Your Name and Title: Melissa Chiavaroli, MLIS Head of Reference
Library, School, or Organization Name: Cumberland Public Library
Co-Presenter Name(s): N/A
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Cumberland, RI United States
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Public Librarians: Reference Staff Members, Technical Services, Board Members, Administration
Short Session Description: Ditch Dewey: The Innovative Way to Engage Your Patrons and Meet Their Information Needs In the 21st Century
Full Session Description:
Everyone loves free stuff, and our physical collections are no exception! They have the ability to draw people into the building which gives us opportunities to show off the dozens of other services and programs we offer. However, they are not always easy to navigate which in the age of Google can be a library killer.
As we head further into the 21st century our patrons are going to have more options than ever to meet their information needs. If we leverage our physical collections to engage our patrons and build user loyalty that will keep them coming back to the library and trusting us to be their valued information providers.
When Melville Dewey introduced his Dewey Decimal System the stacks were closed to the public and information moved at a snail's pace. Now, our stacks are open and the information landscape has gone from the Pony Express to billions of pieces of information being transferred per millisecond. In order to meet the needs of our digital age patrons, we must be willing to meet them where they are looking for information. We have certainly upped our digital resource game, but we are missing out on the opportunity to use our physical collections to market our wide range of services and cement the idea that libraries are relevant in the digital ages into the minds of our patrons.
Join me today as we delve into how the future of our stacks can lead us into the next era of librarianship and be a vibrant reminder to patrons of all that our libraries have to offer.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: https://cumberlandlibrary.org/browse-method
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