00:00:00.280 - 00:00:16.729

Can I have your name, please? Do I need to look at the camera you can or you can look at me or whatever, Jim Johnson. Ok. And Jim, you were a branch librarian here for a while. How long were you a branch librarian for Freeman for,

00:00:16.739 - 00:00:38.450

for approximately 5.5 years? And, um, did you understand that you worked here before that too? Right. Let us know your career with, I guess Harris County. Um, I started with Harris County Public Library in 22,004. Uh, right at a library school. Uh, this building had just

00:00:38.459 - 00:00:53.060

was just about to be completed. So I had just enough time in the old building about 2.5 months to really appreciate the space in this one. so total career with Harris County, uh public library system has been just a little over 15 years now. And what

00:00:53.069 - 00:01:05.849

were you doing when you first started when I first started here at Freeman? Uh I was hired on as a reference library and they don't call them that anymore. In our system. They're adult, uh, services librarians, I believe is what they call them. Now and I

00:01:05.860 - 00:01:22.120

worked on here on the second floor, uh, was here for about almost four years before I moved on to a different branch in our system and then came back, uh to manage the Freeman branch in 2012 in February. And what is your role with Harris County

00:01:22.129 - 00:01:37.930

now? Right now, my role is, uh in administration. I'm a part time employee. I have uh three kids, my wife and I and uh to help manage things with them. I have a part time position there in administration and the department or division called Branch Administrative

00:01:37.940 - 00:01:54.279

Services, uh which um my particular position uh is really available to do a variety of things. A lot of it is data gathering and uh from the branches and then using that data to, to assist the branches of the system in any way needed as well

00:01:54.290 - 00:02:11.509

as statistics, they work on statistics as well, variety of things, but those are the two primary things. Um So since you work, you worked with, you have pretty much a pretty long history with the Freeman Library itself. Um Have you noticed especially with that move from

00:02:11.518 - 00:02:28.389

the older building to here? Have you noticed a significant change in like direction where um Freeman and maybe even Harris County is going or what are our goals and challenges that we face? Uh Anytime I mentioned to anyone that I a public librarian, someone who's not,

00:02:28.669 - 00:02:46.669

doesn't use the library regularly or, uh, is associated, uh, with the system or staff or whoever just outsiders, I guess you'd call them. Uh, they always remark, uh, make remarks regarding how the internet and online materials and access and the way pe people use smartphones and

00:02:46.679 - 00:03:03.479

other technology has changed the library, they have an impression that, that probably the library is dying a little bit, which those of us on the inside know that's not the case. Uh I think constantly changing technology and the ways people access information uh are have always

00:03:03.490 - 00:03:19.440

been a challenge for the library as a whole. Uh But I think HCPL has adapted well to that uh by not only, you know, offering those kinds of technologies. Freeman is a good example of the technologies that we offer free to the public, even the digital

00:03:19.449 - 00:03:36.000

media lab or the maker space. So our system has online offerings for uh you know, to check out media, uh digital books and ebooks and music and all kinds of things. And I think uh that challenge, you know, te technology seems to change uh so rapidly

00:03:36.009 - 00:03:49.690

that if the library doesn't really keep up, it will die. But I think AC PL has done a very good job of trying to stay uh with that trend and as a result, stay healthy and alive. So, and I believe you were a manager when we

00:03:49.699 - 00:04:06.839

opened up both the innovation lab and the digital lab. Do you want to talk us through that process. How did that come about? What brought it on? And um the uh Jocelyn H Digital Media Lab and the Innovation Lab uh are both named after the uh

00:04:06.889 - 00:04:25.130

benefactor uh gentleman who, who used the library passed away and left a bequest of uh I wanna say in their neighborhood of 100 and 50,000. Uh I forget the exact number now, but uh it was such a generous bequest that we initially did not know what

00:04:25.140 - 00:04:44.859

to do with it. But uh speaking of trends and, and things out there in the library world, uh we uh investigated Maker Spaces and being in the Johnson Space Center, clear Lake community, there's a large concentration of engineers and we thought a Maker Space uh which

