The Freedom to Fail

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." - John Wooden

Last Friday, I went to the ULA fall workshop at Utah State University and had the pleasure of hearing Salt Lake Public Library's new executive director John Spears talk about the role libraries will play in the future. Spoiler alert: it may not be the same as libraries of the past. Besides the general awesomeness of John's presentation, the participants all seemed to take away one key point: It's okay to fail.

Now, I know on some level we are all aware of this. Yet sometimes our profession seems a little risk-averse and wary of change. New ideas get shot down, sent to committee, analyzed to death, or dismissed as something tried and failed back in [insert year here]. If it didn't work then, why would it work now?

For one thing, times have changed. The information landscape has changed. Our patrons have changed. Quite frankly, our continued relevance depends on adapting to this new environment and creating new metrics that defend our existence. John gave great examples such as YouMedia at the Chicago Public Library and MakerSpace at the Westport Public Library. Here at MWDL, I think that the Pioneers in Your Attic project is a prime example of innovation and change.

Each of us -- whether we are a digital, public, or special library -- need to think of new ways to take risks, innovate, and, yes, possibly fail. A big thanks to John Spears for reminding us at MWDL to be bold!

The MWDL Outreach Librarian, coming soon to a town near you.

For those of you who don't know, there is a new Outreach Librarian at the Mountain West Digital Library, and it's me! After three weeks of training and strategizing within the safe confines of my office, last week I ventured out to my first outreach event at the Whitmore Library for a Pioneers in Your Attic scanning event. Matt Brunsvik, Kendra Yates, and I only scanned a few items, but had a great time talking to folks about their family history and the purpose of Pioneers in Your Attic events. If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "I don't have anything for you, but it sounds like a great project", I could have bought Matt and Kendra lunch.

Even so, I can see a word-of-mouth pattern forming. One gentleman showed up on Wednesday with 400 pages of family history because his friend had seen us at the West Jordan event. Another person from the Whitmore Library was excited to tell his uncle -- the family historian -- about the Spanish Fork event next month, which is right down the street from his uncle's house. Even with all the great press this project has received, it seems like there really is no substitute for one-on-one interaction.

This week, Marisa Snyder and I will be at the Grand County Library on Wednesday and the Price City Library on Thursday exposing more family treasures to the light of day  If you know anyone in Moab or Price, let them know that we'll be there all week and we are happy to listen to their family stories. Or, better yet, scan them, describe them, and upload them to mwdl.org for the world to enjoy.

See you on the road!