Another year has ended and now it is a great time for library professionals to look back at their activity and plan for 2019 with a fresh view. Another year has ended and now it is a great time for #library professionals to look back at their activity and plan for 2019 with a fresh view. Click To Tweet There are many things that libraries got attached to in their long history such as fines, the library card, the Dewey classification and many other things that librarians have tested: the switch of focus from books to other activities, the removal of quiet zones and more. Some of them are not that successful anymore or still need more time to see the actual results. To get more insights about a few statements library professionals should rethink in 2019, we have talked with two library experts for their insights and advice: Ian Anstice, editor of Public Libraries News (United Kingdom) and Jane Cowell, Chief Executive Officer at Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Australia). Here is what they said:

2. “The Dewey classification is the standard.” Jane Cowell: Yes, it is time to let go of this white man’s classification system. And that means Library of Congress Headings as well. Yes, we do need a shelf locator and yes, we need metadata and tags to find the items on the shelf. But our systems need to be in line with the other voice systems that people are now used to. How does #Siri locate a #book on our shelves? Natural language, crowdsourced tags could be added to our catalogues. #librarylife Click To Tweet How does Siri locate a book on our shelves? Natural language, crowdsourced tags could be added to our catalogues. We also need to be more mindful of respecting our First Nation peoples with the descriptors utilized within our catalogues and not use derogatory European terms set in the early twentieth century to describe the material collected. Nathan Sentance on his blog Archival Decolonist has written extensively about collecting institutions and respecting the indigenous way and I urge everyone to be more aware of the racism inherent in our cataloging systems. Our #nonfiction needs to be organized in smaller genres as more and more customers want much more curation to make it easier for them to choose a good #book. Click To Tweet Our nonfiction needs to be organized in smaller genres as more and more customers want much more curation to make it easier for them to choose a good book in the subject field of interest — too many rows of nonfiction just turns them away as there is too much choice. Nonfiction could be a major asset for libraries, but it continues to underperform. Given that it is a best seller at the bookstores, I do think it is how libraries organize, display and promote these collections, that needs to be improved. So, Dewey needs to go and let’s genrify the nonfiction more — there must be a better way for a shelf locator to work than a Dewey number so let’s start working out how to do this better.

#FunPalaces idea…theme each library by giving them a (simplified) Dewey Decimal Classification to work with🤔 pic.twitter.com/2Ymkdnn4u7 — Zoey Dixon (@Zoey_Dixon) April 4, 2018

3. “An ID and an address are needed for joining the library.” Ian Anstice: I remember when I started in libraries 25 years ago. We demanded two forms of identification before joining someone; something official with their address on and something official with their name on. Unsurprisingly, few people had both on them and I personally sent away probably on average of one person a day because of this. Then a new policy came in and there was no problem. It was a mad idea and can be summarized as “trust the public to tell the truth”. We got rid of the need for ID. We demanded two forms of identification before joining someone. Unsurprisingly, few people had both on them and I personally sent away probably on average of one person a day because of this #librarylife Click To Tweet But then a miracle occurred. We started turning away exactly zero people interested in joining per day. Seriously, people came up to us and asked to join and we automatically said yes. And it turned out that a surprising proportion of these people were honest. And that I thought was that. Until I started visiting other library services who told me to my face that what I know works cannot work and that my service must be in some posh magic wonderland that is unlike theirs. No, it’s not. I then queued up a short while ago at a library which I otherwise admire and the person in front of me was turned away from joining because he had only brought his passport with him. Seriously, this chap had sufficient ID with him to enter a foreign country, but it was not enough to get him a library card. He walked away. It struck me that there was something incredibly wrong with that. if you’re still in a #library which demands ID, ask yourself; are you so distrustful of the public that you think they’re book thieves or have you got so many users you don’t need to worry? Click To Tweet So, if you’re still in a library which demands ID, ask yourself; are you (a) so distrustful of the public that you think they’re book thieves or (b) have you got so many users you don’t need to worry or (c) have you received some questionable advice about data protection you need to check again? It’s not like it’s a revolutionary idea. There are services in your region that have been doing it for years. Why not you?