00:04:44.869 - 00:05:01.709

is becoming AAA popular trend at some libraries around the country uh seem like a good fit here for Freeman. And so we made a choice uh to uh repurpose one of our spaces up here on the second floor. Fortunate, we're fortunate at this branch and that

00:05:01.720 - 00:05:19.980

we have a lot of space uh available to do that with. Uh we, we repurposed what was formally our Quiet Room uh into the Maker Space which uh I want to say that was in 2014, 2015. Uh And since then, it has continued to go strong

00:05:19.989 - 00:05:36.450

and has been an outstanding resource for the community. We've uh been fortunate to be able to, to be a part of a lot of uh community uh members projects. We've even had a couple of international Science Fair winners who used the printers or equipment here uh

00:05:36.459 - 00:05:51.579

to, to print their, you know, their uh entries for those, those contests. We've been able to assist our staff. Uh At a few years ago, I was able to assist a little girl in constructing a, a 3d printed uh prosthetic arm uh which got uh quite

00:05:51.589 - 00:06:07.799

a bit of publicity. And aside from that, it was, it was uh just uh evidence that uh the investment was worth it. Uh There's many stories like that and, and uh we were very happy to, to see that our risk in uh using Mr Lee's generous

00:06:07.809 - 00:06:22.049

funds in that way, really did pay off. Uh We're sitting here in the digital media lab right now, which is another unique resource uh that a lot of libraries around the country have, have tried to do in various ways. But essentially, it allows folks to uh

00:06:22.839 - 00:06:40.040

use uh technology or computers and other things of that nature that are a little beyond just what you use just as with standard desktop applications, whether it be video editing or you can convert uh various old formats, uh tech techno uh cassettes, video cassettes, other things

00:06:40.049 - 00:06:55.320

like that into digital formats or uh more reliable preservation over the years. And so we're very proud of, of the way we've been able to spend. Uh Mr Lee's uh uh contribution in such a positive way and be able to put his stamp on it even

00:06:55.329 - 00:07:09.489

though he may not ever have imagined how it would be used and never gave us any conditions on how to be used. But uh that uh we've been very privileged to see how, how well this has been used by the community and, and I'm still very

00:07:09.500 - 00:07:30.079

happy that, that uh the risk we took with his, his contribution is paid off the way it has. Um, looking back on your, at least your, um, what's the word, um, term as branch manager? Um Is there something um, that sticks out or a legacy that

00:07:30.089 - 00:07:49.670

you thought, um, of the Jim Johnson years, uh that you left behind that you're really proud of or you might want to talk about um, several things, um uh aside from the uh digital media lab and the, the Innovation Lab, which was first, not only for

00:07:49.970 - 00:08:06.160

uh this branch, but for really the Harris County Houston area for a public library to my knowledge. Uh We're very proud of that. Uh I'm also very happy and pleased that at the staff, I had that we had, uh I never felt, had, felt like this

00:08:06.170 - 00:08:19.309

was something that I contributed. I felt that it was something that we all as a team did. And I was very happy to, to have the staff uh take part in that and be a part of it. And not just be something that was my legacy,

00:08:19.320 - 00:08:34.070

but I hope that they have felt like that it was something special that they were able to be a part of and continue to be a part of. Uh I also uh with the staff uh tried to, to make an effort with this being so closely

00:08:34.080 - 00:08:49.460

connected with the NASA community. Uh and the library's namesake, Ted Freeman, who was the first astronaut to lose his life in the space program. Uh wanted to make an effort to sort of more closely connect it with that. I think that's something that makes this library

00:08:49.469 - 00:09:02.700

unique among others is its connection with the Johnson Space Center community. And so you can go around a few places uh just not many, but here in the library and see sign prints from Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon who signed, you

00:09:02.710 - 00:09:18.400

know, these things specifically for the library. You'll see some models that were specially created by NASA engineers um um around spacecraft to the space station. Uh You'll see a flag that was carried in the space on one of the Gemini missions by Pete Conrad. So a

