Sharing by all possible means

I've just returned from the Montana Shared Catalog semiannual meeting. Seeing librarians working collaboratively to find new ways to deliver the best possible service was a great experience. I had the opportunity to discuss OCLC's new Web-scale Management Services alongside Sarah McHugh, Web-scale Management Services Advisory Council member from the Montana State Library, and Al Cornish, pilot library participant from Washington State University. We had a great discussion that showed a lot of creative thinking in Montana about what the future needs to look like for libraries.

But what I really want to share is how impressed I was by the drive that librarians in Montana have to share resources by all possible means. The State Library has been working over the last three years to find a feasible method for a courier service between libraries. With such great distances and so many small communities, none of the standard options works. Too many areas of the state simply do not have access to these services. Tenacity paid off, though, and they found a medical delivery company that moves medical supplies and lab work around the state to even the smallest communities. A successful proposal was put before the Montana legislature and funding was given for a pilot project using this service. They are not just moving books and other library materials but also supplies for story hours.

It is witnessing innovation like this that makes my job so terrific-getting the opportunity to learn, first-hand, from librarians who find great new ways to "deliver" better services to their users.