Announcing the Winner of the Great Librarian Write-out!!

Posted on by pcsweeney

Today, after a long year of spectacular writing from a number of amazing articles submitted from around the country, we are proud to be announcing the winner of the Great Librarian Write-out!

Before we do though, I would like to take a second and talk about a couple of honorable mentions. The most wonderful Justin Hoenke made the comment that we should give the award to the Men-Of-The-Stacks calendar and I would like to say that I think this was an amazing project that made a good impact. It was fun, a little saucy, edgy, and definitely got the word out about an aspect of libraries. But I can’t do it because it was outside of the scope of the write-out. There were also many different articles written for academic journals on the value of libraries for research that were strongly considered. We even had a large number of blog posts on non-library blogs written that were amazing but were not in print as the contest requires (keep writing them though, they are awesome). In the end, we choose the one we did because it was well written, relevant, and a very lovely piece that was actually not-even written by a librarian!! In fact, the author is a senior at Lynbrook High School and plans a career in law after winning this most prestigious award of course!

So, without further commentary, I would like to present the winning article of the Great Librarian Write-out, $250.00 of my money, and a t-shirt of their choice from the Library Advocacy Store!

Published on April 18, 2011, San Jose Mercury News (CA)

OUR LOCAL LIBRARIES ARE A PLACE TO INSPIRE DREAMS
By Vikram Kanth from San Jose CA!!

When I was a kid, I had two dreams. One was to become a senator; the other was to be able to reach the top bookshelf at my local library. I used to be able to measure my growth based on the number of times that I needed to ask someone for help to reach a book. Although I am still quite a few years away from the first goal, I can now reach the highest bookshelf. Little did I realize then that the library would be integral to my personal growth. (continued on the San Jose Mercury Archive, you can also find it in its entirety here) towards the bottom of RCPL’s blog post.


If you didn’t make it in this year’s write-out, don’t worry! I’m putting up ANOTHER $250 for this year’s write-out to be announced next week.

This contest was a #makeithappen and #partyhard production from the ALA Think Tank and I’d like to especially thank JP Porcaro, Andrea Davis, Allen McGinley, John Chrastka, Jenn Wann, and Tiffany Mair for their support of this project. You guys are awesome.

The ALA Think Tank’s Partyhard Guide to #alamw12

Posted on by pcsweeney

Alright team, here it is in all its glory! The ALA Think Tank’s Party Hard Guide to ALA Midwinter 2012. Each of these links to an event in Facebook because they are not all on the official conference scheduler and they are not all Official Conference events. Some of these are just meetups and good times put together by folks who want to meet and network. The events that don’t have a link are only in the conference scheduler and for some reason the links don’t work in the scheduler. But if you want to try, here is a link to take you to all the Official Social Events at ALA.

I have a strong belief that these social events are becoming more and more important. We trade ideas, talk, celebrate our profession, network and meet people, and freely brainstorm amazing new ideas. I can’t tell you how many things have come to my career by simply talking and interacting with librarians in these social events. I have so many stories about some of the things that have happened through these events that I won’t share the details of them here, but know that most of the things I talk about on this blog were helped in some great way by the people I’ve met. So I’m not asking you, I’m telling you (especially newcomers to the field) take the time to socialize and meet everyone you can! With that in mind, here is my current list of networking and meeting opportunities at ALA Midwinter 2012.

Thursday
Pre-ALA EL & Friends Meetup
8:30pm-?
Iron Cactus Mexican Grill And Bar

Friday
Lita Happy Hour
5pm-8pm
City Tavern 1402 Main Street, Dallas, Texas

YA Lit Trivia Night FUNdraiser
8pm-10pm
Omni Hotel, Dallas Room B

Emerging Leaders Meetup
8pm-10pm
City Tavern 1402 Main Street, Dallas, Texas

Saturday
Yalsa Happy Hour
5:30-7pm
Iron Cactus

NMRT Social,
5:30pm-7:30pm
The City Tavern, in Dallas, TX

The 5th ALA MW Newbie & Veteran Librarian Tweet-up
7:30pm-10pm
Anvil Pub, 638 Elm St, dallas TX

ALA MW ’12 After-Hours Social
10pm-2am (or they kick us out)
LaGrange 2704 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas

Sunday
Hacklibschool / Library Boing Boing Meetup
7:00pm-9:00pm
Adairs Saloon 2624 Commerce St. dallas TX

Social (GLBT RT)
6:00pm-8:00pm
Dallas Public Library, J. Erik Jonsson Central Branch, 1515 Young Street, 4th Floor Gallery.

