The Very Heart Of ItThe Timeless, Nourishing

Value of Libraries

Peter Bromberg | peterbromberg.comUrban Libraries Unite Conference | Brooklyn, NY. April 5, 2013

Why Are We Here Today?

Here

Here

Image: By User:Spyder_Monkey (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABrooklyn_Public_Library_Jan_2010.jpg

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Today

World population: 7,000,000,000

Ever Lived: 108,000,000,000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationallibrarynz_commons/3326203787/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Why Are We Here Today?

David: Too much, there's too much f*#%ing perspective

now.

Nigel: It really puts perspective on things, though, doesn't it?

Change

the absolutely crazyhistorically unprecedented

accelerating pace of

or…

1.5 mill yrs lever, wedge500,000 yrs control of fire50,000 yrs bow & arrow5,000 years wheel and axle; sail500 years printing press with movable type; rifle100 years automobiles55 years satellites32 years IBM Home Computer28 years Windows / Mac20 years World Wide Web12-14 years iPod, Netflix, Tivo6-10 years Ubiquitous Broadband, Blogging, Skype4-6 years iPhone, Android, App Stores, Geolocation< 6 years SMS, Cell phone ubiquity, Twitter, Facebook

< 2 yearsSmartphones, Tablets, iPads, Cloud, Instagram, SnapchatAMAZON-APPLE-GOOGLE-FACEBOOK

Exponential Pace of Change

The pace of change is accelerating and the progression is exponential. We are actually doubling the power of these technologies now in less than a year.

Indeed [for a wide variety of technologies], we find not just simple

exponential growth, but “double” exponential growth, meaning that the

rate of exponential growth is itself growing exponentially.

- Ray Kurzweil, Author, Inventor, Futurist

https://www.facebook.com/blog/blog.php?post=112344532130 http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-law-of-accelerating-returns

Change & Expectations

“Everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy”-Louis CK

1.5 mill yrs lever, wedge500,000 yrs control of fire50,000 yrs bow & arrow5,000 years wheel and axle; sail500 years printing press with movable type; rifle100 years automobiles55 years satellites32 years IBM Home Computer28 years Windows / Mac20 years World Wide Web12-14 years iPod, Netflix, Tivo6-10 years Ubiquitous Broadband, Blogging, Skype4-6 years iPhone, Android, App Stores, Geolocation< 6 years SMS, Cell phone ubiquity, Twitter, Facebook

< 2 yearsSmartphones, Tablets, iPads, Cloud, Instagram, SnapchatAMAZON-APPLE-GOOGLE-FACEBOOK

Exponential Pace of Change

Unfreeze/Change/Refreeze

www.flickr.com/photos/circulating/3251962169 Kurt Lewin

Permanent Whitewater

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nukeit1/244167779/

Permanent Revolution

cc by 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/khalidalbaih/5450180945/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Graveyard of Disruptive Technology

Two Questions

cc by 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/khalidalbaih/5450180945/sizes/l/in/photostream/

In a permanent revolution:

1. What changes?

2. What doesn’t change?

So we were in this toy store trying on funny noses and…

The library saved my life.

“Work is love made visible”- Kahlil Gibran

Images: http://urbanlibrariansunite.org

Center for an Urban Future says

•Uniquely positioned to help address challenges

•Key component of human capital system

•Critical role: Skills development

•Critical role: Job preparation

•Critical role: Reading skills for young

• Importance of technology access

•Support for freelance economy

See report at: http://nycfuture.org/pdf/Branches_of_Opportunity.pdf

The Urban Institute says

•We build capacity for economic activity and resiliency

•Relied on for pre-school learning and literacy

•Support workforce entry

•Support local businesses

•Downtown/neighborhood anchor

•Spur commercial development

See report at: http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/1001075_stronger_cities.pdf

In a Permanent Revolution…

Revolution Image: cc by 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/khalidalbaih/5450180945/sizes/l/in/photostream/

