Better Late than Never

So here I am for my attempt at #blog12daysxmas I was asked by one of my twitter followers if I was going to attempt this - at first I thought "no I can't do this - what will I blog about and I am going away next week and will have limited internet access." But in the end, I couldn't sleep because some ideas started forming in my head and even though I am tired and it is late - here I am doing my first blog post - which as supposed to be on Christmas - I think - but it isn't.

Better late than never!

I thought the theme of my blog posts for the #blog12daysxmas could be what I struggle with most as a manager of three small branch libraries. Better late than never is pretty much a good way at summing up how I sometimes feel my POW runs. We pretty much play the constant catch up game. We are a library service with not a lot of money. We are located in regional parts of NSW and are made up of small LGA's.

We don't have access to the fastest internet speeds and we have been neglected in the past. So we are playing the catch up game. Lots of things we have implemented over the last 2-3 years are things that most libraries have been providing for years. It was a shock to my system to come into a library that did not have a DVD collection or a decent webpage with access to an online catalogue. We have that now and we also have a facebook page, online computer tutoring, downloadable audio books, and free wifi access in all of our libraries. A lot to be proud of.

But I can't help but think that libraries are still playing the catch up game. We are still being fairly reactive than proactive and I'm not sure how we can turn the tables.

For example, when I play around with web 2.0 tools, I'll often think, how can we apply this in the library?? Then I think of my community and think that perhaps they are not even at that point yet - there are still plenty of people out there that don't know how to use a computer - so do we need to offer these tools/utilise these tools??!!

I am constantly asked if we offer ebooks. Well only about 5 people have come into my branch and told me they have a ereader device and do we have ebooks - does this mean we should be offering downloadable ebooks to those 5 people? Or do we spend those funds on providing more print material for the majority of our users? Or are we going to be too late to jump on the band wagon if we don't offer downloadable ebooks now??

I think the point here is that we have to be looking at our community and what they are doing and what they are using or what they will be using (however one finds that out). And we must be satisifying those needs - not 5 years down the track but now. Better late than never is not really good customer service.