Be explicit : say what you mean, mean what you say.

Let’s be role models for clear communication.

Use plain language. Use one word instead of three or four. No jargon. No terms that need a footnote to explain them. Find a way to explain “library concepts” in everyday language. Active voice. Short sentences. Bullet points. Concise statements.

State #why you collect. State #what & #how you collect. State #who you serve. Use everyday language to ensure that your customers, your staff, your funders and your peers (i.e. other libraries) clearly know where you stand. No ifs, no buts. Clear statements of intent.

What if … your Donations statement said “We accept any printed book published in the last two years and in excellent condition.”

What if … your Collections statement said “We buy digital resources, and will only consider physical copies if no digital option is available.”

What if … your Weeding statement said “We withdraw all textbooks published more than five years ago.”

What if … your Collections statement said “We only purchase resources that support current research outputs. We will borrow materials from other libraries to support non-research outputs.”

Excited. Educated. Extraordinary. Enjoyable. Educational. Eager.  Extreme. Elegant. Energetic.

Be driven : make things happen.

Assess the risk. Accept the risk. Good enough is good enough. Do things.

Move the collection. Re-shape the collection. Hand-sell the collection. Remove the collection. Invent the collection. Share the collection.

Try. Fail. Try. Fail. Tweak. Fail. Do.

Listen & respond to what our customers tell us about bad service, bad collections, bad layouts. Be driven to make it better. Find that fire in the belly to drive the awesome to happen.

I am a consumer of many things. My money, my feet and my clicks are my choice. What choices do we offer our customers? Are they good, bad or ugly? Be driven to ensure that bad & ugly choices are not commonplace.

Maybe we could take some cues from the Entrepreneur & Start-up communitities.

Oh wait, there’s some amazing people who have already found the drive to do stuff  …

• The Startup Library – tagline Make Library Experiences Better. 
• Library as Incubator – brilliance involving Libraries, Artists, Advocacy.
• Library Test Kitchen – fabricating new ideas, including Labrary.
• Think Like a Startup – white paper intended to stir the entrepreneurial spirit in library leaders at every level.

Different. Diverse. Dynamic. Dorky. Dedicated. Desirable. Dangerous. Daring.

Be collaborative : make friends.

We talk a lot about collaborating, but how many libraries actually actively collaborate with others to achieve great collections for our customers? We may belong to a consortium, but once that partnership is formed, how often do we revisit & revise the terms of the collaboration?

What if … we paired up with the institution that we interloan most of our stuff to/from, and decided to create complimentary collection policies? Collect different things. Share widely. Share freely. Spread the money further.

What if … we promoted Open Access & Open Source to all our customers? Find out who in our communitities knows about & uses it, tap into their skills to share the knowledge. Let the community collaborate to share stuff better.

What if … we asked alumni to donate money for a dedicated collection in their name? Who received the last honorary PhD at your research institution? Ask them if they want to create a legacy collection. Ask them if they want a building with their name on it. Ask. Ask. Ask. If you don’t ask, you won’t get.

What if … we encouraged the Linguistics Department to pair up with the Broadcasting Department, and support them both to partner with Radio NZ’s Sound Archives. The valuable content could be opened up for research, transcription, wider distribution.

What if … we asked the Design School to create new chairs & desks for the library? Create an opportunity for students to work through a project brief. Showcase their work. Deliver a winning outcome.

Controversial. Calculating. Complex. Concerned. Co-ordinated. Cryptic. Courageous. Cheeky.

Be brave : get rid of it.

Be brave. Draw a line in the sand. Look at all the formats – physical & digital. Technology changes. Needs change. Lead the way. Dump the old formats. Lose the crap.

So, you’ve already stopped collecting formats that are dying technology? Next step is to throw out all the dead formats you still hold!

What if … we get rid of all the vinyl, DAT tapes, cassettes, videos, CDs, DVDs?

Let’s give this stuff away. Recycle it. Sell it. Make art from it. But let’s not waste time, energy & space on it anymore. Find another way. Stop wasting shelf space. Stop wasting server space. Stop wasting cataloguing & processing time. Pointless busy work.

If the content is *really* important and of value to our customers, but the format is dead or dying, then let’s find a way to transfer the content, to upgrade it to a stable, usable & accessible format.

Find the money for digitising microfiche & microfilm. Lobby the vendors to create a digital version. Make a Kickstarter campaign (such as the one which will reprint the Uncle Books).

I’ve heard the arguments – not everyone has access to new technology. I know the arguments – it’s not environmentally responsible to throw it all away. I just don’t agree with the arguments.

Find another way. Format shouldn’t dictate the content. Provide better access to the content. Find another way.

Be brave. Get rid of it. Strive for better for our customers. We all deserve better. And there are others doing it better than us.

What if … we told our customers to support the local businesses who are format focussed? Find the best record store in town (hint – Slow Boat Records) and encourage your customers to go there instead.

What if … we embedded & promoted NZ On Screen instead of collecting NZ CDs & DVDs for the Music Department?

Bold. Bodacious. Brutal. Beneficial. Better. Big. Bizarre. Brawny. Boundless.

Be awesome : expect greatness.

Let’s do what we do well. Let’s do it *very* well. Incredibly well. Commit to #awesome.

What would it take for our customers to say “awesome” every time they interacted with the library?

Let’s go out & collect the data. Who uses the library, and who doesn’t? What do they use and what don’t they use? How do they use the library?

Let’s ask what #awesome means for our community of customers – longer hours, less hours, more staff, fewer staff, new technology, no technology?

What if … we focus on increasing usage amongst existing customers first instead of chasing the elusive non-customer?

• what would encourage them to borrow more every visit? (hint – you’ll have to ask them)
• what would make their interactions smoother? (hint – less clicks is a good start on a website)
• what value could another staff member in the digital team add? (hint – cost vs. benefit analysis)
• what difference would a monthly 1% increase in borrowing make? (hint – if you don’t know what impact that increased usage would make, then find someone who does understand the impact of numbers, figures & statistics)

What if … we ask our top 5% of customers what would encourage them to borrow more?

• is the physical item borrowing limit too low?
• is the digital ebook interface too clunky?
• are the charges too high?
• does it take too long for articles to be interloaned?

Look at what our customers tell us about our collections – anecdotally, through the data and by asking our regular high-use customers.

Let’s fix the annoying things, tick the easy stuff off the “do it now” list. And, if something is critically impacting on our #awesome, then find out what it will take to fix it. If the cost to fix it is too high, then is it really worth keeping it?

Set high expectations. Raise the bar. Aim to be the best at what we do.

What if … we flipped all this and celebrated 1000 Awesome Things about our community & collections instead?

Agile. Angry. Audacious. Alive. Agreeable. Abundant. Absurd. Adversarial. Approachable. Alert. Accessible. Anti-establishment. Anarchic. Artistic.