why I #critlib

This post is my #critlib homework assignment as part of the chat moderated by Kevin Seeber on feelings and why we do what we do. He had us reflect on three questions:

• Why are you a critical librarian?
• Why do you identify with these ideas?
• Why do you participate in these chats?

While I find writing to be really, really hard, I’m really grateful for this opportunity to really think about why I do what I do. My thoughts are below.

When I was in library school, I thought I was supposed to separate my own personal opinions/personality from my professional presence. That seemed to be the overwhelming advice that I got; but after some time in the profession I realized how ridiculous that is, considering there are plenty of things that I can’t hide or change about myself. As others have articulated in their homework, some aspects of our personal identities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, etc.) impact how we approach our work as librarians and as people. This is definitely true for me, a woman of color, a first generation American, and a feminist. This informs my approach and my interests, and is why I #critlib. For me, #critlib is more than just the Twitter chats. It’s the reason why I help out with the LIS Microaggressions project, and why I am researching intersectional feminism in LIS for the upcoming Feminist Reference Desk book edited by Maria Accardi. I love being a librarian, and I want to work towards making this profession better. 

My first professional position was at a community college located in an urban setting and my job was to help students from an incredibly diverse array of backgrounds. That helped show me the important work that a librarian can do, to help people get to where they want to be. But really, I learned more about critical/radical librarianship and what it meant to be a #critlib-er once I moved to Chicago to work at UIC. Chicago is a wonderful city, it’s diverse, it’s dynamic, but it is not without its flaws. This city has plenty of problems related to inequality, but there are a lot of people who are working to make it better. Social justice activists, organizers. People who are doers, not just complainers.  I also see the university as a place to educate people, and as a place for them to try and come up with solutions to societal problems. At my university, social justice is a core aspect curriculum in many of the disciplines here and it’s great to see critical pedagogy in action. UIC is also an incredibly diverse campus. When I see where the priorities lie for students here, I feel like I also don’t have a choice not to be #critlib, it’s part of my job. Students here have rallied behind the #BlackLivesMatter movement, organized and protested faculty cuts to the ethnic studies program, and they stood in solidarity with the faculty union when we went on strike. If they stand with us, then I want to stand with them and support them. These are just some of the reasons why I am a critical librarian.

I don’t see #critlib as a unified ideology, but rather a gathering place for people with similar goals to meet and talk. We really do not all come from the same educational backgrounds and it’s totally cool that we don’t all agree on everything. My hope is that through dialogue, we can at least learn and grow from each other. That’s what is so awesome about the #critlib chats, the unconferences, the meetups, and relationships that develop through this community.

I was really honored when Nicole came up with the idea to have a Twitter chat centered around critical pedagogy. I thought, this is an awesome idea and something I want to learn more about. How can we make this happen? And from there, I’ve seen #critlib grow and become so much more than that. I’m not an expert in critical theory, but as Nicole says in her post, the connection between theory and practice is why I find #critlib to be valuable. This is why I do a little extra work behind the scenes and sometimes even email pics of my cats to Nicole, Jenna, Kelly, Emily, and Violet.

Moving forward, I want to see more new faces in #critlib. I know there is this idea that one needs to be an academic or an “expert” in theory in order to participate and I want to stress that this isn’t true. I’m open to any suggestions that people have to make #critlib more inclusive. I want to see more people of color on here, I want to see more projects happen that grow out of the #critlib community, and I want to hopefully meet more #critlib community members IRL in 2016.

Major thanks to Kevin for moderating tonight’s chat!

 

Cycling For Libraries 2014

Photo Credit: Flickr User Cycling For Libraries – https://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingforlibraries/

I’m excited to say that I have signed up to participate in Cycling For Libraries this year! It’s really the best library conference I have ever attended because it combines all the things I love in life: libraries, advocacy, friends, and cycling. This year’s route is from Montpellier to Lyon, which is 470km ( or about 292 miles). I’ll be joined by about 100 other international librarians and we’ll be stopping at libraries along the way. This event serves two purposes, it’s a great learning opportunity and it also is an advocacy project.

