Library: Hanford Branch (Kings County Library)
Address: 401 North Douty Street, Hanford, CA 93230
Format of Application: Personal blog
One: Describe a project or activity that you have worked on that was outside your comfort zone. Why was it uncomfortable? How did you adapt? Were you glad you took on the project or activity? Would you do it again?
The Kings County Library and West Hills College in Lemoore has an informal agreement where the county library would find an interesting author or guest lecturer and the college in Lemoore would host said author in their Conference Center. I was given the job of finding the guests for West Hills College.
There were two reasons why I was uncomfortable with being assigned this task. The first is that I am extremely uncomfortable talking in front of large groups of people. As a reference librarian, I can handle a one on one reference interview with a patron or patrons. But introducing someone to an audience, a task that may only take up to sixty second to accomplish, I would feel physically and mentally uncomfortable. The second reason for feeling uncomfortable was that this was uncharted territory. This was not only my first time finding a speaker and then organizing a guest lecture presentation, but this was the first time in the Kings County Library's history that a program was done in conjunction with an institution of higher education.
As retired-Navy SEAL turned author Richard Marcinko was so fond of saying in his Rogue Warrior series, "You don't have to like it. You just have to do it." And so I followed my gut instinct and contacted a person that I would like to listen to for ninety minutes. I sent an e-mail message to Dr. Eric Hickey, PhD. Dr. Hickey responded by saying that he would enjoy speaking to an audience at West Hills College. With my supervisor giving me helpful words of advice, I was able to create a flyer and did my best to publicize Dr. Hickey's planned lecture via the Internet and through traditional media outlets. I also stayed in touch with my West Hills contact to make sure that the room and refreshments were scheduled for the evening of the lecture.
Dr. Hickey's talk turned out to be a great success. Dr. Hickey is the director of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University. His is an expert on serial killers. On April 16, 2007, the Virginia Tech school shooting occurred. Dr. Hickey's presentation was on April 19, 2007. Dr. Hickey told me that he had declined an offer to be on Bill O'Reilly's cable tv news show The O'Reilly Factor, so that he could appear at West Hills. We had an audience of at least 200 individuals attend Dr. Hickey's talk. Even a cameraman from the local CBS tv news station showed up to interview the doctor. Photos of the event can be found at:
http://hanfordbranchlibraryblog.blogspot.com/search?q=hickey+lemoore
Video of the presentation can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNcFJTOM3Rg
As of this date, I have scheduled and introduced three speakers at West Hills: Dr. Hickey, author William Denisi, and private investigator Jerry Pearce. We plan to have Dr. Hickey back on April 23, 2009. The planning and work that went into getting Dr. Hickey out to West Hills College was a true learning experience. I was able to push the boundaries of my comfort limits out just a little further than I would have liked to and was rewarded with an event that exceeded my highest expectations.
Two: If you were going to design a new house, what are the key elements that you would consider? Why?
I would design a new house with large windows, small closets or storage spaces, and plenty of electrical outlets. The windows would be double-paned to keep sound out. In the summers, the windows would keep the heat out and the cool air in. In the winters, the windows would keep the heat in and the cold out. Larger windows would let more light in during the daytime. This would reduce the need to use artificial lighting during the daytime hours. The reason for the small closets and storage spaces is to purposely limit the amount of room available for storage. This forces an individual or a family to limit their purchases of material goods. Our society is based on buying "stuff." If you reduce the storage space that people have in the house, they, hopefully, will not buy things because they will have no place to put them. This will reduce clutter in the house and strain on the environment to produce and transport material items from factory to store to consumer. Several electrical outlets in one room is for convienence. Not all electronic appliances are battery powered. Have you ever tried to get to an outlet that has heavy furniture located front of it?
Three: What concerns about the future of libraries keep you up at night? Why?
I worry that public libraries will be seen only as places with free Internet access. People will forget that book, magazines, newspaper are available for free. Research will be done via Internet only and the library reference services will be ignored or unused. The trend is clearly underway. We have patrons of all ages come in exclusively to gain access to the Internet. Once they are finished, they make a straight line out the door. Even when they are waiting in line to use the computers, a large majority of them will not even glance at the books on the shelves. They just stand in place and wait their turn at the computers.
Four: What is the one 21st Century tool that you cannot live without? Why?
I have recently (May 2008) purchased an Amazon Kindle wireless reading device. Now that I buy and download the books that I wish to read, I use the Kindle on a daily basis. So far I have six books loaded onto my Kindle and there is no doubt that this number will increase as I finish reading the books that have been purchased. Instead of having six individual books cluttering up my house, I have one Kindle unit. I believe that the Kindle is a revolution in publishing and reading. The Kindle represents an incredible leap from a room full of books to a single, lightweight electronic device. This is not simply a new gadget that you show off to friends. For the elderly or disabled, the Kindle is an easy way to read a book. Heavy books will not have held, transported, or placed on a table. Those with arthritis will not have to deal with the painful ordeal of turning pages. With the Kindle, a button is pushed. The Kindle is good for the environment. Paper is no longer needed to produce the book. Boxes and air-filled plastic bags will not have to be thrown away by the customer. It takes less than ten seconds to buy a book and have it downloaded onto the Kindle. Fuel will no longer be needed to transport a box filled with books from point A to point B. See question two regarding clutter. If you live it an apartment, you know that space is limited. Instead of having a shelf full of books that you will eventually have to pack up and transport once you move, the Kindle is capable of housing your collection of books and magazines.
