How Can I Tell If This is a Harmful Representation of Disability?

A few weeks ago, I was honored to present a preconference on disability justice in libraries with a former student, Jennifer. It was awesome to talk about the overarching lies that the abled narrative tells us and having Jennifer talk about the ways that her library is countering these lies right now.

As I continue to learn and grow in my understanding of disability justice, my preconference (Inspirations, Burdens, and Other Lies: The Disability Community in the Library) continues to grow with me through many iterations, from the confronting name change to the examples I cover to how I cover it.  The following is information that didn't make it into the presentation this time, but it was referenced and provided afterward.

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but is definitely a starting off point. I hope you find it helpful!

When evaluating titles to recommend about disability, here are some things you’ll want to consider:

-Does the book focus on the experiences of a disabled character, or does it focus more on an abled sibling or friend and experiences of the disabled character from their perspective? A lot of media has been created from the perspective of abled people, leaving disabled people acutely aware of how we’re viewed and what society expects from us. Our self-esteem can consequently be formed around other people rather than our own self worth.

-Is the disabled character as fleshed out as other characters, or do they seem to not have thoughts or experiences independent of the abled characters? Besides having few disabled main characters, disabled side characters often are a metaphor or a tool through which an abled main character grows as a person. A clear message to disabled people here is that we aren’t people in the same way abled people are people. This is untrue. Disabled people are people, just like abled people are people, and we deserve our own stories.

-Does the disabled character have special abilities, extraordinary wisdom, otherworldly patience and kindness, or another quality to “make up” for the disability and increase their worth to abled characters? It can be great to see superheroes with disabilities, don’t get me wrong. But if a character is given powers so that it somehow compensates for their disability and makes them “good enough” to exist, disabled readers without superpowers can learn that they aren’t “good enough” just as they are.

-Are any good traits of the disabled character qualified in terms of their disability? (examples: “She was so stunning I hardly noticed her crutches”; “she was surprisingly smart for someone with her condition”) Disabled people have plenty of good qualities that don’t need to be couched in relation to disability; but lines like this tell disabled people plenty about how our worth will be measured.

-Can the character be happy living with their disability, or does their happiness increase when they do things that may be medically ill-advised in order to be more like abled people? Does a disabled person go against medical advice to show how brave or spontaneous they are? This is a common trope where a disability is a metaphor for something “holding back” an abled person. Abled people can read books with this theme and feel inspired. What disabled people learn is that we’ll never live a full life because we are disabled. This is untrue, and harmful.

-Does the character need to “overcome” their disability to achieve success, or is success possible with a disability? Disabled people are under no obligation to overcome their disability; living with a disability in itself is pretty badass. Unfortunately, media rarely teaches this message. Instead, we’re taught that we need a narrative of overcoming disability in order to claim space among abled people, or to explain and then minimize our disabilities in order to fit in.

-Are analogies made about abled characters “overcoming” negative traits like meanness and disabled characters “overcoming” disability, as if disability and meanness are the same? 

One way media uses disability as a metaphor is for a disabled character to overcome their disability while an abled character overcomes their past as a bully, for instance, being forever changed by the disabled character. Aside from the disabled person being used as a prop, it’s a tall order to burden disabled readers with the expectation that their disability means they need to have superhuman kindness and compassion. The world can be frustrating for disabled people, and there should be room for us to display anger and annoyance as well as gratitude. It’s not our job to teach abled people to be basically decent humans. These types of tropes, however, teach us that we shouldn’t automatically expect respect or even basic human decency from abled people, and any negative interaction is up to us to rectify.

-Does the disabled character spend a lot of time wishing they were abled? Just because it’s difficult for abled writers to imagine being content with living as a disabled person, doesn’t mean that disabled people constantly curse their luck. If we do, it’s mostly because of reminders that abled people don’t have to plan as much as we do, and can generally expect their basic access needs will be met at any given time. A disabled person could learn through media that we are expected to dislike our disabilities, which can be detrimental to our self-esteem.

-Are there any anti-disability slurs in the book? Do characters use the r-word? What about words like “m*ron” or “cr*zy”? There are lots of imaginative negative words to use without resorting to shortcuts to describe antagonists in a story, even if these words are used in dialogue to demonstrate how “mean” a character is.