4. “You need a library card to access the services.” Jane Cowell: The library card has had its day and we must admit this and move on. Libraries love a good library card that promotes the logo and there is often a hard and fast rule that you must have your library card to borrow and if you do not have it a small fee must be paid for a new one. The #librarycard has had its day and we must admit this and move on. Click To Tweet In today’s world, people hate having too many cards. They want to scan it and keep it in their phone with their Apple Pay and then just use the membership number when they need to borrow. This is a consumer world, without cards if possible, and we must provide the current experiences if we want people to be confident to use our systems. The reality is that wallets are not common anymore and people want to have as few cards as possible — they log in and want to stay logged in. The reality is that wallets are not common anymore and people want to have as few cards as possible — they log in and want to stay logged in. #libraries Click To Tweet For older self-service machines turn on the keyboard function so they can type in the number and the newer ones make sure that they can scan a card from a phone. Digital memberships do not need a card, just a membership number to login so do not insist on sending out a card to someone who simply wants to use your digital library. And while we are at that point, work out ways to reduce or eliminate barriers to membership. Set different types of membership for different types of residents.

Introducing the Digital Library Card! Now you can use your smartphone as your library card: it’s easy! pic.twitter.com/QB1f6Z16Zs — SomervilleLibrary (@SomervillePL) December 7, 2015

Finals hours at the library start today! Please be extra quiet from now until the end of the semester. Too loud? Let a librarian know, and we’re take care of it. 👍🤫 #shhhh #finalsarenear pic.twitter.com/wMtq4zv88q — CBU Plough Library (@CBUPloughLib) April 23, 2018

6. “Books are no longer important.” Ian Anstice: Books are important to libraries and still – sorry about this – a core part of our service and something that librarians actually have to be involved in. Like with the Fun Library Fairy, at some point the More Than Books Fairy did its magic spell and convinced a ton of library staff that the cool thing to do in libraries is theatre shows, coding, 3D printing and, well, anything but books. Despite all the things the profession has done in the last decade, people still stubbornly associate libraries with books. It’s because the book is not dead. In fact, the book is doing rather well and still accounts for the majority of business in every library you know. You just have to take a deep breath and accept that fact. Make sure you have teams that actually weed the shelves – and not just with spreadsheets, people actually need to know their stock – and buy appropriately. I’m not saying give up on all those hundreds of #emails that make our lives so worthwhile or stop doing all those theatre shows that are fun. I’m just saying there needs to be a rebalancing towards #books for a bit. #libraries Click To Tweet I’m not saying give up on all those hundreds of emails that make our lives so worthwhile or stop doing all those theatre shows that are fun. I’m just saying there needs to be a rebalancing towards books for a bit. That’s not so bad. We used to be all about them. What’s bad is doing all one thing and not the other. Do a share of both. It’s all about a balance.

7. “We need dedicated teen spaces.” Jane Cowell: I see a lot of wonderfully designed teen spaces in libraries with no teens in them. I see no need to corral teens into one space in the library. Libraries do need different zones, but I think that teens should be able to go into the whole library based on what they want to do as anyone else. Study in the quiet zone, game in the gaming zone, make in the making zone, collaborate in the noisy zone. And yes, everyone must abide by the behavior standards for each zone — and that goes for all ages, not just the teens. Of course, we still need the children’s zone but that is the only one that should be zoned for an age.

shouldn’t the entire library be a teen space – i hate the zoning or restricting collections to age groups and all library staff should be engaging with young people – am i mad ? https://t.co/s2wGbyQKX3 — Neil MacInnes OBE (@macinnes_neil) December 1, 2018

To conclude The library landscape is in a continuous change, and librarians with their skillset are in the best position to try to take the pulse of the visitors and rethink the library’s services based on the users’ current needs while making sure not to go beyond the library’s core principals. Do you agree with the statements above? Let us know in the comments or follow us on Twitter and let us continue the discussion there.