Each participant is asked to focus on a theme or an issue and to get inspiration from others, or from some of the library visits along the trip. I’m focusing on library outreach because in the next year or so, this is going to be a large part of my job duties. I hope to learn more about creative outreach and see what others do. You can read my profile  and the others on the cyc4lib website.

People often ask how far we cycle in a day, and how you get a bike over there. For this trip, the longest distance in a day is 90km which is about 56 miles. We don’t go too fast but training before you go is probably a good idea. If you don’t want to bring your bike for the tour, there’s usually a bike rental option, which is what I am doing this year. It saves me the hassle of trying to deal with bringing my bike overseas. Some day I’d like to bring my own bike for a tour, it’s really made for it, but it just didn’t work out this year.

Anyway, I’ll be trying to post pictures on my Instagram account and tweet my random thoughts on Twitter if you happen to want to follow along. Or just check the #cyc4lib hashtag!

Au revoir!

 

 

 

Writing your ALA Emerging Leaders Application

This past year, I participated in the ALA Emerging Leaders Program. I was on Team C(at) with my super awesome teammates Daniel Ransom, Kyle Denlinger, and Mari Martinez. We worked on a social media project for ALCTS, and wrote a white paper of best practices for their social media. It was a wonderful experience, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with. We went through the IRB process together, designed a survey, and took the most epic cat photo ever.

Include images: People respond to photos in posts. For example, here’s EL Team C(at) hard at work! #ELCtips pic.twitter.com/5fAEYK9cK4

— Daniel Ransom (@ThePinakes) June 24, 2014

For those who are unfamiliar, the Emerging Leader’s Program is geared towards LIS professionals and students who have less than 5 years of experience in the field. It’s meant to jumpstart involvement in ALA and give people the chance to work on a project for various divisions. It also gives you the chance to meet other ambitious, early career librarians. If this sounds like something you’d want to do, I highly recommend it! I’ve been getting quite a few emails and questions about the application process so I thought I would take a moment to just say what I thought worked for my application. I can’t say that there is a one-size fits all recipe for a successful application; I really don’t know what the selection committee is looking for except that you need to be in the first 5 years of your career. These tips are just what I thought worked for me, and also what I learned from asking other past Emerged Leaders.

Be succinct in your responses but eloquent. This is so hard to do, but if you can get to the point but also effectively illustrate your point, that’s probably the best route. I’m assuming the selection committee doesn’t want to read through a bunch of text just to get an answer that could be one paragraph. Just to give you an idea, I responded to some of the essay questions with just one paragraph; the longest answer I gave was 3 paragraphs.

Don’t just tell them, show them. Do you have a project at work where you demonstrated leadership? Did you work on a volunteer project that was led by you? If you can refer to a tangible project or effort that you have done either in school, in a volunteer position, or at work, that helps show people what you’re capable of. Sort of the same principle for cover letters. I tried to also make my answers personal and have a narrative too, so my responses wouldn’t be cookie-cutter or incredibly dry.

Reflect on your lifetime experiences. For questions about your own leadership philosophy, you might want to think about what inspires you to be a leader. I have very limited leadership experience in the workplace. I’ve never been a manager or a supervisor, so I had to really reflect on my past experiences to craft my own philosophy of leadership. Prompts that helped me were: what did I think was inspiring in my favorite bosses? what did they do that I would want to emulate in my own leadership? what inspires me to work harder for someone? If you’re not sure of what your philosophy is, reflect on what you think a good leader is and hopefully that’ll get you on the right track on crafting your own philosophy.

