July 26, 2023 • 13 mins
JBMV Discussion w/ Kelvin Watson, Executive Director, Las Vegas - Clark County Library District.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Welcome to the Just Buy My Vote podcast.
I am Joseph Simmons,
the host and also author of the new book,
Just Buy My Vote,
African American voting rights and the Chicago Condition.
I honestly can't think of anyone better to answer the question of the where and how to get American history than my guest today.
(00:31):
Today.
I'm honored to be joined by Mr Kelvin Watson,
executive director of the Las Vegas Clark County Library District.
Among many things,
he is recognized for having demonstrated success in Las Vegas for helping to address the digital divide in this library system and nationally regarded as one of the most highly respected thought leaders in the library industry,
(00:57):
fellow member of Kappa Alpha Psi brother Kelvin Watson.
Welcome to the Just Buy My Vote podcast.
I'm happy to be here,
brother.
Happy to be here.
Thank you,
sir.
And there obviously are several things we could talk about in the time we have.
However,
I'd like to start by asking you to address the JBMV Avatar and I'll explain what I mean in my writing of the book Just Buy My Vote.
(01:22):
I found myself continually asking what are the best sources of American history.
So please address the JBMV Avatar if you will.
He or she is a 20 to 30 year old male or female and interested in history.
But for whatever reason was not a history major in school or maybe didn't attend college.
(01:44):
He or she is wondering,
where do I start?
Kelvin Watson.
What have you found to be your favorite or best sources?
Well,
this is a man,
this is a great question for a librarian,
first of all,
brother.
So the first thing is uh go to your local public library if you know,
if you're not,
(02:04):
that if that,
you know,
they're not in school,
college or anything,
which there's libraries there as well,
of course,
on those college campuses,
but the public library is certainly the place that I would start and I would go to what's called the reference desk and,
you know,
right up to the desk and talk to the librarian and what we're gonna do as librarians,
(02:25):
we're gonna,
we're gonna do what's called a uh reference interview.
So as you stated,
the material that's being looked for is our resources referencing history.
So as we're interviewing the avatar,
we're going to be determining where and how to guide to the resources in the library.
(02:48):
So once we determine that we more than likely the librarian would,
would walk them over to a part of the library where they would be able to find out information if they're interested in,
say former president,
for example,
in American history,
we'll take you to that to that section of biographies.
For example,
if there's,
(03:08):
if their interest is in,
you know,
the Civil War,
for example,
there's areas in the library,
so we'll be able to guide the person to those things.
If you say you're interested in,
you know,
maps of the,
you know,
of,
of certain part of the country,
for example,
right?
I was a,
I'm a,
I'm a former military guy.
(03:28):
So if that is something that you're interested in,
you know,
understanding what happened at uh Gettysburg,
for example,
then we'll be able to show you or guide you to either maps that we have specifically in our collection and or guide you to a resource at another library,
(03:49):
right?
So if we don't have something,
what we can do is what's called uh libraries do this called interlibrary loan.
So even if we don't have something we can borrow it for you on your behalf to come to you from another library.
So libraries are,
we're we're all interconnected in that way through this interlibrary loan service,
(04:13):
even academic libraries.
So even libraries that aren't public libraries are connected,
for example,
either in their own state as well as nationally and we all participate in that,
in that uh in that program.
So that's how I would start,
right?
I start with librarians asking to interview the reference questions and getting those answered and sharing of,
(04:35):
you know,
sharing what it is I'm looking for.
Right.
And that way we can guide you,
we guide users and uh you know,
uh,
patrons,
customers every day in this manner by understanding what it is that they,
uh,
that they,
what their needs are understood.
Yeah,
I thought that's the reason why I,
I was just super excited to have you.
It's like who,
who better can I ask?
(04:56):
Right.
Yeah.
And I still do these interviews today,
even though I'm the executive director,
when I'm looking for certain things,
we're librarians,
we're trained,
we all have uh librarians,
not all of us,
but librarians if you're a librarian and you have that in your title,
more than likely you have what's called a Masters in Library Science or Masters in Library and Information Science.
(05:20):
So we're trained to search,
right?