Elsevier Desert Reception
7:00pm-11:00pm
Eddie Deen’s Ranch, 944 S. Lamar St., Dallas TX

The Amazing Erica Findley even made a map! Check it out.

I’m sure there are far more being put together that I don’t know about. If you know of one, feel free to leave a comment below, email me, reach me on twitter, or Facebook, and let me know! I’ll add them to the master list.

Nooks and the Print Disabled (the elephant in the room)

Posted on by pcsweeney

I’ve been thinking about the issue of providing access to materials for the hard of sight while balancing those needs with those of the Library and the community. This stemmed from a bunch of comments on the ALA Council Listerv, some in person, and one or two on my blog. The issue is pretty serious, especially since the National Society for the Blind is threatening to sue any library that starts a Nook lending library. I have a couple of thoughts on this whole problem and of course I have some solutions that I’d love to hear your thoughts on.

First of all, let me make this one clear – On many forums I have read that libraries should offer Kindles instead of Nooks. This argument is brought up because some of the Kindle Content and the device itself at least has some features to help the sight impaired. However, this is NOT going to happen. I have a lot of issues with both Kindles and Amazon and some of their practices. They also will not work with libraries in any kind of meaningful way. They continuously change their terms of agreement and if you get one representative to give you the go ahead, you still run the risk of another saying no AFTER you buy all the Kindles. Of course Buffy Hamilton lays it all out here too. I have read way too many horrible library stories against both Amazon and Kindle to use those.

Updated – *I am having people comment that Kindles are NOT print disabled friendly, my paragraph above was in response to messages that people have sent me that said that they were and that therefore we should provide Kindles instead of Nooks. Either way, it’s not a viable solution*

There was a comment on my blog that we force Barnes and Noble to make the device navigable for the blind. I would love this to happen, however I have a doubt that it’s going to happen anytime soon, or soon enough, but I would love people to keep the pressure up so please keep that fight going!

One of my most basic (and least favorite) solutions is that most libraries offer access to the same content through a multitude of other systems that work for the sight impaired. Some of the ones that I can think of are, CD audio books, Playaways, and downloadable audio books on computers and other MP3 devices. If the same content is made available in audio version, would this be a way to ensure that we are properly serving the needs of the Hard of Sight Community? This question admittedly comes out of ignorance, and I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on this specifically.

In California we also have an amazing library that we can get a wide range of materials from for our patrons. The California State Library loans braille, cassette and digital talking books, magazines and playback equipment to Californians unable to read conventional print. I know that this solution may not be the same as the Nooks, but I think people will be able to get the resources a lot faster than they would a Nook since the waitlist for most Nook devices is crazy if Sacramento Public Library is any indication of its success.

Here is my real thought for a solution though. We could offer materials via something like an Ipod Nano. They would hold a high amount of material just like a Nook, but in audio format. If I’m reading these reports right, then I think this would be a very legitimate solution. But really, I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on this before we go out and buy them.

The library (and me), love serving all people in our community and we really strive to do just that. We are navigating a new environment and I would love to hear people’s legitimate solutions before we start running around suing each other. We are here to help each other learn and grow and we can do that together by crowdsourcing some solutions. Help me come up with some solutions team.

Libraries – Arguments for the Check-Out of eReaders.