What doesn’t change?Ways of Being

What changes?Ways of Doing

Flatten the Organization

- Agile - - Flexible - - Adaptable - - Innovative

- -

Responsive -

Here’s the

thing

We need You!(to be a one buttock player)

CC by 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpstorm/356565724/sizes/z/in/photostream/

-

- Have no formal authority

- Are passionate & engaged

- Motivate others

- Initiate new ideas

- Seek others’ opinions

(Emergent Leadership concept from Peter Northouse)

aka “Emergent Leader”

Image: http://www.makingadifferencedaily.com/apps/vblog/

Make Something Up (and steal the rest)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/4193508328 (no copyright)

Photo: ULU: http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/books/small-but-full-of-stories-the-mini-library-helps-readers-recover-after-hurricane-sandy.html

Mini Library(Urban Libraries Unite)

Photo by Emily Lloyd http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2012/04/emily_lloyd_6_words_minneapolis.php4/sizes/m/in/set-72157625192282865/

Six Word Memoirs(Minneapolis Public Library)

Alternative Teen Fashion Show(Fayetteville (AR) Public Library

http://vimeo.com/6725515

Video at: http://vimeo.com/6725515

Human Library(Edmonton Public Library)

http://vimeo.com/6725515

http://www.epl.ca/new-living-library-2013

Library Box(Jason Griffey)

http://vimeo.com/6725515

http://jasongriffey.net/librarybox

Knit in Public Day(Princeton Public Library)

http://vimeo.com/6725515

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/princetonpubliclibrary/4730216611/in/set-72157624074943211/

Civic Discourse(Princeton Public Library)

http://vimeo.com/6725515

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgsulib67/5148528014/sizes/m/in/set-72157625192282865/

Library Sleevefacing(Bowling Green State University)

There has never been a better time in the history of humanity to

Steal The Rest

•Webjunction

•Associations

•Consortia

•Literature

•Personal Network

•Slideshare.net

•Vendors

•Social Media

•ALADirect | ALAConnect

•Blogs

•Facebook Groups

•LinkedIn Groups

•Webinars

•Listservs/Forums

Take care of yourself

1. Optimism2. Mindfulness Mediation3. Nature4. Exercise5. Celebration/Appreciation6. Community Support 7. Hope

Take care of yourself

“You’re just full of hope. You’ve got more hope than most people do. It’s a

beautiful thing to have a little hope for the world.”

…one’s own small flame to the central flames of life and the world.

We cannot predict the exact details of the future, but we can have a hand in

shaping the heart of the future, including its context of meaning and our

commitment and courage in advancing into the unknown.

Continually Connect…

- Robert K Cooper, Ayman Sawaf, Executive EQ

Peter Bromberg | peterbromberg@gmail.comUrban Libraries Unite Conference, April 8, 2013, Brooklyn,

NY

Image CC BY-ND 2.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/iain/4101881178/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Deleted Scenes

“Between stimulus and response there is a space.

In that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

- Viktor E. Frankl

I think that the future, even ten or twenty years out, is going to get deeply weird

- Michael EdsonDirector of Web and New Media Strategy,

Smithsonian Institution

More TrustRegular Practice

Results In…

Trust is the conduit for influence; it’s the

medium through which ideas travel.

If they don’t trust you, your ideas are just dead in the water. Having the best idea is worth nothing if people

don’t trust you."

- Amy Cuddy

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have

one hell of a good time.

Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.

- E.B.White, misquoted

For actual quote see: http://www.berfrois.com/2011/11/martha-white-on-e-b-white/

“The public library is a center of public happiness first”

- John Cotton DanaA Library Primer, 3rd ed. 1903

- Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/John_Cotton_Dana_01.jpg

ICE - P

•IQ: Intelligence Quotient•CQ: Curiosity Quotient•EQ: Emotional Intelligence Quotient•PQ: Passion Quotient