Chris DeCristofaro: Technology Librarian | The Business Blast Podcast #482

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by WagsMedia. WagsMedia provides you with everything you need to generate more customers and grow your brand. Head on over to wagsmedia.com, W-A-G-S-M-E-D-I-A dot com, to enter a contest where you can win a free, done-for-you custom website valued at $2,500 for a limited time only. Now let's jump into the episode.

Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Chris DiChristofaro. He is the technology librarian and creator of the Sachem Public Library Studio Makerspaces. Chris is also the creator of the podcast The Library Pros, a podcast about libraries and technology that can be heard at thelibrarypros.com or wherever you get your podcasts. So welcome to the show, man.

Thanks for having me. This is fun.

Of course, man. It is fun. I'm pumped to have you here, man. We'll dive into the first one, Chris. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Okay, so my, when I first started my, you know, my first career, it started, you know, ever since I was, God, in the 7th or 8th grade, I wanted to become a lawyer. So went undergrad, graduated, and then got accepted to law school. So here I am in law school and realizing after like 3 weeks, Oh my God, this may not be for me. And I was living in Boston at the time. I'm from New York. And great town, great places to live, but under these horrible, terrible circumstances. So I was thinking to myself, well, I'm not going to quit. They're going to have to kick me out. So yeah, I didn't make it. I didn't make the grade because obviously my grades were terrible. And I said to myself, now what? What do I do? So the big thing for me was, you know, this is my whole life's goal. Now it's all just falling apart. What do I do? And I got scared and lost. And then I said, you know what? I can take this and turn this into something else. So I went back and got a certificate in paralegal studies. Became a paralegal and just kept learning and kept doing as a paralegal and then transitioning with the attorney I worked for, going into New York State Supreme Court working for him. He became a judge. I started to really get involved with technology, really learning about it, teaching myself to the point where the it guys are coming to me with questions and And my wife was a librarian and she said, you know, you would really be a good librarian. So I then went, got my master's at night, and turns out it's transitioned all these years later into me running a makerspace with tons of technology. And one thing that I always think is funny is that when patrons who come into the library want us, you know, want to 3D print something or do laser engraving or or want to design something, they say, so you have a background in engineering, right? And I just kind of chuckle to myself because no, I don't. I never studied engineering. I've just been a big nerd my whole life. So the point of my story is, when you think it's over and you think, oh my God, I just completely blew it, it's not the end of the world. When I talk to teens, when they're all depressed and upset about whatever it is, that, you know, it is, which is kind of silly and trivial when you're— you've reached my age, but to them it's the end of the world. You have to explain to them that it's not the end, and stop doing what your parents wanted you to do, and stop doing what other people have told you to do, and follow a passion. Follow something you like. Take something that you can— that you do and turn it into a way to not just make money but make a life for yourself for it. So That experience in Boston taught me a few different things. It also taught me that, you know, it isn't the be-all end-all, you know, not reaching that dream that you had since the 7th grade. But it also taught me how you can persevere. And in light of horrible, terrible circumstances where you know you're going to fail, you still come out the other end and you still have to find your way and find your way to do something that you love, and eventually it will happen.

And what is the most— and I, and I actually want to chime in there actually real quick. That is, is so true, and I'm glad that you brought that up because I think like when you're younger, it's so weird. Even me thinking back to like a major that I had and it ended up not working out, I didn't like it, um, and I thought that was like huge. Like I was like, I'm gonna be so far behind if I change majors, you know what I mean? And it's like, it's crazy, like there's so much more Time, I don't know, I even think still if you're like 30 to 40, like you still have so much time. So, but the next one that I have for you is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

This is something that I preach when I do my podcast because my podcast is, it caters a little bit to the library world. The biggest word in libraries is collaborate. One thing that we're lucky about in what we call library land is it's not competitive. It is competitive to a certain degree where, you know, haha, we did this and you didn't, and then they come up and do it. It's not competitive like a business type atmosphere where you're the first one in to maybe get that patent or the first one in, first in time, first in right. And you're competing against other people, it's kind of cutthroat. In library land, what people fail to realize is that collaboration is how we all make this profession as wonderful as it is. Some of the stuff that we've done at Sachem has been, quite frankly, groundbreaking, uh, and exciting, to the point where we have other libraries coming to see what we've done. And when I talk to friends of mine who are not in library land They said, well, why are you giving away these trade secrets? I said, well, first of all, they're not trade secrets. And second of all, libraries now more than ever are so— such a large part of the communities that they serve, whether it's an academic library in a college, whether it's a public library, whether it's a special library in a hospital or a law office or a courthouse. We serve the people who come in And we're, you know, librarians love to share. So the most valuable piece of information I could, or, you know, pass along, if you, or anything I have to say, wisdom, is that collaboration in libraries is key. Because if I'm doing something and it's working, I want it to work in your library too. And I want to see you succeed, because if we help each other, there's going to be times when I'm going to need help with something, and I know that a colleague in another library or maybe even another state or another country can say, Chris, did you try this yet? And that's the amazing thing about library land. Most all the people that I dealt with or talked to or collaborated with, it's about sharing. And I think that's what makes libraries rather unique.