Posted on by pcsweeney

Great post by Bobbi Newman (eReader circ would solve these issues too)
This is the post where I defend our library’s decision to Loan Nooks and make the argument that we should drop eBook circulation altogether. I know there are a bunch of reasons why people are going to argue that we shouldn’t check out eReaders and not to Drop Overdrive so I’m going to handle each of the ones that I have encountered here. (Later I’m going to argue for all the reasons why this solves all of our problems with eBooks)

We didn’t check out VCR’s why should we check out Nooks?
First, I would make the argument that maybe we should have. Then I’m going to ignore that statement, not defend it, and move on to my real argument. We check out books. The thing that we are checking though really, is not the book itself. We aren’t in the business of giving people access to cardboard and paper, that’s just the container for the information inside and it’s a container filled with information that we are checking out to our patrons. In the same way, the Nook is the container for the information in the digital age. Pre-Loaded Nooks are just a book with plastic and metal as the container instead of paper and cardboard. In contrast, a DVD Player, VCR, TV, Game Console, have no content within the devices. A pre-loaded eReader does though.

I hate eReaders, make them check out a book!
Strangely, I’ve heard this the most. We need to realize that information comes in many forms, some we love, some we hate. Personally I’m not a fan of eReaders either. But that’s not really my job. I’m not here to force people to have the same warm fuzzy experiences I had when I was child, I’m here to provide a service to my community. Specifically, I’m here to allow people to have access to information to help them become the people that they have the power to become. If they want to do it with information contained in an eReader format, that’s what I’m gonna give’em.

Nooks require a computer to upload books from Overdrive
Temporary access to digital books through a clunky program is a bad, horrible model of librarianship and luckily it’s only our first try. We can do better, and we can provide digital content through the circulation of eReaders instead of providing access through a horrible circulation model governed by publishers and a shaky (at best) product. We won’t even need Overdrive and our patron’s won’t need a computer if we just circulate pre-loaded eReaders.

People won’t come to the Library to get eReaderss
Well… I think they will. If they can check out every book on Lizards in the entire library system for their science project with one check-out, or every mystery novel written in the last ten years, or ALL of the current New York Times bestsellers with one trip to the library, then I think they will do it. Also, it solved a problem that the publishers recently whined about on a recent New York Times Article – “Ms. Hirschhorn says the reason publishers didn’t worry about lost sales from library lending of print books is that buying a book is easier — no return trip is needed to the bookstore.” Problem solved.

Anyway, those are the big four arguments that I have heard against circulating eReaders at a library. But I am 93.4% convinced that this is the model that we need to follow in the digital age. If you want hard statistical evidence of its success rate, get on the waitlist for a Nook at Sacramento Public Library. The wait for those is as long as my… Well, It’s long.

Librarians, Tell Amazon to Piss Off And Go Buy Nooks!

Posted on by pcsweeney

Libraries need to get away from Amazon and Kindles and jump on board with Nooks. I’m not saying this for any reason except that Barnes and Noble is a much better company for libraries to partner with. If you want to see reasons why you shouldn’t bother with Kindles, then you should watch this video from Sarah Houghton But I’m not going to make that argument myself. I’ve had enough with all that. Instead I’m going to tell you all the reasons that I loved working with Barnes and Noble to get our eReader lending program going with a collection of Nooks. I’m not even going to defend the collection itself (I’ll do that in another post)

First of all, this whole thing started because someone just called my library one day and offered us $4,000 from a Cable Co-Op grant for no good reason at all. They just wanted us to use the money for some kind of technology. I offered the idea of eReaders and they went for it. Not only did they go for it, but so did my administration (since they didn’t have to pay for it anyway).

Click here for Sacramento PL's Guide to Nook Lending
So, I spent about 6-7 months procrastinating and watching the eReader environment play out for a while and it didn’t look like it was going well. The Kindles/Overdrive/Amazon/Publishers debacle was killing my enthusiasm for the project. I researched what I thought was everyone’s experience with Amazon and Kindle because using those was my original intention. Buffy Hamilton told me about her experience with Amazon and so did a bunch of other librarians. They had everything from really positive experiences to really bad ones. Soon, I realized that the very bad stories started to outweigh the positive few and I was getting worried. I started to HATE this project and put it off even longer.

Finally, I found out about Sacramento Public’s Nook Lending collection at the California Library Association Conference and I spent some time watching their presentations and talking to the Barnes and Noble reps that were there. They were enthusiastic to work with libraries and librarians to put these collections together. They had ideas and wanted to share them. They spoke candidly and told me all of their concerns with the pressure from publishers and what I should expect in the future.

