T is For Training 325 - Polishing the Chrome

Pat Wagner's penultimate public appearance. Lessons over 44 years. Every time I hear you speak, I feel braver. You should meet the needs of your community. Have a sincere desire to like people and to serve people. Don’t show benign contempt. Don’t dominate under the guise of service. Serve with a clear heart with compassion and empathy for everyone. The three types of libraries: the Comfort Zone library, the same old stuff, and the Responsive library, can be expensive, fad driven, and cater to the loudest voices, and the Visionary library, think and be different take risks and learn from mistakes and failures. Libraries like this tend to be really rich or really desperate. Pat would ask libraries, what percentage of these types of libraries are you? You should explore failures. Innovation is a process, not an event. Why did we build it THIS way? Monuments to ego, not service. One library consulted with its staff to figure out the right type of floor to install. They saved time and money by installing what the custodian staff recommended. Tom recommended the book How Buildings Learn. The building as a system. When designing a building think about maintenance and future use. One library had to have the custodian polish the chrome pillars all day because they were high-touch areas. Don’t try to be everything for everyone. The library is not Pizza (which everyone likes) While you have competition, your community comprises current customers, future customers, and potential partners. Think of listening as a radical endeavor.