The “desk set” to the “best set”?

deskset In one of my favorite movies, Desk Set, Katharine Hepburn’s character, a whip-smart librarian, faces off with the EMERAC computer that Spencer Tracy is bringing in to replace her and her staff.  (She does short circuit the computer by befuddling it, by the way.)

The movie has been on my mind lately in relation to an ongoing  discussion about the future of libraries.   And particularly what this film reminds me of is the ongoing tension/missed opportunities between librarians and tech staff.

I know there are many instances where building tech staff and librarians work side-by-side to support the curriculum (and I’ve been fortunate to work in that sort of situation the last few years).   But more often, there is a tension between the two departments.

It breaks down into a few different categories in my mind:

  • Librarian sees tech as no part of their job and relies on tech person for support, or has little to do with tech.
  • Librarian is very involved in tech, but tech department views them as invasive or stepping on their territory.
  • Librarian isn’t involved in tech, and tech department wishes they were more involved.
  • Librarian attends tech meetings but tech doesn’t attend library meetings/conferences.
  • Tech shares with librarian but librarian doesn’t share with tech staff.
  • Librarian and tech share information and work collaboratively together, attend conferences together, and share materials/projects freely.

Does this fit any of your situations?   At the bottom line of our work is of course, students.  Perhaps we should ask ourselves which model would best serve our students.  I would warrant it would be the last one, of course.

But how do we get there?  There are many obstacles–entrenched opinions, attitudes, differing beliefs about our roles, etc.

I’m throwing down the gauntlet here to some of my edtech friends and colleagues (who I feel just as connected with as with my online library colleagues).  Do you read librarian blogs, listservs, attend library conferences, check out the latest in library trends by following a library journal like SLJ or American Libraries?

Did you know that librarians, according to a recent study highlighted by SLJ (A Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking and Content -Sharing Tools), are the highest joiners of social networks on a campus(70% compared to 62% of teachers and 54% of principals)?

I applaud those of you who are blogging and twittering about libraries and are curious about how all of us in schools are evolving together.  You’ve added so much to the conversation.  (@ddraper @karlfisch)

But do many ed tech staff attend library “discussions” on Elluminate, attend library conferences, or post on library blogs (very often?)   A few of my colleagues do, regularly, and engage us with wonderfully insightful questions and posts.   But what about everyone else?  Where is the dialogue we could be having?   Your insights would be helpful to us, both in the blogosphere and at conferences.

I do have to stop here and  acknowledge and applaud organizations like ISTE and TCEA for including and supporting librarians/media specialists in their organization and offerings.  (They are doing a better job than library conferences are in this regard).

Librarians and our organizations have a part to play in this as well.  I want to throw down the gauntlet to challenge library organizations like TLA and ALA and AASL to include more school tech staff in their offerings/presenter lists/invites, etc.   (TLA actually IS bringing in Scott Floyd to speak on filtering at their annual conference this year–kudos to them!)   These library organizations could set the tone of inclusiveness and model that partnership as well.   Send out invites to ed tech staff in schools about these conferences and invite them to be part of the conversation.

And as librarians, do we invite our tech staff to library conferences so they can hear/see our progressive leaders, learn about our issues, and connect with our mission?  Do we listen to our tech staff, attend their training sessions, or invite them in to see what is going on in our libraries?

So how do we work through those differences?   We can start by being models ourselves.

desk set At the end of Desk Set, Katharine Hepburn’s character(with the peculiarly anti-intellectual name of Bunny) and Emerac the computer, along with  engineer Spencer Tracy,  begin working together to effectively serve the clients/customers in the office.  Likewise, how can we begin to bridge the divide between our two professions?

I’ve maybe pointed a few fingers–and I’m sure there are fingers to point in all directions here, but I just wonder why we don’t see this as a joint mission?  Helping envision libraries of the future and tech departments of the future is all a part of envisioning SCHOOLS and LEARNING in the future.

As Ronald Reagan(though I shudder to quote him) once said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down those walls.”   Shouldn’t we all be working together to tear down those walls?

My question is, how?

One thought on “The “desk set” to the “best set”?

  1. A very real issue, very well put. I particularly like your accurate list of categories. It’s the rare set of program evaluations I complete that I don’t suggest a closer working arrangement between technology people and librarians.

    The biggest thing I believe that helps is strong district leadership – a director of libraries and/or technology that works toward a combined department, focusing on the goals you state – improved learning and teaching.

    Without such leadership, individuals can form advisory groups that have both tech and library members (along with teachers, principals, parents and students) to create common understandings and goals.

    Again, super post. Thank you,

    Doug

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