Susan Henricks

However, the director of Dubuque's Carnegie-Stout Public Library says there is nowhere else she would rather be.

Henricks works to balance the library's traditional services with the needs and demands of 21st century patrons. Meanwhile, she wrestles with societal and governmental issues confronting libraries nationwide.

Henricks recently visited with the Telegraph Herald for an extended interview. Highlights of that conversation follow.

TH: In looking over your resume, I was trying to find a logical path between some of your early jobs and librarian.
SH: Did you find one?

TH: No. I was wondering if you could help me with that.
SH: Yeah, it doesn't seem like a real clear-cut direction. I've had a love of reading, but so do a lot of people. I come from a business background. I was very good at it, but I never really felt satisfied. The bottom line was always money. There's nothing wrong with that, except it didn't feel right to me. We moved to Iowa then, and our babies were babies, infants. I was consulting for this same company. That wasn't too bad because that was only two days a week and it was great money. But I was kind of in limbo. Then a small public library in Blairstown needed help. This little teeny, tiny library. I went there. At that time, I was making $100 an hour as a consultant. This was back in 1990 or something like that. A hundred dollars an hour! I go and I work for the library for minimum wage, and I was never so happy.

TH: As you were with minimum wage.
SH: Yeah. I thought, "Wow! This is it. This is what I've been waiting for all this time." Working with people in that small library, I really got to do everything. So you just got to know people and they talk about their books and their reading tastes and the joy that it brought to them.

TH: What do you see as the major challenges facing Carnegie-Stout Library right now?
SH: Challenges, as opposed to threats?

TH: Yeah.
SH: I think the challenges that we have would be service-wise. Our challenge is reaching out to our young population, getting them involved. There's an age where kids stop coming into the library. In Dubuque, at least, we have a little spot for them here and we have a very good young adult collection. We have a young adult librarian that spends 10 hours a week running young adult activities. But they are an underserved population. Many other libraries don't even have young adult collections, much less space for teenagers, and they just don't serve them. You know, some librarians don't want to, because, "You don't know with teens." Some of the things that we're doing right now were challenges, but we've taken the chunks, we're biting into it and we're moving forward with it. We're going to be doing a community survey very soon, and we want to find out what the people of Dubuque want. What's working for you? What isn't working for you? Where do you see our future and our direction? I thrive on this. I love this. I want our library to be perceived as being responsive to the community. Then we're going to move into a long-range plan. And this is really exciting, because this is unlike any long-range plan we've ever had. This is almost entirely community- driven. It's a new kind of planning process. There's an emphasis for partnership, there's an emphasis for more expectations for lesser tax dollars and we need to be responsive to that. I think that libraries that are not responsive to that do that at their own peril.

TH: So to what extent does this long-range planning and community involvement process fit into the idea of building expansion? How does that fit into bond issues, tax increases? This flared up a little bit last fall.
SH: Yes, it did. It did.

TH: And so, to what degree does this process you describe fit into the foundation of a campaign?
SH: I feel it will be very revealing. This is our chance to have an education tool. It will be the vehicle for the community to respond. We've had some awareness about some of the plans that the library board has for the library renovation. The survey can be a great awareness tool. We will try to ascertain that. So it really depends. If we're hearing from the community, "We absolutely do not want this," then we absolutely won't be doing it.

TH: You've got an institution that has been around 102 years. It's such a presence, a staple in the community, that it's taken for granted. Would that be fair to say?
SH: Mm, hmm.

TH: How does one generate more awareness or enthusiasm or appreciation for the library?
SH: We have to constantly tell the library story. We have to be advocates for the library. We have to tell the library story every opportunity. We have a strong support base now. I really had an eye-opener when I came here. The strong support. No, we don't have parking. And you do have to pay when you get here. I was amazed at the number of people that come in here because they're making a choice to come here. In the summertime, we get nearly 1,100 people a day in here. Average is maybe 750. That's a lot of people. So we do have a lot of support now. I'm trying to also, whenever I have the chance, introduce the library to people that traditionally aren't using the library for whatever reason. For instance, our business community. Whenever I have the chance, I get out there and tell people about the concept of their "personal librarian." You can call here or e-mail here or fax here, whatever, and say, "I'm working on this project. Could you get me this information faxed to me?" Yes, we can do that for you. You go on and do your work, somebody else is doing this for you so that you're not losing your time researching. Many people weren't aware that we do this.

TH: You've got people here who thrive on that kind of challenge, to go get that information.
SH: Oh, they're great. They are great. And they don't quit. When I have a tough question, It's funny. We have an e-mail address (YourLibrarian@stout.dubuque.lib.ia.us). I'll send questions there. I know they're not going to quit until they get the answer. They're great.

