Running away to see you
I haven’t posted in ages, but I have a good reason. After attending a fantastic conference in Denver I realized that I was a mere six hour drive from my aunt’s place outside of Santa Fe. So, in an uncharacteristically bold move I changed my plane ticket, rented a car, and headed south at the close of festivities. It was there, in the bosum of my family, the bright desert sun, and taking in a magnificent view from her little corner of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, that I got back to basics. At the end of a five mile dirt road, with no TV, spotty cell phone reception, and no (gasp!) internet access, I picked up a book. I read it, cover to cover, in almost a single sitting (two single sittings?). I never have time to read recreationally, and this is my idea of a true vacation, but also reminded me that books are still the foundation of the profession I love (specifically public librarianship). So how do I reconcile that with pushing, pulling, and shoving us into the arena of remote digital content? Well, the first thing I wanted to do when I finished it was to share the experience and the impressions. How do I know how to do that? Blog about it, search about it, discuss it in the format in which I’m most comfortable - online. I’d never attend a book group. Expanding your technology plans to reach users like me is not to dimish the value of existing, time honored, in-person services, it enhances them and you might reach users who have been underserved and overlooked until now.
Tags: books, desert, Libraries, Services, and Librarians, library, mountains, new mexico, nm, reading, sangre de christo