This document summarizes a presentation by Stephen Abram on top library strategies for success in the 21st century. [1] Libraries must avoid focusing solely on lack of money and prioritize strategic choices to remain relevant. [2] While the internet poses challenges, libraries can still thrive by focusing on community, learning, discovery, research, and cultural preservation. [3] Libraries must adapt to changing technologies, user needs, and forms of information in order to remain vital institutions.
1. Top Library Strategies for Success
in the 21st Century (not 1999)
Stephen Abram, MLS
Indiana Library Federation
Fort Wayne, IN
These slides are available at Stephen’s Lighthouse blog Nov. 14, 2011
10. 7 Gifts to Libraries, Publishers & Booksellers
1. The book isn’t dead or dying. It is evolving.
2. Our users/customers are improving.
3. Technology is going social and can support social
acts.
4. The PC isn’t dead, but, again, it’s evolving and more
mobile.
5. We know more about our customers than ever
before.
6. Talent, Insight, Community, have social value.
7. Opportunities always exist more in times of change
18. Questions for Libraries & Publishers Today:
1. Are our priorities right?
2. Are learning, research, discovery changing
materially and what is actually changing?
3. Books. Meh.
4. What is the role of information and
recreational reading in the real future (that is
not an extension of the past)?
5. Are we for the 21st Century world that will be
or the 20th Century one that was?
19. What Are Libraries Really For?
• Community
• Learning
• Discovery
• Progress
• Research (Applied and Theoretical)
• Cultural & Knowledge Custody / Conservation
• Economic Impact
23. Why do people read?
1. To learn
2. To engage in hearing other’s opinions (to agree or disagree or understand)
3. To develop more knowledge about myself and develop as a whole person
4. To be entertained and laugh, to engage and interact
5. To address boredom and the inexorable progress of time
6. To research and keep up-to-date
7. To participate well in civil society (everything from news to voting)
8. To be informed (and maybe smarter)
9. To understand others (individually and culturally)
10. To escape our day-to-day lives
11. To stimulate the imagination and be inspired or spiritual
12. To write and communicate better through reading others
13. To teach
14. To have something to talk about
15. To connect with like-minded people
37. The Baker’s Dozen: LVA Top 13
1. Health and Wellness / Community Health / Nutrition / Diet /
Recovery
2. DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair
3. Genealogy
4. Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc. etc.)
5. Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc)
6. Hobbies, Games and Gardening
7. Local History
8. Consumer reviews (Choosing a car, appliance, etc.)
9. Homework Help (grade school)
10. Technology Skills (software, hardware, web)
11. Government Programs, Services and Taxation
12. Self-help/personal development
13. Careers (jobs, counselling, etc.)
14. Readers Advisory was 14th
38. The new
bibliography and
collection
development
KNOWLEDGE
PORTALS
KNOWLEDGE,
LEARNING,
INFORMATION &
RESEARCH
COMMONS
75. Advocacy is Different
Public Relations is getting your libraries
message across – This is who we are and what
we do, where and for whom.
Marketing is understanding your customer
and how to best deliver services and products
Advocacy is marketing an ISSUE. Support and
awareness are built incrementally. Advocacy is
an agenda and not an event!
79. Ask Yourself . . .
How do libraries differ as an issue?
From the listeners point of view and
experience.
81. Selling Ideas
You are engaging in an INFLUENCE agenda.
Selling is not a dirty word!
Politics is not a dirty word!
82. Essentials for Advocacy
Someone who needs to care
Courage
Trustworthy
Passion
Belief
Proofs
Stories and Knowledge
Respect for whom you need to influence
Understanding beyond caricature (e.g.
Politicians, the “Boss”, Teens, Seniors, The
“Public”, Vendors...)
95. The Virtual Handout
The Value of Public Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-
public-libraries/
The Value of School Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-
school-libraries/
The Value of Academic and College Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-
academic-and-college-libraries/
The Value of Special Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-
special-libraries/
Library Advocacy: Save the Library Campaigns
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/01/save-the-
library-campaigns/
102. Learn to tell a
story for
influence and
not just
Information
and
entertainment
105. Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA
VP strategic partnerships and markets
Cengage Learning (Gale)
Cel: 416-669-4855
stephen.abram@cengage.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com
Facebook or Google+: Stephen Abram
LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen Abram
Twitter: sabram
SlideShare: StephenAbram1