Helene Lafrance Technology Free Day

Posted on behalf of Paula Popma - a true hero to fans of Humor in Libraries everywhere!


Helene Lafrance Technology-Free Day at Santa Clara University

It all started with a casual comment made by a librarian to a group of colleagues on a break together prior to the start of Fall Quarter – “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have just one day without technology,”  Thus, Helene Lafrance Technology-Free Day was born.



How, you may ask, in a busy academic library can you get by without any staff using their PC, reading their email, or answering voice mail messages for an entire day?  This was before wide-spread use of cell phones, instant messaging, or Twitter, just a mere ten years ago.   We accomplished this through team work and a library-wide spirit of fun.



The first step was to get approval from the University Librarian, which we did.  The second step was to pick a day when very few students and faculty were on campus.  We chose a day after the end of Fall Quarter and prior to campus shut down for the Christmas holiday, when the Library had reduced hours.
We realized that there would be a few patrons who wouldn’t know what to do with themselves unless they could use the library, so there were a couple of exceptions to the computer ban:

1. Circulation staff were allowed to check out and check in materials on the computer.
2. Reference staff were allowed to help patrons use our online catalog and electronic databases.  

We all know how attached library folk are to their computers, so what did we do instead?
Back then, there were still a number of computer-free library tasks.

• Since it was the end of the quarter, there were plenty of books to shelve.
• Mail and boxes could be opened and sorted.
• New books and current issues of journals could be property stamped and tattle taped.
• Microfiche was filed.
• Subject specialists reviewed approval slips.
• Many staff took the opportunity to clean up their workspace, and file or recycle piles of paper.

There were group activities throughout the day.

• A holiday potluck (Isn’t food always involved at library events?)
• A campus historical tour was led by a staff member from the History Dept.
• After eating way too much at the potluck, a brisk walk around campus was led by the University Librarian.
• Ballroom dance lessons were conducted by two staff who were into ballroom dancing way before “Dancing with the Stars” was a hit.
• A  “How Well Do You Know Your Co-Workers” contest was conducted, and prizes awarded for the most correct answers and the least number of correct answers.

For those staff who didn’t think they could make it through the day without their PC or email, we offered an early morning Computer-free Support Group.  We set up old dumb terminals in the staff lounge, connected to nothing, and let staff pound away on the key boards.



Despite all of our efforts to keep staff off of their computers, several staff received “Scarlet Letters of Technological Doom” for being caught on their PCs.  At the end of the day, “I Can’t Live Without Technology” certificates were awarded to the Electronic Services Team for blatantly ignoring the prohibition to stay off their PCs, and to a librarian for coming in early, using her PC and thinking no one would know. 


 “Moan and Groan” certificates were awarded to a staff member who used every method possible as support for staying off his PC including taping his mouse to his arm and hand to give himself shots of clicks, and to a librarian who tried to bribe two other staff not to check her office to see if she was on her PC.

I have worked in four academic libraries over thirty-six years, and I don’t think I have ever had this much fun on any one single day – maybe except for Beige Day, but that’s a story for another time.