I’m really proud of the people I work with. If it were possible to capture in a single word the confluence of physical space, library science, technology, focus on service, hospitality, and user experience that our new building embodies, it would be something akin to “masterpiece”.

But we’ve got miles to go before …

Here is the official announcement:

Darien Library will be hosting a “Drupal4Lib Camp” on  Friday, February 27, 2009 from 9 am to 4 pm.

The camp will be an  opportunity for libraries who are working with Drupal, or interested in  implementing Drupal, to get together, share experiences, solve problems, and  collaborate. This unconference will be a combination of a series of 10 min  lightning talks given by Drupal veterans in the morning followed by break-out  sessions in the afternoon.

Audio and video from Drupal4Lib Camp  sessions will also be streamed lived online.

There is no registration  fee. However, participation is limited to 70.  Please register for the  Drupal4Lib Camp at http://drupalib.interoperating.info/node/167

I was in Monterey for Darien Library’s annual meeting this year and, unfortunately, missed the official unveiling of our new logo. It was very well received, as we all expected it to be.

The logo was part of a branding exercise led by Steff Geissbuhler of C & G Partners (whose clients range from NBC and Time Warner to New York Public Library). Of all the final options presented by C & G, the one settled upon was by far my favorite. It’s supposed be reminiscent of pages in a book while recalling the fluid movement of a cresting wave–a recognition of Darien as a waterfront community (I also see it as a sailboat) and an acknowledgment of Darien Library as a dynamic and agile organization. Several days ago, Alan Gray commented that it looked a little like a “2″ — love it!

I joined Darien Library during the final phase of the logo commission, but it was a fascinating process to be a part of. Steff Geissbuhler is an incredibly creative and inspiring person who really took the time to understand us and consider our own unique cultural fingerprint.

It occurred to me that a branding exercise is not just about a logo as a deliverable, but also a rare opportunity to examine who you are as an institution, your place in the community, and your vision for the future. The result, in our case, is a graphic that is not only visually pleasing, but one that encourages meditation on the significance of “library”. Like the logo itself, different people will see different things in their hometown library.

The need for branding in libraries may not be readily apparent, yet is critical nonetheless. Branding serves a number of critical purposes.

Branding instills a clarity of purpose.

I think that, for the reasons I previously mentioned, a strong brand can serve as a constant and gentle reminder to your staff of who you are as an institution and the qualities you represent. It helps ensure that your organization continues to deliver on the promises is makes to its community and that it adheres to its core mission.

Branding creates familiarity and comfort.

Consumers are comforted by brands. Brands become part of our daily narrative and, by virtue of the fact that they are so recognizable, we implicitly begin to trust the organizations behind them. We want our users to trust us and feel comfortable using our services and interacting with our people.

Branding indicates quality and consistency.

When you brand yourself, you are holding yourself to a standard of service. The stronger the brand, the higher the standard (and vice-versa). In that sense, you are letting your patrons know that you’ve made a commitment to them and intend to stick to it. After all, a brand can just as easily become a liability if you don’t live up to your end of the bargain.

Branding facilitates communication.

Over time, a brand begins to convey the things that an institution stands for. It then only needs to be invoked in order to recall everything that is associated with it. This can be very useful in, say, fund-raising situations where sometimes you simply want your library to speak for itself.

Darien Library’s new logo is just one step in an ongoing transformation process, as will be the opening of our new library in 2009. We will always exist in a state of transformation, however, and I’m encouraged to see that represented in our young icon.

I know all of ours deserve a good long rest. Great job guys, you’ve helped remind more than a few kids (and parents too) that the library is way cooler than Barnes and Noble.

Louise Berry (hands-down the most flickeringest library director in the known universe) has already put together a set on Flickr documenting the Darien Library’s Deathly Hallows launch. Some of these pictures should be ALA marketing posters.

Travel, lodging, and schedule information is available at the L2 wiki. If you’re in the area, be sure to sign-up, drop in and participate in what I’m sure will be some very good discussion.

We’ve deviated a little from the April format this time. LCE is still an Open Spaces event, but we’ve pre-slotted two discussions for the morning. The first one will be led by myself and will cover the topic of mash-ups and patron-oriented development. Following that will be a discussion led by WPOPAC author, Casey Bisson, about the state of the present-day OPAC, where we’d like to go and what we’d like to see–a topic du jour indeed.

Everything else will be up to the attendees.

Hope to see you there!