Okay, I’ve always been excited about Open Source, but I’m amping up my fangirl status. Starting in November, I’ll be joining Bibliomation’s Open Source Project. Bibliomation has chosen Evergreen for its future ILS and four small Connecticut libraries have signed on for the pilot project. Two of those libraries are in the more rural area of the state that I grew up in and I’m looking forward to working with small town libraries on this project and learning more about Evergreen!
I will miss all of the wonderful people at Darien Library, of course. One of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from my time at Darien is the importance of hiring well. Any organization with a big reputation manages that reputation through a small group of employees. We hear from the management of well-known companies – we know Danny Meyer and Tony Heish and we like to talk about how great Danny Meyer restaurants and Zappos are. We don’t discuss the waitstaff or the call center workers too much except in the abstract: they’re dedicated workers who intuitively get customer service and did you hear about that Zappos staffer who was on the phone for 5 hours straight with one customer?
The stand-out service stories we hear and repeat are offered to us as representative of exemplary daily toil that add up to a great organization. I had lunch at Union Square Café last year and was struck by the thoughtfulness of the staff. I didn’t see a matre’d run to someone’s apartment to save an anniversary bottle of champagne from freezing, but I watched people who knew that their co-workers had their back. Working at Darien Library has, of course, been an education in vision, but it has also illuminated how important every last person in an organization is.

When you look at Darien’s “Our Librarians” page, you may recognize a few of the faces there. You may have heard Louise, Alan or John speak at a conference. You may have read articles they’ve written or talked with them about their vision for Darien Library at a conference. But each department is filled with wonderful, hard working people who are devoted to their patrons, their colleagues and their library.
More to come…