Gladwell came upon the idea of a tipping point while working for the Washington Post as a business and science writer. In this role, Gladwell reported on the AIDS epidemic.

"AIDS tipped in 1982, when it went from a rare disease affecting a few gay men to a worldwide epidemic. Crime in New York City tipped in the mid 1990's, when the murder rate suddenly plummeted. When I heard that phrase for the first time I remember thinking--wow. What if everything has a Tipping Point?"

Epidemiologists define a "tipping point" as the moment in an epidemic when a virus reaches critical mass, or in other words, it is the moment on the graph when the line starts to shoot straight upwards. An epidemic usually refers to something physical, a flu epidemic, for example. Gladwell takes this idea out of the medical environment and applies the theory to social epidemics - teenage smoking, popularity of television shows, and crime - to name a few, saying, "wouldn't it be cool to try and look for Tipping Points in business, or in social policy, or in advertising or in any number of other nonmedical areas?" The underlying principle is change - how can change occur so quickly? What makes things "tip"

Gladwell begins the book by defining the three rules of an epidemic. Excellent examples throughout the book illustrate how a small change in one or more of the elements can cause an epidemic to 'tip'. The three 'agents for change' or tipping points are the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. Understanding these factors provide insight into creating a tipping point. How can these principles be applied to tip common challenges in the workplace? How, for example, can they be applied so more patrons return their books on time or turn to the resources in the library when starting their research?

The first principle, the Law of the Few, explains word-of-mouth epidemics. Special people - connectors, mavens and salesmen - often influence change. Connectors or people specialists who not only know many people, but know many people with varied backgrounds and interests. Taking that one step further, connectors bring others together. Mavens, on the other hand, are information specialists. The word Maven comes from the Yiddish and it means someone who accumulates knowledge. While most librarians are naturally mavens, the term should not be limited to a specific setting. We all know mavens. When I play trivial pursuit with my friend Dan, I know that he is going to choose the green pieces as often as possible. Dan is a sports maven; he has an extensive memory of sports trivia. Based on that, he usually wins our trivial pursuit games. I think we all know a maven of some sort. Someone who not only has a lot of knowledge, but eagerly wants to share this knowledge to educate and help others. Salesmen are a bit more straightforward. They are charismatic and persuasive. They use their charisma and charm to influence and change behavior whether it is selling a car or an idea. These people have an enormous ability to influence others.

The stickiness factor is the second rule of the tipping point. What makes something memorable or sticky? How does an advertiser or health educator or any other person make a message not only memorable, but change people's behavior? Many of the examples and research related to stickiness, not surprisingly, come from advertising. Clear, illustrative examples, such as Sesame Street and later Blue's Clues, and factors of successful advertising explain the concept. Book club members praised the book for its wide range of examples their timeliness in many cases.

The power of context, the third and final rule of the tipping point, is a powerful message. Context, as described by Gladwell, strongly influences behavior. When graffiti was removed from the subway, as an example, crimes in the subway decreased. And, on the other hand, when young seminarians were told they were running late for a meeting, why did they NOT stop to help a person in distress. Context plays an important part in tipping behavior. Little things can make a big difference.

"One of the things," says Gladwell, "I'd like to do is to show people how to start "positive" epidemics of their own. The virtue of an epidemic, after all, is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very, very quickly. That makes it something of obvious and enormous interest to everyone from educators trying to reach students, to businesses trying to spread the word about their product, or for that matter to anyone who's trying to create a change with limited resources." As librarians, learning to start a positive epidemic, whether it is increasing usage of the library or having books returned - dare I say "on time" - will improve outreach and marketing efforts.