Ask good people to be your references. I would not skimp on who you ask to be your reference. I asked someone who has worked with me at my workplace on many projects to be a reference. I also asked a librarian who was a chair of a NMRT committee that I was on, who also was a past Emerging Leader to write me a letter. Both of them are people that I also look up to, so it meant a lot to me that they were willing to recommend me for the program. Consider asking people who can really speak to your leadership potential.

Highlight unique skills. Are you a programmer? Are you a kick-ass project manager? Are you really good at throwing parties? Whatever your unique skills may be, you should absolutely highlight them. This program is about group work (whether you like it or not), so if you can make a point of what great things you can bring to the table, you should!

Get a cheerleader! Bryce wrote a really great blog post on writing an Emerging Leader application and one of her tips was get someone to cheer you on throughout the process. Bryce was my cheerleader! She emailed me a lot of GIFs when the announcements came out. Related to this, reaching out to others who have done the EL program is a good way to figure out if this is something you want to do, and get advice.

For those who are applying to the EL Program, I wish you all the best application writing. You can consider me your cheerleader.

Additional articles/interviews that might yield more information and advice:

• Emerging projects: My experience as an ALA Emerging Leader
• Spotlight on Raymond Pun: An Emerging Leader
• Spotlight on Monee Tong: An Emerging Leader
• Spotlight on Annie Pho: An Emerging Leader
• Spotlight on Ariana Sani Hussain: An Emerging Leader
• So You Want to be an Emerging Leader
• Emerging Leaders and Professional Development

 

Introducing the New hacklibraryschool.com: A Love Letter to Our Readers

Originally posted on HLS:
Dear hackers, Well, we did a little spring cleaning, and we are delighted to welcome you to the new and improved hacklibraryschool.com! Since the Fall of 2010, Hack Library School has grown by leaps and bounds,…

Research as a Conversation and Feminist Pedagogy

A couple weeks ago, I taught an instruction session for a gender and women studies and Latin American/Latin@ class that was focused on Chicana feminists and testimonios. I found the structure and topic of the class fascinating because instead of …

Integrating Feminist Pedagogy into Library Instruction

“What was your first feminist experience?” This question was first posed to me as an ACRL conference session attendee, where I saw Maria Accardi, Emily Drabinski and Alana Kumbier present Imagining the Future of Library Instruction: How Feminist Pedagogy Can Transform the Way You Teach and How Students Learn. Going in, I did not know much about what feminist pedagogy was but as I learned about it, I saw very practical ways in which I could incorporate this approach to my own instruction sessions. Currently, I am enrolled in a Feminist Pedagogy class taught by Maria Accardi and really enjoying it so far.  The class has been reading her book Feminist Pedagogy For Library Instruction, where Accardi weaves in personal narrative, theory, and practical examples.

Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction by Maria Accardi

For those who want a definition of what feminist pedagogy is, Accardi discusses in her book that there is no clear definition. However, there are several themes that run through the feminist pedagogy literature, like “classroom as a collaborative, democratic, transformative site; consciousness raising about sexism and oppression; and the value of personal testimony and lived experience as valid ways of knowing.” (pg. 35) Tying it into library instruction, she gives examples of using active learning, group work, and the example of using search examples that highlight social injustices to students. For example, using the search terms “women in engineering” will show results that include articles that discuss the difficulties women face in those fields (p. 37).

Reading through the book, I was reminded of a time when a student approached the reference desk and asked me to help her find books about homosexuality. She said she didn’t know how she “felt about it” and wanted some information that would perhaps sway her to think that it was either right or wrong. As an LGBT ally, I found her objective information about the LGBT community and encouraged her to base her opinions on the research, not just what an authority figure would tell her to think. Accardi mentions that feminism is concerned with not just sexism, but other social justice issues as well. I think many people can relate to being in a situation like the one I described. I was taught in my reference class that the reference librarian is supposed to be neutral, and not interject my own personal beliefs in my transactions, but from reading Accardi’s book, I am beginning to think that it’s more important to encourage students to be critical thinkers. While I can’t outright tell a student, I don’t agree with their opinion, I can help them find information and encourage them to consider all of the viewpoints.

