TILT #83 — Letters from a Future State
Hello! I skipped February because I’ve been elbow-deep in VLA membership software and web host transitions. How are you? Am happy to report that all state library associations have pages on Wikipedia, though a lot of them could use some work. I’ve moved on to approving (and sometimes not approving) people’s WomenInRed draft articles. If I can help you, please let me know.
I have very much enjoyed looking at old newspapers, trying to find information on library associations’ founding. Often there are funny anecdotes. Here is one I enjoyed.
Also I saw this lovely ligature and wanted to share it with you.
The last article I wrote was about Faith Cabin Libraries, a group of privately-supported public libraries for Black people in the segregated South. I learned about them while I was reading this project by Dr. Matthew Griffis: The Roots of Community: Segregated Carnegie Libraries as Spaces for Learning and Community-Making in Pre-Civil Rights America, 1900–65. As I’ve said before, Carnegie made a choice. He funded “separate but equal” libraries rather than withhold funding from segregated libraries. This project does a great job at looking at what happened to twelve Carnegie libraries in Black communities. Griffis also published A Local Librarian’s Guide for Discovering, Documenting and Sharing the History of Library Services to African Americans in Their Community which is terrific for trying to uncover histories that may not have made the major papers. So glad IMLS funded this project.
I do not want to make light of either the current political climate or the current virus outbreak (goofy divider icon a small exception). I know that being on the front lines, in contact with the entire public, can be a hard place to be. I see you. I’m one of the moderators of a group called Libraries Step Up (in times of crisis) which is just a place to gather and share information in a slightly more moderated and supportive forum than Twitter or general-facebook. Come on over if you’d like.
Library swag and suggestions.
2. Books it’s ok to “steal.”
3. A mini zine about what happens when libraries stop charging fines (purchase! other great stuff there too).
An entire subreddit devoted to things found in library books.
Let’s talk accessibility and inclusion. A few older articles:
- In Library Renovations, When Do Discussions of Accessibility Arise? (too late)
- Big Ten Academic Alliance and ASERL partner to form Library Accessibility Alliance — testing electronic resource management platforms, naming names. I wish them the best.
- Does 5G Have the Potential to Make the Digital Divide Worse? 5G is often deployed in settings with high population density, or requires newer technology to access it. Know what it is and how it works.
- Measuring the Gap: What’s the right approach to exploring why some Americans do not subscribe to broadband? Lots to take in, but two important points: 1. Non-adopters have a range of reasons; 2. One of the big ones is always $$$.
Borges is often quoted as having said that he imagined paradise as a kind of library, but the translations I’ve seen are a little more nuanced than that.
Slow in my darkness, I explore
The hollow gloom with my hesitant stick,
I, that used to figure Paradise
In such a library’s guise.
The idea of eternity in a “kind of library” has been made real in this Korean “enshrinement facility” made to look a lot like a library.
I like words like “free”and “open” so was happy to see:
- SkillsCommons, a free and open library of workforce training materials.
- NNLM (National Network of Libraries of Medicine) All of Us Community Engagement Network (and their COVID-19 section, elsewhere on their site)
- Smithsonian just put 2.8 million digital images in the public domain (access them here).
My Drop-in Time this week was graced by Molly, the dog kids can read to. I did not know that checking out a plant to study with was also a thing.
Reading continues at a breakneck speed. I liked all of these books but was more shruggo on Barbary Station (a good book, but not for me) and the Cannabis book (good info, I don’t love his drawing style, and of course it’s a sad racist story).
Stay safe. Keep your sense of humor afloat if you can. And wash those hands!
Today in Librarian Tabs is written irregularly by Jessamyn West who also maintains librarian.net. It’s available in more-accessible format your inbox via TinyLetter. Thanks for reading.
