Columbus Metropolitan Library

Patrick Losinski 06:35Yeah, so I think a couple of things would certainly stand out to us. Absolutely, very visible to our community, that we've been on an aggressive capital improvement campaign that really started in 2013. So we've been at this 10 years, and we're in the process of working on our 16th project through that period of time. So there's just an extraordinary amount of activity in the community that I think has really upgraded the libraries. But, you know, maybe especially since — we're in our 150th year — you also have to have a real appreciation for it. It wasn't that long ago, it was 1986 to 1990-91, we redid the whole main library. So there was a whole generation of activity, and built many of the regional libraries in the suburbs, that happened through the '80s and '90s as well. But the point is, Columbus and Franklin County continue to grow, the demands for library service have continued to grow and be strong. And so it's really an appreciation of what each generation of library teams have done to make this such a great system throughout. But in 20 years, that's one thing I would point to. We had a — sometimes people forget this, because we're not on the ballot very often — but the last time we were on the ballot was 2010. And you think about that, coming right after the Great Recession, and the levy was expiring, so we didn't have a choice. And at a time when money was particularly tight, the community supported us by a two-to-one margin. We lost two precincts in the whole county. So I think having that level of support from the community has enabled us to do these things. So I think that's important. But along with that, Tim, is a feeling — I remember how ecstatic we were the night of the election, when we knew we had won by such a large margin. And yet you go home and you say, "Wow, at a time when resources are so tight, this community says we need to continue to invest in the library." And so we had — we have job help centers. I think we were so responsive to the needs of the community at that time. I just think it's the hallmark of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. There are many libraries that have not, and are really opposed to, the notion that their user base are referred to as customers. Most libraries, many libraries, refer to them as patrons. But Larry Black, who was the library director before me, started this whole notion of a strong customer-service ethic. And I think you see that every day in our buildings. It's part of our culture, our people believe in it, they work hard at perfecting it. And there's such a strong service ethic among our workforce. I hear about that all the time, and I'm just so proud of our employees, so I think we've kept that up as well. I would say the work that we've done to try to really ramp up our presence in the out-of-school-time space has been significant.

Tim Fulton 10:18Can you talk about that, and what that means?

Patrick Losinski 10:20Yeah, we tried, as a pilot in 2003, when we were opening the new Linden branch, we put in a very small homework help center. Well, there's a homework help center in every location today. Well, we moved to "school help center," because that's helping whatever level you are in school. And that's six-figure numbers of kids who come in every year to register for that level of service. And schools can only do so much, during 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning until 2:30 or 3:30. So we're going to try to be strong players in the preschool arena, after school, weekends, and summers. And I think we've really ramped up our game there. This is a little bit behind the scenes for many people, but every month we deliver a bin of books to 400 classrooms in Franklin County, to elementary schools, as a way of supporting the recreational reading needs of students. Whether they're in a public school or charter school, they are constituents of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, they just happen to be in the school for a part of the day. So we want to make sure we're there to serve them as best we can. I also think that it's not just the Columbus library — I think the library profession as a whole has done a great job of continuing to evolve, transition, be resilient, be relevant. Fifteen years ago, we weren't talking about e-books, and now we have over 5 million circulations of e-books that people are downloading from their home. I actually started in this business before the internet was a common utility in a public library, to see what we've added in that space. And then we've moved to wireless. I think libraries have just continued sometimes to lead, but always to be no more than a quarter-step behind what our public expectations are. And I think that's really led to our continued success and appreciation and support in the community.

Tim Fulton 12:39Can you talk a little bit about your background, and how you got here? You talked about the different systems you had worked in. I think some people are unfamiliar — you have a master's degree, I assume it's in library science, that's how you become a librarian. Talk a little bit about your career path, and what brings you to Columbus.

