Reading into the Future - Great Newsweek Library Article

Reading Into the Future: As a librarian, my world was always about books. But in this economy, I've evolved into a career counselor.

Eva Gronowska, Newsweek Web Exclusive

Libraries are my world. I've been a patron all my life, and for the past nine years I've worked at multiple libraries and archives in and around Detroit. The library as an institution has many roles, but as our country struggles through an economic crisis, I have watched the library where I work evolve into a career and business center, a community gathering place and a bastion for hope.

In the spring of 2007 I got a library internship at the Southfield Public Library, just north of Detroit. Summers at SPL were usually slow, but that year, we experienced a library that hustled and bustled like science-fair project week, midterms or tax season. Yet patrons weren't looking for Mosby's Nursing Drug Reference or 1040 forms. They were coming for information on entrepreneurship and growing their small business.

I interpreted people's interest in our business collection as the first step to pursuing their dreams, but these patrons were not motivated by dreams. They were responding to reality, and they were looking for Plan B. In Michigan, a slew of unfortunate circumstances caused the first rumblings of recession. Rising unemployment was compounded by rampant foreclosures. The auto industry went spiraling, and with it, their suppliers, then neighborhoods. Michigan's deficit grew, budgets were slashed and business slowed. Southfield used to headquarter five Fortune 500 corporations; today only Lear Corp. remains. As the city shed business, it shed tax revenue as well. Department budgets shrank and a hiring freeze permeated the city.

Things worsened in 2008, and in 2009 the economic crisis continues to suffocate Michigan. Interest in small businesses has remained high, but unemployment, the credit crunch and foreclosures command our patrons' attention and, consequently, ours. Last year, we put up a display with a variety of job resources that we restocked every hour. Each night the library closed, the display was bare. While we normally keep displays up for a week, we kept the job resources display up for months.

Our computer terminals began to fill up, too—this may not be unusual for smaller libraries, but SPL has more than 150 computers, and now some of the people coming in to use them had never even touched one. I challenge you to find someone that's never turned on a computer, explain to them how to use the mouse and keyboard, set up an e-mail address, and then fill out an online application. Now imagine doing that in less than 15 minutes while a line of people with more questions grows impatient at your desk. That's a typical weeknight at SPL.

Some of these folks are job seekers who are suddenly confronted with having to fill out online applications. I recently worked with a man in his mid-50s who was laid off after 25 years as a delivery driver. I helped him navigate the Web sites for UPS and FedEx, search through open positions, register his information and then apply for a job. He quickly became self-sufficient and returned often to check his application's status. I haven't seen him in a while; I'm hoping that's a good sign.

Housing is also a huge issue, and patrons routinely ask about rental vouchers, mortgages, foreclosure lists and apartment searches. A large number of low-income, mentally challenged or illiterate patrons often cannot comprehend the information and are in dire need of a social worker. At times, these conversations are trying, but demonstrate the extent of need.
Regardless of who they are, you can always hear the patron's voice quiver when living arrangements are uncertain. People are scrambling to keep a roof over their heads and as librarians we stay mindful that these folks are vulnerable. A local "company" publicized a free foreclosure-information event at SPL, unbeknownst to the library. The local news caught wind of it and aired a story without researching the company or contacting us. The next day we had ourselves a hubbub as people clamored to get their foreclosure packets. Worse yet, the representative of this "company" was asking for a $20 application fee just to give patrons what was freely available. One older woman was willing to forgo her medication for the week to pay the fee. A veteran librarian derailed the questionable practice by offering our service and the information for free.

Then there's the tightening credit market. People see the writing on the wall and they want to get educated. They can't afford a financial adviser, but checking books out is free. Some of the most popular titles now are "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," "Think and Grow Rich," and "Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan." We answer question about taxes, stimulus checks, grants, bankruptcy, credit scores, credit reports and many other personal-finance issues. Fortunately, we have all had comprehensive business training. Without it we wouldn't know where to start—especially now.
The crumbling economy affects us all. I have had to work long hours and don't get to see much of my boyfriend or experience any kind of social life lately, but I am thankful to be in a position where I can help people overcome this struggle. The long days are made great when I help job seekers find work, talk to teens about college, meet new business owners, have a discussion about literature and watch senior citizens send their first e-mail to their grandchildren. These small victories and billions just like them are why librarians continue to fight the good fight. In Michigan, we haven't lost hope. As long as there are libraries here, there will always be hope.


Gronowska Lives In Southfield, Mich.
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/192764

Hernando officials weigh library offer from LSSI, a Maryland for-profit company

Hernando officials weigh library offer from LSSI, a Maryland for-profit company

By Dan DeWitt, Times Columnist Published Monday, March 30, 2009

Hoping to witness some residents pursuing knowledge at a sacred public institution, I stopped by the West Hernando branch library Monday morning — and found the parking lot empty.

