Thanks for a great, thought-provoking presentation Glenna.

I so agreed…a few showers kept us from wishing we could be outdoors hiking or gardening…instead we got a brain cramp trying to come up with ways to get those “digital” native, gadget-oriented, mutitasking, impatient
communicators into or using the services of the “LIBRARY”

Thanks
Marcia

Glenna - thanks for your great presentation Saturday! I thought the info you shared was vital and I was exited to see EPIC shown to an audience who’d probably never seen or heard of it before.

I think that if we want to keep libraries (and librarianship!) relevant we must be incredibly deliberate and proactive. We must face the reality at hand and earnestly seek for solutions… and then put them into action. Many of the things you mention in your post are great ideas…that we need to start practicing. We need to be less restrictive with our space. We need to become a destination, not just a thoroughfare. We have to make quality information and services convenient — especially since we have the technology to do so. We need to educate the public to synthesize the information they’re getting from such vastly different sources. We need to change the idea of what “library” means internally before we can successfully change it externally. We can’t just be about books and information anymore. That is not to say that we stop being about those things, but that we become more. We have to provide services and programs that will draw people into the library, and realize that if they are there often enough they might just pick up a book or two.

Perhaps most importantly, WE need to change. Change is hard, and not all librarians feel the need to “ride the wave of technology” but if they don’t, if the people who have authority and seniority don’t realize how important these issues are, this profession we all love so much just might die. I am personally counting on it lasting at least another 40 years…or I’m going to be in trouble.

If we wait until people have stopped coming in our doors to make changes it will be too late. We will have already alienated the generation we are trying to reach. The generation who will pass the laws and appropriate the funds in the very near future. Rather, we have to start implementing these ideas (from the inside out) now. Unfortunately we can no longer count on people believing in libraries, we have to convince them.

Anna H. Warns - Digital Native

It was so great to see librarians getting excited about embracing the next generation on Saturday! What a way to end the week.

As a Digital Native on the border between worlds (i.e. - I was born in ‘82) it’s a real challenge to connect the two generations. Many people have negative knee-jerk reactions when it comes to things like MySpace.com and video games. But here’s the kicker: these things are the future and they have changed the way the Millennials think. So the biggest trick to connecting with the Millennial generation is to think like them. Go out and play a video game. Get a MySpace or LiveJournal account and post. Talk to kids about what they’re looking at, listening to, reading, doing… and the try it for yourself! As the saying goes: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” This doesn’t mean you have to LIKE doing all these things. Some of them will be difficult, frustrating or possibly offensive. But you MUST try them to be able to connect with the next generation. Even though I’m a Digital Native, I’m still sorely disconnected from the world the teens at my library live in. Every time I talk to them (or just eavesdrop), I find out something new about their world.

Once you can speak the language of the Millenials, you will be better able to see the world through their eyes. What do teens want at the library? They want a community space, not a place where they get “shushed”. They want a place they can go have coffee, sit comfortably, eat junk food, talk loudly, study quietly, play games, find entertainment, find research… you start to get the idea here. As Anna points out - the library should be more than a thoroughfare, it should be a destination! Bring on the coffee stains and the loud people! It’s time to start thinking like the community nuclei that we should be.

Leslie McCombs - Ada Community Library

Glenna,

Thanks for another great presentation. I have always loved libraries and what they stand for and I am ready to meet the future even if it means change. If we continue as a community to try to reach the digital natives I think we will achieve that goal. I came home with a wealth of new information that has been presented to my Board and we want to try what we can to soar in this new technology age.

The first sign that I want to change is that I made it onto the Blog and that I want that music card because I actually have my own MP3 player.

Colleen

Glenna-

Loved the presentation! I can only hope it was as inspiring to others to take action as it was to me.

Thanks Glenna for getting us all thinking in these terms! So enjoyed your presentation at the conference.

One of the first things we need to do is “lighten up on the rules” for teens using the computers…the second is to provide a “user friendly” invironment for them! Extras might include food and drink accessibility. Teens love food. Why not put in a couple of vending machines in our foyers especially for them?

I know there are many other ‘techy’ things we could do to encourage their participation, but some common sense, make them feel welcome changes seem essential to begin with!

Thanks again for this opportunity and the great conference presentation!

Sharon

I would like to say thanks for all the hard work and effort you guys up into presenting the conference, I came away with a lot of information and ideas to improve my library in several different aspects. As for the digital native, working with a digital native, we plan to survey the high school and find out what my digital natives would like from the library and me. From there we are hoping to implement some new programs/activities that they will enjoy and will help them to take part ownership in their library. I liked the idea of a young adult night where we could play some video games in the library, so I’m working on it.
Thanks again for helping me to improve my communities library and my digital natives.
Cheryl Taylor

I don’t want to be a wet blanket on the “digital natives” thing, but I’m very concerned that this is just another flash-in-the-pan label, that nothing of any real substance will come of it.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve seen so much in the three+ decades I’ve been in the field — so many good ideas, so many concepts, die without a whimper.

We NEED and MUST reach this segment. But it must be done in a consistent and constant way.

(I also speak l337.)

Mike Doellman