A couple of weeks later I called my local Barnes and Noble and I got exactly the same treatment! I couldn’t believe it! I was guided to the closest Barnes and Noble with a Community Relations Manager (CRM – Key word to me being “Community”) who then guided me through the whole process of ordering the maximum number of Nooks I could order, while balancing with gift cards for the purchasing of eBooks from the website. They are even coming to our library to give my staff a hands-on training on how to use the Nooks. They even went so far as to offer to teach classes to the public about how to use the Nooks! To say I was impressed was an unimaginable understatement. I know they’re just trying to sell more Nooks, but they won me over! Also, they bought me and the employee that I brought with me a coffee. Nothing buys a librarian’s love like free coffee.

If you want to start a Nook collection, call your local Barnes and Noble and ask to speak to a CRM (Community Relations Manager). If your experience is half of what mine was, this would make them the best vendor on the planet.

Last Year, This Year, and the Next Couple Years are Going to be Awesome.

Posted on by pcsweeney

Ok, another year down and it was fairly EPIC. It was one of the better years of my life professionally and a whole lot of growth personally. Not at all what I expected or thought would happen, but all things last year were good (even some of the bad things). These are the things that I am excited about from my last year of life;

The ALA Think Tank
The brainchild of JP Porcarro, and something that I was more than excited to be a part of putting together, The ALA Think Tank, became one of the largest librarian groups on FB and so many great projects have been bred there. There is an amazing sense of play and experimentation going on there. It’s not what I first thought it would be, but I think its even better. It’s the librarian’s sandbox. If you’re a librarian and looking for inspiration to do two things – Make It Happen and Party Hard – this group is awesome and its for you.

The People
I have met so many amazing people in the last year that I could never list them all here without it reading like the first chapter of Mathew (boring). The people I have met in real life, and those that I mostly just interact with online, have had an intense impact on my life and I wanted to thank all of you for just being rad.

The Projects
So many great projects like Guitar collections, Seed Library, eReader collections, Library Boing Boing, the Flash Mob in NOLA, graffiti arts project, our library’s social media campaign, starting a friends group, community newsletter, a multi-system Google Training, The Library Advocacy Store, The Great Librarian Write-out, and some secret ones (that you’ll hopefully hear about this year) have taken off this year. I’m so excited about everything that my awesome library staff and my amazing library system have let me get away with. A great big huge thanks to all you folks.

This Year
I’m excited about a whole bunch of great things that are already starting this year. The first of which was created by Jenny Levine and is Library Boing Boing. There’s going to be another epic set of conferences and I’m excited that I will be presenting at a bunch of them. I’m stoked about meeting a whole bunch more great people and seeing what we can put together. And of course, I’m excited to be surprised by what just kinda happens.

My List
I do have this list of professional things I need to do though and I’d thought I’d share them here just to give them a little more weight.

A kickstarter project
Either a CA library tour by motorcycle, Andrea Davis’ boatbrary, a Think Tank Project, or a non-library related project.

Drive the Book Mobile
One of the awesome things about my library system is that they will pay for me to get my C-class driver’s license so that I can drive the book mobile. I need to get this done this year. How fun would that be?

Sailing
Sail to Internet Librarian on my boat this year. I keep saying I’m gonna do it but I never do. This year is the year. I can feel it!

SXSW
Inspired by the great Andrea Davis, this year I want to get together some Proposals for SXSW about libraries.

Personally;
Of course I have long and continuing list of things I need to accomplish. Not necessarily this year, but in the next couple years this all needs to happen. Here it is, all updated.

Buy and live-aboard a Sailboat
Get a yacht surveying certification
Run for ALA office
Build an Electric Guitar From Scratch
Speak fluent Spanish (in process)
Scuba certification
Become a Certified Public Library Administrator
Ham Radio License
Knot tying
Guitar Lessons/Classes (In process)
Bungee Jump
C-Class Driver’s License
Drive the Book Mobile
Skydive
Take an Advanced Navigation Course
Learn Celestial Navigation
Present at two conferences
Publish 2-5 professional articles
Begin either a Masters in Business Admin or PHD in Information Ethics
Finally finish reading the Harvard 5 foot shelf of books
Captain’s License
Publish a short story
Learn HTML and other programming languages
Hang glide
Motivational Speaking
Writing more
Digital Publishing
Bay Area library Meet-ups
Participate in a Single Handed Sailing race
Week Long Sail
Motorcycle trip to South America

Build/learn a bunch of stuff (I can do it here)

  • Build a radio from scratch
  • Welding
  • Build a Cigar Box Guitar
  • Build a Telescope
  • Learn Basic Cabinetry
  • Automotive/diesel repair

What are your plans for this year?