So that's part of our,
you know,
um we,
we kind of,
you know,
I,
I'll put it in the even simpler terms,
the things that we learned growing up by going to,
you know,
the dewey decimal system,
as people would tell me sometimes in a card catalog,
sometimes that's all now online.
(05:41):
So the card catalog still exists as I explained it to people,
it's just not physical that you can go and walk to it.
Now you go online and you search online,
which is another way again,
if the,
if an individual is not comfortable speaking directly to a person,
they can go online and search our catalog online.
(06:04):
And what we have is we have things called facets and you can then put in,
you know,
it's facts are just another way of saying we're filtering what they're looking for.
Right.
So,
right.
So that's a fact that is a filter more or less and that,
that's what you can search by as well.
So you can either search online or you can go directly to your library and find it.
(06:29):
Um If you go to your library,
there's the physical books that are in the library.
But as,
as you,
you know,
and you the listeners know there's a lot of electronic books now that are available for either download to your device and or you can listen into the uh you know,
you can listen to an audio book via the mobile apps that we also have.
(06:52):
So we have those available as well.
Excellent.
Ok,
excellent.
All right,
perfect.
And now we'll shift gears just a bit.
Brother Watson for some perspective.
The Las Vegas Clark County Library District has 25 branches and a collection of over 3 million items and a budget of $77 million.
How does that compare nationally?
(07:14):
But we are in the top 15 of libraries of rankings,
right?
Libraries,
uh large urban libraries like ours are ranked not just by the number of branches that we have,
but sometimes by it's inclusive of our budget as well.
So I'll give you an example.
I worked prior to here in Las Vegas,
(07:37):
I was the director of the Broward County Libraries in Florida.
We had 38 branches and our budget was about $70 million.
So as you just pointed out,
the library district that I work for now is 25 branches and 77 million.
So,
(07:57):
you know,
we would be close in rankings,
you know,
10,
11,
12 somewhere in,
in that,
in that ballpark,
depending on the annual survey that's done regarding library and the library budgets A A as well.
The the the larger library systems that you are familiar with may be L A L A public library,
(08:17):
L A county,
New York Public Library,
Queens Library,
Brooklyn,
those,
you know,
those libraries and I,
I used to work for Queens.
They've got,
you know,
60 plus branches,
you know,
um you know,
like Chicago,
the 90 something branches,
you know as well.
Yeah,
interesting.
And,
and then what can you tell me in terms of your plans there in,
(08:40):
in Las Vegas,
in terms of uh branches in your system?
So we we're,
we're currently looking at uh uh several branches in the next say 10 to 15 years.
Actually,
one we're planning to do our groundbreaking sometime this fall and that's a uh to build a new West Las Vegas library in the historic West side here in uh Las Vegas and Las Vegas area.
(09:05):
So we're looking at a building that is going to be twice the size of the current building.
The location is,
is it's not going to be built on it at its current location.
It's probably about less than a half a mile away from the current location on about five acres of land,
two story building.
So much,
much,
much more,
(09:25):
many more resources that uh that you'll be able to be able to uh access from that library.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Thank you so much.
And now I thought it interesting.
Your background is in technology,
correct?
My background is in a lot of things,
brother,
my background.
So my background is uh so I made it real real quick.
(09:45):
I'll go to,
I majored in business.
And uh when I went to undergrad at Lincoln University in Missouri,
I went through the ROTC program there where I received a commission in the army.
So I've served uh a few years active duty after college.
So I majored in business.
I was an infantry officer and I left the army,
uh the active army and went into the Reserves and I worked in book distribution.
(10:08):
So supplies,
logistics things I had been doing in the military.
I got involved with library work at the book distribution company.
And uh a few years later decided to get my library,
get my library degree,
which I did.
And that led to me working uh after that,
working in technology a little bit.
(10:30):
Right.
So I did some bus Biz Dev things and some other things.
And then,
you know,
for a few years later down the road is when I got kind of in techno into technology.
Right?
And not really,
uh,
not really programming because I'm not a programmer,
I'm not any of those things.
What I am is a,
uh,
as I am a business person who thinks in an agile software development process manner,
(10:55):
I guess if that's all jumble.
