What reading (listening) do you recommend for a leadership program?
My library has a leadership program and we were asked to recommend
- books,
- journals
- articles
- blogs
- blogposts
- podcasts
- whatever
with an annotation preferably, on any topic relevant to leadership, management, customers service or other topic we think would be helpful to participants. I went through my favorites of the last couple of years and came up with these:
- Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
- Outliers: The Story of Success
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
- Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
- The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable
- The Myth of Multitasking: How
What do you recommend?
Does the average Joe really need to know what a browser is?
Jessamyn West shared this yesterday
“A team from Google interviewed dozens of people in Times Square the other day, asking a simple question: What’s a browser? This was in an effort to understand and improve the customer experience of Google’s own browser, called Chrome.
Turns out that over 90% of the people interviewed could not describe what a Web browser is.”
I don’t think any of my non-techie family or friends could answer this question. I’m not sure I could adequately if a microphone was put in my face while I was out shoe shopping (its hard to swtich from thinking about a stacked heel to properly defining browser) My parents use Firefox because I told them to, I don’t think they have any idea why.
But does it matter? I know nothing about how my car works, I have no idea what’s actually involved in making it go, other than I turn a key, shift gears and apply the brake. Does the average Joe need to know what a browser is or just how to get online? I’m sure a car enthusiastic will tell you my Saturn is not so hot, but I don’t care it works for me, it gets me from Point A to Point B. Isn’t that how most people feel about their browser? Some of us are browser enthusiast, some of us aren’t. If the average Joe only wants to get from Point A to Point B why does he need to know what a browser is?
What DO you wish your patrons knew?
I copied this post from The MLXperience to ask you – What DO you wish your patrons knew?
Seattle Books Examiner’s Danielle Dreger-Babbitt took an informal poll of librarians in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York City, and Portland about what they wish library patrons knew or did. Here’s the shortlist:
1. Use us!
2. We support Intellectual Freedom
3. Be respectful of our library patrons
4. Pay your fines
5. Return your items on time
6. Tell us what you like
7. If possible, check out all materials at once from the circulation desk
8. Please listen to us the first (or even second) time we say something
9. Practice good hygiene
10. Let your librarian know what materials you’d like to see on the shelf
11. The library has almost as many DVD’s as your local video store
12. Hang up your cell phone when you come to the reference desk (or circulation desk)
13. Please be patient with us
14. We like it when you thank us
15. Please respect the desk barrier
16. Come to our programs!
17. Do not leave your child (or children) unattended- for their safety
18. Ask us what we read
19. Ask us for what you really want
20. Enough with the “sexy librarian” jokes
What would you add?
I’d like to add
21. If I’m sitting at the reference desk, please don’t talk to the back or side of my head, it is polite to stand in front of the person you’re addressing.
22. Be an empowered library user, we’d love to show you how to search the catalog, place holds and renew your books online or how you how to use one of our many online resources, just ask!


