Why I Support EveryLibrary

In all of your deliberations in the Confederate Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official acts, self-interest shall be cast into oblivion. Cast not over your shoulder behind you the warnings of the nephews and nieces should they chide you for any error or wrong you may do, but return to the way of the Great Law which is just and right. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground – the unborn of the future Nation. 

- Great Law of the Iroquois

As an undergraduate taking environmental studies classes, the notion put forth by the Iroquois that all decisions should be made in consideration of how they will impact the community seven generations down the road was an idea that quickly influenced my ideology. I first came across it in terms of making sustainable choices, but I feel that it is an idea that can be applied to a lot of choices - especially political ones. I think that is where my frustration with Presidential Elections comes from. They always seem short sighted. National conversations appear to focus on why problems aren't fixed right away (it's going to take more than four years to bounce back from the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression) instead of the long term effects of political decisions made by our leaders (I often feel that a president's greatest power is in appointing Supreme Court Justices - who serve for life).

In the spirit of thinking of generations to come, this election season I am really throwing my support behind a brand new Political Action Committee called EveryLibrary.

Founded by John Chrastka, EveryLibrary is a national organization with the mission of building financial and tactical support to ensure that local library initiatives pass at the ballot box.

EveryLibrary will not fund any candidate for office at any level of government, nor will it work on Capitol Hill or at the State Capitols. It is focused exclusively on helping the local library secure the funding it needs when there is a tax or referendum on the local ballot. Here is a list of libraries that are currently on the ballot.

EveryLibrary will :

• Assist libraries in both the pre-filing and campaign stages of an initiative.
• Provide strategic consulting services, voter segmentation advice, and assistance in developing ballot language.
• Conduct feasibility studies and assist in setting up a local committee or PAC.
• Develop a fundraising strategy for a local committee or PAC.
• Train volunteers in voter education and get-out-the-vote techniques.

During the run of a campaign, EveryLibrary can:

• Continue technical and capacity-building consultancy.
• Provide direct financial support to the local committee or PAC in seed-stage or sustaining levels of support.
• Conduct direct voter education and get-out-the-vote efforts.

EveryLibrary is currently attempting to raise $50,000 by election day. This money will be used to: (A) Fundraise nationally to transfer "seed money" to local ballot committees and PACs; (B) Hire great campaign consultants to make sure we do voter outreach and education right; and (C) Fund full time staff to keep the PAC engine growing for future success.

In an attempt to meet this goal, John Chrastka has challenged each state to raise $1,000 by November 6th. 

I decided to volunteer to help Oregon raise money for EveryLibrary, because I believe that ensuring that libraries stay open and operation is a solid step towards creating a sustainable future for future generations. 

So now I am asking you to also step up, in consideration for future libraries users, and throw in $5 or $10 or however much you are willing to give towards this excellent cause by donating here: http://tinyurl.com/OR4ELPAC

Leading up to November 7th - I know that we are facing what seem like enormous decisions on local and national ballots. But I am putting my faith into EveryLibrary, and I hope that you will too. 

If you would like to read more about EveryLibrary or follow along with its progress, here is a list of links worth following:  

EveryLibrary Blog
EveryLibrary Twitter
EveryLibrary Tumblr
EveryLibrary Facebook
Oregon for EveryLibrary Twitter
Oregon for EveryLibrary Facebook
Library Journal article about EveryLibrary 
Hack Library School post about EveryLibrary  
American Libraries' Interview with John Chrastka

An open letter to Judy Blume

Are you there, Judy? It's me, Turner....

Dear Ms. Blume,

I am a big fan - on many levels. Born in the early 80s, I grew up with your books. They were in my home, in my classrooms and in my public and school libraries. As a child, the covers of your books were comforting. I especially loved the Fudge Series. They helped me recognize that no family was perfect and that relationships between brothers can be difficult, but are still built on love. Important lessons for a ten year old boy.

I will be honest - between middle school and graduate school, I did not think of you or your books that often. But I continued to be an avid reader. You slipped back into my life in 2008 - when I was working at a bookstore and saw that you wrote the introduction to that year’s Best American Nonrequired Reading (I especially loved your pirate photo).  Rediscovering you prepared me for learning of your rock-star status when I entered library school in 2009. Librarians LOVE you - as we should. You have been on the forefront of the fight against censorship and you deserve every award and accolade you have received.