But basically,
I took what I learned working for a software company as a Biz Dev person where we were building software in,
in agile versus waterfall.
And I then took those concepts and I applied them to business and running libraries.
(11:15):
So that's so that's so,
so technology.
So people who think I'm a technology person because I served as the Chief Innovation Technology Officer at the Queens Library.
I've run it departments but only as leading them get projects done and to get things built and not really,
(11:37):
not really having to say,
I understood all the concepts of like I say,
coding and some of the traditional uh technologies thing understood.
All right,
perfect.
Well,
with what time we have left,
what's one piece of advice you'd offer to your 20 year old self?
(11:57):
Oh,
I would say uh I would say be open to opportunities,
live life.
Uh Actually,
I would hate,
I would give my self 20 year old self the same advice I probably gave myself when I was a 20 year old,
I'm doing what I wanna do.
(12:17):
Um,
I'm living life,
I'm taking opportunities.
I'm fearless when it comes to decision making and,
uh,
you know,
and,
and taking risk.
Uh-huh.
Yeah,
I,
I was given the advice to be authentic and,
and open to growth.
Yeah.
So,
yeah,
so very,
yeah,
some similar type of things.
20 year I was 20 years old and,
(12:38):
um,
I was about to be a commission officer in the army.
So that was so if I had to look back on it,
that was uh what I learned then it's kind of what I'm doing now.
Understood.
Understood.
Well,
this has been a real pleasure for me,
Mr Kelvin Watson.
Thank you so much and thank you for sharing with our listeners today.
(12:58):
You're welcome brother any time.
Well,
well,
we hope you enjoyed that episode of the Just Buy My Vote podcast.
We're looking forward to the next episodes.
You can find the book at Just Buy My Vote dot com and feel free to follow us at Just Buy My Vote podcast dot com for notification on upcoming podcasts and events.
(13:26):
Joseph Simmons will be signing his book on Saturday,
July 29th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble bookstore,
567,
North Stephanie Street,
Henderson NV.
So come on by and say hello at the bookstore.
We thank you for the privilege of your time.
(13:47):
And until next time Just Buy My Vote.
Welcome to the Just Buy My Vote podcast.
I am Joseph Simmons,
the host and also author of the new book,
Just Buy My Vote,
African American voting rights and the Chicago Condition.
I honestly can't think of anyone better to answer the question of the where and how to get American history than my guest today.
(00:31):
Today.
I'm honored to be joined by Mr Kelvin Watson,
executive director of the Las Vegas Clark County Library District.
Among many things,
he is recognized for having demonstrated success in Las Vegas for helping to address the digital divide in this library system and nationally regarded as one of the most highly respected thought leaders in the library industry,
(00:57):
fellow member of Kappa Alpha Psi brother Kelvin Watson.
Welcome to the Just Buy My Vote podcast.
I'm happy to be here,
brother.
Happy to be here.
Thank you,
sir.
And there obviously are several things we could talk about in the time we have.
However,
I'd like to start by asking you to address the JBMV Avatar and I'll explain what I mean in my writing of the book Just Buy My Vote.
(01:22):
I found myself continually asking what are the best sources of American history.
So please address the JBMV Avatar if you will.
He or she is a 20 to 30 year old male or female and interested in history.
But for whatever reason was not a history major in school or maybe didn't attend college.
(01:44):
He or she is wondering,
where do I start?
Kelvin Watson.
What have you found to be your favorite or best sources?
Well,
this is a man,
this is a great question for a librarian,
first of all,
brother.
So the first thing is uh go to your local public library if you know,
if you're not,
(02:04):
that if that,
you know,
they're not in school,
college or anything,
which there's libraries there as well,
of course,
on those college campuses,
but the public library is certainly the place that I would start and I would go to what's called the reference desk and,
you know,
right up to the desk and talk to the librarian and what we're gonna do as librarians,
(02:25):
we're gonna,
we're gonna do what's called a uh reference interview.
So as you stated,
the material that's being looked for is our resources referencing history.
So as we're interviewing the avatar,
we're going to be determining where and how to guide to the resources in the library.
