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Notes:
Good morning. I’m Annette Gohlke and I’m very happy to see so many librarians who are interested in finding out about benchmarking and how it can be used in each of your libraries. I’d like to share some of my background with you so you can see why I’m such a believer in benchmarking.
I grew up in San Antonio Texas and went to a school system well known for its academic excellence. Both elementary and high school libraries were outstanding. I assumed that all young people had access to the same type of libraries. I was surprised in library school to learn that few elementary schools had even rudimentary libraries and not all high schools had accredited libraries. While librarians were usually helpful, caring people, the profession as a whole was very elitist - and not very customer oriented. This was fertile ground for a rebel looking for a cause.
With a competitive spirit and an inquisitive mind, I jumped zealously into library management wanting to open the world of knowledge and to share the excitement of what libraries can do with my clientele - first school students, later military communites, and then as director of the Air Force Library and Information System. Always inquisitive, I wanted to know what made one library or librarian more successful than another. So I collected facts, conducted studies, always searching for “the best way” to get things done. Part of the driving factor was never having enough staff, and a constant turnover of staff which complicated reaching an excellent quality of service.