And so I'm actually, I'm curious on this next question. So what's your best piece of like business advice? And let's actually gear it towards like your industry. So like, If somebody wanted to get into your industry, or they were just starting out, like, what would they do? Like, how would they—

how would they—

like, what would you tell them as far as advice?

Honestly, I would say be practical and be honest with your abilities and what you can do. Because the amazing thing— and I keep saying amazing, I apologize for that, but I'm so stoked about being in the library world. Is people come to libraries usually as a second career, unless you're one of those crazy people that started at, you know, third grade saying you wanted to be a librarian. Most of us, it's a second career, or sometimes even a third career. And what's great about it is everybody who comes in as a librarian, or if they're a paraprofessional, as a clerk or a library assistant, they bring all this experience with them from someplace else. And the amazing part about that is one of my colleagues was a musician, another one was a chiropractor, another one was an IT professional. So we have all these varied backgrounds that we kind of bring to the table. So we all have different levels of expertise in other professions or other careers that we brought to library land. And I think if you're somebody who's starting off and coming in, and you're trying to get that job, or you want to work in the university, or whatever it is you're trying to do in a library world, don't be afraid to share your expertise in things that you've done in the past, whether it's your undergrad, and, you know, maybe you have a BFA, or maybe you have an accounting degree. Think of how that's going to help with patrons when they come in the door and they have these questions. And trust me, we get some crazy questions. And it's nice to know that I could, hey Sean, we have a music question over here. Or, you know, hey Jamie, what do you call the lower vertebrae in a back? He'll know those answers right off the top of his head. And of course we cite to, you know, we cite to places where, you know, it's backed up. But knowing that there's somebody there that has that level of expertise in one particular area helps so much when you're trying to help a patron with something. So my advice would be, Be practical in your approach, don't give up, and whatever you bring with you in your backpack of stuff, and I'm holding up air quotes, whatever you bring with you as your background is an asset. So please tell the people when you're interviewing what your assets are, 'cause it's so important to bring that to the table.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Oh God, buy Apple? Hi, Apple. And Amazon, right? You know, it's funny, when I read this question, I thought of that movie, and the name of it escapes me at the moment, where the aircraft carrier Nimitz goes back in time to just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And one of the pilots gets left behind when the aircraft carrier goes back to modern day, which I think was like 1980 when the movie was made. And thinking about if that was me stranded on that desert island and I got rescued, what would I do? And you think about all the knowledge that you have, right? So I was thinking about that when I was reviewing this question. But honestly, if I could go back and tell that skinny kid up in Boston who was freaking out, I said, keep learning. This is an experience. Everything that you're gonna do in life is an experience that you take with you and you put in your gunny sack. And there's another can of stuff that you can say you've experienced in one way, shape, or form. And don't forget about those experiences because there's going to come a time where somebody else is going to have or be in that same situation and you'll have to reach into your virtual gunny sack and pull out this can of stuff and say, look, I did it too. And look how it came out. So I would say to myself, don't give up. Better days are coming and take every experience that you have and just try to save it and archive it in your brain as best as you can because it's going to come back to be useful again.

And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Oh God, what is the key to happiness? Family, definitely. Being happy at home. But being happy, it sounds kind of hokey, but when you're happy at work, everything else seems to fall into place. Now, I know that not everybody is happy at work. I get that. My dad was never happy doing what he did. My mom was never happy doing what she did. And even if you're in a job that you can't stand, you have to find the nuggets. There have been places I've worked in the past that I could not stand, but there were nuggets of things. And, you know, maybe I hated 80% of that job, but that 20% got you through the day because you would hang your hat on that 20%. That 20% is what you lived for, what you died for. But if you love what you do and you don't necessarily like the person you work for, but you love a particular part of what you do, you know, that's part of your key to happiness. It's not about money. Trust me, we all wish we made more money. Even when you get that raise, then it's never enough. So chasing that dollar sign is not the key to happiness. It's being happy at home, and it's being happy in what you do on a daily basis. And just be kind to people, because kindness usurps being angry all the time or being upset all the time.

