I have a confession actually I am Jason
coachman that is me now and as Molly
mentioned earlier today I’m a librarian
and it’s sort of a confession because I
didn’t plan on being a librarian when I
grew up it was not part of my plan I
didn’t dress up as a librarian as a kid
for Halloween never wore my hair in a
bun compared to the folks that I work
with at the library I am not
particularly well-read but nevertheless
Here I am a librarian a fairly new
librarian I’ve been a librarian for
about 10 years now I’ve got people that
I work with the library have been doing
it for 30 40 50 years remarkable and I
say it’s a confession because I would
venture to guess that most of you don’t
necessarily associate libraries
librarians with Technology Entertainment
Design and that’s fine that’s fine okay
I’ll forgive you but I want you to walk
away with three things today first those
stereotypes about libraries and
librarians or garbage thrown away second
that libraries are perfectly at home in
a forum what we’re discussing some of
the best things our culture has to offer
third incredible things could happen to
an individual to an organization when
you decide to be open to all
opportunities sure I love libraries
growing up as a kid I devoured Beverly
Cleary Judy Blume even though those were
marketed to my younger sister I
desperately wanted to be encyclopedia
brown I do was so damn cool but it
wasn’t the cards for me I mean when I
got older I took the library for granted
in high school the library was a place
where I went to work on a term paper
often the next day often due the next
day it was a place in college where I
sought refuge from a loud noisy dorm
room and it wasn’t until a chance to
work in the sound music and sound
recording archives at Bowling Green
State University as a graduate student
and the popular culture library where I
got a chance to see what it’s like kind
of an impact the library can have from
the other side of that desk
even still it wasn’t in the plans I had
already embarked on a career as an
independent media activist and I say
career loosely because there is not much
money in independent media activism and
I was I was running a nonprofit
organization called allied media
projects and we hosted a conference for
independent media makers we would bring
hundreds of journalists artists
filmmakers audio documentarians to
Northwest Ohio to Bowling Green to share
the skills with each other to learn from
each other to do our work better through
collaboration cooperation
I was also publishing a magazine called
clammer magazine based here out of
Northwest Ohio started in Bowling Green
moved to Toledo and in our office and
again I used office loosely office was
my bedroom and then my living room and
then some rented office space here in
downtown Toledo
we had a an African proverb posted up on
the wall and it became kind of our sort
of unspoken motto who would put it on
some t-shirts at a time to to sort of
reassert what we did and it said until
Lions become historians tales of the
hunt will always glorify the hunter so
our focus is in the meta me be active
this was about amplifying
underrepresented voices and empowering
individuals to be tellers of their own
stories sounds familiar right TED talks
have been inspiring people for decades
now we can and should pat ourselves on
our collective backs for choosing to be
here at TEDx Toledo today but I want to
think for a minute about the folks that
aren’t here people who couldn’t get out
of work folks with kids at home folks
who decided the ticket price was a
little bit outside of their budget
people who would prefer that sunshine
then indoors where did they get their
ted-like inspiration sure we can go
online 24/7 365 days a year and watch
TED Talks in the comfort of our own
bedroom in our underpants
but that inspiration is only part of the
puzzle what do you do when you’re
inspired in the middle of the night
watch a TED talk and you want to start a
business we got to work on the business
plan or are you inspired to create the
next new invention and you need a patent
and while we’re talking about this
theoretical sitting around in our
underpants watching TED Talks
what if you don’t have a computer at
home what if you don’t have broadband
access what if your mobile phone is your
only connection to the online world the
Pew Center for Research has been
tracking our progress towards broadband
connectivity in around the country for
quite some time now and a recent report
reminds us that over 30% of Americans
don’t have broadband access at home
they also remind us something that’s
kind of obvious but I think it’s worth
remembering that individuals ability to
use technology to improve their lives is
highly dependent on their age their
income and their education and so you
need a place where you can find not only
that ted-like inspiration but also the
resources to make that a reality and
that my friends is why I became a
librarian why I traded my work in media
activism focused on social justice for
working libraries where social justice
is baked into what we do I happen to