(02:48):
So once we determine that we more than likely the librarian would,
would walk them over to a part of the library where they would be able to find out information if they're interested in,
say former president,
for example,
in American history,
we'll take you to that to that section of biographies.
For example,
if there's,
(03:08):
if their interest is in,
you know,
the Civil War,
for example,
there's areas in the library,
so we'll be able to guide the person to those things.
If you say you're interested in,
you know,
maps of the,
you know,
of,
of certain part of the country,
for example,
right?
I was a,
I'm a,
I'm a former military guy.
(03:28):
So if that is something that you're interested in,
you know,
understanding what happened at uh Gettysburg,
for example,
then we'll be able to show you or guide you to either maps that we have specifically in our collection and or guide you to a resource at another library,
(03:49):
right?
So if we don't have something,
what we can do is what's called uh libraries do this called interlibrary loan.
So even if we don't have something we can borrow it for you on your behalf to come to you from another library.
So libraries are,
we're we're all interconnected in that way through this interlibrary loan service,
(04:13):
even academic libraries.
So even libraries that aren't public libraries are connected,
for example,
either in their own state as well as nationally and we all participate in that,
in that uh in that program.
So that's how I would start,
right?
I start with librarians asking to interview the reference questions and getting those answered and sharing of,
(04:35):
you know,
sharing what it is I'm looking for.
Right.
And that way we can guide you,
we guide users and uh you know,
uh,
patrons,
customers every day in this manner by understanding what it is that they,
uh,
that they,
what their needs are understood.
Yeah,
I thought that's the reason why I,
I was just super excited to have you.
It's like who,
who better can I ask?
(04:56):
Right.
Yeah.
And I still do these interviews today,
even though I'm the executive director,
when I'm looking for certain things,
we're librarians,
we're trained,
we all have uh librarians,
not all of us,
but librarians if you're a librarian and you have that in your title,
more than likely you have what's called a Masters in Library Science or Masters in Library and Information Science.
(05:20):
So we're trained to search,
right?
So that's part of our,
you know,
um we,
we kind of,
you know,
I,
I'll put it in the even simpler terms,
the things that we learned growing up by going to,
you know,
the dewey decimal system,
as people would tell me sometimes in a card catalog,
sometimes that's all now online.
(05:41):
So the card catalog still exists as I explained it to people,
it's just not physical that you can go and walk to it.
Now you go online and you search online,
which is another way again,
if the,
if an individual is not comfortable speaking directly to a person,
they can go online and search our catalog online.
(06:04):
And what we have is we have things called facets and you can then put in,
you know,
it's facts are just another way of saying we're filtering what they're looking for.
Right.
So,
right.
So that's a fact that is a filter more or less and that,
that's what you can search by as well.
So you can either search online or you can go directly to your library and find it.
(06:29):
Um If you go to your library,
there's the physical books that are in the library.
But as,
as you,
you know,
and you the listeners know there's a lot of electronic books now that are available for either download to your device and or you can listen into the uh you know,
you can listen to an audio book via the mobile apps that we also have.
(06:52):
So we have those available as well.
Excellent.
Ok,
excellent.
All right,
perfect.
And now we'll shift gears just a bit.
Brother Watson for some perspective.
The Las Vegas Clark County Library District has 25 branches and a collection of over 3 million items and a budget of $77 million.
How does that compare nationally?
(07:14):
But we are in the top 15 of libraries of rankings,
right?
Libraries,
uh large urban libraries like ours are ranked not just by the number of branches that we have,
but sometimes by it's inclusive of our budget as well.
So I'll give you an example.
I worked prior to here in Las Vegas,
(07:37):
I was the director of the Broward County Libraries in Florida.
We had 38 branches and our budget was about $70 million.
So as you just pointed out,
the library district that I work for now is 25 branches and 77 million.
So,
(07:57):
you know,
we would be close in rankings,
you know,
10,
11,
12 somewhere in,
in that,
in that ballpark,
depending on the annual survey that's done regarding library and the library budgets A A as well.
The the the larger library systems that you are familiar with may be L A L A public library,
(08:17):
L A county,
New York Public Library,
Queens Library,
Brooklyn,
those,
you know,
those libraries and I,
I used to work for Queens.