Address: 401 North Douty Street, Hanford, CA 93230
Format of Application: Personal blog
One: Describe a project or activity that you have worked on that was outside your comfort zone. Why was it uncomfortable? How did you adapt? Were you glad you took on the project or activity? Would you do it again?
The Kings County Library and West Hills College in Lemoore has an informal agreement where the county library would find an interesting author or guest lecturer and the college in Lemoore would host said author in their Conference Center. I was given the job of finding the guests for West Hills College.
There were two reasons why I was uncomfortable with being assigned this task. The first is that I am extremely uncomfortable talking in front of large groups of people. As a reference librarian, I can handle a one on one reference interview with a patron or patrons. But introducing someone to an audience, a task that may only take up to sixty second to accomplish, I would feel physically and mentally uncomfortable. The second reason for feeling uncomfortable was that this was uncharted territory. This was not only my first time finding a speaker and then organizing a guest lecture presentation, but this was the first time in the Kings County Library's history that a program was done in conjunction with an institution of higher education.
As retired-Navy SEAL turned author Richard Marcinko was so fond of saying in his Rogue Warrior series, "You don't have to like it. You just have to do it." And so I followed my gut instinct and contacted a person that I would like to listen to for ninety minutes. I sent an e-mail message to Dr. Eric Hickey, PhD. Dr. Hickey responded by saying that he would enjoy speaking to an audience at West Hills College. With my supervisor giving me helpful words of advice, I was able to create a flyer and did my best to publicize Dr. Hickey's planned lecture via the Internet and through traditional media outlets. I also stayed in touch with my West Hills contact to make sure that the room and refreshments were scheduled for the evening of the lecture.
Dr. Hickey's talk turned out to be a great success. Dr. Hickey is the director of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University. His is an expert on serial killers. On April 16, 2007, the Virginia Tech school shooting occurred. Dr. Hickey's presentation was on April 19, 2007. Dr. Hickey told me that he had declined an offer to be on Bill O'Reilly's cable tv news show The O'Reilly Factor, so that he could appear at West Hills. We had an audience of at least 200 individuals attend Dr. Hickey's talk. Even a cameraman from the local CBS tv news station showed up to interview the doctor. Photos of the event can be found at:
http://hanfordbranchlibraryblog.blogspot.com/search?q=hickey+lemoore
Video of the presentation can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNcFJTOM3Rg
As of this date, I have scheduled and introduced three speakers at West Hills: Dr. Hickey, author William Denisi, and private investigator Jerry Pearce. We plan to have Dr. Hickey back on April 23, 2009. The planning and work that went into getting Dr. Hickey out to West Hills College was a true learning experience. I was able to push the boundaries of my comfort limits out just a little further than I would have liked to and was rewarded with an event that exceeded my highest expectations.
Two: If you were going to design a new house, what are the key elements that you would consider? Why?
I would design a new house with large windows, small closets or storage spaces, and plenty of electrical outlets. The windows would be double-paned to keep sound out. In the summers, the windows would keep the heat out and the cool air in. In the winters, the windows would keep the heat in and the cold out. Larger windows would let more light in during the daytime. This would reduce the need to use artificial lighting during the daytime hours. The reason for the small closets and storage spaces is to purposely limit the amount of room available for storage. This forces an individual or a family to limit their purchases of material goods. Our society is based on buying "stuff." If you reduce the storage space that people have in the house, they, hopefully, will not buy things because they will have no place to put them. This will reduce clutter in the house and strain on the environment to produce and transport material items from factory to store to consumer. Several electrical outlets in one room is for convienence. Not all electronic appliances are battery powered. Have you ever tried to get to an outlet that has heavy furniture located front of it?
Three: What concerns about the future of libraries keep you up at night? Why?
I worry that public libraries will be seen only as places with free Internet access. People will forget that book, magazines, newspaper are available for free. Research will be done via Internet only and the library reference services will be ignored or unused. The trend is clearly underway. We have patrons of all ages come in exclusively to gain access to the Internet. Once they are finished, they make a straight line out the door. Even when they are waiting in line to use the computers, a large majority of them will not even glance at the books on the shelves. They just stand in place and wait their turn at the computers.
Four: What is the one 21st Century tool that you cannot live without? Why?
I have recently (May 2008) purchased an Amazon Kindle wireless reading device. Now that I buy and download the books that I wish to read, I use the Kindle on a daily basis. So far I have six books loaded onto my Kindle and there is no doubt that this number will increase as I finish reading the books that have been purchased. Instead of having six individual books cluttering up my house, I have one Kindle unit. I believe that the Kindle is a revolution in publishing and reading. The Kindle represents an incredible leap from a room full of books to a single, lightweight electronic device. This is not simply a new gadget that you show off to friends. For the elderly or disabled, the Kindle is an easy way to read a book. Heavy books will not have held, transported, or placed on a table. Those with arthritis will not have to deal with the painful ordeal of turning pages. With the Kindle, a button is pushed. The Kindle is good for the environment. Paper is no longer needed to produce the book. Boxes and air-filled plastic bags will not have to be thrown away by the customer. It takes less than ten seconds to buy a book and have it downloaded onto the Kindle. Fuel will no longer be needed to transport a box filled with books from point A to point B. See question two regarding clutter. If you live it an apartment, you know that space is limited. Instead of having a shelf full of books that you will eventually have to pack up and transport once you move, the Kindle is capable of housing your collection of books and magazines.
posted by Read All Books @ 8:28 PM
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