March 2020 Volume 36 | Number 1 Alki
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The Washington Library Association Journal March 2020 Volume 36 | Number 1 Alki Keeping Count Inside this Issue: Counting on WLA Book Awards..........…............................................................................p. 15 Washington Libraries and Census 2020..................................................................................p. 10 Talking to Your Patrons about Data Privacy...........................................................................p.7 Using Data to Improve Decision Making Processes.............................................................p.19 Table of Contents Alki From the Executive Director of the WLA The Washington Library Keeping Connected: Thoughts on the COVID-19 Pandemic ........................................................3 Association Journal By Brianna Hoffman PO Box 33808 Up Front Seattle, WA 98133 Advocacy in Libraries ........................................................................................................................4 (206) 486-4367 By Emily Keller EMAIL: [email protected] From the Editor WEB: www.wla.org How We Connect With People; How We Build Community .......................................................5 By Johanna Jacobsen Kiciman ALKI Editorial Committee Survey Johanna Jacobsen Kiciman, Editor Suzanne Carlson-Prandini, Committee Chair Alki 2020 Community Survey .............................................................................................................6 Beth Bruno By The Alki Editorial Committee Troi Gale Brianna Hoffman Feature: Keeping Count Linda Johns How Good is Good Enough? Talking to your Patrons about Data Privacy in the Era of Digital Magenta Loera Convenience ........................................................................................................................................7 Katy Olsen By Kelsey Smith Kelsey Smith Michelle Urberg Washington Libraries & Census 2020 ..............................................................................................8 Lauren Pressley By Troi Gale Mindy Van Wingen LSTA Funding at Work in Washington ...........................................................................................14 Brianna Hoffman By Maura Walsh Executive Director Counting On WLA Book Awards.....................................................................................................15 Kate Laughlin By Elizabeth Bruno Strategic Advisor Weeding in Libraries Lacking Data: A Reflection ........................................................................17 Hannah Streetman By Aimee Miles Programs & Events Coordinator Collection Development and Data: Using Data to Improve Decision Making Processes ....19 Nem Brunell By Jay Peters Communications & Membership Coordinator Washington Public Library Statistics Data, Merged...................................................................21 By Jon McConnel Na-Moya Lawrence Administrative Assistant Keeping Count with Key Results from the SDL Needs Assessment Survey ...........................23 By Will Stuivenga “Alki,” a Chinook word meaning “by and by,” was suggested by the late Nancy Pryor, Special Collections at Counting in Community: Shelter Overwhelm Revisited.......................................................................25 Washington State Library, as a title for the Washington By Suzanne Carlson-Prandini Library Association’s journal. “Alki” is also the “unofficial” state motto, signifying a focus on the future. Milestones Alki (ISSN: 8756-4173) is published online three times per New Hires, Transitions, Expansions, Retirements and Remembrances ................................27 year in March, July, and November. Read This Book! News and Opinions by Teacher-Librarians Alki’s purpose is to communicate philosophical and Keeping Count ...................................................................................................................................28 substantive analyses of current and enduring issues By Sarah Threlkeld for and about Washington libraries, personnel, and advocates, and to facilitate the exchange of research, opinion, and information. I’d Rather Be Reading An Introduction and Six Favorites ..................................................................................................29 Direct your submission queries to: By Emily Calkins EMAIL: [email protected] Dispatches from Swellville Cover attribution: Photo by Mahdis Mousavi on Unsplash The Very Stressed Out Manager ....................................................................................................32 Design: Sonya Kopetz, KB design By Darcy McMurtery WLA Thanks Our Organizational Members.........................................................................33 Most of the work for this issue of Alki was done in a pre-Covid environment. We are glad we were able to make a nod to the current pandemic in our special letter from the WLA president and the letter from the editor, realizing that the situation continues to envolve. Thank you for your compassion and understanding during these truly unprecedented times. 2 ALKI • March 2020 From the Executive Director of the WLA Keeping Connected: Thoughts on the COVID-19 Pandemic from WLA Brianna Hoffman Executive Director by Brianna Hoffmann On Saturday, March 21st, I had the strangest thought. Just three Messenger, it’s easy to describe how the video function works weeks prior to that, on February 29th, I was sitting in the Nashville on it, rather than trying to explain how Zoom works. airport waiting to board my plane home from the Public Library Association (PLA) Conference. Three weeks. It feels like everything Google Hangouts are making a comeback! I’m seeing more has changed. In those three weeks we’ve added phrases to our and more people coming back to Google’s chat and video app personal lexicons like “social distancing,” and “novel coronavirus,” lately. I’ve only used it for chat, but it seems to be another and learned new songs to sing while washing our hands for 20 popular (free) choice for video chatting. seconds. We’ve learned just how important toilet paper truly is. Zoom appears to be the video I am a firm believer in chatting juggernaut of 2020. I realize as I write this that the rate Several universities are pivoting of change is so fast that the things taking care of yourself to the platform for their online I say here have a good chance of instruction and even some public being outdated by the time of in order to take care of schools are using it to keep Alki’s publication. others, so please, take care connected to their students while Washington schools are closed. In the wake of Governor Inslee’s of yourself and keep You can get a free Zoom account. “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” It does limit your meetings to 40 order, I am feeling the value connecting. minutes and to get around that, of connection more than ever you need a pro account which is and I continue to be inspired about $149 for the year. I have by the examples of connection I see in our Washington library personally really enjoyed using Zoom for virtual hangouts with communities. Academic librarians supporting the transition to friends. We even managed to figure out how to play Cards online classes, teacher librarians hosting virtual library hangouts Against Humanity even though we were scattered across the and virtual book clubs, countless Facebook live storytimes from state. public libraries and increases in digital collections are just a few of the examples of libraries connecting. Those are only three of the options out there right now. Apps like WhatsApp and Marco Polo are also fun to use in staying connected. While we continue to connect with our communities in new and For me, that is the most important thing right now - staying inventive ways, I want to encourage you to continue connecting connected. We are all in this together and being able to chat with with one another as well. Use those digital resources to video chat one another, see each other’s faces on the screen, see each other’s with your friends and family. Thankfully there are many platforms pets and home offices… it goes a long way towards humanizing this to aid you in that: weird reality we find ourselves in. I am a firm believer in taking care of yourself in order to take care of others, so please, take care of Facebook Messenger has a video call option and in my yourself and keep connecting. & experience, has been the easiest to use for connecting with parents. If you parents or grandparents already have Facebook Brianna Hoffman has worked in libraries since 2001. She received her MLS from Emporia State University in 2013 and has been a WLA Member since 2010. Brianna currently serves as the Executive Director of the Washington Library Association. ALKI • March 2020 3 Up Front Advocacy in Libraries by Emily Keller Emily Keller “Legislators are people”. This timely reminder came from Leah integrating qualitative approaches that include photographs and Griffin, Washington Library Association (WLA) member and stories, in addition to gate counts and circulation statistics. We’ve active legislative advocate, at WLA’s Library Legislative Day in become more fully engaged with users, even co-creating spaces, Olympia in February. By putting the human aspect of our task services, and collections with our users. In order to have the most front and center, Leah put us at ease and helped prepare for meaningful impact in their lives, whether through job programs, meeting with legislators from our own districts to advocate for services