Civic by Design: Can the Library Building Bolster the Civic Image of the Community?

This article, Civic Engagement Trumps ‘Shhh!’ in the NY Times is a must read!

It is a striking expression of the continuing effort to shake the dust off of the city’s aging libraries and recast them as lively communal hubs, and should go far in bolstering the civic image of Queens.

How interesting that the very design of the building has the potential to bolster the image of the borough. Note also:

• “But Mr. Holl’s design is also a statement about the individual’s place in a larger communal framework…
• “The strength of this layout is that it allows Mr. Holl to balance the reader’s need for solitude with a strong sense of community.”
• “The views aren’t just pretty; they remind us that the intellectual exchange of a library is part of a bigger collective enterprise.”

Thank you, Mr. Steven Holl for recognizing what a handful of libraries and library students, like those in LIS418LE already know. Now let’s go out and wake up the rest of the profession!

This is the future for libraries – creating a communal framework both in physical and programming design, reinforcing a strong sense of community, and reminding that we are part of a collective enterprise. The sooner we embrace this critical role, the sooner we can move beyond the idea that “we can cut library budgets because everything you need is on Google.”

No other institution is better poised to fill this role than the library. And this is a time when the public is dying to feel a part of a collective, to feel grounded within their community.

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Having a voice/demanding YOUR voice be the one that’s heard

I appreciate the need to make certain that every voice is heard. Criminy, that’s my business…my passion! But there is a difference between having your voice heard and demanding that your voice be the one that’s heard EVEN IF it means that someone else doesn’t get to hear their voice on the microphone.

One woman in the room is pouting because I didn’t give her the microphone in a room of over 600 people with at least 1/3 of them dying to get on mike. Maybe it just shows that people don’t trust that the thoughts and ideas they write on the pages on their table will be incorporated into the thoughts and ideas that will propel the city forward.

Or maybe it shows how desperate people are to be heard. And it tells me that we have to be diligent in making sure that people ARE heard, that they KNOW they are heard, AND that they are willing to yield to make sure others get heard.

At the recent AmericaSpeaks project Our Budget, Our Economy National Town Meeting, a recorder at every table typed the ideas from the group into a wired laptop computer. The conversation at each table at six different locations across the country was captured immediately and sent to a central collection place – in this case, Philadelphia, the origination point. There was no attempt to capture a smattering of individual comments because of the impracticality. At best, we were able to isolate one person on mike and camera at each of the six sites who made a 2-3 sentence comment that was broadcast to the other sites, but the purpose was more about reminding ourselves that we were part of a NATIONAL conversation than to process what was being said or even to pretend that it reflected the consensus of the group. It was the presence of the computers at every table that gave assurance to the participants.

But that model is not practical for every circumstance. Would this event have been possible if the organizer had told the council that it couldn’t happen without 100 laptops? Doubtful.

So what’s something we can do to assure people that they are being heard in these large-scale forums?

And for me, the additional question is, “how can I adjust my attitude?”

hmm, I think that writing this blog just did that! Thanks for the therapy session.

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Thoughts from Ed Whitacre Jr. (former GM CEO) at SA2020

Strategic planning is knowing where you want to go and getting there. Smart cities know where “there” is. All successful organizations have one thing in common, an idea of where they want to go.

The best way to predict the future is to create it is an idea that Ed Whitacre embraces.

When he joined GM, the company was shell-shocked. It had just gone through the largest bankruptcy for any American company. It was overcomplicated with a matrix management system that created confusion. No one knew what to do. The org chart looked like the complicated interchanges I navigated to get here from I-35. (And frankly passed under just north of Austin-I think TXDOT uses cooked spaghetti to plan interchanges, but that’s another post!)

Back to Whitacre’s wisdom from his time at GM…

The industry had been turned on its head, but GM was a company with a global reach and scale, with a toe-hold in emerging markets. Mostly, it was a company with a lot of sort passionate people. If the people don’t want to do it, forget it. It’s not going to happen. People are the most important asset to any company or any city.

Coming out of a bankruptcy is like a near-death experience. But (like San Antonio, GM had strengths to build upon.)

More than anything, GM needed a vision that was simple, understandable, believable, concise, and challenging.

The new GM vision is to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicle.

Whitacer’s vision is even simpler. Our vision is sell cars.

Visions are for organizations that are working to improve the lives and circumstances of others. What is the vision for San Antonio that we can rally arounund.

• A vibrant downtown,
• Transportation infrastructure
• Primary and secondary education

Businesses go where they are welcome, it’s easy to get around town and there is quality education. The way to create the San Antonio we want is to develop a vision of what we want to become.

Strategic planning is worthless unless there is first a strategic vision. The plan is what you do to reach your vision. It shows the different routes you can take to get to the vision.

Keep the vision simple and concise and easily understood. Now on to do that!

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Gear up for "Choose Privacy Week"

Privacy is a particularly slippery and amorphous issue, about which people hold a wide variety of opinions and beliefs. By sparking a national conversation on privacy, Choose Privacy Week (May 2-8, 2010) will give people with different perspectives an opportunity to learn more about the issues, weigh in on choices with their fellow citizens, and consider options for action.

The ALA Membership Initiative Group, Libraries Fostering Civic Engagement is promoting public deliberation on the topic, “Who Do I Trust My Privacy To?” Using a discussion guide written by members, Nancy Kranich and Carolyn Caywood, participants will examine approaches to protecting privacy that relies on three possible strategies for protecting privacy. (Download discussion guide and other supporting materials here!)

The three options that participants will deliberate are:

Approach 1: The Marketplace

The marketplace is the source of innovation in security and privacy protection technology and it also has a vested interest in privacy that secures the integrity of financial data.

Approach 2: The Goverment

The government has a responsibility to provide for public safety which includes identity protection and to secure the rights necessary to a free society.

Approach 3: Myself

I, my self, recognize that privacy values are individual and varied and that no one cares more about my needs than me.

The Libraries Fostering Civic Engagement MIG is offering two free online workshops to help librarians convene forums, and to moderate community discussions on privacy in conjunction with Privacy Week, May 2-8, 2010.

Tips on Hosting a Deliberative Forum on Privacy

March 30, 2010
1:00 – 3:00 Central Time

This workshop will cover:

• the logistics for convening your forum,
• strategies you can use to build partnerships,
• ideas for marketing your forum,
• how to use your forum to meet the information needs of your patrons, and
• free and low-cost tools you can use to host a forum in your library

How to Moderate a Deliberative Forum on Privacy

April 13, 2010
1:00 – 3:00 Central Time

This workshop will cover:

• guidelines for participants in a deliberative dialogue,
• strategies to encourage participants to weigh the costs and consequences of different approaches to managing privacy,
• the art of crafting powerful and thoughtful questions,
• tips for dealing with people who talk too much or people who don’t speak up
• how to make your community conversation part of a national dialogue

If you have questions or comments, please leave them here in the comments section.

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