Then I remembered. After last year's cutbacks, it doesn't open until noon on Mondays. Neither does the Main Library in Brooksville, which I didn't realize until I drove across the county and pulled into another deserted lot.

That's when I started to think harder about the column that I'd planned to write, one influenced by talking to Elaine Orlando, 73, a retired reference librarian from New York.

She is circulating a petition to prevent the county from handing the operation of Hernando's libraries over to a for-profit company.

I was inclined to think, as she does, that this is sort of like the Catholic church outsourcing Communion.

Because what purer form of democracy is there than libraries? Open to all; creating well-informed citizens and voters; spreading opportunity through self-education. Orlando, quoting Benjamin Franklin, called them the "people's university.''

And, just because I lost track of the Main Library's operating hours doesn't mean I don't go there frequently. I do. It's almost always packed. The librarians are usually well informed and helpful. The selection of books is about as thoughtful and complete as can be expected.
"The quality of service has always been excellent,'' Orlando said.

Right. So, why mess with it?

Well, we probably shouldn't. But the county has received a tempting offer from Library Systems & Services, also known as LSSI, which is based in Maryland.

The company says it can save the county $500,000 if it maintains the current hours, and $360,000 if it restores the hours cut last year. The company would rehire most of the current staffers, said company vice president George Bateman, and it would not set policy or select books.

Still, this would be a big step, even an experimental one.

Only 13 local governments across the country — none in Florida — have contracted with LSSI. Some of the clients, such as a county in Oregon that had briefly shut its libraries altogether, turned to the company only as a last resort.

And Barbara Shiflett, director of library services in Hernando, listed some of her concerns in a recent memo — that this might mean a fight with the county workers' newly elected union, that volunteers might not want to pitch in for a money-making enterprise, that LSSI would hire cheaper, less-qualified employees.

On the other hand, I think of those closed doors.

In the past two years, the library has seen nothing but cuts: Its budget has gone down by $644,000, to $2.5 million, its staff by the equivalent of 11.5 employees, the hours of operation at the Main Library, which is typical, from 54 to 40 per week.

Next year will mean less money and, I worry, even fewer hours and fewer new books and computers. So the county has been forced to at least consider LSSI's pitch, County Administrator David Hamilton said. He's referred it to a committee led by Commissioner Rose Rocco.

"It simply has to see the light of day,'' he said.

I guess it does. Because this is the kind of compromise we're forced to make when we decide we hate taxes more than we love democracy.

New Port Richey Library offers budding teen rock musicians a place to jam

Through the Skylight band member Jason Dolinger, 17, center, gets the stage ready for a performance as Alexis Brown, 10, far right, tunes her electric guitar. Youth librarian Ghelder Arriaga hosts Garage Jams for teens some Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. at the New Port Richey Library, 5939 Main St.

By Michele Miller, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 St. Petersburg Times

NEW PORT RICHEY

They start straggling in a little after 3 p.m. when school's out for the day. A few have guitars slung over their shoulders. Others simply bring their voices and an eagerness to share the stage with like-minded kids.

Music is the bond that connects the 15 to 25 kids that frequent the place: from the long-haired heavy metal screamers, to the International Baccalaureate kid with the awesome voice and two-tone blue electric guitar she got for her eighth-grade graduation, to the slight ponytailed 10-year-old drum aficionado who was brought up on Led Zeppelin and Elvis Presley but counts Taylor Swift as her all-time fave.

They always show up early, said Ghelder Arriaga, the youth librarian who runs things. But the kids have to wait, maybe check out some books or read over lyrics, because no one enters the upstairs community room until Arriaga is done setting up the mikes, the mixer, the sound system and the musical video game Rockband for kids who are too shy to sing or play on their own.

Then, as soon as the clock strikes 4, the purple neon "Open" sign is flipped on, and the Garage Jam session starts at the New Port Richey Library.

For the next two hours the music of today's youth (and sometimes their parents' youth) reverberates through the brick building on Main Street as patrons quietly peruse bookshelves upstairs and down or surf the Web on computers.

It's a different kind of mix to be sure, but times have changed. Libraries have evolved to meet the needs of all their patrons.

The youth jam sessions, held Wednesdays three times a month, are the brainstorm of Arriaga, who thought it would be a good way to use the library's equipment while reaching out to the younger generation.

"As a librarian, one of the things we want to do is expose them to all the arts — traditional art, music, theater — because we have a lot of material here for them," Arriaga said. "I think more teens would go to the library if there were more venues for them."