Best Library Christmas Program OF ALL TIME!!

Posted on by pcsweeney

Or at least, it’s the best that I’ve been a part of and its my favorite program at my library.Every year in December our library brings Santa to our library and we give away around 400 teddy bears and books to about 400 children in our community. This is one of my favorite things that I have ever been a part of in a library. I wish I had come up with this program but it was going on many years before I came to managing this library. Anyway, I tweeted and FBed some pictures and a couple of people asked about the details of this program so I thought I write a little more about it.

First of all, our library is located in a community called East Palo Alto in California. EAST Palo Alto is much different than Palo Alto and that little word “East” makes all the difference. While Palo Alto benefits from the tech boom and internet industry, East Palo Alto benefits from those tech folks shopping at the Home Depot and Ikea that are located in this city. The community was the murder capital of the Nation in the 90s (the film Dangerous Minds was supposedly filmed about a high school here and is why there currently no high school here and still maintains a lot of that aura but is a very different community now. In fact, I have never worked in a community that I have loved more.
Although this community is doing a lot to improve it’s self there is still a level of very low income families struggling here and our Santa In the Library Program is the only Christmas that many of these children will get. Here is how we do it:

First, we have our Santa who is actually Jewish but loves the whole spirit of giving and loves being able to give out presents to children. He has been doing this for about 7 years here.

Next, we partnered with the City of EPA (we are a county Library) and our local grocery store, Mi Pueblo, who each provide $100.00 for refreshments in the form of Hot Chocolate and Pastries. One of our staff members makes Mexican hot chocolate from the supplies from Mi Pueblo and it is AMAZING!

We also partnered with our County Probation Department who usually supply us with the Teddy Bears. The teddy bears typically are made by incarcerated women as part of a work program and we get them for free. This year though, due to budget cuts, they couldn’t provide them and some great people in Portola Valley (spearheaded by the Mayor) got us the teddy bears just in time! I would almost say it was a Christmas miracle, but really, it was the hard work of the residents of Portola Valley. Overall, this program costs about $300 and the library doesn’t really pay for any of it at all! It’s all staffed by volunteers and the money and teddy bears and books are all donated.

We send out tons of flyers and press releases to everyone we can think of and include invitations’ to local dignitaries and politicians. We’ve had some great people come and help out and its made the program even more successful.

Logistics

We start giving out the tickets about two hours early and there is almost always a line that forms by then. The tickets are number 1-400 (that’s how many bears we have) and each batch of 100 corresponds to a time frame. For example, tickets numbered 1-100 correspond to 5-5:30 and that way people know that they can leave and come back by 5 and get in to see Santa. This also keeps the lines and numbers of people outside waiting to a minimum.

While people are waiting we give out the refreshments and have the kids do an arts and crafts project in our community room that is run by staff and supplemented by volunteers. This helps keep the youngsters busy while they wait and they have something else to take with them at the end of the program. What is super cute is the number of kids that make a card for Santa while they wait and give it to him when they get in to the library to see him.

We call in groups of kids with their families in smaller groups of 10-15 (by ticket number) to see Santa. They get to sit on Santa’s lap and the families take pictures and then they get their Teddy Bear and Book from Santa’s helpers.

That’s it! It’s really super easy and one of the more meaningful programs we do each year.

A Ridiculous but Entertaining Hacker Solution to the Porn Problem.

Posted on by pcsweeney

Eric Riley posted this article to the ALA Think Tank group on Facebook. And, if it works, it could be the solution to all of the library’s privacy on the computers problems. No longer requiring computer filters and all that BS. So I’m sure Sarah Houghton would love it. Basically, the solution works like this;

Remove the LCD’s frame, cutting out its polarized film with a utility knife before removing the screen’s film adhesive with a combination of cleaner and paint thinner and reassembling the monitor. Once complete, grab the glasses, cut out the lenses and combine them with the plastic film removed from the monitor before inserting them back into their frames.

