Cheerleaders, Mary Kay reps, and, oh yes, librarians

If you’ve been part of the Chicago publishing scene as long as I have, you’ve seen your fair share of convention centers. Oh, the groups that walk through the doors on any given day. This week it might be dentists. Next week it could be power tool executives. A friend of a friend told me about a surprisingly wild convention he attended for funeral directors in Las Vegas. I think it would be fun to weasel my way into the big restaurant and hospitality convention that convenes in Chicago each year.

Anyway, the groups mentioned in the subject line were commingling at the ACRL conference in Baltimore this past week. It was pretty easy to tell who was with which group. (Though, did you know that Mary Kay reps now wear black rather than pink?…much hipper than in the 80s).

I’m not a big fan of convention center spaces…conventions, yes. It’s very energizing gathering and talking shop with like-minded folks. But the spaces themselves? Not so much. They’re functional, I suppose. But, they’re pretty much all the same. Miles of gray carpet decorated with bright orange or maroon or red or blue designs (leftovers from airport terminals?). A lone Starbucks appearing like an oasis in some far-flung area of the building. Humongous numbers designating the meeting rooms. Tables with coffee urns long drained of their precious fluid, surrounded by crumbled up napkins and spilled packets of powder “coffee whitener.”

Who designs these places, I ask myself. They are functional, sure. And, they conveniently contain throngs of people, yes. But, must they be so heartless?

Contrast the space with the conversations swirling around at the ACRL conference. The underlying theme, it seemed to me, was how can we make academic libraries anything BUT heartless. So many discussions on understanding the users…be they faculty, grads or undergrads, and finding ways to meet their needs. I popped in on a panel discussion, which included ALA Editions authors Steven Bell and John Shank (Academic Librarianship by Design: A Blended Librarian’s Guide to the Tools and Techniques).( Here we are at a reception that evening, by the way. I’m the one with the beer. What can I say? An editor’s life is tough!)
Sean Cordes, of the Iowa State University was describing multimedia stations his library had developed, which included sophisticated technology and assistance with the multimedia projects students were increasingly being asked to do. Understand what students were being asked to do, and ask yourself how the library can support that. Right on! Technology on its own is cool, but, as Steven Bell pointed out, “Pedagogy before technology.”

Later in conference I had lunch with ALA Editions author Brian Mathews of “The Ubiquitous Librarian” fame. Ubiquitous indeed. Brian has gained some notoriety for his work using Facebook and MySpace to find out what assignments students are working on and providing suggestions on how the library can help with the research. He has developed one-on-one relationships with campus leaders…presidents of student associations, resident advisors, athletes to find out how the libraries can help their various members (and to help evangelize library services). He was telling me that he’ll occasionally walk through the library, striking up conversations with students. He’ll skillfully get around to asking them things like, “Why did you choose to sit in this space? What sorts of spaces or services would you like to see in the library?”

Can you imagine a convention center designer doing that??

Academic libraries these days are truly about being more than “functional.”