-As a reader, how do you feel about the disabled character in general? As a whole, what does this book communicate to the reader about disability? What would this book add to a disabled reader’s self-concept? This is basically what it boils down to. Admittedly, it can be difficult to gauge whether a book or movie is a good representation of disability. But it can help to try to answer the question of what this media told you about the disabled experience. If you’re left feeling grateful you’re not the disabled character, that’s not a good sign.

 The truth is, decent representation--and especially #ownvoices titles -- are so few and far between that if you recognize the above tropes, a piece of media may still be an important piece of your collection until a time when it can be weeded and replaced by a more worthy representation, lest disabled children don't see themselves on your shelves at all (this is a point I would make about disability specifically, and only in some cases. It is possible for nothing to be better than something if that something is harmful to a child's fragile and growing sense of self). But promotion, obviously, is different.

I know that we can't always know everything about a book before we order it, and we rely on reviews a lot. One more way the abled narrative finds its way into publishing is in reviews themselves. Here is an article by Nicola Griffith on spotting ableism in a book review.

Being Trauma-Informed During a Pandemic: Webinar Archive and Other Links

A few weeks ago, Emporia State put out a call to people who were going to present at the Oregon Library Association's annual conference to see if we'd be willing to turn our workshops into webinars. I had a great preconference in the works with a former student from my Disability Community in the Library course, but that wouldn't fit into a 40-minute webinar. I instead proposed a webinar on "WTF is happening to your brain", and was accepted. I figured I'd piece together a couple of other resources I made and bam! Easy-peasy.

HAHAHAH welp, the VERY last thing my brain wanted to let me do during a pandemic was write about dealing with trauma during a pandemic. 

Anyway, here it is.

If you need a transcript of the webinar for personal use, feel free to email me at brycekozla at gmail.

Trauma informed care + pandemic ppt from S Bryce Kozla

I only practiced it once before the live viewing, and I don't think I'll be revisiting it anytime soon. If you watch it and want to process it with someone, please do that with someone who is not me unless you know me personally, thanks. I've talked before about the power of validation before and as much as I appreciate where this is coming from, I need to invest my energy in specific places right now. (this is not for people who have already reached out to me, because this is a boundary I didn't set until right now. Thank you)

I'll talk about less heavy stuff all day though. Have you heard about Fostering Readers? 

One thing I wanted to make sure to say plainly because I didn't in my presentation: the pandemic is hitting BIPOC communities harder than white communities. There is also a lot of historical trauma and institutional oppression rearing its head for many marginalized communities when dealing with work, government benefits, and hospitals.This is NOT the time to say that equity and inclusion is not a priority. They are CENTRAL to the health of your staff and community. ALL of the time.

I wanted to make sure to share some links that were mentioned in the presentation:

Trauma Informed Oregon: COVID response

Everything Is Awful and I'm not Okay

You Feel Like Sh**

Trauma Stewardship Institute

I also wanted to be sure to highlight some other wonderful resources:

"Putting the Care Back in Self-Care" Webinar

"Remote Managing in the Time of Corona"

"#LIBREV(olution)" Free Web Conference"

Renewals: Promoting Civility and Self-Care in the Workplace

"Pandemic! Productivity! Life! Hacks!" (the title is a little tongue-and-cheek)

Thank you so much for your interest in this webinar. Hang in there.

Creating a Trauma-Informed Presentation

Back in April of last year, I was one of 17 participants selected as part of a community cohort to be trained by Trauma-Informed Oregon on trauma-informed care. The intent of these train-the-trainer workshops was for participants to take the material and make it specifically relevant to our organizations/industries. Knowing that libraries are "a helping profession" and that many of us come into with backgrounds in trauma, I wanted to make my delivery of this content as trauma-informed as possible.

Last week, I held two "countywide conversation" sessions to introduce the concept of trauma-informed care to local staff. It was an in-person iteration of some of the internal Trauma-Informed Care training modules I created and posted on our extranet. A flipped-classroom model, I reasoned, would help staff process the material on their own before having to talk to anyone about it, and the sessions would allow room for discussion for those who'd want to talk about. I also prepared a presentation to introduce the material for these sessions, in the likely event that a staff person would want to attend but not have time to view the referenced modules beforehand (or would need an in-person intro to understand how trauma-informed care is meaningful to our work).

Having attended plenty of conference sessions that didn't take their own advice over the years, I set out to make this presentation as trauma-informed as possible.

