I've started reading Brian Mathews' white paper, "Think Like a Startup," and I'm only on page 3, but I'm already blown away.
"Let's not pigeonhole ourselves into finite roles, such as print collections, computer labs, or information literacy. These self-imposed limitations will only ensure our vulnerability and gradual decline. We can abide by the dictionary definition of "library." We can stay basically the same and only make small changes" p.1
PAGE ONE! Okay, okay. You must be thinking something along the lines of, "Sherry, finish the white paper. Don't stop reading! Keep going! There's so much more to it."
Alright, so you may not be thinking exactly that, but c'mon. I had to stop. I had to process this these three pages of information. He's changing it up, people. He's voicing what should have been voiced 5 years ago, 10 years ago!
When I was in grad school, we were influenced to choose particular tracks...you know'em...public, special, academic, school librarianship, etc. Mathews is right! Why are we limiting ourselves so much? In my last year of grad school, I had the option of choosing to complete my thesis or internship experience. I chose the latter because I am way too much of an academic, and needed the hands-on learning. Luckily, I received two offers, both from community college libraries, but one entirely focused on information literacy instruction. Though, that is primarily my focus within my current position, as a grad student, it freaked me out to pigeonhole myself. I chose the broader, general internship role offered at the other site. There, I dabbled a bit in website design, online instruction formatting, classroom instruction, collection development, etc. And, I couldn't have benefited more from this decision.
However, Mathews is making a much larger point here. He is talking about library innovation beyond the current discussions we have become so used to seeing in our daily Twitter feeds, Facebook timelines, roundtable discussions, etc. He's talking about revolutionizing librarianship as a whole.
Yes, you know this. He blatantly says it (again) on page 1: "We need to reinvent not just what we do, but how we think about it."
YES! Thank You! Let's transform, please. Let's think bigger. Let's think smarter. Work smart, not hard, right?
Okay, okay...I'm going to finish this white paper.
OH, and if you are interested in reading it, which YOU SHOULD, here's the link: http://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/18649
