

I'm totes legit professional-published. Totes.

BEHOLD. BEST PRACTICES FOR GOVERNMENT LIBRARIES. BE AMAZED. BE ENTHRALLED. BEA ARTHUR.

But, seriously. It's an article about getting the most from social networking with the least amount of time and effort (time and effort being commodities libraries never have enough of). Social networking is a great way to spread the word about who you are and what you're doing, so, once it goes live, check it out!

Where in the world have I been? -or- What you can do for your library.

I wonder that too, sometimes. I was off at an interview for a very cool job (pick me! pick me!) and at a science fiction convention. Now I have returned, and it's time to talk about what you can do for your library!

Sure, I talk about what librarians can do to advocate for ourselves and our profession, but there're things you can do as well!

This post is inspired by a comment from a friend that he supports libraries but hasn't stepped into one in years.

There're tons of excuses: libraries don't have what I like to read, I can afford to buy it on Amazon and not have to worry about late fees, I haven't been inside one in so long I don't know where to start...

LOOK, ROMAN TOILETS!

All easily solvable, my friends! For instance... don't know where to start? Ask a librarian. Be frank. Admit you haven't been in a library since your senior year of high school, AND your librarian was mean. Most of us are very nice, and extremely understanding of fallen-away library users. Tell the librarian what your interests are, so that he or she can direct you to the sections you'll find most useful. Wanna check out DVDs, games, and graphic novels? We can help. Most libraries have DVDs and graphic novels, and many have games available for checkout or low-cost rental. Want books about waste removal systems in antiquity? We can tell you what Dewey range will set your heart aflutter. We can show you how to use our online catalog and give tips for finding exactly what you want.

The second biggest excuse is that libraries don't have what fallen-away library users like to read. First... do you really know that for sure? Or are you basing this on the one library you walked into in 1991 that had a scifi section entirely littered with young adult fiction and TV tie-in novels? Did that comment hit too close to home? Yeah, I thought it did :)

Really check out your library. Wander the shelves. You may happen upon old favorites and new finds you didn't know existed, or forgot about ages ago. Don't see what you're looking for on the shelf? Try the catalog. It may be checked out, or on order. Really, REALLY don't see what you're looking for? I have two solutions:

1) Suggest the library purchase it. Libraries have tight budgets and may not be able to order everything patrons request, but are often very open to suggestions. Often when we do ordering, we do it based on what has checked out well in the past, and what we THINK will be a hit. Hearing directly from the patron's mouth that he or she would love to check out more George R. R. Martin books tells us EXACTLY what will check out.

2) If the library is unable to purchase the book, ask if the library participates in Inter-Library Loan. Yes, libraries borrow books from other libraries. WE LIVE IN THE FUTURE, MAN. Don't see Game of Thrones? If a library that participates in our ILL consortium does have it, we can usually borrow it at no cost to you. Some consortiums are county or state wide. Some exchange with other academic institutions, or can even borrow nation-wide. What're the odds that NO library will have the book you're looking for? Probably pretty slim.

Why bother with all of this stuff, anyways, you're asking me. You can afford these things on Amazon. The first  reason is that you don't always HAVE to buy everything off of Amazon. Nor do you always have to wait. A lot of these books are sitting on the shelf in your library. We also have other stuff you may not be able to find on Amazon: periodical subscriptions, old records and newspapers, database and journal access, story time, author visits, community events, opportunities for enrichment and learning that can't be found in the pages of a book, and above all...friendship. You'll meet so many people at your library, both patrons and staff. Way more than you'll meet by clicking "checkout" on your Amazon cart.

But there's another important reason:

BY CHECKING BOOKS OUT OF A LIBRARY, YOU ARE HELPING TO SAVE THAT LIBRARY. Even if you don't need the library, your act of checking out materials is SAVING LIBRARIES for people who DO need that library, sometimes desperately.

Why?

Libraries live and die by statistics. One of the most important being usage statistics. Every book, video or Playaway audio book you check out counts as a checkout for your library. Every time you walk in the door, a record is being kept of another patron walking in the building. Every time you sign up for a card, or renew your card, you're being counted as another person in your area that USES the library. Every question you ask at a reference desk is being counted by someone. Every time you make use of the photocopier, every time you bring a child to story time. Every time you do all of these simple things, which your tax or tuition money is already paying for, you are helping that library obtain more funding for people, facilities and materials. HOLY CRAP. YOU CAN COME TO THE LIBRARY, USE OUR STUFF FOR FREE, AND ACTUALLY BE HELPING US BY DOING IT. Like I said, we live in the future, man.

So, be a friend to your library! Come in, use our bathroom, leech our wifi and check out DVDs that exist soley for the purpose of rotting your brain cells. Check out a comic book. Photocopy something. Ask us about ancient toilet design. In fact, ask us pointless questions. No, really. Ask us pointless questions--the more, the better. In fact, walk away for a few minutes, then come back and ask us another, so we can count it as two reference interviews. We like it like that, because THAT IS HOW WE ROLL.

And maybe, if you want some help with research regarding a disease you've been diagnosed with, or are looking for old newspaper articles from that time when you were in the high school musical, or just want to know about sewage treatment in antiquity because it's been bugging you for a while, ASK US. We would be thrilled and honored to help!

SAVE YOUR LIBRARY. USE THEIR STUFF.