Last week, I incorporated feminist pedagogy into a few of my library instruction sessions. The classes were for a first year english composition course, where their research focus was on sanitation and sewage. I had taken for granted that people even did research on sewage. I was wondering how I would approach this class at all, and how would I make it feminist? In a one-shot session, there’s always pressure to impart all everything you can to make sure the students leave with solid research skills. Realistically, they are overwhelmed and can’t absorb everything you tell them. As discussed earlier, feminist pedagogy values collaboration and active learning; which helps to engage the students so that they will hopefully remember more. With that in mind, I started off the session with having the class brainstorm keywords related to a research question. My example question was “how does gender impact bathroom designs?” This question was trying to get students to consider how gender does change bathroom design.

Then, I had the students break up into groups to work on a topic development exercise. My department has been experimenting with Google Forms for assessment. In the past, students have tended to fill out these forms individually; but in these sessions I asked that the groups designate one person to be the typist, and the others to help brainstorm and research. I noticed that the students were really engaged right away. I think getting them to talk to each other about the topic, helped them brainstorm, and also explore library resources to help them build on their vocabulary. After they finished up, I showed them the backend of the form, and used some of their examples to demonstrate looking for articles on their research topics.

An example of what these Google Forms look like.

What exactly about this activity is feminist? In Accardi’s book, she details how feminist library classroom use activities that encourage collaboration and group work, use examples that highlight social injustice, talk about synonyms can show how certain terms fail to describe marginalized groups. I think many people may find that they already do these things in their own instruction, which makes it much easier for librarians to incorporate feminist pedagogy into the classroom. I could probably ramble on and on about this, so I just highly recommend reading the book. It’s not too long, has tons of information, practical examples, and has transformed the way that I approach my own instruction. Accardi really makes the best argument for feminist pedagogy when she says:

…the marginal status of librarians gives us more freedom to experiment with our pedagogy than regular teaching faculty have, especially if we are not bound by the strictures of the credit-bearing information literacy course. While the one-shot class has its own set of challenges, it also has more flexibility that progressive librarians can take advantage of and subvert for progressive purposes. (p.69)

You can buy her book on Amazon, read Nicole Pagowsky’s post, and find out more about feminist pedagogy here.

[Semi-formally citing: Accardi, M. T. (2013). Feminist pedagogy for library instruction. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press.]

Gamification and Digital Badges

ALA Annual is almost here. I’m happy to report that I will be presenting on a panel titled What you need to know about gamifying your library with a lot of talented people. I will also be co-moderating a session on digital badges called Achievement unlocked: Motivating and assessing user learning with digital badges with Nicole Pagowsky and Young Lee. As a big fan of playing video games and having fun, I’m really happy to see so much interest in the idea of game-based learning in the library world, and also in the world of education.

Many people have been throwing the word “gamification” around which basically is defined as using game design elements or game based mechanics in a non-game context. The term itself elicits a variety of responses in people, from excitement and curiosity to confusion or eye-rolling at “just another fad”–you get the point. Additionally, some game developers have ambivalence towards this term. It’s not enough to just assign badges or points to some mindless activity, you must make your engagement with the user meaningful for gamification to be effective. Also, some people make games for a living and find the term gamification to be a sleazy, shallow marketing term to sell products that aren’t necessarily well designed.  For further reading, check out Gabe Zichermann’s article, Gamification has issues, but they aren’t the ones everyone focuses on, for a thoughtful break down of the arguments against gamification.