Here are some considerations I made in order to achieve this goal. You might want to try them out for even unrelated presentations!

Registration recommended, not required: It's trauma-informed to have registration, so I could anticipate how many people would attend and plan accordingly. I also wanted to make it okay, however, for staff to feel like they could drop in without crashing the party (also trauma-informed). We got 30 registrations, and we ended up with 30 participants-- though, some registrants couldn't attend in the end, and some attendees didn't register. At the time I started planning, I had 22 registered and planned for 40 (so maybe +25-75% attendance if you wanted to try this).

• I also sent out a Doodle Poll before I opened registration so I could gauge the interest in all parts of the county. The hope was that the highest amount of people who wanted to attend could be able to, and not have to travel across the county to do so. I didn't catch everyone this way, but I was able to do my best to make sure the locations were equitably chosen around the county.
• Registration was open for two weeks, with a reminder a week before. The registration email included a registration link, location and links to Google Maps of the locations, and the agenda with approximate times. If we had the time I might have opened the registration for longer, but we were butting up against local summer planning as it was.
• Reminder email to attendees: I collected the email addresses of registered attendees, and sent out an email to them the Monday of the sessions. I thanked them for registering, and then set out some expectations: there will be snacks but feel free to bring your favorite snack or drink; knitting and other fidgeting is welcome; and to dress however they felt best (whether that be sneakers or a suit).

Coloring sheets and fidget toys: I had ordered a box of assorted fidget toys online, but they hadn't arrived in time for the sessions. So I printed off some coloring sheets and brought some crayons to help attendees mitigate stress and process information. The coloring sheets and fidget toys now live in a basket in our conference room, and I'm intending to bring them to every meeting I can remember to bring them to!

Voice Amplifier: A few months ago I got a voice amplifier and I thought this would be a great place to try it out-- in meeting rooms with possible ambient noise. I'm blown away by how inexpensive it was and how good it works. I get not wanting to hook yourself up to a surround sound system for a few people (and yes, social anxiety is a real thing and no, introversion and social anxiety are not the same). Not only it is an accessible practice to wear a mic (calm down, abled people, please don't be self-righteous about the one thing you're actually committing to); once you do get into practice of it you'll realize just how noisy the rest of the world inside meeting rooms truly is. Best part about a voice amplifier for small gatherings is you just have to hook yourself and go, and if you DO have social anxiety you can turn it up enough to where everyone can hear but you don't "sound like you're on a mic", which could help with comfort.

Housekeeping at the beginning of the presentation: Things like duration, reminders, or behavior expectations (it's okay to stand or walk around, etc). Apologies but I do not care at all if the same Library Thought Leaders who hate powerpoint find a short introduction that includes housekeeping boring and I "lose" them. I care more about "losing" staff who may literally not be able to process information without knowing where the exits are and it's okay to leave; or staff whose stress response is activated and are at risk of disassociating and take solace in knowing the exact amount of time remaining before they don't have to heavily employ coping mechanisms if they want to stay. People with backgrounds in trauma are in your presentations too.

• Icebreakers: if you have to have one, send it ahead of time. That way everyone is listening to everyone else and not worrying about what they'll say when it's their turn.

Choice, choice choice: Plan participatory options into your session and refer to them. No mandatory participation. No "you have to work with someone you don't know very well." Make it okay to say "pass."

These tips are more poignant for heavier topics, but could be useful for any presentations. As trauma-informed care tells us:

-we have no idea what it took (in the day, in the life) to get a person in front of us, and plenty of people have acute stress responses we might not even guess

-EVERY consideration we make is an opportunity for re-traumatization or healing. We may as well try to be healing!

(also, creating a presentation that's accessible can also be trauma-informed.)

"Becoming Trauma-Informed: Why Should We Care?" from S Bryce Kozla

Can't Miss: Sessions at ALA Midwinter!

The ALA Midwinter meeting is my favorite of any national conference I've been to. I can't really tell you why. But I do know that the Symposium on the Future of Libraries is happening for a third year!!

Midwinter is back in Seattle this year, like my first Midwinter when I was a 2013 ALA Emerging Leader. I'll probably have some reflections on that later on. (I remember bringing my spouse because we were like, "when will we ever have a reason to go to the Pacific Northwest ever again?" And now we live here? So.)

