We are living in complicated times. There’s plenty we can reflect on about 2020 and its impacts on our families, our professions and our relationships. And with the arrival of 2021, the conversations have only become more complex. Explaining the world to our children and our students is no easy task. In order to set up our students for success, we need to seek out culturally and linguistically diverse viewpoints.
Tag: Social Justice
19 Positive Summer Reading Activities During COVID
Adapt If COVID has taught me anything, it is to keep in mind the one-word slogan of Navy SEALS: Adapt. We are public librarians. We adapt. We adapted during the digital age to maintain our relevance. COVID is not going to stop us. Irrespective of where you are right now, summer reading has boiled down to three options: passive, curbside or virtual. We remain in the unique position of being able to touch the lives and hearts of our community. We have a responsibility to remain positive, and to disseminate hope. Read on to see how 19 positive summer reading activities during COVID can make the difference. 1 – Radio I’ll never forget growing up the impact just one radio station had on my hometown. The station was 45 minutes away by car, but everyone in my school knew it; always had it on. You couldn’t see the DJs, but…
#alavirtual20 Tracie D. Hall, ALA Executive Director, calls for a “legacy of justice”
During the #alavirtual20 Opening Session, ALA Executive Director, Tracie D. Hall, called upon libraries to “Let our legacy be justice.” Attendees were invited to “ explore the constructs of the library as both the vehicle and driver of justice as both a means to justice and an arbitrator.” Hall stated, “There is something about justice that demands that we take sides; that we make intentional decisions about whether we were at the side of justice or opposite.” She asked, “What is our responsibility to justice when we consider that literacy and educational attainment are two of the key contributors to economic self-sufficiency, and that their absence contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline, high unemployment, and cyclical poverty?” She went on to share and reflect upon her personal professional journey to librarianship as well as the historical contexts of the role of justice within the library field and ALA. Hall then outlined…
Black Lives Matter: ALSC’s Call to Action and Endorsement of BCALA and ALA Recent Statements
Dear ALSC Members and Friends, I am writing to you today on behalf of the ALSC Board of Directors. Along with the ALA Executive Board, the ALSC Board endorses BCALA’s statement condemning increased violence and racism towards Black Americans and people of color and stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, BCALA, and those working for racial justice and dismantling racial capitalism and white supremacy in all of its forms.
Risking Everything: explaining migration and internment
Risking Everything For freedom, a new life, or just a chance at life, people worldwide migrate. Be it climate change, political strife, or economics, we live in an age of mass migration. How we react to it as information professionals and caretakers of our community’s children is critical. Daily, we are being tapped for explanations for these crises as well as internment. This tugs at our heart strings, and reminds us of US’ origins and populations fleeing religious persecution in 17th century Europe. Or fleeing famine during the Irish Potato Famine. Internment Explaining internment to grade-schooled aged children can be difficult at best. But one selection that can help illustrate the feelings behind this: The One and Only Ivan. There’s even a movie of it, but here’s the book trailer: …
And the Work Continues — #alaac17
It has been such a pleasure live blogging for this conference. I wish I could impart every last nugget of knowledge to all of you who were #alaleftbehind. But, alas, even my copious handwritten notes don’t do the thoughtful, intelligent, perspective-changing presentations I attended justice.
Libraries Are Not Neutral Spaces — #alaac17
I know that, to some, “social justice” is a scary word. A radical word. So, I was heartened to see how many people showed up early Sunday morning to attend a panel titled “Libraries Are Not Neutral Spaces: Social Justice Advocacy in Librarianship.”
Storytime Saves the World — #alaac17
Storytime Underground held its first ever guerilla preconference earlier today at the Harold Washington Library. The theme for the morning? Children’s librarianship is social justice work. And it can save the world. Don’t believe me? It’s true.