The reason why I’m even mentioning all this is because a few of the panelists on the gamification panel will also be talking about digital badges. Mozilla sums up badges as “an online representation of a skill you’ve earned.” People can earn badges by completing tasks online or in person, and display them in a social space so others can see what they’ve earned. Digital badges tend to get thrown into the mix of gamifying stuff, but that can be misleading because it doesn’t automatically turn your activities into a game. It’s just a small piece of the larger part of the engagement process that you are undertaking with your target audience. For example, Mozilla recently rolled out their Open Badges project, with plans to incorporate them into a web literacy standard which aims to teach people how to create web content. People can earn badges as they complete projects that teach them html and css. Pretty neat right?

If you are interested in the nitty gritty details of how libraries are using digital badges, the instructional design, how to get the tech set up, or have a project you want to share, you should come to the digital badge session on Sunday, June 30, 2013 – 9:15am to 10:00am in Room S102d. We’re looking forward to hearing from others who are working on digital badge systems or just want to learn more about it.

As a proponent of active learning, I highly suggest you check out the Open Badges tutorial on Earning Your First Badge, and set up an account on the Mozilla Backpack which serves as the display board for all the digital badges you will end up earning. Hint: you could earn a badge at the session, come and find out how! If you can’t make it to ALA or to the digital badge session, you can follow the conversation on twitter with the hashtag #ALABadge.

Want to learn more about libraries and games? Check out:

• LITA Game Making Interest Group – To discuss and promote game making within the LITA community.
• The Level Up Book Club – A book club that is focused on gamification.
• Keeping Up With Gamification by Bohyun Kim

Why I Bike

Riding your bike is fun, slightly dangerous sometimes, and good for the environment. In about a month, I’m going to take my first trip abroad to Amsterdam. From there, I’ll be participating in Cycling for Libraries where we’ll be riding bikes from Amsterdam to Brussels, stopping at libraries along the way. I am beyond stoked. We’ll also be stopping in Brugge for a day!

Ha! I couldn’t resist.

Cycling, seeing libraries, talking about libraries, and hanging out with 99 other library people sounds like a great vacation to me. In order to prepare, I’ve been riding my bike to work. I find it’s a lot easier to incorporate physical activity into my everyday life because I am lazy and wouldn’t do it otherwise.

As I commute to work on my bike, I’ve been reflecting on what I really enjoy about it. First, I value the quiet time that I get on the way to work. It’s just me and the road (and a bunch of cars), I get to think my thoughts and just be outside for awhile. The fresh air is nice before sitting in a freezing cold library all day. Is it the golden rule of all libraries to be freezing? Seems that way. Second, I get to work a lot faster on bike than on bus. Hard to beat that. Third, it’s just good for me physically and mentally. I feel a lot better by the end of the day. I’m sure the endorphins help.

It took me a while to acclimate to cycling in Chicago. I grew up in a mid-sized town in CA, where people really like cycling a lot. There are lots of bike lanes and not so many buses and cars. Chicago is a big city, I never saw myself as an urban cyclist, still don’t really. I rode my bike downtown once and was terrified of being run over by a double-decker tour bus. However, I just had to practice being on the road and remember that the same road rules apply here as they did in that mid-sized town. I’m doing okay! Now to practice riding with a large group…

I hope to have more updates as I venture on my trip. If anyone has tips on touring, riding in large groups, or places to check out in Amsterdam, I’m all ears.

Eating Gluten Free in Indy

It’s the Hoosier state! What’s a Hoosier? No one knows.

I went to grad school and lived in Indianapolis for a couple of years. I’m actually excited to be going back next week for ACRL 2013. I’ve made many friends in the area, and of course I am looking forward to seeing many of my librarian colleagues from around the country. There’s no shortage of guides of things to do or see in Indy. For a quick peek check out Meagan’s guide to Circle City Eats, Willie and Rhonda’s guide to shops, and John’s guide to walking and bike trails.

