Victoria - "Where's the passion?"

On June 16th, I covered my Victoria, BC trip but didn't share any feedback I got. And on the 18th, I spoke to participants of the TLN planning meeting. On the 21st, I was at Miami University in Oxford, OH to speak to the library's staff. All told, I talked 'scan' to about 160 people.

I think I was luckier than George with the Canadian audience. I am not sure I was the top banana but I wasn't the peel. I followed Paul McCormick from Libraries and Archives Canada who was seeking opinions from the CARL Directors to contribute to the strategic planning for this new organization. LAC came into being on October 2, 2002 when the Government of Canada created the Library and Archives of Canada, a new agency that combined the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada.

The facilitator gamely tried to get the audience to participate in an information gathering exercise she had carefully crafted. Not easy to do with directors: "why do we have to do it that way?" "I'm just going to tell you what I think." I think the facilitator was the peel at this meeting.

I zipped through my presentation--I didn't have a lot of time and there wasn't an opportunity for much discussion then, but clearly, the wheels in brains were grinding. During the afternoon session which was to flesh out the goals of the CARL strategic plan, energy and participation sagged. Mike Ridley, from the University of Guelph (you'll see he's a savvy guy from his bio) piped up and said he cared about CARL, thought the exercise was important, but that he just didn't feel the passion he thought he should. What was wrong? Many in his peer group agreed, and one reason was that some thought the issues raised during my presentation of trends changed thinking and needed to be discussed more. So, in one sense, the process was derailed as the goal of the meeting was not met. On the other hand, a better plan will be the result.

Far from being gloomy, the CARL directors seem to be positive about their challenges. Mark Haslett (do follow this link...I love the last category in the sidebar: "Stuff, Other")from the University of Waterloo, said (I'm paraphrasing): "I think this is an incredibly exciting time to be working in libraries. It's like being in a playground with a bunch of new toys."

And then after a hard day of work, we all went to the Swan Suites Hotel for cocktails on the roof terrace of the penthouse suite, (fabulous, fabulous space) and then dinner in their restaurant, Wild Saffron. Don't you wish your university owned a hotel like this? The University of Victoria was willed the Swan, along with several other heritage buildings a few years back. Marnie Swanson, the University Librarian, thinks U Vic may be the only university that owns a brewpub. Prosit!