Last week, when it was announced that 13 of your titles are going to be released as ebooks, I felt compelled to write you. As someone who rides public transportation, I am a fan of ereaders. I also believe that offering the opportunity to read in a variety of formats is a good thing - what K. G. Schneider describes as a reading ecology. That said, the way publishers provide ebooks to libraries is causing me anxiety. Especially Random House, who appear to be raising some prices as much as 300%. These prices will take a large bite out of library’s budgets and might hinder our ability to provide an expansive collection to our community members. Some librarians are already thinking of alternative uses for their ebook budget.

I know that Random House is your publisher, and you never want to bite the hand that feeds you. But you are also a champion of libraries, and this is a battle that we are currently fighting.  Even halfway through this letter, I am not sure of my intentions. Ideally, I would love for you to come to our aide - this is a fight that is going to depend on the participation of librarians, readers and authors alike. But I know that defying your publisher in anyway is a dangerous move. I guess I would just like you to be aware of the predicament that we are in. I hope through the technological advancements of retweeting and reposting you might see this letter (I did mail this letter to you through you publisher, but I’ll be surprised if it gets to you...).

Thank you. For all that you already have done. In the past forty years you have influenced American culture and inspired many librarians (including this one) to fight the good fight. Whether or not this letter has an effect, know that you are still a hero. And the battle rages on....

Sincerely,

J. Turner Masland

Scrappers and hustlers: just what the library needs

This is the fourth post in a series celebrating National Library Week

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of librarianship is looking towards the future. Certainly no small feat, but librarians accomplish it in a manner of ways.

The most concrete example is youth and young adult librarianship. Supporting literacy at an early age is an essential aspect of making sure that we have healthy and successful communities in the future. I tip my hats to young adult librarians - I think the work they do is phenomenal and I don't think they often receive the credit they deserve. There are certainly some great future children librarians in my MLIS cohort, you can check out their blogs here and here and here.

I think librarians also look to the future by being on the pulse of tomorrow's evolution of information technology, understanding the importance of knowing how future patrons are going to consume and disseminate knowledge. It is a messy task, and not always well implemented. In many ways librarians were at first slow to embrace technological changes - but the newest generation of librarians will be sure not to repeat the same mistake.

I think the biggest task librarians have in front of us is making sure there even are libraries in the future. The infographic over at archives.com sums up the situation nicely.

I could go off on how we need effective advocacy, marketing, campaigning, blah blah blah blah. But we talk about that enough. While we are in a dire situation in terms of funding and support, I think the industry is going to be just fine: we have a new generation of library student who are already starting things off on the right foot.

Those of us who are a bit younger have been raised with technology that laid the ground work for the changes we are seeing today (The first time I went online was the third grade). We are used to change to the point that we embrace it. I've been using my google reader for a few years now, and it is starting to feel outdated. I'm ready for whatever is next.

And we are enrolled in Library and Information Science programs now, when things seem pretty bleak. We are graduating as scrappers. Knowing that we have to fight for the services, resources and money we want in our libraries. We're even fighting pretty hard just for jobs. We know how to hustle and we'll put these skills to use as we take over the industry.

To give it a really bad and cheesy science fiction analogy - we are the Fremen of Library Science. Raised in the harsh conditions of the desert planet Arakkis, we will be the ultimate fighters. Instead of fighting for control of the spice and thus control of the universe, we'll be figthing for universal access to information. Which is kind of the same thing, now that I think about it....

...bringing this blog back to reality, here are some of the library student's blogs that have raised my hope for the future:

Reference to the Rescue

I found myself in the library

Cat Lady Librarian

Magpie Librarian

Hack Library School

...I know there are many more out there - what are the blogs/librarians you follow that are giving you hope for the future??

photo credit: New York Public Library, 1938, via The Commons

The sky is falling

Alright, after last week's post about keeping things brief, I'm going to eat my words and go off on a bit of a rant.

Sometimes I wonder if librarians are their own worst enemy. There, I said it.

The above image - from PostSecret, a collaborative art project where total strangers mail in post cards with their secrets on them - illustrates beautifully where I am coming from.

We get it - the economy sucks and the sucky economy is screwing over libraries left and right. We've talked about this for ages now. Can we please move on?

It's really frustrating as a library student to be hearing the same thing over and over again: libraries aren't hiring, librarians aren't retiring, budgets are getting cut, folks are getting laid off, branches are closing, rah rah rah rah rah....

It seems like most librarians, library workers and fellow students I come across - both in person and (mostly) online - are broken records, stuck in the "woe is us" mentality.

I - the naive library student - say enough is enough! We've gone through the cathartic bellyaching phase and now is the roll-up-our-sleeves and work harder phase. It doesn't sound like fun, but I think it's what we've got to do.

