The 80/20 Librarian: Focusing on the 20% that matters

Last week I went to a Public Library Association conference session and saw that the Orange County (Florida) Public Library has an awesome way that they advocate for their library. They actually record videos of patrons who have had great experiences using their library. The videos are then uploaded onto You Tube. The library system uses these videos to make everyone aware as to how their library system is making a positive impact on the community. See the link http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAE3F28BCB39B5682&feature=plcp. Some of the videos discuss how some of the patrons utilized the library to find a job, which is quite important.

I will post another reflection on what I learned at the PLA Conference in the near future.

While I was walking around the area outside of the Philadelphia Convention Center during the Public Library Association conference last week I was able to get the newspaper One Step Away for one dollar. The One Step Away newspaper is a type of publication I have never read before. The paper is almost entirely produced and sold by the homeless. See http://www.osaphilly.org/.

This is Philadelphia’s first newspaper produced “By those without homes for those with homes.” I do not even know if this type of endeavor is being replicated in other cities. I think it is a splendid idea. I had never linked homelessness with the publishing business before so I was impressed with the newspaper immediately.

I especially liked the article on page 8 of the paper’s March 2012 edition. In this article KT Terry discusses Philadelphia’s efforts to celebrate the lives of Whitney Houston and Don Cornelius this past February 13.

I also liked in the March 2012 edition the article on page 12 by Erik Younge in which remembers Whitney Houston. He writes, “Whitney had that gift of breaking down barriers between people, bringing us all together just by the beauty and love heard in her crystal-clear singing.” Later on he ends with the line from one of her songs, “No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity.”