Wayne Gretzky’s father famously admonished his son to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” That aphorism has been repeated a gazillion times. It was used to run a tech company (Steve Jobs) and to manage an investment portfolio (Warren Buffet). As much as the tech industry or stock investors, we librarians need to have an eye on the future and figure out where the puck is heading.

But what if we don’t have just one puck to track but many? What if they’re all flying around every which way with more dropped on the ice all the time? That’s more like the world librarians live in today. There are a dozen pucks all around us all the time, and we must not only get out in front, we must choose the right one to get in front of. How do we know which one to choose? What if we’ve tracked the puck, marked its trajectory, skated to the right spot, and are lining up our shot only to find that it’s the wrong puck or worse, somebody’s moved the net? It’s an endless stream of projects, services, and products that someone claims will make libraries future-proof. From a library of things to makerspaces to loads of collaboration space, it’s always something new that will be the next sure-fire way for libraries to be more relevant and necessary in their communities. Confronted with a dizzying array of choices, what’s a library to do?

MCLS is here to help you find your way. While we don’t have any magic answers, our conversations with you about your aspirations for your libraries and your communities, your concerns, and the conditions that must be changed in order to progress have given us new perspectives and insights. We admire your thoughtfulness, your resiliency, and your enthusiasm for libraries. For us, the challenge going forward is to turn what we learned into services that will help you achieve those aspirations you talked about.

We’ve already swung into action. We heard you talk about webinars. You love them, and you hate them. You love them for the convenience of training and continuing education where you are without a drive to a hotel or meeting room in another city. You hate them because they make you feel isolated, and you miss the opportunities for networking with colleagues that in-person training offers. We get that. Our online training program isn’t going away, but we are much more conscious now about scheduling in-person opportunities. We will continue our community engagement roundtables where you meet with others in the same room at the same time to talk about the ways you are engaging with your community. We will continue one-day workshops on important topics. Our next one will be on March 16 when we have an impressive line-up of speakers coming to talk about linked data and its likely impact on your library.

At the same time, you want to use online and social media tools to stay in touch. That led us to create a series of Twitter chats, which featured experts on library administration and management topics. These proved so popular that we decided to make this a monthly series. Past guests have included Nancy Kranich chatting about community engagement, John Chrastka chatting about politics and libraries, and Trent Smiley chatting about marketing. We’re continuing these conversations every third Thursday through 2017. Learn more at our website or find us on Facebook.

One of the other things we heard from you is a desire to work with a trusted partner when you need meeting facilitation or an updated strategic plan or an in-service about community engagement. Soon we plan to introduce MCLS Consulting Services. We remain in the planning stages but have some pilot projects planned to help us decide the best way to introduce these services. Watch for more news through 2017.

We also want to be more transparent to you. We are a mission-driven, library service agency, and our highest responsibility is making sure that you are getting what you need to achieve your aspirations. To help us hear more from you, we are starting a regular “Coffee with the Executive Director” online hangout. The first meeting will be in May. Watch for the exact date and an invitation to join the conversation.

At MCLS, we are all about Michigan and Indiana libraries. We think the future is bright, and we intend to help you achieve more through multitype, interlibrary cooperation and working together on important projects.

Next month, I’ll share stories that show the ways some of our members are making change happen in their libraries and communities.