work in a magical place where incredible
things happen when we just open our
doors to everyone Selena Lucas County
Public Library sees thousands of
customers come through our door every
day
and tens of thousands of people visiting
us online and I tribute that success to
one key tenant that success that
relevance I contribute to the fact that
we are and always will be open to all
regardless of where you came from what
you have or who you are being open is
hard it makes you vulnerable I think
about a library in New Mexico tried to
think about because earlier last year
someone came into a library in the next
day you’ll excuse me last month and
opened fire killing to library workers
injuring four people and after an
incident like that it would be easy
so start second-guessing the premise of
what it means to be open to all it would
be easy to start putting up barriers to
access to the library to the internet to
library and that’s not what happened
this library staff were eager to open
libraries quickly as possible because
they knew how important it was to the
communities that they were serving
similarly the rains and flooding had
barely subsided in Houston in Florida
and libraries are already scrambling to
reopen the branches as many branches as
they could ready to provide services as
buried as the needs of people coming in
or the people needed access to a
computer to let loved ones know that
they were ok whether they needed access
to a nonprofit organization that was
providing much-needed relief maybe they
just needed somebody to talk to you as I
start to put the pieces of their lives
back together
think about how open you are in your
life how open are you to new ideas new
experiences new people we all like to
think that we’re pretty open word game
for new adventures new challenges but
truth is we love our comfort zones right
we like to put up our walls and preserve
those comfort zones not really thinking
about what’s outside of those comfort
zones think about the opportunities that
might be there to change our lives for
the better when the library stands
behind its commitment to being open to
all it’s a model for how we can live our
lives and at our public library being
open isn’t just about unlocking the
doors and letting people in we work to
make sure that we’re a welcoming
institution a place where individuals
can see themselves where they can see
their neighbors they can see their
community where they can see their
future and that recently put us in the
spotlight when I shared this story on
social media received an email from a
customer who was upset because we had
put up posters celebrating LGBT Pride
Month she wondered aloud and a familiar
refrain why was her public institution
championing a world view that was so
threatening to her own worldview I told
her I get it you know where’s your story
where’s your parade where’s your poster
I said look the library is open to all
and we’re open and welcoming to all I
reminded her that is a straight white
male that I need only walk down the
street every day every
to see my worldview affirmed but not to
worry about being bullied or threatened
because someone thinks that my sexual
orientation isn’t right I need not worry
about being assaulted arrested or worse
because someone thinks that my skin
color makes me a terrorist or a criminal
I told her that if our LGBTQ customers
find the library a welcoming place in a
world that is so often hostile to them
and we’ve done our job as a public
institution to be open and welcoming to
all now she threatened to cancel her
library card and stop using it and I
implored her to kind of think twice
about what she had gotten from the
library what her family had gotten from
library what the library done for her
community and think if all of that is
worth throwing out the window simply
because we put up some posters
celebrating inclusivity and equity now I
don’t know if she heard me I’m fairly
confident I did not change her mind but
I do know that I will have that
conversation every day before I
second-guess our commitment to be open
to all and for our library being open
isn’t just about our buildings we
regularly work with community
organizations to take our expertise our
experience in our research and our
resources out into the community and
we’ve been working with us together here
in Toledo to ensure that Syrian
immigrants who are moving to the region
recognize the public library as a
resource for them as a place where they
can get a laptop and Skype back home
with family members as a place where
they can get help starting up a small
business as a place where they can find
a neighbor and I would put forth our
library staff as some of the best day
ambassadors the region has to offer
recently put us in touch with the young
man mr. Diaz and Kasab 13 year old stop
by our Washington branch and he learned
about an essay contest that we were
holding and he won his age group
responding to the prompt what’s behind
the mystery door and in his one-page
essay he recounted the promise he felt
coming to the United States and for him