The first Garage Jam was held in November to highlight the new youth music collection purchased by the library's teen council. The sessions evolved from that, Arriaga said.

"I thought back to my own youth, growing up in New York, and how we would put together these bands. Whoever had an empty basement, that was the place to go," said Arriaga, now in his mid-30s. "If you had a friend that had a basement, he had the key to this kind of thing. But here in Florida there are no basements — you have garages, so the kids play there."

Now there's another alternative for kids like M.J. Pereyra, 17, who balances her music with intensive studies in the International Baccalaureate program at Gulf High. She used to be quite shy. Now she sings lead vocals in front of guitar player Chris Pendley, 16, and heavy metal screamers Brian Deleonard and Jason Dolinger, both 17. She writes her own songs and even has her own young fans who regularly record the group's sessions at the library on their cell phone cameras.

"This is actually great," M.J. said after Arriaga recorded her singing a cover of Temperance's You Make Me Happy for a video to post on MySpace. "I used to not be able to play guitar in front of people. Now I have the confidence to sing in front of people. It's made me what I am today."

"I come here because I like to sing, and I like to watch the band," said Kimberly Parrish, 14. "It's very nice, actually, that they do this for the teenagers."

Some adults agree.

"I'm really pleased that they're having this musical event for the kids," said Susan Vaughn, 66, a retired school librarian who volunteers as a cataloguer at the library. "I don't find it distracting at all. I think it's wonderful that these kids are here being creative, that they have a safe place to be. It's a new age. It's not a museum. It's an active living place."

Of course, not everyone feels the same. Arriaga said responses to the music program have been mixed.

The kids love it, of course. Local teachers and parents seem to like it, too — especially when reluctant readers venture in to check out the books on their favorite bands.

"The kids are reading — even if it's lyrics that I've printed off for them, they are reading," he said. "And some of the parents use this as leverage. If the kids don't keep up their grades or if they get in trouble, they can't come here.

"Some patrons don't like it," he said. "But I tell them, 'We're open 56 hours in a week and for just two of those hours we're doing this.' "

That's music to the ears of parents such as Rich Brown, who was eager to get his guitar- and drum-playing daughter Alexis, 10, into the garage band sessions after following the music up the stairs one recent Wednesday afternoon.

"Do you know how cool this is?" Brown said. "This is so cool. I wish they had something like this when I was a kid."

Fast facts
If you go
The New Port Richey Public Library is at 5939 Main St. For information on programs, call (727) 853-1279 or visit www.nprlibrary.org.

He found his job, helping others find theirs

Joel Larus works with Ed, a homeless man, at the Selby Public Library last week. His "counseling center" consists basically of a table near the library entrance.

By Billy Cox
Published: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. Herald Tribune

SARASOTA - So this guy sees the Job Seekers' Program signs posted at Selby Public Library and approaches Joel Larus, the man in charge.

The visitor says he just got laid off at a local restaurant, and he needs work in the worst way.

Larus asks what his culinary specialty is, and the guy says barbecued ribs.

Larus asks if he ever considered catering to New College and University of South Florida students on the north Trail. The guy says no, but then starts thinking aloud about styrofoam delivery boxes and plastic cutlery and pricing schedules.

Larus asks him how much it might cost to get started, and the fellow says maybe $100, which he doesn't have. Larus doesn't usually do this sort of thing, but he reaches for his checkbook and spots the guy a $60 loan.

Furthermore, Larus pays him $20 in advance for two rib dinners to be delivered to his condo at 6 p.m. that Friday night.

Larus waits. The guy never shows. Larus phones for an explanation. The guy hangs up. Larus loses $80.

"Well," says the old Ivy Leaguer with a laugh, "it could've been worse."

Making loans to strangers isn't typical sport for an 85-year-old. Nor is seeking out unemployed strangers who might well be lying every time they speak. But these are treacherous times, and Larus is certain he can be of help.

So, from 10 a.m. until noon on Tuesdays and 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays, Larus waits for people to show up at his makeshift job counseling center that consists basically of a table near the library entrance. Nearby is a room he uses for consultations, where he tries to match workers with potential jobs.

Recently, after listening to more than 300 hard-luck cases since setting up his one-man Job Seekers' Program in late 2007, Larus has noticed a shift in the line-up of people who approach him. A more educated, white-collar demographic is beginning to emerge from the rising floodwaters of unemployment.

"I had a Ph.D. last Thursday!" Larus exclaims, as if he had just bagged a tarpon.
Actually, the self-proclaimed doctorate holder could have been lying, too. After all, Larus doesn't do background checks. He doesn't gather contact information. He doesn't verify their employment status.

