1. REINVENTING REFERENCE IN
A PANDEMIC WORLD
Stephen Abram, MLS
July 21, 2020
Readers Club International (A Society for Public Library Network)
Agartala, Tripura, India

2. 2
Experienced global library and
information industry leader
Expertise in:
• Advocacy and Influence
• Strategic planning & marketing
• Product development
• Technology & training and marketing
Stephen Abram

3. lucidea.com 3
Heads up!
Lucidea Press
©2018 Press
Download as Kindle or Print via Amazon

4. lucidea.com 4
Reinventing Reference: How
Libraries Deliver Value in the
Age of Google
ALANeal Schuman Press
©2015
Download as Kindle or Print via ALA or Amazon

5. Reimagine a New Beginning:
My Basic Philosophy
◦ Staff and User safety is the first priority
◦ Understand that you are NOT returning to the old NORMAL. That is nostalgia
◦ You are creating a New Normal and this is a great opportunity.
◦ Reframe exactly what User behaviours are changing
◦ Know what value your library delivers and the strategic impacts of your efforts
◦ Know your personal and organizational values

6. Crisis = Chaos and Opportunity

7. That said . . . Think Strategically!
Have a positive
mindset
There is not one
goal in this
environment
You need to consider
at least three
scenarios
You need to bake in
nimbleness and
flexibility
You need to build
comfort with
ambiguity
Build a better NEW
NORMAL

8. THE BIG QUESTION
WHAT IS IT THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DO
TODAY, THAT IF WE COULD, WOULD
FUNDAMENTALLY IMPROVE OUR LIBRARY’S
SUCCESS?

9. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY
YOUR COMMUNITY
Users, students, seniors, businesses, …

10. 7 TACTICS

11. 1. APPOINTMENTS

12. Appointments
◦ Appointments moved up the list because of COVD-19.
◦ Public Librarians have always done this but it was usually more informal.
◦ For this to work you need to scale. That requires staff to have great skills with
technology and make it easy for the library user.
◦ Libraries are using WhatsApp, Zoom, QuestionPoint, Skype, Google
Meet/Hangouts, Windows Meetings, WebEx, AdobeConnect, and many more.
◦ Staff buy-in, scheduling, tracking, training, and more are needed.

13. 2. DIGITAL

14. Digital Programming
◦ Programs are a multi-purpose portfolio. Today’s world demands that you have a hybrid
strategy of synchronous and asynchronous programs.
◦ You can build your own (takes time to scale), license large volumes of programs, or build
collections of free programs on the web.
◦ Examples of fine programs include Khan Academy, YouTube, Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning, Gale
Courses, etc.
◦ Libraries are using WhatsApp, Zoom, Slack, QuestionPoint, Skype, Google Meet/Hangouts,
Windows Meetings, WebEx, AdobeConnect, and many more.

15. Libraries are not about books
◦ And this isn’t heresy!
◦ We’re about the verbs not the nouns!
◦ We’re not about books . . . We’re about reading.
◦ We’re not about programs . . . We’re about learning.
◦ We’re not about building and rooms . . . We’re about social engagement.
◦ We not about information . . . We’re about improving the quality of questions.
◦ We’re not about statistics . . . We’re about measuring the impact of the
outcomes our programs seek.
◦ Libraries make a difference. Our users tell us that every day.

16. 3. RECORDINGS

17. You Can Build a Digital Strategy
◦ Build your digital strategy by:
◦ Building an inexpensive studio.
◦ Your smartphone is almost enough.
◦ Just add a little editing software and a green wall and you’re ready!
◦ Jump on recorded podcasts, webinars, video tutorials, YouTube channels,
◦ SHARE

18. 4. TOP 20 Q&A’S

19. Your Top 20 Questions
1. Libraries are about Answers.
2. We are about Finding.
3. We are about improving the quality of Questions.
4. How do you build Answers and Finding Tools at Scale?
5. Tripura has about 3.7 million potential users with high levels of literacy. (For comparison my
hometown, Greater Toronto has about 6 million people with a somewhat larger geographic
footprint and around 250 public libraries.)
6. Sorry, it is just not possible to answer every question with your staff resources. (i.e. Google
answers more questions in an hour than every librarian in the world has answered in the past
Millennium.)

20. One Facet of a Scaled Solution
◦ Have you collected your Top 20 Questions Statewide?
◦ What are the most strategic questions to improve your community’s economic, educational,
and social success?
◦ Once you know these, it’s a simple management task to divide up the work among libraries and
build a scalable digital presence that aligns with training, communication and training
strategies.
◦ One software that allows this to be consortially shared is SpringShare’s LibGuides software and
archive.
◦ So, think about Fiction and Non-fiction questions and build a best-sources finding tool.

21. Best Practices
◦ Carefully select & curate the resources or build your own if you can’t find one.
◦ Sign your work – ensure that the librarian creator is highlighted (name, degree(s), picture, e-mail, etc.)
and can be contacted with questions and additions.
◦ Have a strong State-wide BRAND and visual image.
◦ Curate your webliographies – select carefully, do guidance abstracts, point to databases, etc.
◦ Don’t just do text. Look for great videos, pictures, visuals, infographics, etc.
◦ Use the best standards of fluid and responsive web design (LibGuides has this built in if you choose to use
it)
◦ Use a state-wide standard and avoid too much difference to ensure user expectations of quality and
comfort are met.