that mystery door was the plain door he
said on the other side of that door I
knew my life would change
I’d be like a snake shedding its skin
and he went on to recount
the difficulties his family faced in
Syria and Jordan it contrasted that with
the welcoming he felt to moving to the
Toledo area and in his conclusion even
though he was talking about that plane
door he could have just as easily been
talking about the library when he said
when I walked through that door I
learned the value of respect now hear
these stories every day every week every
month from our library staff about the
lives that we’ve changed I think about a
woman who stopped by one of our branches
distraught upset frustrated she’d
recently lost her job she needed to
apply for a new one and I don’t know how
many of you applied for a job recently
but you don’t just fill out a piece of
paper and hand it in at the front desk
anymore you have to go online use the
Internet she had never used a computer
before so our staff taught her how to
use a mouse how to use a keyboard how to
use the Internet can you imagine how
overwhelming it would be getting on the
internet for the first time today was a
terrifying experience
we walked her through it she applied for
a job and she came back a few weeks
later to let us know that she had gotten
it I think about another man just met
him recently and he lives near one of
our branches and he told us about this
horrific situation where he’d been the
most victim of mistaken identity and
beaten within inches of his life and his
doctors did not expect him to regain his
cognitive or communicative skills so he
stopped by the library we talked to a
children’s librarian who coached him to
start reading children’s books start
with the picture books and just work
your way up this man taught himself how
to read again how to speak again how to
think again and to this day he credits
the library for his quality of life that
library is specifically for his quality
of life and these stories have plenty
more of them they reinforced one thing
which is that the library is not just a
repository for books it’s people that
make the library a hub for civic
engagement the library is a place where
our collections our programs and our
services are as diverse as the
communities we’re serving and the
library is a platform on which we can
build
new knowledge new culture new identities
our future and most importantly the
foundation for all of those is the fact
that the library is and always will be
open to all I thank you for your time
today
[Applause]
coachman that is me now and as Molly
mentioned earlier today I’m a librarian
and it’s sort of a confession because I
didn’t plan on being a librarian when I
grew up it was not part of my plan I
didn’t dress up as a librarian as a kid
for Halloween never wore my hair in a
bun compared to the folks that I work
with at the library I am not
particularly well-read but nevertheless
Here I am a librarian a fairly new
librarian I’ve been a librarian for
about 10 years now I’ve got people that
I work with the library have been doing
it for 30 40 50 years remarkable and I
say it’s a confession because I would
venture to guess that most of you don’t
necessarily associate libraries
librarians with Technology Entertainment
Design and that’s fine that’s fine okay
I’ll forgive you but I want you to walk
away with three things today first those
stereotypes about libraries and
librarians or garbage thrown away second
that libraries are perfectly at home in
a forum what we’re discussing some of
the best things our culture has to offer
third incredible things could happen to
an individual to an organization when
you decide to be open to all
opportunities sure I love libraries
growing up as a kid I devoured Beverly
Cleary Judy Blume even though those were
marketed to my younger sister I
desperately wanted to be encyclopedia
brown I do was so damn cool but it
wasn’t the cards for me I mean when I
got older I took the library for granted
in high school the library was a place
where I went to work on a term paper
often the next day often due the next
day it was a place in college where I
sought refuge from a loud noisy dorm
room and it wasn’t until a chance to
work in the sound music and sound
recording archives at Bowling Green
State University as a graduate student
and the popular culture library where I
got a chance to see what it’s like kind
of an impact the library can have from
the other side of that desk
even still it wasn’t in the plans I had
already embarked on a career as an
independent media activist and I say
career loosely because there is not much
money in independent media activism and
I was I was running a nonprofit
organization called allied media
projects and we hosted a conference for
independent media makers we would bring
hundreds of journalists artists
filmmakers audio documentarians to
Northwest Ohio to Bowling Green to share
the skills with each other to learn from
each other to do our work better through
collaboration cooperation
I was also publishing a magazine called
clammer magazine based here out of