Bryce's Facebook status from 2011. Text reads,
"you may never impress anyone. what will you do instead"? <sic>

The image above is a Facebook memory I received while at last year's Midwinter meeting. I had to laugh when it passed by on my notifications as I attempted to navigate the terrain of the exhibit hall, which always feels loud and bright and can be disorienting. Thanks, Past Me. You're a real peach.

Here are some Symposium sessions that I'm particularly excited about. Might be worth adding to your schedule!

__________________________________________

YOUTH SERVICES-SPECIFIC:

Breaking Down the Barriers to Advocacy for School Libraries

Deborah Rinio, Adjunct Instructor, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Ann Ewbank, Director, School Library Media Certificate, Montana State University; Jenna Nemec-Loise, Head Librarian, North Shore Country Day School

Join ALA Policy Corps members for a conversation surrounding political advocacy for school librarians. In this session, you will hear directly from decision makers at various levels to learn their perspectives on advocacy and what makes a good advocate. You will also learn how to connect with your local, state, and national legislators; communicate effectively; and break down the barriers standing in the way of your advocacy efforts. 

Making the Connection: Early Literacy and Computational Thinking for Young Children

Claudia Haines, Youth Services Librarian, Homer Public Library (Alaska); Paula Langsam, Children's Librarian, DC Public Library

Computational thinking, a problem solving process often associated with computer science, has become a buzz word as libraries and other cultural institutions move to support STEM and STEAM learning. But beyond the “coding” buzz, the universal ideas behind computational thinking – decomposition, pattern recognition, and abstraction – connect with familiar early literacy practices, like reading, singing, and playing. By exploring the relationship between early literacy skills and computational thinking skills, library staff can challenge themselves to think differently about our fundamental services and programs and the ways our work supports the whole child. Young children can become successful problem-solvers, creative thinkers, and lifelong learners at the library.

Community, Equity, and Storytimes

CiKeithia Pugh, Early Learning Program Manager, The Seattle Public Library; Betha Gutsche, WebJunction Programs Manager, OCLC

Leading for equity means examining our library practices and policies with an equity lens. This shift in practice moves away from viewing our services as merely transactional and instead builds them in partnership with community. This interactive session will highlight The Seattle Public Library’s work to prioritize community voices and equitable partnerships to create relevant, responsive youth services programming. We'll also explore how Supercharged Storytimes is applying an equity lens to a training program that builds the skills and knowledge of storytime providers across the country as they nurture early literacy skills in the readers of the future.

Learning from Each Other: Intergenerational Learning with Storytelling and STEM

Ashley Braun, Digital and Family Learning Librarian, The Seattle Public Library; Amy Twito, Informal Learning Program Manager, The Seattle Public Library; Dr. Carrie Tzou, Associate Professor, University of Washington Bothell

When families use STEM concepts to tell their own stories that center around their culture, creativity, and values, learning comes to life. Hear about the transformative partnership between a public library, university research team, science center, and community-based organizations that codesigned family programs incorporating stories, robotics, and e-textiles. At the heart of this learning is family storytelling, a practice that brings folks of all ages together in a culturally responsive, strengths-based way. Attendees will learn ways to incorporate participatory design elements with partners, as well as how to cultivate intergenerational learning experiences by prioritizing storytelling in STEM programs.

DISABILITY/ACCESSIBILITY SPECIFIC:

Pushing on the Frontier: Disability Access and the Future of Libraries

Katherine N Deibel, Inclusion & Accessibility Librarian, Syracuse University Libraries 

To be truly inclusive, the future of libraries must take great strides in promoting disability access. This goes beyond just web accessibility. Yes, we should be more obstinate regarding the compliance of our own web sites and collectively push on vendors to be compliant. True change, however, requires libraries to further involve themselves in the creation, remediation, and sharing of accessible content. As stewards of content throughout history, we understand how content’s structure and usage has evolved. Using this knowledge, libraries must play an active role in shaping the technology, standards, and practices to make content truly accessible to all. 