TH: One thing that's been out there over the years, sort of with the ebb and flow of city budgets, is the number of hours the library is open and what days of the week the library is open. What is the current number of hours of service?
SH: We're open 69 hours now. And we have been since I've been here. That is going to change (Sept. 1.) I proposed to the library board that we cut some hours, but we'll still be open seven days a week. The reason we're doing this is because we're so short-staffed. What happens is that the staff is very involved in public service, and they don't' get other things done. If you really look at our shelves downstairs, you're going to see a beautiful collection and we have some of the best and most up-to-date information. But if you look - maybe you'd better not print this - you're going to see some real duds sitting next to those nice books. We've got all that good stuff there and the librarians do an excellent job of collection development, but they don't have time to go through the shelves and say, "OK, let's pull this one off. Let's pull that one off." They don't have time to do it.

TH: When you say open every day, you're not open on Sundays during the summer.
SH: Not during the summer, that's correct. And that won't change. But, if we open up one day later, just one day, staff will continue to come in and they're going to be able to do this kind of work, like collection maintenance. They're going to have the time to sit down and plan programs. So that's what driving our new hours. That is not an easy decision to make. I'd rather have about five more people.

TH: Like many libraries, we've got an Internet area. What are some of the challenges of operating and offering that particular service, given some of the content?
SH: We have so many challenges with the Internet room, starting with ventilation. This is an old building and it was not designed for the technology we have now. We have 12 computers in there, which are giving off the heat, along with the 12 people in there, and it's a small room. You have to be pretty determined on certain days to want to use the Internet room. A problem that many libraries are facing is, well, the whole Internet idea because there's some very controversial stuff on the Internet, as you know. The library board, the library staff, we are opposed to filtering the Internet, for a variety of reasons. The government got in on this and upheld a decision a year ago on CIPA, Children's Internet Protection Act. You must go through all of your machines, including staff. I mean every machine in the building must be filtered. If it's not, you don't get any federal money. Well, that wasn't a big deal with us. I mean, I haven't seen any federal money lately. I've never seen any since I came here. So it's not hard for us to decide if we're going to kiss off federal money. Do we condone pornography? Absolutely not. If we see it, you're out. Now someone would say, "I have a right to look at this. It's not obscene." Yeah, you do have a right to look at that. But then the person sitting next to you has a right not to feel sexually harassed, not to feel intimidated or upset by that, or to be able to bring their child in the Internet room and be exposed to it accidentally and then go home and have a nightmare. So we're very careful. But our policy is very good. We don't have a real problem with it, but if we see it, you're just out. You'll be banned for a period of time. If you come back and do it again, you're never going to use the Internet here again.

TH: Some people will say, "What's wrong with having Internet filters?"
SH: Filtering provides a false sense of security. Parents, particularly, feel it's safe. But it's not effective. You know how you update your virus software on your computer. You're current as long as you're updating that constantly. There's viruses on the Internet all the time. That's how porn is. It's just constant. And there's such clever ways of presenting it. So your filter is only going to be as good as your latest update. There are several ways to filter. There's keyword searching, which is probably the worst, because it is going to look at words. So, for example, take "Middlesex County, Va." You're never going to find it (through a keyword Internet filter) because it has that word "sex" in there. Just think of all the combinations of legitimate searches that you're never going to get. And that would be absolutely devastating for any legitimate kind of research or browsing.

TH: Another major issue related to privacy, is the USA Patriot Act. What are the requirements placed upon you as the library director under USA Patriot Act?
SH: For example, you could be researching terrorism, because you want to do a real big week-long series in the Telegraph Herald. So you might really be getting into this and researching everything you possibly can. Well, maybe somewhere this raises a red flag, because the government can do that now. It empowers them much more, in their fight against terrorism, to be able to access all kinds of records. So the government could come in here and say, "I need the records of Brian Cooper." I could call our city attorney. That's all I can do. I can't call our library board. I can't do anything. I'm compelled to provide those records. And you're coming into the library to do research and you're using our databases or you're using the Internet for research while you're at it. They can tap your computer in the library. I can't tell you they're doing this. I can't tell the library board they're doing this. If I do, I could get fined or go to jail. That's a major problem. I've had requests for information since I've been here and I've turned it down and they've gone away. I've had requests for information and turned it down and had subpoenas delivered to me. "Fine, here's your record. You're playing by the rules." This is the law. But this is scary because they have a lower threshold for the use of the Patriot Act. There doesn't have to be compelling evidence or probable cause.