They've got,
you know,
60 plus branches,
you know,
um you know,
like Chicago,
the 90 something branches,
you know as well.
Yeah,
interesting.
And,
and then what can you tell me in terms of your plans there in,
(08:40):
in Las Vegas,
in terms of uh branches in your system?
So we we're,
we're currently looking at uh uh several branches in the next say 10 to 15 years.
Actually,
one we're planning to do our groundbreaking sometime this fall and that's a uh to build a new West Las Vegas library in the historic West side here in uh Las Vegas and Las Vegas area.
(09:05):
So we're looking at a building that is going to be twice the size of the current building.
The location is,
is it's not going to be built on it at its current location.
It's probably about less than a half a mile away from the current location on about five acres of land,
two story building.
So much,
much,
much more,
(09:25):
many more resources that uh that you'll be able to be able to uh access from that library.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Thank you so much.
And now I thought it interesting.
Your background is in technology,
correct?
My background is in a lot of things,
brother,
my background.
So my background is uh so I made it real real quick.
(09:45):
I'll go to,
I majored in business.
And uh when I went to undergrad at Lincoln University in Missouri,
I went through the ROTC program there where I received a commission in the army.
So I've served uh a few years active duty after college.
So I majored in business.
I was an infantry officer and I left the army,
uh the active army and went into the Reserves and I worked in book distribution.
(10:08):
So supplies,
logistics things I had been doing in the military.
I got involved with library work at the book distribution company.
And uh a few years later decided to get my library,
get my library degree,
which I did.
And that led to me working uh after that,
working in technology a little bit.
(10:30):
Right.
So I did some bus Biz Dev things and some other things.
And then,
you know,
for a few years later down the road is when I got kind of in techno into technology.
Right?
And not really,
uh,
not really programming because I'm not a programmer,
I'm not any of those things.
What I am is a,
uh,
as I am a business person who thinks in an agile software development process manner,
(10:55):
I guess if that's all jumble.
But basically,
I took what I learned working for a software company as a Biz Dev person where we were building software in,
in agile versus waterfall.
And I then took those concepts and I applied them to business and running libraries.
(11:15):
So that's so that's so,
so technology.
So people who think I'm a technology person because I served as the Chief Innovation Technology Officer at the Queens Library.
I've run it departments but only as leading them get projects done and to get things built and not really,
(11:37):
not really having to say,
I understood all the concepts of like I say,
coding and some of the traditional uh technologies thing understood.
All right,
perfect.
Well,
with what time we have left,
what's one piece of advice you'd offer to your 20 year old self?
(11:57):
Oh,
I would say uh I would say be open to opportunities,
live life.
Uh Actually,
I would hate,
I would give my self 20 year old self the same advice I probably gave myself when I was a 20 year old,
I'm doing what I wanna do.
(12:17):
Um,
I'm living life,
I'm taking opportunities.
I'm fearless when it comes to decision making and,
uh,
you know,
and,
and taking risk.
Uh-huh.
Yeah,
I,
I was given the advice to be authentic and,
and open to growth.
Yeah.
So,
yeah,
so very,
yeah,
some similar type of things.
20 year I was 20 years old and,
(12:38):
um,
I was about to be a commission officer in the army.
So that was so if I had to look back on it,
that was uh what I learned then it's kind of what I'm doing now.
Understood.
Understood.
Well,
this has been a real pleasure for me,
Mr Kelvin Watson.
Thank you so much and thank you for sharing with our listeners today.
(12:58):
You're welcome brother any time.
Well,
well,
we hope you enjoyed that episode of the Just Buy My Vote podcast.
We're looking forward to the next episodes.
You can find the book at Just Buy My Vote dot com and feel free to follow us at Just Buy My Vote podcast dot com for notification on upcoming podcasts and events.
(13:26):
Joseph Simmons will be signing his book on Saturday,
July 29th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble bookstore,
567,
North Stephanie Street,
Henderson NV.
So come on by and say hello at the bookstore.
We thank you for the privilege of your time.
(13:47):
And until next time Just Buy My Vote.
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