Post Zoom Thought: Remember Our Glorious Past

On Thursday evening 5:45 pm, California State Library Foundation Executive Director BrittneyDawn Cook,  my former advisor at Berkeley Michael K. Buckland, Paul and I gathered together in front of our separate screens to get ready for a planned Zoom meeting presenting to the wider world, Harriet G. Eddy and California County Libraries. 

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At 6:00 pm sharp, registered participants were welcomed in to the main screen. After brief introductions, I started to answer Michael's opening question why I became interested in the topic of researching on Eddy. Why indeed? It all started when I was writing Local Community in the Era of Social Media Technologies (Chandos; 2013). James Gillis, Eddy's mentor, was one of the three historical figures I selected for the book. My interest was intensified when writing Library Services for All Ages (Emerald Insight, 2018) to explore further Gillis and Eddy's efforts in creating a unified  county library system in California. The conclusion is simple: Remember our glorious past. Do not casually cast away a system that had been proven financially sound and scientifically designed by tests of time and practice. Or we will repeat the closure of libraries by the City of Salinas in November 2004, or a constant turnover of library directors who failed to understand conditions of their libraries.

I presented the outline meticulously revised by Michael and Paul. Seeing friendly chats flashing across the screen, I forgot my nervousness and decided to be calm and confident. As scheduled, I completed my 27-page presentation 15 minutes before the hour, for Q&As, such as what primary sources I used and what my next project.

The Zoom discussion was ended by Michael's stories about Philip Keeney’s California plan for Japanese libraries, a plan based on Gillis-Eddy model, and Laura Steffen's book about the history of the model. The audience feedback is positive. The followings are a few samples,

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"That was a great presentation, Hui-Lan! Thank you for sharing it with me, I enjoyed learning this important history" -- Amy

Great talk! Sorry, I had to leave early. I didn't know any of that about how the Library County System started -- Debbie.

"Congrats on your book and the Zoom broadcast. It made me want to learn more about the state and county library systems here in California. And isn't Watsonville still not part of the Santa Cruz County Library system?" -- Jim

"Enjoyed the presentation on Thursday. Makes you think about ALL the heavy lifting put into building an envious statewide library system that everyone now takes for granted. Hard to imagine a woman traveler, especially 100 years ago, going to Russia, etc. Must have been quite an adventure - and just to stay safe! And then meeting Lenin's wife !!  Very impressive" -- Michael A.