Question: What frustrates you about technology in your position and/or day-to-day work? (Ex: Products that don’t work as advertised, workflows that are now out of date, devices or tools you’ve struggled to learn or teach to others.) A whopping 116 respondents answered...
BCLA Perspectives
Volume 10 (2018)
Survey: Technologies piquing interest and desired in the workplace
Question: What technologies are you interested in knowing more about, developing skills in, or would like to see brought to your workplace? Thoughtful responses from 93 respondents offered multiple answers to this question. Their motives were...
Survey: Resources for staying informed
Question: How do you stay fresh and informed in the library field? Please share any related apps, blogs, podcasts, websites, social media accounts, etc. Technology provides seemingly endless opportunities to learn more about libraries, our work, and the broader fields...
The Community Scholars Program: a Partnership for Social Change
Note: This article was intended for publication on March 1 of 2018. Due to an error by the editor, it was delayed. “There’s all this research on topics that can help with front line practice, but if you don’t have access to it, then it’s useless. It doesn’t make sense...
The Social Issue: A Letter from the Editors
Following the successful themed publications of 2017, BCLA Perspectives is proud to continue the trend with our first issue of 2018: The Social Issue. In it, we address some of the many social issues facing libraries and how institutions in British Columbia are...
One Patron at a Time: Removing Social Barriers Between Libraries and Communities
When people asked what I wanted to do after library school, my favourite answer was: “I don’t want to be a children’s librarian and I don’t want to be a community librarian.” Facing a group of toddlers used to create uncomfortable self-awareness, but I don’t remember...
The Toronto Public Library’s New Community Room Booking Policy
The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has recently instituted a controversial new Community and Event Space Rental Policy. Under the new policy the library can deny or cancel a room booking based on an assessment that “the purpose of the booking is likely to promote, or...
Social Issues and the Special Library
An interview with Suzanne McBeath, Corporate Librarian, about how social issues impact the work of the Metro Vancouver Library. Tell us a bit about the Metro Vancouver Library The Metro Vancouver Library supports the work of Metro Vancouver by coordinating and...
A Fine Balance at the Public Library
There is most likely not a front line librarian or branch manager in North America – and doubtless other countries as well – who has not struggled with maintaining the fine balance of offering a welcoming and safe space for everyone in the communities they serve. And...
Sexual Harassment by Library Patrons: #TimesUp
A patron at circulation asks a staff member to go out for a drink with him, coming back throughout the day to insist she share her phone number even after she politely declines. A much older man calls a library worker “beautiful,” then tells her that her “next husband...