Summary: This time we chat with Carson Block, I.T Consultant and former I.T. Director at the Poudre River Public Library. Carson brings energy, directness and a user-centered approach to I.T in Libraries. He is an expert at translating the I.T. gobbledegook (my words) into sensible business concepts that work for the library and meet the changing I.T demands of its users. In his role as IT Director for the Poudre River Public Library District, Carson managed multiple technology projects and project teams (including network infrastructure overhauls, a comprehensive conversion to RFID, creation of patron self-service kiosks, and technology design and project management for new library construction projects (including the first LEED platinum for interior and second platinum LEED library in the nation), and contributed to the successful effort to form a library district. He led the District’s mobile strategy and studied automated materials handling (AMH) systems. Carson also co-chaired a committee with Colorado State University concerning eBooks and eReaders. I have met Carson on two occasions, having been on a panel discussion with him at the 2011 IUG Conference in San Francisco and then for a more relaxed brunch in Colorado, his state of residence. We have also chatted twice via Skype for podcast interviews and regularly contact via Facebook. I knew that Carson had to be one of the interviewees for the Library Chat series because of all of the above and because when we chat, we generally have a riot, which I think is apparent in this podcast.