Patrick Losinski 12:59I think I've told the story many times over the years, Tim, but it's almost a little bit of an accident that I'm a librarian and then a library director. I was maybe professionally more aligned with what you do for a living, because I was a communications major, but with an emphasis in television and film. During my undergraduate degree, I had a year-long internship for a cable television access station. You kind of know what that is, where you see like channel three or channel two, where it's the city's public channel, and you see ribbon-cuttings at the new civic building, and government meetings and things like that. Well, I actually did that as a college intern. But that was in the analog world, before digital, so we would horse around the big cameras and switchers, we would go to city council meetings, county commissioner meetings. And the in-person studio happened to be in the public library. And so, for a year, I kind of watched that go on, and I thought, "Well, I had always used libraries." And one day, as probably a 20- or 21-year-old, I worked up the nerve to ask for an appointment to meet with the library director. This wasn't a big library, it was in a town of 20-, 25,000 people. And I started by asking him, "How did you become a library director, because it looks interesting?" And I had all kinds of notions that maybe I was going to go to law school. I was accepted to a master's degree in strategic communications at the University of Wisconsin, and, like, six or eight weeks before it started, I had always had this library thing in the back of my mind, and I applied to the school, and I looked at everything, and I said, "I think I could maybe someday be a librarian too." And so I went into the program, having never really done library work. And I got my first library job in a small town, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and worked in circulation. And from there, I had successively larger libraries that I was the director of. The first one was in Port Clinton, Ohio, interestingly, and I think it had 13 staff. And the only reason I got that job was, the first two candidates said no. And so, anyway, from there, it just led to some larger libraries. Columbus was always known for a reputation as a great library system, so it was an honor to be recruited. Like many who come to Columbus, at first you think, "Well, I'm not leaving Colorado to go to Columbus, Ohio." And then, coming out and seeing the library, and meeting the staff, and meeting the board of trustees, who were just so impressive in terms of the importance that they placed on the library, I knew pretty quickly that not only was I interested, I really wanted the job. And it has not disappointed.

Tim Fulton 16:15It's important to have that kind of support, right? Can you step back a little bit and talk about your governance structure, and then also your funding, because it's coming from a couple of different places, right, not just state funding?

Patrick Losinski 16:30Yeah. So there's a library board of trustees, seven members, and they serve seven-year terms. So one is up each year, and so there's some continuity that comes from that process. And they're the fiduciary board, if you will, so they have responsibility for hiring the CEO, approving the budget, approving the major programs of service, handling all the functions around auditing and finance. We're audited by the state auditor of Ohio, because we're a political subdivision in the Ohio Revised Code. And their duties are all outlined in the Ohio Revised Code. And then, in addition to that, we are supported by a separate entity called the Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation. And that's a 501(c)(3) whose sole responsibility is to raise private money, non-tax money, to support the library. And I can tell you, since about 2012-2013, they've raised almost $40 million. And to put it into sort of real-life terms, for our community, without their help, we probably have three fewer new branches. So that's the impact that they've had. And then we also have a really important group that's been along a long time — I'm thinking it's coming close to 40 years — it's our Friends of the Library. And that is a group that organizes the volunteer activities. They handle annual book sales of material that we're withdrawing or have received as donations, they lease the space for the library cafés — we have a couple of those — we have a gift store at the main library, and their proceeds go in to support the library. And so, all of that makes for some complexity and a lot of meetings, but a lot of people who — and that's when you get the appreciation for, man, there's a lot of people who want to step up and serve, and who really love this institution. I can tell you, in my 21st year, that's just incredibly inspiring every time I take a moment to think about it.

Tim Fulton 18:53And when you talked about the capital campaign that you guys — it's semi-ongoing, is that fair, the capital campaign?

Patrick Losinski 19:02Well, fundraising is ongoing. And then the last effort we had was a comprehensive campaign. Because, I think 15 to 20 years ago, a lot of institutions did a capital campaign, because you're going to raise money for bricks and mortar. And what I now find with many donors is, some say, "Well, I want to support the programming, or I want to support the technology." So by taking an approach where we call it a comprehensive campaign, that kind of gives a menu of options, and it strengthens your ability to raise funds when you have options for donors.

Tim Fulton 19:47Got it. But that is happening through the foundation, primarily? Correct. Got it. Let's talk about what the library experienced during the pandemic, and how you guys continued to offer services. And what is the new normal as a result of that? Like, what are the services that will stay, and some of the things that you were able to revert back to normal?