After you do all this, you will be left with a computer screen that will look like a white screen to anyone not wearing the customized glasses. In essence our patrons will be able to have complete and total privacy if wanted.

That being said, of course it’s not a perfect solution for a number of reasons, but right off the top of my head I see these;

  • Anyone wearing the glasses anywhere in the library will be able to see what’s on the screen (kids included)
  • You’ll be stuck with a bunch of folks with sunglasses on indoors (which always looks douchie)
  • You’ll have to supply glasses that have been worn (hardly sanitary)
  • The glasses will get stolen (as does everything else)

    • But anyway, it’s a fairly outside the box and entertaining solution and I’m always down for some creative solutions to problems no matter how radical. I love the thought of it, but maybe not in practice.

    Here’s a video if you want to see it yourself

    ALA alarmed at seizure of Occupy Wall Street library, loss of irreplaceable material

    Posted on by pcsweeney

    CHICAGO -The People’s Library, a library constructed by the New York Occupy Wall Street movement, was seized in the early morning hours of Nov. 15, by the New York Police Department during a planned raid to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park. The library held a collection of more than 5,000 items and provided free access to books, magazines, newspapers and other materials. According to ALA members who visited the site, the library reflected many of ALA’s core intellectual freedom values and best practices—a balanced, cataloged collection, representing diverse points of view, that included children’s books and reference service often provided by professional librarians.

    City officials assured library staff that library materials would be safely transported to a sanitation depot, but the majority of the collection is still missing and returned items were damaged, including laptops and other equipment. The likelihood of recovering all library materials is bleak, as witnesses reported that library materials were thrown into dumpsters by police and city sanitation workers.

    Longstanding ALA policy states:

    “The American Library Association deplores the destruction of libraries, library collections and property, and the disruption of the educational purpose by that act, whether it be done by individuals or groups of individuals and whether it be in the name of honest dissent, the desire to control or limit thought or ideas, or for any other purpose.”

    American Library Association (ALA) President Molly Raphael released the following statement regarding the destruction of the People’s Library:

    “The dissolution of a library is unacceptable. Libraries serve as the cornerstone of our democracy and must be safeguarded. An informed public constitutes the very foundation of a democracy, and libraries ensure that everyone has free access to information.

    “The very existence of the People’s Library demonstrates that libraries are an organic part of all communities. Libraries serve the needs of community members and preserve the record of community history. In the case of the People’s Library, this included irreplaceable records and material related to the occupation movement and the temporary community that it represented.

    “We support the librarians and volunteers of the Library Working Group as they re-establish the People’s Library.”

    The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 60,000 members. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information.

    Got the MLIS? How do you go from paper to interview?

    Posted on by pcsweeney

    I spent some time reviewing some applications with a written question and answer portion for a position in our library system a couple of weeks ago and it got me thinking about all of the times that I have done this as a manager. The most difficult applications to apply to, and for me to review are those with a couple of questions to answer. But then again, those are the best for you to get your foot in the door. If there aren’t any essay questions, there is always the cover letter. In either case, I’m going to give you a list of the things you can do that will put you ahead of the majority of the applications for librarian positions that I have read. I’m partly doing this for you, but also because when a position opens in library land, there are hundreds of applications that the management team and HR have to wade through so I’m writing this, in part, for the sake of their sanity (and mine).

    Be positive
    When you’re answering an essay question or writing a cover letter, this is your first impression to your future employer. I want to hire happy people! Everyone I know wants to hire happy people! I mean, even McDonalds wants to hire happy people! And, because you’re deciding to work in a library, I know that you MUST be a happy person. So, when you write, make sure you use positive language. Don’t speak negatively of previous employers, bash co-workers, or even generally complain about anything. I want to hear about why you are so excited and happy to be applying for this position that you couldn’t possibly even think of anything negative while the option of working here may exist for you. I know we all have bad days, I know you’ve had jobs that were horrible, I know you’ve worked for horrible bosses or with horrible co-workers. But I want to also know that you don’t dwell on those things and won’t bring that into our workplace.