Personally, I am a little nervous about what my job prospects will be like when I graduate in a year, but I've been hustling, and I'm willing to hustle a little more when school is over. I'll do what it takes to get a personally satisfying job. I'm well aware that I am going to leave Portland - an amazing city that has been my home for four years now. There is a strong reality that I'll have to live in a much less glamorous part of the county. Maybe even Kansas.

Except for who we vote for and what we choose to do with our money, we have very little control over the state of the economy. So let's try and focus on what we do have control over: ourselves. What can we do to stop library closings? Advocate, advocate, advocate. One of the things that most attracted me to the idea of becoming a librarian/information professional was the activism that seemed to go hand in hand with the position. Librarians fight for the right of the patron, for the privacy of the patron, for the access of the patron. Well - now is the time to fight for ourselves!

Here is a great link to librarian.net, with a list of single-link library advocacy sites.

And here is link to contact your elected representatives to ensure that libraries get in on the Jobs for Main Street Act.

What else can we do? Accept change. I feel like a lot of the hand wringing that librarians are doing is not only over the state of the economy, but also the fact that libraries are quickly changing. Well - if we want to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our communities, we are going to have to change. The mission of a library - from my prospective - is to connect an individual with information. If the format of the information is changing, than the format of the library will change too.

I don't intend to sound insensitive to the very real fears people are experiencing out there - although I am sure that I am coming off that way. For those who have been laid off or lost jobs - I'm sorry. Bad things happen to really really good people. I wish you the best and hope you are quickly on your feet.

I know I am in a very lucky position - I'm a young student without a family, mortgage, car, pets. I'm highly mobile and I have grown up using the technology that libraries now employ. But these are my skills and attributes that I have to take advantage of. This is something that we all should do, especially in this day and age of volatility, look at what we bring to the table and how to use those skills to our advantage.

I write all of this after attending a quarterly staff meeting at the library where I work - and while it was pretty mundane, it was also pretty exciting as well. The library where I work - before I started working here nine months ago - has gone through a lot of the same troubles that most libraries have gonethrough. Between lay offs, retirements and hiring freezes the staff here is half to a third of what it was before this great recession.

Yet here we are today still working - albeit a bit harder. Not only are we surviving, but we are thriving. The amazing library staff is working on building the resources for a mobile library, we are opening up a 24 hour study space for the students, we are outreaching to the different academic departments and schools within the university and applying for competitive grants to secure our funding into the future. And with the wage/hire freeze lifted - there is hope for more job opportunities.

What I guess it all boils down to - for me (this is my blog so I'm allowed a bit of selfishness) - is that I am the future and this is my reality. In a way, I am glad to have entered library school in 2009 - it means that I am a blank slate. I don't know what it was like when budgets were flush and things were easier. I am cutting my teeth when the industry is facing some of it's worst challenges than ever before. And I'm going to be a better librarian for it.

Let me know what you think. Am I too harsh? Too idealistic? Too Unrealistic? I would love to read your thoughts...

A post for my fellow Oregonians...

Bare with me, as I indulge in another political rant....

Hopefully the readers of this blog who live in Oregon realize that a special election is right around the corner. We have an opportunity to vote on two measures, 66 and 67, that will effectively change the state's tax structure. Without going into too much detail, and on the verge of way oversimplifying things, it will essentially mean that those over a very high income level will pay more than those under it, as well as some changes to corporate tax structure.

For more information, and a better explanation of the measures, check out the League of Women Voters and the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

On that note, I think I'll step up to the soap box and encourage you all to vote yes on these measures. From what I have gathered, it seems that only 3% of Oregonians are going to see an increase on their personal income taxes, and if you are a business owner, unless you declare tens of millions of dollars in profits (or more) there will not be much of a change either (about $150 dollars more a year).

However, there will be some major benefits from these minor changes. Namely, many public services that have seen drastic budget cuts (such as public education and public health care) will see more funding flow their way....including libraries!!

Basically, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be directed to the Ready to Read Program (which has helped tens of thousands of Oregon children access books since the program started in 1993), the summer reading program, and the State Library (which, among many other things, currently circulates the state's Braille collection).

One example of the importance of these measures: without the potential funding, the Ready to Read program could be outright cut. It'd be like taking books away from children....That would suck.

No one likes ignorant children.

Measure 66 and 67 are essential for supporting important public services as we weather this recession. So please, if you're an Oregon voter, vote yes. If you haven't registered to vote yet, click here and register, and again - VOTE YES ON MEASURE 66 AND 67 ON JANUARY 26th!!