Cultural Research

Working with Koha at Cleveland Library

I've finished my fourth week at Cleveland Library where I'm currently focused on cataloging the collection using the Koha Open Source ILS. It's my first experience of cataloging "in the wild" and it's also my first experience with Koha. The system was set up for the library prior to my arrival but not a lot has been done since that point. We also have a number of questions about using Koha and about cataloging procedures that I'm doing my best to sort out.

The Cleveland Library setting is unique in that it's run by an all-volunteer staff and it's based, literally, in a thrift shop. The folks that founded the library, led by Ron Still, have a very down-to-earth, make things happen approach that often results in unexpected outcomes.

For example, they asked for book donations from the community to get the library started, rapidly amassed 50,000+ volumes and decided to go ahead and make them available as soon as they could get them on the shelves. So it's a wide open setting in which I take my laptop out on the floor and catalog whatever's currently checked in while the library and thrift store are open to the public!

I think this situation would be difficult for me if I hadn't had quite a bit of bookstore experience, including jobs at two awesome San Francisco shops featuring used books, Green Apple Books and Aardvark Books, where space was at a premium and ad hoc solutions ruled the day.

Working with Koha has raised some challenges since we don't have a service agreement and are all newbies, though that support issue would remain with proprietary software as well, due to our exceptionally restricted budget. We are also in need of someone reliable to update the software. It's the kind of thing I'd like to learn but just haven't had an opportunity to figure out and I don't want to be learning on my own using such a crucial system.

So I'm encountering some challenges and am doing my best to come up with some viable solutions. One of the great things about working at Cleveland Library is that I can take on as much as I can handle and it's giving me an opportunity to not only develop new skills but to think through the systemic challenges in birthing a new library on limited funding.

Volunteering at Cleveland Library

As I mentioned last week, I checked out the Cleveland Library, in Cleveland Township, NC, over the weekend as a possible volunteer/learning site. Since that visit, I've decided to help with getting the Koha Integrated Library System (ILS) fully functional and with entering titles into the catalogue.

This project has become more about technical services than public services but I'll also get introduced to the checkout and related processes and seek a systematic understanding of how this ILS functions.

More importantly, I'm going to be contributing to the development of an emergent community library that is currently outside of the county public library system but would like to be part of the system when all is said and done.

I need to check with folks at the Library to figure out what's appropriate to discuss here but I can already see that my bookstore experience will be as valuable as my current understanding of how libraries operate. Because this library is operating out of a thrift store, is in the early stages of getting systems in order and generally operates in an ad hoc manner, it feels much more like a used bookstore than a modern library. I'm curious to find out if that throws library professionals when folks from the Cleveland Library reach out to them.

That said, I knew they had a lot of books but it was a much more diverse selection in much better shape than I anticipated.

I'll leave it at that for the moment but I will say that I'm excited about the possibilities and of being a part of what I think will one day be an awesome public library.

Clyde Smith: Continuing Ed Volunteer in Action

I am doing a number of things to build my experience in and understanding of the library world, including launching this blog, and am currently looking for volunteer opportunities with an eye towards my own continuing education.

Volunteer's a problematic word because I'm really looking for training and experience in library settings related to reference and public service. Though there are many opportunities to shelve books, there aren't so many opportunities to learn to work with Integrated Library Systems* (ILS).

I'm currently investigating a volunteer opportunity at an ad hoc community library based in a thrift shop!

I found the Cleveland Library, based in Cleveland Township, NC, through the list of libraries using the Koha open source ILS. Since I'm interested in working with open source software, building public service skills and understanding how library systems are increasingly tied together via software, I reached out to see if they might have a place for me and it sounds like there's plenty to do at this stage!

I'll be reporting back on this and other continuing education pursuits as things get interesting.  In particular, I plan to start reviewing webinars and podcasts that I find useful and that will continue to be available online with free access.

If you have suggestions for such opportunities and resources, please email me at:
culres(at)gmail(dot)com

*Note: Since this blog is intended, in part, to connect folks inside and outside of library/education settings, I'll often be writing out the many acronyms one encounters in library and education blogs that speak to other librarians and educators. Especially when I have to look them up myself!