Northwest Ohio started in Bowling Green
moved to Toledo and in our office and
again I used office loosely office was
my bedroom and then my living room and
then some rented office space here in
downtown Toledo
we had a an African proverb posted up on
the wall and it became kind of our sort
of unspoken motto who would put it on
some t-shirts at a time to to sort of
reassert what we did and it said until
Lions become historians tales of the
hunt will always glorify the hunter so
our focus is in the meta me be active
this was about amplifying
underrepresented voices and empowering
individuals to be tellers of their own
stories sounds familiar right TED talks
have been inspiring people for decades
now we can and should pat ourselves on
our collective backs for choosing to be
here at TEDx Toledo today but I want to
think for a minute about the folks that
aren’t here people who couldn’t get out
of work folks with kids at home folks
who decided the ticket price was a
little bit outside of their budget
people who would prefer that sunshine
then indoors where did they get their
ted-like inspiration sure we can go
online 24/7 365 days a year and watch
TED Talks in the comfort of our own
bedroom in our underpants
but that inspiration is only part of the
puzzle what do you do when you’re
inspired in the middle of the night
watch a TED talk and you want to start a
business we got to work on the business
plan or are you inspired to create the
next new invention and you need a patent
and while we’re talking about this
theoretical sitting around in our
underpants watching TED Talks
what if you don’t have a computer at
home what if you don’t have broadband
access what if your mobile phone is your
only connection to the online world the
Pew Center for Research has been
tracking our progress towards broadband
connectivity in around the country for
quite some time now and a recent report
reminds us that over 30% of Americans
don’t have broadband access at home
they also remind us something that’s
kind of obvious but I think it’s worth
remembering that individuals ability to
use technology to improve their lives is
highly dependent on their age their
income and their education and so you
need a place where you can find not only
that ted-like inspiration but also the
resources to make that a reality and
that my friends is why I became a
librarian why I traded my work in media
activism focused on social justice for
working libraries where social justice
is baked into what we do I happen to
work in a magical place where incredible
things happen when we just open our
doors to everyone Selena Lucas County
Public Library sees thousands of
customers come through our door every
day
and tens of thousands of people visiting
us online and I tribute that success to
one key tenant that success that
relevance I contribute to the fact that
we are and always will be open to all
regardless of where you came from what
you have or who you are being open is
hard it makes you vulnerable I think
about a library in New Mexico tried to
think about because earlier last year
someone came into a library in the next
day you’ll excuse me last month and
opened fire killing to library workers
injuring four people and after an
incident like that it would be easy
so start second-guessing the premise of
what it means to be open to all it would
be easy to start putting up barriers to
access to the library to the internet to
library and that’s not what happened
this library staff were eager to open
libraries quickly as possible because
they knew how important it was to the
communities that they were serving
similarly the rains and flooding had
barely subsided in Houston in Florida
and libraries are already scrambling to
reopen the branches as many branches as
they could ready to provide services as
buried as the needs of people coming in
or the people needed access to a
computer to let loved ones know that
they were ok whether they needed access
to a nonprofit organization that was
providing much-needed relief maybe they
just needed somebody to talk to you as I
start to put the pieces of their lives
back together
think about how open you are in your
life how open are you to new ideas new
experiences new people we all like to
think that we’re pretty open word game
for new adventures new challenges but
truth is we love our comfort zones right
we like to put up our walls and preserve
those comfort zones not really thinking
about what’s outside of those comfort
zones think about the opportunities that
might be there to change our lives for
the better when the library stands
behind its commitment to being open to
all it’s a model for how we can live our
lives and at our public library being
open isn’t just about unlocking the
doors and letting people in we work to
make sure that we’re a welcoming
institution a place where individuals
can see themselves where they can see
their neighbors they can see their
community where they can see their
future and that recently put us in the
spotlight when I shared this story on
social media received an email from a
customer who was upset because we had