OTHER TOPICS POSSIBLY OF INTEREST TO READERS OF THIS BLOG:

Algorithms, Implicit Bias, and Search Literacy: Exploring Beliefs among Computer Science Students about Search Engine and Machine Learning Models

Shalini Ramachandran, Science Librarian, University of Southern California; Steven Cutchin, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Boise State University; Sheree Fu, ECST Librarian, California State University, Los Angeles; Karen Howell, Head, Leavey Library, University of Southern California

What role do library professionals have in raising awareness about algorithm design and human bias? In this presentation, we share insights from a survey of computer science students – the future  architects of algorithms and AI systems that shape our information infrastructure – about their perceptions of the biases in search engines and big-data algorithms. All librarians can benefit from our presentation as it will help them understand the significance of developing ethically informed search literacy. In our discussion, we underscore that library and information professionals have a role in partnering with information scientists to ensure that libraries can be spaces where users can optimize their search for information and expect fair treatment from automated systems.

Building a Future-Ready Workforce: How Public Libraries Can Create Resilient and Entrepreneurial Communities

Audrey Barbakoff, Community Engagement and Economic Development Manager, King County Library System; Jay Lyman, Librarian, The Seattle Public Library

Learn about key trends shaping the future of work and how public libraries can play an important role in creating communities that are prepared for change. Structural shifts in our workforce such as automation and AI, the sharing and gig economy, systemic income and educational inequity, and entrepreneurship and design thinking will impact workers and businesses in your community. By the end of this session, you will: understand some key workforce shifts impacting your patrons; be able to connect those broader trends to impactful library partnerships and services; and have begun formulating a plan to develop services responses for your own library.

Racial Equity: Libraries Organizing to Transform Institutions

Amita Lonial, Learning, Marketing and Engagement Principal Librarian, San Diego County Library; Sarah Lawton, Neighborhood Library Supervisor, Madison Public Library

Libraries across the country are working to identify and address institutional racism and structural inequities. Released in 2018, the Government Alliance on Race and Equity’s issue paper “Advancing Racial Equity in Libraries: Case Studies from the Field” provides an overview of successful strategies and a framework designed to drive change from the local level. Join colleagues from GARE and from the Public Library Association’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to learn more about the work that is being done and to discuss the opportunities and challenges that libraries and communities face as we transform our institutions. 

Return to the Real: The Library as Social Connector

Betha Gutsche, WebJunction Programs Manager, OCLC; Jennifer Peterson, WebJunction Community Manager, OCLC

Studies show an increase in loneliness and depression because of too much time spent online. Communities experience steady erosion of the bonds formed when people share real-time activities together, which affects our health and well-being. As a magnet for social connection, libraries offer that sense of community and shared place that humans as social animals crave. Active learning programs that offer participatory activities to enhance individual learning can go further to cement social connection when people are learning and doing together. This session will explore library programs through the lens of social possibilities, with the goal of strengthening community bonds. 

The Role of Libraries in Addressing Homelessness and Poverty 

Julie Ann Winkelstein, Researcher, Author, Teacher, Activist; Tina Reid, Library Assistant II, Felix G. Woodward Library, Austin Peay State University; Jessica Ball, Librarian, Memphis Public Libraries; Hilary M Jasmin, Research and Learning Services Librarian, University of Tennessee Health Science Center 

Across the United States, public libraries in particular are considering their responsibilities in serving well their community members who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. The role of libraries in addressing societal challenges like these is one that hasn’t received much specific attention in library schools and this fact has left many who are addressing these challenges on a daily basis without the necessary vocabulary, background and tools. Using a new library school class as an example, this interactive session will offer examples of exercises, readings, videos and conversations that can help libraries move forward, dream big and take action.

Check out the whole line-up here! Hope to see you at Midwinter!

Symposium on the Future of Libraries 2019: A Youth Services Opportunity!

Do you have ideas about the future of youth services? Five years in the future will be here in no time. How about 20?

I've been honored to represent the youth services perspective on the Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Group the past few years. The Center is a great resource for tracking library trends and sharing future-focused stories through the weekly "Read for Later" newsletter. The Advisory Group's main duties so far have been to review and make recommendations for the Center for the Future of Libraries Fellowship and the Symposium on the Future of Libraries. The Symposium has quickly become a popular offering at the Midwinter Meetings.

A lined background with a red stamp that says, "Due 8/15/18." 

In black text: "Symposium on the Future of Libraries: A YS Opportunity!"

As you know, the Midwinter Meeting is where the Youth Media Awards are announced, which makes it a great space for more youth-specific sessions. This Midwinter's last-minute "Storytime Deep Dive" in the Uncommons was an attempt to fill this need by ALSC member Melissa Depper.