Patrick Losinski 20:08Yeah. And I think some of this is really obvious, and some of it is still very nuanced, that I think your listeners will say, "Oh, I didn't think of that aspect." Prior to — I mean, everyone knows you check out material, right. But there's probably a large percentage of our constituency that doesn't realize that many people rely on coming into the library to use fax machines, because fax machines are the only way that many benefit programs will accept applications. So we do have a booming business, in fact, in fax service. You say, "Well, don't people scan?" A, some agencies don't accept the scan still, and B, people don't have scanners. And so they're coming in to use that technology. One of the things I did, I would say within a week, was I called Doug Kreidler from the Columbus Foundation. And I said, "Doug, whether or not you've thought about this lately, we probably have somewhere around 1.8 million reservations a year to use computing time. We are the biggest public computing utility by far in the county. By far. We're going to shut our doors — what's going to happen to the people?" To stay connected, with an expectation that the teachers are going to teach remotely and reach kids, and parents may not have broadband, may not have the devices, may not have the inclination or the technical assistance. And, again, for many people who say, "Well, everyone has that" — no, they actually don't. A large number do not. So one of the things I'm most proud of that happened during the pandemic was working with MORPC, working with the Columbus Foundation, and then more and more came on — the city of Columbus, Columbus City Schools — we formed the Franklin County Digital Equity Coalition, which is a live entity today that has moved over now to Smart Columbus. But for two years, I facilitated the meetings of nonprofits throughout Franklin County, to really get to the root of this problem. And to understand this was not just a library issue: where do unhoused people go to get access to the internet, low-income housing, and others — the YWCA and others. So suddenly there's this large coalition of people working on this effort. And I think we understand these public-policy issues so much better than we did before the pandemic, and there's so much better awareness. We were able to install services — we had wireless in all of our parking lots. That was something so that people could come in. I think the term was coined after Hurricane Katrina, when they said public libraries had "blue-screen parking lots," because people were coming in to fill out their FEMA forms. The library still stayed open, rarely, so they could do that. And I think some of that was really transpiring that led to buying Chromebooks for kids, and it led to a partnership with an agency called PCs for People, which reconditions used machines. All of that happened with the library's leadership, but with many other partners. But my point is, the pandemic made that happen. And now we're on the path to really seriously address the fact that we may have 40,000 households in the county without broadband. And in today's world, that's the fourth utility, after electricity, gas, and water. So I think that happened. And I think we had an advantage over some cultural institutions, in that, while we had a strong electronic presence and we could push more to the e-environment, there are still so many people who prefer a book over a digital book. We have an internal, or public, strategy called "My Library," which is really about how we say it results in "a library working for me," in quotations. And what that means is, we've got to be where individuals want to be. The library I grew up with, it had 10 simple rules, and you either followed them or you didn't use the library. Well, today's library is, "What's your mobile app? Oh, we can do storytime on FaceTime." Publishers worked with us, they suspended the copyrights so that we could do those kinds of programs for the community. But, at the end of the day, the curbside service, of people coming up and still being able to get a bag of books or whatever — our staff felt incredibly helpful and useful. And I don't know that there was a time that the community ever felt more grateful and expressed their gratitude to us. So, those are all the things that happened. And you look back, Tim, to those first four months, what we thought COVID could be — we were wiping down our groceries and everything else — to now, we understand it's something we have to live with. One quick thing I would point out: again, within the first couple of weeks, we have a relationship with Battelle, who's such a great philanthropic partner to so many. But we knew they had the laboratories, and we actually called them, we called the Institute of Museum and Library Services in DC, and we said, "Here's the thing about libraries: our materials come back. What do we do with it when it comes back, to protect our people, or the people who might use those?" So this was major — we had major funding from foundations and others, the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Battelle did a national study on the presence of the virus as materials were coming back, and that served libraries worldwide. Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, we were all part of the advisory committee, trying to study this issue. And today, we know it's airborne, it's not going to survive. But in those early months, none of us knew any of that, and it was a little bit of a panic situation for many. And I think we had a level head, and were moving forward, and sort of showing the leadership of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on a world stage. And that was also something I'm really proud of during the pandemic.

Tim Fulton 27:09Absolutely. Well, and I want to commend you, as somebody who had a five-year-old at the beginning of it, being aware of the resources — even though I may not need some of them, being aware of the resources available, and the communication that you guys were doing around that to make sure people knew. So kudos for that. I appreciate that. Talk a little bit about — are there things that you view as, because you're an advocate, right, you have a day-to-day job, but you are in a public position — are there sort of threats to the library? You've got your funding, it's okay. There's a lot of talk about, maybe not in your space, but around the banning of books, or the restricting of material from folks. I wonder how much of that you — you may hear about it, but is it affecting our system?

Patrick Losinski 28:07Yeah, well, we could probably spend the whole podcast on just this topic, Tim. I've been around long enough — I'm in my 40th year of working in libraries, that's unbelievable that that even comes out of my mouth — that I remember sort of the 1980s. And there was a real push, Jerry Falwell at that time was leading the effort to ban materials in libraries. People don't necessarily remember this, but Tipper Gore, Al Gore's wife, being an effort around videos and explicit lyrics and music. And so you have to try to take some time, at first, to understand what the intent is of people. And I think it's easy to say, "Well, these are book banners, and there's just something wrong." It's okay, they see a problem, and they have a level of concern. We've always operated — and I think most libraries do — under the idea that we respect the right of every parent to guide their child's reading, listening, viewing, in whatever they believe is appropriate. It's just not a right that extends your value system to all the other parents and children in a particular community. And this is — we have to remind people of those principles from time to time. And to say that, well, intellectual freedom is a really easy concept to grasp when you agree. But — and there's another line that we use in libraries, is that we pretty much have something to offend everyone. And I know that sounds kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it's really true. To say, "Well, I think it's abhorrent, what Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf" — but that's a common book that you find in libraries. Is at the core, and is the Bible — what people might object to. The whole point is that space where people are free to come in and explore their curiosities and their interests, and to learn, and to accept or reject or refute, or do whatever they want. I don't know who said this, but I should, because I use this quote so often, but "public libraries are democracy's best-kept promise." And the longer I'm in this business, the more I embrace that idea, and recognize the responsibility that comes with that. Maybe at a time when everything is so partisan, you think, "Can that possibly happen?" And yet, I invite anyone to come into your library and take a look at all of the people who are coexisting peacefully in the library. And if society was working as well as it does within a public library, we'd all be in a better place. And that's not to say we don't have issues from time to time — we do, clearly. So I think it's education. Back to your original question, it just has to be an education process, where we talk to folks about, "I understand you object to that item, I understand that you don't want to read it, you don't want your child to read it, but you can't extend that belief to others and remove something because it is, in your eyes, harmful to others." That's not going to work for us.

