IT Department or Rec Department?

Thanks for commenting Connie. My first instinct is the same as yours. We have a different mission than our IT departments. But the fact that decision makers perceive us to be somewhat superfluous rather than critical components of the community's life-long learning agenda concerns me. If I had to make a choice, and thank heavens I haven't had to, I would much rather explain our library needs to an IT professional than a recreation specialist. Loren

I am so sorry. My apologies to Palos Verdes. I meant Paso Robles.

Interesting, Victor, this is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I agree there is a definite possibility that libraries are more often than not one of the first cut and frequently ignored services for cities & counties; and anything that can be done to keep this from happening is welcome. Yet, the issue that you make about IT and customer service is one that could also be made about IT and management. Techies aren't reknowned for thier management skills. Maybe we, librarians, could consider positioning ourselves in a way that would make us attractive as Practicing Information Professionals or PIPs (if you will allow a brief flight of fancy)with the perfect skill set for administering tech solutions and staff development for both IT and the library. My question to the list is really: Why aren't we being recruited as the leaders and problem solvers I know that we are? And if we are, who is doing it and what's their secret? I know, I'm thinking what you're probably thinking: I don't want to run an IT department any more than I want to run Parks & Rec, but I would much prefer taking on the additional challenge to having either of these departments making the final decisions about how the library should be run. I kind of see this whole issue as part of a larger one: libraries and librarians play second or third fiddle in local government while possessing virtuoso skills we could be sharing. Ultimately, if the trend is going in either of the directions we've mentioned so that eventually we're not even in the running to run our own libraries, maybe I need to go back to school and get a degree in phys ed so I can be a final decision maker in library land. Are there other examples of ways that we are being underestimated that we could consider here? Is there a better practice we could embrace to regain control of the reins? I keep asking myself: where will my library be in 50 years at the current rate of apathy and indifference. I know I won't be here, but I'm trying to figure out what I can do to turn the tide before we are faced with flood. Sorry, couldn't resist the metaphor in a county where all of money is currently tied up in funding levees.