NELA

I attended the New England Library Association Annual Conference in Boxborough on Tuesday.
It was a very long drive to Boxborough, twice the distance of my usual very long drive--but what a difference. No traffic, beautiful foliage, huge cranberry bogs. Eminem on the CD player.
Coffee in the cup. Practically perfection.
I really enjoyed my first session of the day-Trends in Reference. I particularly enjoyed
Pingshen Chen from Worcester. Worcester has 150 computers and small staff . Just a little about Worcester Public Library:
Staff of 80
2 Branches
In one day at the Main Library:
3129 people walk through the doors
101,611 hits on the Website
127 new cards
1,102 reference questions
4,046 circulation
Yikes
The librarian spoke of three trends
I. People need Librarians help more than ever
II. Reference Librarian reinventing themselves to make a wide range of new reference services available to meet users' current expectations.
III. Reference services have a bright but challenging future
Reference questions have changed and cannot be handled in the traditional ways.
Knowing the collection is not sufficient to meet users' needs.
The librarian spoke about the divide that occurs between the technology rich and technology poor. She spoke about the responsibility of the library to bridge that gap.
Libraries need to have many computers and the staff needs to be able to perform all the tasks
that the public may need assistance with. Her staff evens helps with filling out application forms
for patrons who may not have the skills themselves.
She feels that libraries must step up to help with all the emerging technologies--that is the direction that libraries must go in to secure their place in the future.
Librarians must use Web 2.0 technology and social network tools to connect with users and inform them of new services.
If she's right--I sure need a lot of training!