    Be passionate or at least sound excited
    You’re applying for a job! There is actually a job out there in library world for which you are able to apply! You should be excited! You should be thrilled! That should come through in the way that you’re answering the questions and writing your cover letter. You can even mention how excited you are to be applying, or talk about how passionate you are about Anime or Innovative Services to Teens or Database research. Whatever it is, be excited about it! If you’re applying for a library job and you’re not excited about it, I’m begging you, please don’t apply!

    Answer the question
    Ok, listen to me on this one. Listen very closely! Answer the freaking question. No, really… I’m begging you! This alone will put you so far ahead of most of the applicants that it is absolutely ridiculous. Especially if the question is something like “name a time when you had a conflict,” or “or talk about a time you couldn’t answer a question.” The point of questions like these is to see that you critically thought about where you might have failed, where you succeeded, or what you would do given the opportunity to do either. If you said that you did XYZ, but learned that you made a mistake and after thinking about it, researching it, or talking to supervisors or peers, you realized that should have done ABC, and then talk about why, YOU WILL WIN! Or if you did it the right way the first time and then explain why you believe you did the right thing, YOU WILL WIN! Or, if you’ve never had a conflict with a fellow employee or patron, but explain what you would do if you did and show that you are capable conflict resolution (for example), YOU WILL WIN!! Here is an example of what not what to write.

    Ex.
    Question- Name a time when XYZ
    Your answer – I have never had that happen.

    This is a fail. But it is a fail that we see in interviews and in writing all the time. Never answer like this. If you’ve never had that happen, tell me why you think that is, or what you would do if it ever did happen.

    Don’t employ exceedingly grandiose terminology
    I know you’re smart. I’ve seen your resume/application, I know what schools you went to, I should have an idea about your education level. I also have a hundred other applications to get through in the next two hours. If I have to get out the dictionary to get through yours, your application will find the garbage can even quicker. The best thing you can do is answer the questions or write the cover letter efficiently and effectively. I don’t need a lot of frills or language. I need to get a good strong answer that gives me a good picture of what kind of person you are and that you have the ability to give me the information I need. I’m also getting a clear picture of the kind of person you are through your writing, if you write like you have something to prove, then I’m not going to believe that you think you can do the job. Also, because you work with the public, I want to know that you can communicate with the public.

    Have it Reviewed
    This is important too. Mitsakes you make when witing a answer to an question show that you don’t take the care or time to want to make the job. There is no shame in having someone review your answers if you can. Always take that opportunity. I know that I have a large group of peers that I rely heavily on for reviewing what I write when it comes to more professional writing than my blog. There is nothing worse than having to struggle through a poorly written application. I always feel bad for the person. I think, don’t these people have friends? If not, why not? But sometimes its hard to find friends. In which case, get on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or even Myspace and ask around. Someone will most likely help you out. If you are a librarian and have no other friends and need someone to review your application, I might even be able to help (maybe).

    Don’t write too much
    This is simple, please don’t write a long overdrawn essay when a paragraph will do just fine. Unless they are asking for a one page essay, this is a cover letter, or there is only one question to answer, I would always try to keep things to somewhere around ten sentences. Just like in college, you don’t get extra points for writing more than what the professor asked for. If they ask for one page, please only write one page. The extra time I have to spend reading your three page essay, when I still have 100 more essays to read that same day, will make me want to kill kittens with bags full of puppies.

    Don’t write too little
    Don’t write to little.

    Don’t bullshit the answer
    If you don’t have a good answer, don’t lie about it. Typically, it’s pretty easy to tell if you’re telling a BS story or not. The better route, as I talked about in the answering the question part of this blog, is to say what would happen if you did have an answer. So, for example, if you never worked at the reference desk, but the question is about answering reference questions, you can say that you have never done reference work, but if you had a reference question to answer, you would do it through doing the following steps (and then outline the steps to answer a reference question). Or, if there is no question to answer and this is a cover letter for a job you’ve never worked, you can say that if you had the job you would do XYZ as well.

    Here is an extra tip
    All of these tips also work in the interview. Now get out there and Make It Happen.