TH: In this other example, you mentioned about getting subpoenas or you turn them down and they go away. Those are other law enforcement agencies?
SH: Yes, it's other law enforcement. And that's legitimate. They want some of these records. We librarians regard privacy very, very highly for our patrons. And you need to have that faith that you're coming in here and someone isn't going to come behind you and say, "What's he reading anyway?" "Well, it's none of your business and we're not going to tell anyone." We don't even talk about it amongst staff. This is your business. And we're going to protect your privacy. In some ways, the Patriot Act hasn't hurt us as much as it could other libraries because we've always purged our records. So the best thing you can do to protect yourself is you get your books back on time. Because if they're not and there's a fine associated to them, they're in the system and then that book or that item is going to be associated with you because you owe a fine.

TH: There will be some people who will read this article and will say, "You know, you really should get on board on this war on terrorism. Who cares what I'm checking out or what Web sites I'm visiting?"
SH: "I'm innocent."

TH: Yeah, "I've got nothing to hide." Are there any things that libraries should do to cooperate? Or is this just something that once you get onto the slippery slope ...
SH: We will cooperate. We're not going to thwart the efforts. We're going to cooperate. We had a discussion about this at our library board. It's the personal feelings, and when I talk about the Patriot Act, I'm not speaking on behalf of our library board. You'd have to ask them how they feel about it. It's really, really, personally, it's hard for me. The Patriot Act is supposed to sunset in 2005.

TH: Debate has already started.
SH: Debate has started. The American Library Association and the American Book Sellers Foundation for Free Expression, and there's a lot of groups together that are trying to get a million signatures together to turn that over to Congress just to have them reconsider. It was passed so quickly, with no amendments; with no committee meetings. It was - boom - right after Sept. 11. This was passed, and no one was certainly going to question the fight on terrorism after that kind of a national tragedy. But now, you know, let's settle down. We can take a look at this now. We can look at it objectively and have some public discourse about this. (Attorney General) Ashcroft called librarians hysterical and mocked the American Library Association because of their concerns about patrons' privacy and had some pretty funny jokes about it. He stood up at this speech made to the Restaurant Association or something like that and said we have never ever gone into a library and asked for information under the Patriot Act. Well, he did. This finally came out, I think it was (mid-June). Prior to that, there was a significant study by the University of Illinois Champaign. It found out that indeed, the year after Sept. 11, 545 libraries were contacted by a law enforcement. Thirty-two-point-six percent were visited by the FBI specifically. And they were armed with court orders 10.3 percent of the time, which specifically referenced the Patriot Act and that section in the Patriot Act. So, yeah, they are doing it.

TH: What's Carnegie Stout Library going to be like in 10 years?
SH: Oh, that's exciting to think about. I think whatever it is, we're going to be there. We're going to be on the curve. I'd like to say ahead of the curve. It took us a while with DVDs through the funding. But I see the library evolving and continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the community, whether it's five years, 10 years. And what it is that the people want, that's what I want it to be. I'd like to see the library be a destination. It's just a neat place. And have someone say, "You're going to Dubuque? After you're done with the river museum, you've got to go see that library." I would like to see that. But mainly, continuing to meet the demand for whatever form it might be.

TH: Are there any plans to make more use of the old part of the library?
SH: Yes. That's what our renovation plans call for. What will happen is that these doors (in the original structure) will be the main entrance once again. When you walk in, there will be the circulation desk. There will be a large young adult department. The historic stacks on the glass floor will open up again. Also, there will be a reading room up here. Downstairs wouldn't change a great deal. It would be devoted to the research, non-fiction, reference and, I think, the Internet stations. Children's wouldn't change at all. Up here, you'll notice that there's a ceiling - it's a fake ceiling. This goes up another story and there's a skylight up there. It's just hidden. So the skylight will open up and will shine down on a beautiful reading room, if this happens. It's a big project. The idea behind that was to not only restore the library to its original grandeur - that's the nice thing - but it gives us the ability to expand. We're kind of bursting at the seams, again.

TH: Switching gears: What's a good day for you at work?
SH: What's a good day? Hmm. There's a lot of them. You know, a good day is when a patron stops and tells someone on staff that something wonderful happened. "Thank you so much. This is the best library." That's a good day, regardless of what else happens. When you know that people love the library and they're using it and it's making a difference in their lives. That's a good day. When I see staff happy, interacting with patrons, yeah, that's good. That is really good. It was a nice day (the other day). We got a grant from the Dubuque Racing Association. But I think it is... when you see the kids come here for the programs. We have the best children's programs. You see these kids with our staff over in the children's department. If you ever think, "Yeah, yeah, I can't stand this anymore." You can just go over and watch those kids and the programs and the story hours and, oh gosh...

TH: It makes it worthwhile.
SH: Mm, hmm. I think it's a good day if I'm working with Ann (Straley, manager of adult services and circulation). I'm so frightened of working alone at the reference desk without her 25 years of reference experience sitting right next to me. But it's usually a good day when I'm working there at the reference desk. I'm talking one-on-one with the patrons. You start talking, "What do you like to read?" You just get carried away. Helping them find their answers. That's always a good day. 12