Carson Block
Very Brief Bio:
Carson Block has lead & loved library technology efforts for more than 20 years. He’s been called a “Geek who speaks English” and occasionally compared to Ferris Bueller and Calvin (and Hobbes). Carson is dead serious about the essential and positive community impacts of libraries and focuses his consulting practice on helping libraries increase their capacity to serve patrons. Carson has served in leadership positions in ALA ASCLA, ColoradoPLA and others, and evangelizes libraries to SXSW Interactive and other tech communities. Carson is the author of Managing Library Technology: A LITA Guide (Rowman & Littlefield).
Brief Bio:
Carson Block has been a library technologist for 20 years – as a library worker, IT Director and now a Library Technology Consultant. He has been called “a geek who speaks English” and enjoys acting as a bridge between the worlds of librarians and hard-core technologists. He has a passion to de-mystify technology for the uninitiated, and to help IT professionals understand and support the goals of libraries.
As a consultant, Carson is often brought in to help solve complex institutional issues and to help align the library’s public service mission with its technology efforts to serve the needs of patrons and staff.
Carson’s work includes technology strategic planning; technology visioning and future-proofing; library service design; facilities master planning; library technology architectural programming and budgeting for new library construction and remodeling projects; facilities master planning; analysis of IT structure and staffing; IT position recruiting, digital cultural heritage projects and more.
Carson is a humorous, energetic and engaging facilitator, and a frequent speaker and webinar presenter for library events and beyond – including bringing messages of library advocacy to South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) since 2012 and 2013 (covered by Time magazine at http://techland.time.com/2012/03/11/sxsw-the-fate-oflibraries/). Carson also presented at SXSW Film in 2015 and 2016 and also played as a solo act during the music
conference.
Carson is a Director-At-Large for the American Library Association’s Association of Special and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) and is a past Chair of ASCLA’s Library Consultant’s Interest Group. He is also a member of the Future of Libraries advisory group to ALA’s Office of Information Technology Policy, and a member of the former 21st Century Libraries Committee of the ALA’s Office of Information Technology Policy (OITP). Carson is also Past President of the Colorado Division of the Public Library Association.
Carson is the author of Managing Library Technology: A LITA Guide (Rowman & Littlefield
2017).