As I said about the the Center for the Future of Libraries Fellowship earlier this year (I mean it double this time):

"I'd love to see a ton of Youth Services submissions. I really feel like there are so many great conversations happening about even the nature of youth services itself, but implementation can be tough when you're running 15 programs a week/managing tours for your whole district/on the desk several hours a week/yelling 'walk please' every 20 minutes/getting Child Germ Flu/constantly planning either Summer Reading or Battle of the Books/ etc etc etc. Or maybe you're facing a rough time and buzzing along and could use a new project to sink your teeth into.

Youth Services IS the future of libraries; we're literally shaping family library legacies and creating lifelong library users and supporters, everyday. But we hardly get the time or support to really consider what that even means. We see it in the courses that are offered, the conference proposals that get accepted, the Storytime Underground questions that get asked again and again: we're looking for quick tips for right now, and that's what we're getting.

And that's great, and it can work.

We ALSO deserve the space, the time, and the support to really consider what youth services actually means, and what our future could look like"


SO: I want to see your proposals for the Symposium in 2019! What ideas are floating around in your head that you want to shake out? Have a presentation in mind, or a discussion you want to see had? The proposal application is live now! Submit your youth-focused proposal by August 15th (not that there's anything else going on for youth services folks right now...).  I know it's all in the throes of SRP,  but I'd love for anyone who has the bandwidth to consider this opportunity.

Let's Talk About the Future at ALA Midwinter

Remember a few weeks ago, when I talked about librarianing is a political act and how some work I had been involved in lately has encouraged me to remain an ALA member for the time being?

Remember how I had my reservations about accepting an appointment to the Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Group?

Well, I am here to tell you how stoked I am about something that the Center for the Future of Libraries has in store for the ALA Midwinter Meeting this January in Atlanta:

The Symposium on the Future of Libraries.

Yes, I know. But check it out: this Symposium is jam-packed full of meaningful and doable learning experiences and calls to action. Here are a few of the sessions I'm going to drag you to if you're ever in my general vicinity at the Midwinter Meeting... er, may be of interest to you, Reader:

The Future of Librarian Labor
Emily Drabinski, Coordinator of Library Instruction, LIU Brooklyn
Eamon Tewell, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Long Island University, Brooklyn
In an era of unprecedented attacks on teaching and learning in higher education, how can librarians mobilize to advocate for their own wages and working conditions, which can be understood as the learning conditions of students? This session will explore labor issues in academic libraries in the context of a future marked by increasing management control. Participants will explore strategies including union struggle and cross-sector organizing as modes for working against transfers of institutional power from libraries and classrooms to administration. This session will be of interest to academic librarians in both public and private sectors.

Think Universal…To Design Accessible Services for All
Patrice Johnson, Librarian, Chicago Public Library
Pat Herndon, Director, Georgia Library for Accessible Statewide Services at Georgia Public Library Service
Jill Rothstein, Managing Librarian, Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, New York Public Library
The most popular technologies (Apple’s iPhone and iPad) build accessibility into the beginning of their design, creating experiences that are beneficial to all users. When it comes to our own future planning, libraries need to design innovative programs and accessible services that are inclusive of people with disabilities from the first stages of planning. This session will explore insights, strategies, partnerships, and resources that libraries can implement with a focus on serving those with visual and physical disabilities.

Building Civic Engagement with a Civic Lab
Amy Koester, Youth & Family Program Supervisor, Skokie Public Library
Amita Lonial, Learning Experiences Manager, Skokie Public Library
Disappearing local news sources and today’s polarized political landscape mean the library’s role as a space for civic engagement is increasingly important. The Civic Lab at Skokie Public Library is a pop-up library that encourages dialogue and engagement on the issues that affect our community. Featuring all-ages collections and resources on major and emerging issues, including climate change and Black Lives Matter, the flexible, mobile space is used for formal and informal programming for families, teens, and adults. Learn about how this type of pop-up space can invigorate civic discourse and literacy in the library and the community.

Towards A Less Normative Future in Library Services to Children/Teens
Angie Manfredi, Head of Youth Services, Los Alamos County Library System
When we envision the future of libraries, youth services librarians must actively push for de-centralizing Whiteness, particularly in our collection development. This session will help librarians critically evaluate not just the media they purchase for their youth patrons but also the sources that review it. The future of libraries, and of library collections, must reflect the reality of the communities we serve and we, as gatekeepers, need to be advocates for change.

Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Recommendations: An Equitable Future for ALA and the Profession
Leslie Scott, Library Director, Prosper Community Library (Texas)
Melissa Cardenas-Dow
Martin Garnar, Dean, Kraemer Family Library, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, Young Readers Librarian, Palos Verdes Library District
LaJuan Pringle, Branch Manager, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library
ALA’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion has developed a plan and strategic actions to build more equity, diversity, and inclusion among our members, the field of librarianship, and our communities. As these recommendations shift to an Implementation Working Group in 2016-2018, we will need to continue the public and honest conversations that help keep these issues at the forefront. Task Force and Working Group members will present the recommendations in the context of the future of the United States and will ask for participation from attendees to help advance our profession to reflect and represent our nation’s ever-increasing diversity. All library workers will benefit from learning how they can contribute to this important work.

21st Century Library Ethics
Sarah Houghton, Director, San Rafael Public Library
As the world goes increasingly digital, the climate surrounding information politics becomes increasingly convoluted. Libraries are caught in the heart of these tangled issues. When was the last time you looked at the ethical statements of our profession? When you sign contracts and revise policies are you keeping those ethics in mind? As you develop programs for your users are you thinking about how to fold in the ethics of freedom of information and privacy? If not, now's a great time to start.

Crafting Successful Youth Civic Engagement in Information Spaces
Chaebong Nam, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Government, Harvard University
Danielle Allen, Professor, Department of Government/Graduate School of Education, Director, the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
Libraries are the key information space for young people to engage in a range of connected digital experiences. How can information professionals help young people leverage libraries to craft successful civic engagement—not only physical space but human, organizational, and social resources¬¬? To address this issue, in part, participants will learn of an action-reflection frame for youth participation developed by MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Youth Participatory Politics. Then, they can discuss practical steps to infuse the frame into practice. Library professionals who closely work with youth are welcome, especially youth services librarians and school librarians.

...Right?! Right?!
The whole schedule is online here.

If you missed a chance to submit a proposal for Midwinter, never fear! Another Symposium is in the works for Annual.

One more thing:

Interested in exploring a project that will result in a deliverable to help inform the future of libraries? Apply for the Center for the Future of Libraries fellowship. Deadline is January 15, 2017!

Holidays and Libraries: Rethinking Our Programming

UPDATE 11/2019 to address some related comments:
One thing I want to make clear, and may add this to the post, is that it isn't intended to, say, shame a library asst who's been told they'll lose their job if they don't have a Santa program.


Safety =/= comfort, but stay safe.

There are small things we can all do to work toward/into inclusion. It's important that fear of a little pushback doesn't immobilize us. It's important to distinguish feelings of discomfort and literally placing yourself in an unsafe scenario--which can be difficult, especially if you've have a background in trauma. We all need to find our own way forward. These are just some ideas of mine.


This week I was honored to present at the New Jersey Library Association Conference in Atlantic City. I have a few posts mulling around in my head about it, including at least one more really heavy one. For ease of posting something soon, however, I'd like to share my contribution to the panel "Rethinking Holidays & Cultural Celebrations in Libraries" that I presented with the lovely Dr. LaShauna Dean, Assistant Professor of Mental Health and Addiction Counseling at William Paterson University. 

This will probably read harsher than many of my other posts, but understand I am very passionate about the topic of inclusion.

I do not celebrate holidays in the library and do not suggest running holiday programming.

I know how I sound to some of you: I’m no fun, and I don’t like whimsy, and I Scrooge around shushing carolers.

School Library/Public Library Q&A at ALA

As a member of the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Library Cooperation (SPLC), I've been thinking a lot about the partnerships we can foster between school and public librarians. There's been some great posts in the past year or so that have made me more deeply consider the ins and outs of community partnerships. Dana at Jbrary discussed the importance of being a community-led librarian, and Amy at Show Me Librarian shared her presentation on rethinking partnerships. Two points from these related posts are aspects of partnering that I have found particularly helpful: Dana's idea of "slowing your role" (ie, coming to the table with no immediate expectations for what your partnership would look like) and Amy's suggestion of asking questions.