I’m going to put myself in the shoes of a conference attendee who probably won’t have access to a car, needs to find places to eat near the conference center, and wants gluten free options. Just so you know, there are a lot of chain restaurants in downtown Indy. For more unique and local fare, you’d probably have to leave the downtown area. However, if you’re starving and without a car, you can’t be picky. You just eat where you can that’s close enough and has options for your needs. I feel you, and I’m here to help. I also highly recommend following the Indy Food Truck Twitter, especially their list of all the food trucks in Indy. You can see who’s going to be downtown and where. It’s a great resource. On to the list:

Restaurants

India Garden – Meagan mentions this place in her guide. I just called them to ask about their gluten free options and they said that they did have them, then promptly hung up on me. Lots of vegetarian options too! It’s a buffet, the service is okay, and I’m totally going to eat there at least once. In general, I just avoid naan and deep fried stuff there. They do list ingredients on the dishes which is helpful.

Yat’s – If you are up for a little walk, this place has quick, good food. The gluten free options are the white chili chicken, and some bean and sausage dish. You can always ask, and make sure to tell them to leave the bread off your plate.

Scotty’s Brewpub – It’s a local chain, with burgers, beers, and a gluten free menu. Pretty good, I would recommend this place to anyone who is thirsty and wants something filling to eat. They’re really accommodating with the gf stuff.

Ram Brewery – They also have a gluten-free menu. The HackLibSchool meet-up is here on Friday April 12 from 7pm-? The food is okay, but it’s a big place that can hold large groups. Good for group dinners and meet ups.

PF Changs – Chinese-ish food that has gluten free options.

Chick-fil-a (in the Circle Center Mall) – Okay, I know, controversial; but they have gluten free choices. Generally speaking, the mall food court has a lot of fast food options. Not saying I recommend that everyone eat at the mall, or at a corporation that supports hate groups, but it is an option. Do what you will, I’m not judging.

Weber Grill – I’ve never eaten here, but here’s a gluten free menu.

Duo’s Food Truck – Vegan and gluten free options! The cafeteria is not so close to the convention center (it’s a short drive away), but they have a food truck that does come downtown. Follow their twitter feed to see where they’ll be.

Caveman Food Truck – For you paleo and gluten free folks, I present this meat truck. From their site, “Caveman Truck  is one of the first paleo / primal food truck concepts in the nation.” Ron Swanson approved (probably). Follow them on twitter too!

How about a drink with egg whites?

You guys don’t need help with where to drink, but I’m also going to give a shout out to The Libertine. Good, strong drinks. The cure for what ails you. Plus, all the bartenders look like the cast of Newsies, minus Christian Bale. Not bad right?

Visiting Indiana is not about being hungry. I hope this helps those who are gluten free, or just want to know what’s available to them. If anyone is going to be at ACRL next Tuesday (4/9) and is going to be at the convention center, I’ll be at the info desk, ready to provide tips on places to go. Stop by and say hi!

Voting on ALA’s Dues Increase Proposal: Yes or No?

There’s been plenty of buzz around libraryland about the ALA elections in the past couple of months. Yesterday, I finally got my ballot and have given much thought as to who I wanted to vote for, for ALA President (Go Courtney!) and also ALA Councillors At Large (another debate on the number of At-Large Councillors rages somewhere on Facebook). When I opened up the ballot to vote, the first proposal made me pause. It says:

“MEMBERS’ ATTENTION IS ALSO CALLED TO THE QUESTION OF A DUES ADJUSTMENT. YOUR VOTE IS REQUESTED BELOW:

Should ALA establish a five-year personal dues adjustment mechanism not to exceed the percentage change in the national average Consumer Price Index (CPI) beginning in September 2013 running through September 2017?”

After doing some close reading, I believe this is a vote on the process of how the ALA  executive board reviews membership dues. If the amount were to be above the CPI average, then Council would vote on it, as well as membership. Increase in dues is inevitable, so right now we are voting on the process of how it’s done (correct me if I read this wrong).

I tweeted my question to get input from the public and got a huge variety of responses about this potential “personal dues adjustment”. Typically, the knee-jerk reaction to anything that talks about a dues increase is to vote no, but I wanted to hear from others on how they felt. I’ll try my best to sum up the different points that people made.

