Download Audio files of 2007 Metropolitan Libraries Section conference Keynote Speakers

Welcome

Deborah L. Jacobs, City Librarian, The Seattle Public Library
 
Deborah L. Jacobs began her career as a children's librarian in Bend, Ore. She came to Seattle in 1997 from Corvallis, Ore., where she served as library director of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.
 
Chosen to lead The The Seattle Public Library into the next century, Jacobs spent her first four months on the job developing a $235 million comprehensive plan to nearly double the space in 22 branches, add branches and replace the downtown library. Her commitment to the effort and extensive work in every neighborhood resulted in overwhelming public support for the "Libraries for All" bond issue. At that time it was the largest bond measure ever approved for libraries in the country - and by a nearly 70 percent majority. Under Jacobs' leadership, The Seattle Public Library Foundation has raised an unprecedented $82 million for library construction and endowments. More than 22,000 people have made donations to the Foundation, including gifts of $22.5 million from Paul Allen and $20 million from Bill and Melinda Gates.
 
Jacobs has received many awards that honor her commitment to substantively engaging the community while providing bold and decisive leadership.
 
Download Audio (mp3) [play time: <1 minute/file size: 530 KB]
 

Social Libraries: The 2.0 Phenomenon

Stephen Abram, MLS, is President elect of SLA and the past-President of the Canadian Library Association. He is Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He was Publisher Electronic Information at Thomson after managing several libraries. Stephen was listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries. He has received numerous honours and speaks regularly internationally. His columns appear in Information Outlook and Multimedia and Internet @ Schools, OneSource, Feliciter, Access, as well writing for Library Journal.
 
Download Audio (mp3) [play time: 53 minutes/file size: 74 MB]
 

Libraries and Architecture: Joshua Prince-Ramus, Central Library Architect Partner in Charge

Joshua Prince-Ramus, president and co-founder of REX, oversees the work of the office in collaboration with Erez Ella. Based in New York City, REX's major projects include Museum Plaza, a contemporary art center and mixed-use development in Louisville, Kentucky; The Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas; the new headquarters for Vakko, a fashion and media company in Istanbul, Turkey; a residence in the landmarked Forward Building in New York, New York; and Vestbanen, a multi-use development including the new Deichmanske Library and Stenersen Museum in Oslo, Norway.
 

Mr. Prince-Ramus was previously a founding partner of OMA New York-the American branch of the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture-and served as the firm's director until redefining it as REX, with Mr. Ella, in 2006. At OMA New York, he was Partner in Charge of the Seattle Central Library; the Guggenheim-Hermitage and Guggenheim Las Vegas Museums in Las Vegas; and Vestbanen in Oslo. Mr. Prince-Ramus received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with distinction from Yale University and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University, where he was the first Araldo Cossutta Fellow and an SOM Fellow. In the fall of 2007, he will be the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture, with Erez Ella.
 
Download Audio (mp3) [play time: 32 minutes/file size: 43.6 MB]
 

Staying Relevant and Managing Change

Joseph Janes is Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academics at the Information School of the University of Washington. A frequent speaker in the US and abroad, he was the Founding Director of the Internet Public Library and the co-author of eight books on librarianship, technology, and their relationship, including Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age and writes the "Internet Librarian" column for American Libraries magazine. He is the 2006 recipient of the Isadore Gilbert Mudge award from the American Library Association for distinguished contributions to reference librarianship. He holds the M.L.S. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University, and has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the State University of New York at Albany as well as at Syracuse and Washington.
 
Download Audio (mp3) [play time: 50 minutes/file size: 69 MB]
 

Staying Relevant - New Services, Technology, Customer Service Orientation

George Needham is Vice President for Member and Community Services at OCLC Online Computer Library Center in Dublin, Ohio, a position he's held since March 1999. George's portfolio includes Members Council, WebJunction, QuestionPoint, and the OCLC Library, and he contributes to the blog "It's All Good." A librarian for nearly thirty years, George has worked in a variety of settings: at three public libraries, as state librarian of Michigan, and in several library-related nonprofit organizations. He holds MLS and BA degrees from the University at Buffalo, New York, and has taken additional courses at Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. His sole brush with non-library fame was as a two time champion on Jeopardy in 1994.
 
Download Audio (mp3) [play time: 42 minutes/file size: 57 MB]
 

A Library WOT and SWOT

University of Washington Information School, Dean Emeritus and Professor Mike Eisenberg takes a look at What's Out There and what it might mean in terms of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to, for, and by Libraries
 

Mike Eisenberg is the "Founding Dean" of the Information School at the University of Washington, having served from 1998 to 2006. During his tenure, Mike transformed the unit from a single graduate degree into a broad-based information school with a wide range of research and academic programs, including an undergraduate degree in informatics, masters degrees in information management and library and information science, and a doctorate degree in information science. For many years, he worked as Professor of information studies at Syracuse University and as founding Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse (including the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, AskERIC, and GEM, the Gateway to Education Materials). Mike and his co-author Bob Berkowitz created the Big6 approach to information literacy, and he has worked with thousands of students-pre-K through higher education-as well as people in business, government, and communities to improve their information and technology skills. Mike's current work focuses on information, communications, and technology (ICT) literacy, information credibility, and information science education K-20.
 
Download Audio (mp3) [play time: 46 minutes/file size: 62.7 MB]
 
View the handout for this presentation