Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone who is going at The Futures Conference Monday and Tuesday!

I'm really excited that NJ is participating in this conference. To me it is a strong indication that librarians in NJ want to be at the forefront of things as time goes by. For too long we have been playing catch-up and have been behind. Thankfully, there are many librarians who have been stepping up to get up to speed and then sharing what they know with others, but we will all need to prepare ourselves as much as possible so that libraries and library services, and librarians, will hold their places of great value and importance in their communities and to society.

Things will continue to change and progress - of that we can be sure.

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

I saw that someplace recently and it really, really strikes me and stands out to me as the motto we should all adopt at this very transitional time! Change is difficult and can be traumatic. But it is going to happen whether we want it to or not; whether we like it or not; whether we try to stand still and let it roll over us; or we embrace it and hop on for the ride!

I think we should all just admit that change is scary and difficult - share the fears we have and understand that just because we may be afraid of something, that doesn't make it bad or wrong or dangerous. Admit it and talk about it. Face it head-on and in the open - help each other to deal with the anxieties and concerns it can bring. Pretending change and fear and anxiety don't exist can result in unnecessarily overly negative reactions to new ideas and suggestions.

In fact, of course, things have already changed and we have been behind the curve. I'm so glad we're catching up now and having a futures conference is a great way to be more forward-thinking rather than backward-looking. I'm very eager to listen, think and talk about what will be happening in the future, not just in libraries, but in all areas, and how these things will impact us as librarians.

I'm looking forward to all the conversations that will result.