In that spirit, it is my hope on behalf of SPLC to get the ball-rolling on an ALA Annual Networking Uncommons Q&A session in the style of Guerilla Storytime and YA Smackdown. As a committee we've talked about "What the School/Public Librarian Wishes the Other Would Know", but we'd love to see school and public librarians ask specific questions about the other's work and service. While this opportunity would take place live at Annual, you definitely don't have to be present to participate. Shoot, I'm working to plan this and I won't even be at the conference at all!

You game? Awesome! Here's how you can help the SPLC Committee pull this off:

After School Book Exploration: A STEM Shared Experience

This weekend I was lucky to attend The Wisconsin After School Association Conference. If you've never been, the WAA Annual Conference is a great place to connect with other community members statewide who work with youth. I learned about epigenetics, which is completely fascinating. Seriously everyone, watch that video. I'm sure I'll be writing more about it as I wrap my brain around what this could mean for library service. It's fairly inexpensive professional development, at $50 for 4 sessions and a half-day pre-conference. Another great thing I learned about was Spark PE, a research-based physical education program. You can download free plans here that you can adapt to library programming, surely.

I also got to present at one of the session times! I wanted to connect a few high--quality (read: my personal favorite) books to fun things kids can do after school, and talk a little about why that's important.

Here's some highlights:

Questions to Ask Your New Best Friend at ALA Midwinter

Me and my instant best friend, 2001

August, 2000. My freshman year orientation overnight trip to Michigan State. Armed with newly dyed purple hair, my coolest urban decay make-up. and my favorite Squirrel Nut Zippers shirt, I was ready to to take on ADULTING and TURNING EIGHTEEN SOON and while we're at it, THE WORLD! AND maybe hope that someone would talk to me so I didn't have to approach anyone myself.

Turns out, I ended up approaching someone because she was kind of staring at me and I needed that to stop. We started talking about our majors and found out we were living in the same dorm and--gasp-- were accepted into the same residential college that no one else had ever heard of (which has since turned into something amazing; good on you, MSU!). We talked about high school marching band and AOL Instant Messenger. These were the only things I needed in a new best friend under the crushing oncoming anonymity of college. When we moved into our dorm, my room was right across from hers, so it was basically a done deal at that point.

As we get older, it's harder and harder to make friends. Luckily, conferences afford us with the chance to meet strangers with similar interests; see librarians you met online in real life; and shake hands with librarians whose blogs you follow or whose work you love, but have never connected with. Amy at the Show Me Librarian provides some tips on how to put yourself out there at conferences and join the conversation.

Conversely, you can always approach people who look as awkward as you feel and start a conversation with them. The thing about conferences, though, is that everyone wears name tags with their name and place of work on it. There goes your "what's your name? where are you from? what's your major?" small talk equivalents.

The Shy Librarian's Guide to Presenting

My readership varies. There's friends, family, librarian colleagues that I know and that I don't know. If you'll indulge me this one, I'm gonna speak directly to one particular group this time: those of you who have thought about presenting, but thinking about actually doing it is just one big NOPE.

And everyone, I have a confession: I used to be really pretty shy. No, really.

Throughout my twenties I had a major learning curve. As an educator, I attended a lot of professional development. You would think, since educators, like, know how brains work and everything, professional development about engaging instruction would be, you know, engaging instruction.

It wasn't. Quite a few were more like this than I care to admit. If it makes you uncomfortable to watch that, imagine sitting through 2.5 hours of it.

I got sick of complaining. I wanted to do something. Be the change, and all that. But I just couldn't talk in front of groups of adults. I got super nervous and seized up. PROBABLY because I had been such an insufferably critical audience member; I understand that now. But also, because I was mostly just kinda shy.

Top Five Takeaways: #ALSC14

I was so frickin' lucky to get to go to the ALSC Institute in Oakland, CA, everyone. And you're pretty lucky if you didn't get to go because I'm gonna lay out for you the top five things I learned at this conference (you I know both know that ten would be all TL;DR). Because if there's one thing I know, conferences are hella expensive (the thing about ALSC was that they actually fed you without you paying extra, so that was cool). Not just monetarily, but in your own time and the time of your library.

But that's all right. As my banner motto says, "it takes a village, but it's nice to have a blog." I've got you covered, as much as animated GIFs will allow.
So buckle up, throw out all your liquids over 3 ounces, put your phone on airplane mode, and keep your seat in an upright and locked position (you entitled jerk), because here we go to Oakland!