[Libs-Or] Volunteer opportunity discussion. Another point of view

[Jane Salisbury]

On the other hand, it's very refreshing to see a lively and well-argued
debate on libs-or, about an important issue.  I am not sure there's any
reason to shut that down.

Jane

On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 9:21 AM, Judy Anderson
<JuAnderson at cu-portland.edu>wrote:

>  Enough everyone…
>
> It’s that organizations business on how and who they would like to take
> care of their project.
>
>
>
> May I suggest reading and discussing
>
> *The Politics of Professionalism* by Juris Dilevko
>
> If the topic of library professionals is really of interest.
>
>
>
> Judy
>
>
>
> Judy Anderson
>
> Reference & Instruction Librarian
>
> Concordia University - Portland
>
> Phone: 503 493 6453
>
>
>
> *From:* libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:
> libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] *On Behalf Of *Bob Jones
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 13, 2011 3:28 PM
> *To:* 'Kyle Banerjee'; libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
> *Subject:* Re: [Libs-Or] Volunteer opportunity discussion. Another point
> of view
>
>
>
> Apples and oranges, Kyle.  Changing a light bulb should not require an
> electrician, unless it’s a very specialized and expensive light bulb.  But…
>
>
>
> The initial creation of a tiny library is like planting a seed.  If it’s
> done well, a great library can grow from the those 225 items.  If it’s not
> done well, either (a) a poorly organized, perhaps unusable library will
> develop, or (b) someone who knows what he or she is doing will have to undo
> it and start all over again.  As the old saying goes,
>
>
>
> If you don’t have time (or staffing) to do it right, when will you have
> time (or staffing) to do it over?
>
>
>
> -Bob Jones, MA, MSLS, CAS
>
> Library Director
>
> Milton-Freewater Public Library
>
>
>
> You wrote:
>
>
>
> I haven't given this much thought, but my gut reaction is that unless I'm
> really missing something, hiring a professional librarian to organize a
> collection of 225 books, a few periodicals, and a handful of videos is like
> calling the fire department to help plan a candlelight supper.
>
>
>
> The overhead of even taking the first volunteer that walks through the door
> is likely to exceed the labor that should be expended on this project,
> though it could be a good way to get people more involved with the
> organization.
>
>
>
> A librarian could physically arrange the materials according to some
> logical criteria, add consistent metadata, provide a good access mechanism,
> etc, but any user would have to be some kind of loon not to just walk to the
> collection and just browse it as that could be done in a few seconds even if
> everything is in random order. It's hard to imagine how it wouldn't take
> longer for users to deal with even a good organizational scheme than to
> simply go to the stuff.
>
>
>
> I am somehow reminded of a place I lived in years ago where we would be
> fined if we got caught changing a lightbulb (required procedure was to fill
> out a work order so a union electrician could do the job). That kind of
> situation is bad for everyone. It's a total waste of skilled labor, and the
> schmucks who have to pay an arm and a leg to be forced to wait too long in
> the dark start wondering what the pros really have to contribute.
>
>
>
> Happy Thursday to all, and as you've undoubtedly surmised, I'm representing
> only my own views ;)
>
>
>
> kyle
>
>
>
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-- 
*Jane Salisbury*
Supervisor, Library Outreach Services
Multnomah County Library
Phone: 503.988.4081

*janesa at multcolib.org <xxxxxxx at multcolib.org>*
www.multcolib.org
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