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April is Poetry Month f PublishedA by the Library of Michiganccessccess April 2002 Issue Volume XVIIII NO. 10 ISSN 1051-0818 In This First Quality Services Advisory Issue: QSACCommittee Meeting a Success by Martha S. McKee, Project Kids Corner Coordinator 3 When asked “Why benchmarks?”the Quality The QSAC created criteria for the development of Services Advisory Committee (QSAC) members’ each measurement of quality. Each criteria answers were clear and concise. They answered, should be: benchmarks: Building an •Customer-focused; Award- •Give us credibility; •Following the Keep It Simple Sweetheart •Inspire us to achieve more; (KISS) standard; Winning •Give us a vision,from the minimum to the •Measurable; highest level of service; •Easy to understand; Children’s •Justify our current funding and can lead to •Attainable and appropriate; more; and •Not so burdensome that they crush good Collection •Provide uniformity and consistency of intentions; service across the state. •Incentive-driven and not punitive; and 5 •Results-based. (For example, the measures The organizational meeting was held February 22, will call for telephones to be answered within and by mid-morning the QSAC had reached the four rings, rather than calling for libraries to Clip This! conclusion that public librarians need guidelines have x number of telephones.) (Featuring Michigan Center that will define: 1) What are essential library serv- for the Book & ices; 2) What are enhanced library services; and The QSAC discussed a three-tiered approach for Read Michigan booklist) 3) What are excellent library services. quality measures. Each level will apply to all libraries, regardless of size: 7 “It was a very heads-up and promising start,”said State Librarian Christie Pearson Brandau. “I was • Essential Services: These standards are the impressed and gratified by the enthusiasm gener- basics of all library service. They are relatively ated in that first meeting. Consensus from every low-cost standards that every library can and Web type and size of library represented on the com- should achieve. They are helpful to libraries Site-ings mittee was reached. I think we are on our way to starting out, and a review for those who are the creation of a set of guidelines that can established. This will be known as the Bronze 13 enhance public library service throughout the Level. state for years to come. I’m proud to work with such leadership as the Quality Services Advisory • Enhanced Services: These standards are Committee.” more of a stretch to achieve.They require more In This Issue (Continued on page 4) PPraiseraise forfor DistanceDistance EdEd MLSMLS f More and more library schools are starting to offer the option of getting an online degree. Jan Stevenson, director of the Presque Isle District Library in Rogers City, tells about her experience with the University of Wisconsin distance education MLS. The Presque Isle library board made a conscious decision to “build local talent”and pro- vided important support for this effort. Jan writes…. Growing up in a non-digital age made it difficult for me Dear Colleagues: to believe I would ever be able to obtain my Masters in Library and Information Science degree totally online. Old Perhaps you have heard the old adage “if you don’t aim for beliefs and ideas that had been formed in my mind about something, how will you know that you’ve achieved it?”That such educational endeavors caused me to question the adage comes to mind when I think of the Quality Services credibility of such a degree.Would I get the quality educa- Advisory Committee (QSAC) and the work they have before tion I truly desired? Even if it were a quality education, them in the creation of benchmarks for public library service how would I ever convince others of its quality, or fight in Michigan. This is no small task. In preparation, the group deeply rooted stigmas about online degrees? One thing I is looking at measures of quality from other states, reading knew for sure was that because of my remote location and about indicators of service such as the American Customer inability to afford my education without maintaining my Service Index and ISO, and discussing what could work in this full-time position, online was the only way I would be able state. to do it.After making a list of all of the programs I could Why are we doing this? To give us benchmarks, that find any information on, I eliminated any that were not “something to aim for”in the old adage. To put it simply: how ALA accredited and after a good deal of deliberation set- will we know that we are providing excellent library service if tled on the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. Having we can’t define what it is? to actually appear on campus only to take my Comprehensive Examination was what originally drew me But benchmarks, measures of qualities, standards, excel- to this program, but the quality of the program and the lence indicators, whatever you call them, can also bring angst. excellent instructors are what kept me there. Two years It is true that QSAC is charged with the creation of bench- later I have graduated with only one thing to say, whew! marks for Michigan. But it is also true that librarians across Someone asked me if I felt my education was as good as the state will have input into this project and none should fear the students who had participated in “actual”classes? My that they would be forced to meet unachievable requirements answer surprised them and probably will surprise you as in order to receive state aid. First, it should be understood well. UWM did a study that showed overall their distance that whatever the committee recommends would be presented education students do better on the final Comprehensive to the library community with many opportunities for discus- Examination than the average on-campus student.As far sion. Then we “try out” the benchmarks as in a voluntary pro- as actually attending classes, our classes may have been a gram of achievement. Only after we have agreement that virtual experience, but there was a dimension to them that these benchmarks are meaningful and helpful – and this could only exist in an online environment. Everyone felt could be some years down the road – will we consider having free to contribute, without prejudice and without many of these requirements tied to funding. the barriers that exist in “actual”classes. I learned so much from other students, and also gained tremendous insight Although this is a long-term effort, we need to start some- into other cultures and beliefs. So, is obtaining your degree where, and Martha McKee and the QSAC have given us a good totally online possible? Yes, but it is not for everyone. It start (see lead article in this issue).You’ll be hearing more took countless hours of dedicated work, a very cooperative about this as the work progresses, and I hope you will join in employer, and a very patient family, before I obtained my the discussion of defining excellent public library service. degree.Would I do it again if I could go back? You b e t te r believe it!! 2 AcceAccessss • • April April 2002 2002 Challenging You n g M i n d s by Linda Neely, Public Services Librarian by Kristine Tardiff, Youth Services Specialist About a year ago, a Harper Woods elementary teacher spied an It’s mid-July, the library is swarming with excited children, you impressive bronze sign while crossing a footbridge over the Huron have handed out what seems like the millionth sticker and the magi- River in Ypsilanti. The sign identified the Huron River as the home cian who was supposed to perform at 2 p.m. just cancelled. It’s the of the rare Smeet Frog, a fur-covered creature dwelling in the Huron Summer Reading Program, year 2002, and you sometimes just don’t River bottom. Feeling her herpetologist’s hackles rise, the teacher think you can make it through another year. Take heart, all of your immediately checked reference materials in public and university hard work and dedication is not only greatly appreciated but also libraries and emailed several amphibian experts concerning this wildly popular. In 2000, there were 42,857 children’s programs fantastic frog. All scientific resources concurred that no such frog offered in Michigan’s public libraries; the attendance was 1,354,863. exists. In fact, while at a library computer the teacher discovered There were 3,410 young adult programs offered with an attendance the official Smeet Frog web site (http://members.aol.com/smeetfrog/) of 83,941. which cleverly exposes the critter as an EMU student hoax. Have you ever wondered how it all began? Where was the first The story might have ended here, but the teacher showed her 4th summer reading program and what did it look like? Some of the grade class a photo of the sign and challenged them to discover pioneer summer reading programs began to appear in the late whether the furry frog is real. Students did their own research in 1890s. They weren’t necessarily called summer reading programs reference books and on the web. They too contacted frog experts but they most definitely resemble what we consider the traditional until they had proven beyond a doubt that the Smeet is a fantasy summer reading program (i.e. Kick-Off Party, read books, get creature. Many of the enlightened students thought it inappropriate rewards, go to programs, Finisher’s Party). They included the that the Smeet Frog sign is so prominently displayed.