Tim Fulton 31:55What are things that folks can do to support the library, if they want to, beyond being a customer? I assume volunteering, donating, but are there things that folks may not think of when they think of, "How can I support my local library system?"

Patrick Losinski 32:13Well, all the things that you just mentioned, in terms of use, in terms of volunteering — we kind of had to suspend that for a while during COVID, but that's coming back. Obviously, the financial donations help us to do all of those things as well. But some of it is, educate yourself around library issues, around book challenges right now. Understand — it serves as a discussion point. I think, right now, coming out of a pandemic, we can't just say, "Oh, we've reset, and '23 looks good, let's move forward." We have entire cohorts of kids that have lost three years. This, Tim, is going to challenge us for a generation or longer. Reading is an essential life skill, and if you don't have it, you're in trouble. So, I'm just reporting sort of data, that one of the common characteristics of the prison population is illiteracy. And so, why did that happen? Well, if you can't read, maybe you have to try to find other ways to exist, or thrive, or do whatever, but you're missing a big part of life. I never knew this — it's how fast-food drive-thrus started moving to picture menus, so that people could order a number five and see what it was, rather than having to actually read it from a menu. So we really need to have people understand the importance of reading. We need to have them model reading, and read to their children, and talk about the importance of reading. That's not just about the library, that's about society. That's about making sure people are equipped to function in today's and tomorrow's world.

Tim Fulton 34:08Absolutely. I wrap up every interview with the same two questions. One, what do you think Columbus is doing well? And two, what are we not doing so well, or what could we be better at? And this does not have to be in the purview of your role.

Patrick Losinski 34:23Yeah, well, we're doing library well, so I like that. You know, this is one of the early impressions, and we still have it today, Tim, and that is — having worked in other cities, I have a basis of comparison. What I was struck by when I moved here is about how open the city really is to people who come in. I had to fight in other communities to get a seat at the table. Here, I was invited early on to be at that table. So I think there's no — you know, the Columbus Foundation, whether or not they still use this, but the "smart, open community" — I think that's real, I think that's in our genes. Efforts like the Big Table, where we get the community together to talk about issues, are really tremendous. I think we have good and honest government throughout. Are there occasional lapses? Yes. We all have to safeguard against those, but they're the anomaly. I think, generally, the level of quality and passion of our civic leaders is really strong, and there is a strong sense of collaboration. Now, if I were to tell you what I think we need to do better: there are too many people being left behind. And, you know, let's hear about the excitement that we have about Intel, and how catalytic that is for other businesses to move here. And a lot of people, that doesn't even register for them, to think that "I can be a part of it." So let's take the 7,000 construction workers that we need — how do we get to the chronically unemployed or underemployed to say, "This can be a doorway and an entry to you, and you don't have to live in Westerville or New Albany or Worthington to be a part of that"? That we really have to reach into the city, and make sure that we create the honest probability of prosperity for everyone. And I think we've got work to do in that space. We all know how difficult the housing issues are right now, and there's a lot of work to be done, but I commend a lot of people giving a lot of effort to it. So that's the thing that gives me a lot of hope, gives me a lot of excitement. The challenges are going to keep coming, but I just don't think this community ever runs away from a challenge, or ever gives up. I think they roll up their sleeves and they get to work, and folks who are perhaps not in the positions of leadership share their opinions openly and freely. And I think that makes for a great democratic process. So, challenges, yes, but hopeful.

Tim Fulton 37:31Absolutely. Mr. Losinski, thank you for your time today.

Patrick Losinski 37:35I appreciate the opportunity. Take care.

Tim Fulton 37:48Thank you for listening to the Confluence Cast, presented by Columbus Underground. Again, you can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Please rate, subscribe, share this episode of the Confluence Cast with your friends, family, contacts, enemies, your favorite librarian. If you're interested in sponsoring the Confluence Cast, get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info@theconfluencecast.com. Our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. Our producer is Philip Cogley. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. Have a great week.