How would that money be used?

Someone had commented that as much as ALA has tried to do for the profession, it was the staff that bore the brunt of the burden. The ALA staff are pretty great, and the people I’ve worked with directly from ALA have been so supportive of the work that we do as librarians. I really value that and an increase might allow them to do more. To help justify this, the proposal states “This dues adjustment mechanism will allow ALA to augment valuable work on its many ALA 2015 strategic initiatives including library advocacy, federal legislation, intellectual freedom, diversity, digital content, community engagement, online continuing education, and member engagement..”

Can the average librarian afford that?

My initial concern of tying due increases to CPI, is that the CPI may not accurately reflect increases in a librarian’s salary. I had a lively discussion with fellow librarians about the benefits and disadvantages of this. One benefit is that the increases would be fairly low amounts, maybe a few dollars a year over the next five years, instead of a large jump all at once. The dues are also tied to CPI, vs. an arbitrary number which makes the amount in increase tied to a realistic standard of living.

But I also heard anecdotes about how rare it was for a librarian to get a raise, or even find an entry-level job; which makes it harder for people to vote yes on something like this. Eric Phetteplace found some statistics from the Current Population Survey which he put in a google doc. Why the sudden 13% increase in salary from 2011-2012? No one could really tell. Is that accurate? The data says one thing, but people are saying they haven’t gotten raises in a long time. The cost of ALA currently is already a strain on some people, so an increase of any kind causes more financial stress.

Increasing dues would turn away new and current members

ALA needs membership to function. We make up many of the committees through ALA, we pay for conferences, workshops, classes, and membership. If there weren’t people, ALA wouldn’t exist. An increase could turn new members and current members away. Many questioned if they get enough in return for what they pay.

Why even be a member of ALA?

Several people mentioned to me that they have dropped membership completely because they felt that they didn’t get enough in return. Some are working outside of the field, and so they don’t see how being a member would help them. Others are questioning their own involvement in the organization. How much is participating in committee work really going to benefit their home institution or even ALA? Can someone benefit from the networking aspects of conferences without actually being an ALA member? These are all valid questions, some I have even asked myself as a newer librarian.

The question of why someone should belong to ALA, really translates to the value ALA has for our profession. ALA will continue its work as long as it has members. Abby Johnson wrote a great post called “ALA is Not Your Mom” a couple years ago and I think it’s still relevant as discussions around this ballot proposal arise. Getting involved helps the organization to change, but I think it’s hard to even see what difference one committee member can make sometimes. ALA is a big organization, any change that one person can try to make can take a long time. Sometimes, we just don’t have that time.

My Thoughts

I do see value in the work that ALA does for librarianship. They represent our issues on a national level and hopefully stand up for our work. I know that I’ve had a few opportunities that have helped to advance my career, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of ALA. For example, last year I was able to propose and moderate a Conversation Starter at the ALA Annual Conference. Having any opportunity to present your work on a national level is pretty great for your career in my book. Also, Jenny Levine and Tina Coleman at ALA has been very supportive of the Hack Library School blog, and has worked with us on hosting events at conferences, and helping us promote things. Seriously, that means a lot to have people who care about your projects and want to help you spread the word.

The reason why I ask these questions is because not everyone has an employer who provides financial support for professional development. I’m actually very, very lucky that my work does support this, so voting yes wouldn’t hurt my pocket as much personally, but I empathize with those who pay for membership themselves. It’s not cheap once you start adding in other divisions and round tables. We all come from different libraries with different working environments. Being involved is going to mean different things to people.

I’m obviously flip flopping between this issue, although after doing much thinking, I’m going to vote yes. However, I’d be interested to hear what others think of this ballot proposal. Did you vote on it? Are you even a member?

Further reading:

ALA Council approves dues adjustment proposal