And what is the best book— this will be a great question for you— what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from it?

Oh God, I thought long and hard about this. I'm a nonfiction reader when I do read, and believe it or not, as a librarian, I don't read that much. I'm just trying to— I call it chasing the tail of technology, where I'm trying to keep up with the latest and the greatest because those questions come up a lot for me at work. But there's a book that I read, and I'm sure I'm going to catch a little bit of a beating from friends of mine who will listen to this. Megyn Kelly wrote a biography called Settle for More. And as I read it, and I kind of like Megyn Kelly as a commentator, not necessarily when she was on Fox News, because, you know, I kind of ride the middle of the road when it comes to politics. And, you know, Fox leans a little right, CNN leans a little left. So you kind of take the nuggets from it. But I liked her interview style. And I always learned from that with regard to my podcast, because I'm always looking at styles of of interviewing to try to find where, you know, what's a good technique, you know, what's a good skill. And Megyn Kelly always had stuff there that I really liked. So I said, you know what, I'm going to give her biography a shot. And I was so floored by the— especially when it came to the law school stuff and when she was a practicing attorney. I never made it that far. I was a paralegal. But the comparisons and the similarities between her life and my life going through that, that quote unquote stuff in law school, and then later on in life, not the sexual harassment stuff because that was the very end of the book, but just the realizations about family and, you know, family is more important than your career, but you still need a career, and you got it, but you got to find something that makes you happy. And that the title, Settle for More, just resonates through her whole book. Because when you settle for more on your terms, you get more. And it's not about the money. It's settling for more in your personal satisfaction in life. And I can honestly say, reading that book, really, it was almost as though someone was filming me back in the early '90s. All the way through to till now, because our lives had so many, you know, parallels. So I really, really— that's one of my favorite books.

Wow. All right, I'll have to check it out. That sounds like it would be really good. The next one is, what's your favorite quote and why?

I think people will laugh at this one, because, you know, you think Oh, there's gotta be like something Ben Franklin said or Abe Lincoln or George Washington or something like that. My favorite quote, because this is my favorite quote because it has so much applicability to life. It's a quote from the movie Jaws. And it's the scene where Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider are talking to the mayor of Amity. And somebody vandalized A billboard. There was a girl on a float or something, and somebody drew a shark fin in the background and put a text bubble above her head that said, "Help shark." And they had this interaction, and Richard Dreyfuss' character is becoming more and more frustrated with the mayor, 'cause the mayor wants the beaches open regardless. And the quote is, um, "I think he's going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites him in the ass." And the reason why I like that quote so much is because it's so applicable in so many different walks of life. I can't tell you how many times a week I see something in that, I just, I see Richard Dreyfuss yelling at the mayor because people tend, whether they're driving and not paying attention or whether it's something at work or something just in an interaction with a person that, you know, they're not paying attention to the, to the greater goal. They're only focused on their one little corner of whether it's Facebook or Twitter or driving in their car or even pushing their cart down the aisle in a supermarket. People are so caught up with having their faces buried in their phones or anything else. And to me, you know, I'm a big picture guy and you always have to keep, you know, perspective with the big picture. And if you don't, it's going to swim up and bite you in the ass.

I agree, man. Dude, that is actually— I think some people will laugh, but I love it.

Thanks.

So dude, thank you so much for coming on. I really enjoyed this episode. The last question that I have for you before we let you go, and I think we kind of mentioned it in the beginning, but where is the best place for people to find you online and/or connect with you via social?

Okay, so Twitter, I love Twitter for connecting with people. My Twitter handle is @cdchrist, or C. DeChrist. Also @TheLibraryPros on Twitter. And you can also reach out to me from our website, thelibrarypros.com, where there's also a Contact Us link. And if you listen to podcasts, you know, I would Ask if you're, even if you're not a library person, if you're a tech guy, give a listen to it, because we'd like to keep it more like Car Talk, where we kind of laugh and have a good time, because let's face it, some of the stuff we talk about can be dry. So we're very good at self-deprecating and making fun of ourselves. My co-host and I are very good at the back and forth and making fun of each other. So check us out on Twitter, check us out, you know, send me an email if you're interested in talking about libraries and technology. I'm always looking for new guests, and it's nice to be on this side of the microphones for a change.

Perfect, brother. Thank you again for joining us. Really appreciate it.

Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

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