22. 5. MISSION ORIENTATION

23. Look at Your Strategic Plan and Mission
◦ What to you say you want to build in your vision and whom will it make more successful?
◦ It’s a core service to support reading. That means recommendations, reader’s advisory, collection
promotion, read-alikes, etc.
◦ It’s also basic to public library portfolios to build skills (information literacy, learning literacy,
computer literacy, civic literacy, health literacy, and so many more).
◦ How do we support the social portfolio with resources for health, personal finance, retirement,
aging, etc.?
◦ What are the difficult issues in your communities that information combined with resources,
answers and learning make your public library part of the solution?

24. Funding
◦ Rule number one about asking for funding is that you can prove you are well-managed and
using your resources of cash, staff, and buildings to their optimum advantage.
◦ Rule number two is that anyone can do MORE with ore resources.
◦ Align your goals with the funder goals (government, foundations, charities, donors, etc.) and
have conversations that engages them in your dreams and actions.
◦ Do your homework

25. 6. USER SUCCESS NICHES

26. Target the segments in your marketplace
◦ Pre-schoolers (know the impact)
◦ School-age children (know the curriculum)
◦ College students (e-learners)
◦ Adults, parents, etc. (recreational/hobby and employment/development needs)
◦ Seniors (recreational, isolation, voluntarism…)
◦ Business People, Farmers, Professionals, civil servants . . .
◦ Know their needs. Focus each service on the narrow needs of your niche markets. Plain
services for ALL fails to delight anyone.

27. 7. REFRAMING

28. Reframe Your Service Portfolio
◦ Reframe it around impact and goals FIRST and NOT primarily around topic.
◦ Measure (possibly by sampling to make it scalable) the impact of your services.
◦ Do NOTHING that you cannot promote.
◦ Promote based on your advocacy goals
◦ Promote based on user interest.
◦ Select those areas that are the highest need and/or the highest interest.

29. 8. BONUS:
MARCOMM

30. Marketing Communications MARCOMM
◦ Up Your advocacy and marketing game
◦ FOPL OpenMediaDesk scalable solution
◦ Training
◦ Social Media
◦ Dashboard
◦ Collaborative

31. What library professionals can do right
now!
1. Look at your community. What are their needs and interests? What experiences can they offer?
2. Once needs are assessed, explore the concept of mutual aid and how libraries can become involved in direct action.
3. Network with other library professionals who are doing this already or who want to do it. Share ideas!
4. Use social media to connect with patrons. Get them excited about the programs, and get feedback.
5. Throw a Maker Party. This is especially important if you don’t have a dedicated makerspace. You can throw periodic pop-
ups that offer a physical space to tinker, play and make things. A good resource is the American Library
Association’s Making in Library Toolkit.
6. Make sure library staff are engaged, trained and supported. In order to be successful, it is important that they have the
resources for success.
7. Find partners in academia, the public sector and industry to enrich your programming and services. They could even be
involved in creating the aforementioned plug and play program kits. They don’t have to be running every program.
8. Create a peer-supported network where everyone can share their interests and passions. This could also involve
connecting people with mentors. The Chicago Learning Exchange and The Hive are two great examples!

32. What helped Support our Success at FOPL with
our Pandemic Responses?
Lessons Learned
Invest in long-term relationships
Invest in partnerships and alliances
Invest in professional government relations counsel

33. LEARN THIS ONE THING:
IF YOU’RE NOT AT THE TABLE
YOU’RE THE MEAL

34. ANOTHER BIG QUESTION:
HOW DO WE CELEBRATE, BUILD
STAFF CULTURE, AND BUILD VIRTUAL
TEAMS

35. Culture Trumps Strategy Every Time
◦ The challenge of maintain a positive, impactful, and dare we say it, happy staff
is essential.
◦ In Ontario, we often use the SLACK tool to build formal and informal teams and
for institution-wide conversations.
◦ When meetings move to Zoom, and the water cooler conversation is
problematic, and the quick coffee, tea or hallway chat declines in prevalence, it
behooves us to find solutions.
◦ The business of culture shaping is up to you and everyone! An engaged and
excited staff is motivated to succeed.

36. CELEBRATE YOUR CO-WORKERS WINS
AND ACHIEVEMENTS VISIBLY WITH ALL
OF THE TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL.
You can do it!

38. Contacts
Stephen Abram, MLS
CEO, Lighthouse Consulting, Inc.
CEO, Federation of Ontario Public Libraries
Blogs:
Stephen’s Lighthouse
http://www.stephenslighouse.com
FOPL: http://www.fopl.ca
Email: stephen.abram@gmail.com
Twitter: @sabram
Facebook
LinkedIn

39. Keeping Up
◦ Stephen’s Lighthouse
◦ http://www.stephenslighouse.com
◦ I filter the most important news and research
that affects libraries of all types. All posts are
also communicated through Twitter via @sabram
◦ FOPL.ca: http://www.fopl.ca
◦ I assemble news that is vital to decision-makers
in Ontario public libraries. All posts are also
communicated through Twitter via @FOPLnews
◦ Recommendation: Set up a Feedly RSS feed of
your favourite blogs.