put up posters celebrating LGBT Pride
Month she wondered aloud and a familiar
refrain why was her public institution
championing a world view that was so
threatening to her own worldview I told
her I get it you know where’s your story
where’s your parade where’s your poster
I said look the library is open to all
and we’re open and welcoming to all I
reminded her that is a straight white
male that I need only walk down the
street every day every
to see my worldview affirmed but not to
worry about being bullied or threatened
because someone thinks that my sexual
orientation isn’t right I need not worry
about being assaulted arrested or worse
because someone thinks that my skin
color makes me a terrorist or a criminal
I told her that if our LGBTQ customers
find the library a welcoming place in a
world that is so often hostile to them
and we’ve done our job as a public
institution to be open and welcoming to
all now she threatened to cancel her
library card and stop using it and I
implored her to kind of think twice
about what she had gotten from the
library what her family had gotten from
library what the library done for her
community and think if all of that is
worth throwing out the window simply
because we put up some posters
celebrating inclusivity and equity now I
don’t know if she heard me I’m fairly
confident I did not change her mind but
I do know that I will have that
conversation every day before I
second-guess our commitment to be open
to all and for our library being open
isn’t just about our buildings we
regularly work with community
organizations to take our expertise our
experience in our research and our
resources out into the community and
we’ve been working with us together here
in Toledo to ensure that Syrian
immigrants who are moving to the region
recognize the public library as a
resource for them as a place where they
can get a laptop and Skype back home
with family members as a place where
they can get help starting up a small
business as a place where they can find
a neighbor and I would put forth our
library staff as some of the best day
ambassadors the region has to offer
recently put us in touch with the young
man mr. Diaz and Kasab 13 year old stop
by our Washington branch and he learned
about an essay contest that we were
holding and he won his age group
responding to the prompt what’s behind
the mystery door and in his one-page
essay he recounted the promise he felt
coming to the United States and for him
that mystery door was the plain door he
said on the other side of that door I
knew my life would change
I’d be like a snake shedding its skin
and he went on to recount
the difficulties his family faced in
Syria and Jordan it contrasted that with
the welcoming he felt to moving to the
Toledo area and in his conclusion even
though he was talking about that plane
door he could have just as easily been
talking about the library when he said
when I walked through that door I
learned the value of respect now hear
these stories every day every week every
month from our library staff about the
lives that we’ve changed I think about a
woman who stopped by one of our branches
distraught upset frustrated she’d
recently lost her job she needed to
apply for a new one and I don’t know how
many of you applied for a job recently
but you don’t just fill out a piece of
paper and hand it in at the front desk
anymore you have to go online use the
Internet she had never used a computer
before so our staff taught her how to
use a mouse how to use a keyboard how to
use the Internet can you imagine how
overwhelming it would be getting on the
internet for the first time today was a
terrifying experience
we walked her through it she applied for
a job and she came back a few weeks
later to let us know that she had gotten
it I think about another man just met
him recently and he lives near one of
our branches and he told us about this
horrific situation where he’d been the
most victim of mistaken identity and
beaten within inches of his life and his
doctors did not expect him to regain his
cognitive or communicative skills so he
stopped by the library we talked to a
children’s librarian who coached him to
start reading children’s books start
with the picture books and just work
your way up this man taught himself how
to read again how to speak again how to
think again and to this day he credits
the library for his quality of life that
library is specifically for his quality
of life and these stories have plenty
more of them they reinforced one thing
which is that the library is not just a
repository for books it’s people that
make the library a hub for civic
engagement the library is a place where
our collections our programs and our
services are as diverse as the
communities we’re serving and the
library is a platform on which we can
build
new knowledge new culture new identities
our future and most importantly the
foundation for all of those is the fact
that the library is and always will be
open to all I thank you for your time
today
[Applause]
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