But Larus is prepared for anything with his mother lode of employment information contained in a 2-inch thick stack of 4-by-6 note cards. Everything is in there, from local employment agency information to potential employers to contact information jotted down from help-wanted roadside signs. Not to mention his own ideas, like the barbecue catering gig.

"Am I doing good work? Frankly, I don't know," says the retired antiques entrepreneur and academic. "The problem is, very few come back. If I am successful in sending someone to a job, that's where he or she goes. They don't come back here."

Roman Gimenez, 56, doesn't know if his recent session with Larus will pay off. He has been reduced to working odd jobs since his lawn service collapsed.

"Joel gave me quite a few leads that I've been following," says Gimenez, struggling to keep his family in their house. "He knows about a lot of places around here, places I never thought to look. He's a very kind and helpful person."

Library director Liz Nolan suspects Larus' efforts are paying off more than he knows.

"Somewhere along the line, he must be making a positive difference, because people seek him out," she says. "And even if he helps just one person find a job, he's done a great thing."

With free Internet access, and a location a few blocks from the Salvation Army's soup kitchen, Selby Library is a natural magnet for indigent traffic. Larus, a voracious reader, took note years ago. More recently, with the numbers of the unemployed accelerating, he also discovered a community in denial.

"There's a problem in Sarasota," he says. "If you hang around Five Corners or Starbucks or Whole Foods, you'll see the backpacks and the tents. I listen to these people, and I've heard horror stories."

Larus, whose parents introduced him to volunteerism ages ago, also understood that many of the itinerates were content with their hardscrabble lifestyles. But he approached Nolan with some ideas about helping those who were sick of it. Nolan decided to give him some space, for good reason.

Larus earned an undergraduate degree at Harvard and his doctorate at Columbia, where he once taught international relations. But for nearly 30 years, he made real money in the antiques business in Boston. In 1997, two years after arriving in Sarasota, the opera aficionado founded a continuing education program for retirees called the Pierian Spring Academy.

Partially accounting for Larus' latest actions are his readings of Hinduism's Four Stages of Life, particularly the final phase -- asceticism. Although he is not inclined to reject material comforts as prescribed, he finds an appeal in its stripped-down philosophies. Certainly he hears more desperate variations of that theme with the strangers who gravitate to him.

"I've had one or two bank robbers, several thieves, two wife-abusers, one husband-abuser," he recalls. "Prostitutes. I've had drug abusers, heroin, crack, that kind of thing."

Larus' sessions can put him at a distance with his social circles, from his fellow gym rats who give him strange looks when they find out what he's doing, to his wife, Jane. "Sometimes if there's a crime story in the paper involving a homeless person, she'll say, 'I wonder if that was one of your friends.'"

In the brighter moments, it's almost as if he's enjoying a run of true kismet. One morning he's having coffee and reading a New York Times story about how Maine is experiencing a shortage of dentists. Hours later, a jobless husband and wife -- certified dental technicians -- wander into the library from California and ask for advice.

Larus refers them to the article. "And I said let me make a few calls and I'll get you a bus ticket to Maine," he adds. Then he states the obvious. "It can get kind of weird."

David Proch, executive director of Resurrection House, which provides lodging and services to the homeless, swings many of his clients over to Larus for consultations. He's certain of at least this much: "Joel is going to stay busy if he keeps doing this."

Larus makes it sound as if he has little choice. "I see and hear what's happening to the good men and women who built your condos, who prepare fine food in restaurants, who service your lawns so faithfully," he says. "Sarasota's affluent retiree and business community has no idea of the pain and the crises their fellow citizens are going through. I can't ignore this."

But ask who benefits the most from this quixotic mission -- which, for all he knows, could be a huge waste of time, not to mention $80 -- and Larus looks like he just saw lanterns glittering on the dark side of the moon.

"I'm hoping I can find my own spiritual enlightenment," he says.

Palm Beach Gardens library closing April 5 for 14-month renovation

By JENNIFER SORENTRUE
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer


Palm Beach County's library branch in Palm Beach Gardens will close its doors at 5 p.m. on April 5 for renovations.

The construction project is expected to take 14 to 16 months to complete.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/13/0313library.html

Macot Envy

Maybe libraries' Dewey the Owl mascot is not such a wise idea

By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

The Palm Beach County Library System has a mascot?

This came as a big surprise, since I had considered myself an expert on local mascothood.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2009/03/12/a1b_bino_0313.html

Lantana Road branch library to open April 1255

By TONY DORIS

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Goodbye bookmobile, hello $15 million library.

The county's 16th branch library is set to open April 25 west of Lantana, at the southwest corner of Lawrence and Lantana roads.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/neighborhood/centralpbc/epaper/2009/03/19/npc_cplibrary_0319.html