00:09:18.510 - 00:09:33.559

lot of that wasn't here before and I'm not saying that uh that I necessarily brought that special to the library. But during our time, my time as manager, we had unique opportunities to sort of build that up. And um that's another thing I'm very happy with

00:09:33.570 - 00:09:46.919

uh that we were able to sort of bring that more to the surface. Uh this uh library's connection with NASA again, around the same time that NASA was coming into its own in this community as well. So those are a few of the things that I

00:09:46.929 - 00:10:03.969

think I'm most happy about the time that I was able to manage uh here at the branch. Um So now that you're in an administrative capacity, um is there anything like system wide which in a CPO that we, that you might be able to share like

00:10:03.979 - 00:10:23.719

trends to look for in the future or things that we are actively working on that helpful, bring um to achieve certain goals that we want to um essentially what, what is HBO doing to bring uh or maintain libraries relevance towards the future uh in my particular

00:10:23.729 - 00:10:39.640

position. I'm not necessarily part of a lot of program initiatives or things of that nature. I'm, I'm in more of a support rather than management role now. So I'm not necessarily always on the forefront of things, but what I see um from our administration is, is

00:10:39.650 - 00:10:57.210

a continued effort. And from our director Edward Melton is, is a continued effort, not only to stay relevant but to uh to pay attention to services, nontraditional kinds of things that the community needs. It could be uh the meals that we offer during the summer con

00:10:57.309 - 00:11:15.429

in connection with the Eastern Food Bank. Uh It could uh I mean, it's just a number of things. Uh The bookmobiles was something we didn't have before, um that uh before our director uh took charge. But, but getting out there, publicity and, and marketing, you know,

00:11:15.440 - 00:11:28.429

what the library has to offer has always been a challenge, I think for a lot of libraries and public libraries in general. But I think uh there's a, a strong effort on the part of our director to, to not only keep the library relevant, but to

00:11:28.440 - 00:11:43.179

pay attention to trends, to pay attention to things that the community actually needs rather than just uh grabbing a trend out there that may or may not work but seeing what, what our community needs. Not, not, not what about community. I mean, our entire Harris County

00:11:43.190 - 00:11:58.799

community, we have 26 branches throughout, spread throughout the counties and, and you can see um any number of things that we're, you know, our branches are trying to do. I think all of them even uh make an effort to, to respond to their own communities. And

00:11:58.809 - 00:12:17.320

I think that's one strength of our system is, is uh our uh administration's willingness to let the branches try new things uh that, that are not so traditional in library services. Um And uh allow them not to only suc not only to succeed at that but

00:12:17.330 - 00:12:31.690

to keep the library relevant to, to respond to what their patrons actually need, even if it's not about books or the things that we have on the shelves. So, um, that's pretty much it. I think I got some really good but anything last, I think, um,

00:12:31.700 - 00:12:50.250

anything you might want to mention or talk about, even not a staff or maybe just as a patron yourself that you, if there's other people are watching this, what, which the message you want them to take away from, I guess. Um, patrons are our best public

00:12:50.260 - 00:13:03.299

sizers, I guess. Uh I don't, don't know if that makes sense, but uh I run into folks all the time. Uh When I mentioned that I'm a li as I mentioned before, as, as when I mentioned that I'm a librarian that uh really have a lot

00:13:03.309 - 00:13:19.809

of misconceptions about public libraries and what they do and what they have available. And if they only gave it a chance, if it only entered the doors jumped online, uh, they're often and I think, and Freeman is a great example of, of surprised at what all

00:13:19.820 - 00:13:36.500

there is to offer and that what all that they have and could find very useful. Um uh thats what I would tell our patrons is, is they're the best. Uh, they can do a better job of publicizing what we have uh to, to the uninformed than

00:13:36.510 - 00:13:49.969

anybody could than any of us could. I mean, we do as best we can to market, but I mean, I would encourage any of our patrons to, to be open and honest to, to share what value they take away from using uh libraries and especially freemen

00:13:49.979 - 00:13:52.719

than others. So, so.