Jul 30
SarahDispatches from Maria and Sarah, Programs of Interest
Photographer Joey O’Loughlin makes beautiful pictures supporting “humanitarian and educational efforts in the US and around the world,” and her current project highlights the patrons of Brooklyn Public Library.
So, we’re looking at you, BPL librarians. Who are the patrons who live for your book recommendations? Who knows what they want before you could ever offer a suggestion? Who reads the newspaper every morning, and who brings their kids every afternoon? Who are the colorful characters who use the library for inspiration in their endeavors, from tattoo art to law school applications?
Joey wants to take their pictures. Because as people increasingly ask the question “are libraries necessary, or a waste of tax dollars?,” Joey knows the answer. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a picture maker’s words are worth a thousand from a blogger, so see what Joey has to say, and contact her at joeyol@mac.com if you have a patron to suggest.
Who Are You?
You walk through these doors once a week, once a month, once in awhile. You are looking for information, education, or inspiration. You need a good read, a quiet place to work, or a gathering of like minds to consider art, or history, or the state of the world. You find it here at the Brooklyn Public Library and it makes the quality of your life a little bit better.
Where are you going?
When you leave, you take the BPL experience with you. The bestseller you checked out is read on the subway or in the park or as you drift off to sleep at night. The research you did here gets you an “A” in class or a book deal! The English course you took at BPL allows you to communicate better with the people in your neighborhood and at work. Your library experience grows exponentially as you share it with your family, friends, and community.
Will you share with us?
BPL has always been there for you, but right now, it is facing serious budget cuts that mean reduced hours, staffing, and services. Now the Library needs your help. One way to preserve funding is to remind the decision makers that the BPL is more than a line item in a budget. It represents shared experience and a quality of life enjoyed by thousands of people here every day.
I am a photojournalist working with the BPL to collect the stories and images of Brooklynites who love the library. I would like to photograph you in your home, or on your block, to capture the faces and places that reflect Brooklyn now, and represent the lives what will be changed by more drastic budget cuts. I want
to hear about your experience with the library and what it means to you. The stories may be used on the BPL website, and to help the BPL advocate for better funding. The portfolio of over 100 portraits will humanize the impact of budget cuts and will also provide a snapshot of who uses the BPL in 2010, and why.
This is your chance to stand up for the library you love.
Please talk to your librarian if you are interested. And feel free to check out my website www.joeyoloughlin.com.
Jul 28
AbbyFrom Our Guest Bloggers
By: Abby Moynahan abbymoynahan@gmail.com
As July comes to a close, and August quickly approaches, I find myself mentally preparing for the year to come. I realize there are still a few weeks left of summer vacation but let’s face it, time goes by fast this time of year. I can’t help but think about how the year is going to hold extra challenges but also how excited I am to get back to what I love to do.
Although I have enjoyed every moment of my summer vacation (from gardening to welcoming a new baby nephew into the world) I am ready to get back into the swing of things.
I have been so focused on our new enrichment program that thoughts about both of my library programs have been pushed aside. I am feeling that our enrichment program is coming together nicely and I can now begin to think about how to expand my library program and make it stronger.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that my school gets new laptops. If so, then I will be able to have computer access in my library! The thought of this gets me incredibly eager for the coming year. If I am lucky enough to have computers in the library there are many projects I will be doing with my students. Here are just some of my goals:
*Sixth graders will create current event podcasts supporting classroom curriculum
*Fifth graders will create “Did You Know?” podcasts about the library including interesting facts about authors and favorite books
*Fourth graders will post book reviews on the OPAC and practice using Photo Story and Movie Maker
*Third graders will use Google Suite
*Second graders will make a short video about how to use the library
Courtesy of Creative Commons
Some might say these are lofty goals for a library media center that is lacking in the media department. I say it can happen! The students love coming to the library and are always looking for the next challenge. My students will need to work very hard to accomplish these goals because of all of the other challenges we face in a school day. However, if I introduce them to the many projects they are capable of accomplishing I feel that it will keep them focused and energized about this type of literacy.
As I write ideas continue to flow! I look forward to having another year under my belt as a library media specialist. I feel like it just keeps getting better despite the challenges I am faced with on a daily basis. I hope the students are getting as excited as I am about the new year (talk about lofty!).
Thank you Desk Set for letting my voice be heard!
Jul 23
SarahBibliobeat
Do this Right Thing : Tonight!
This heat wave just won’t quit, and Brooklyn feels steamy, lazy, and increasingly ticked off. Can’t help but think about Spike Lee’s ah-MAY-zing Do The Right Thing, and I’m thrilled to report that Books Through Bars is screening the film tonight at Freebird Books. Great cause, great film, great idea.
And, speaking of the 80s…
Our favorite rock journalist and Desk Set friend, Rob Sheffield, just published his second book : Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut. Each chapter showcases a different song from the 80s, and a different moment in Rob’s coming-of-age. Unless you’re either made of stone, or under 20, you’ll love the moments when your own 80s musical history overlaps with Rob’s – and seeing as he was listening to everything from The Smiths to Big Daddy Kane, it will – and his funny, sweet narrative will just make you want to have a beer with him. Luckily, Rob is often found at Enid’s, and as the world’s nicest man, he will probably take you up on that.
Listen to Rob’s interview with Leonord Lopate on WNYC.
Dancing in the Stacks
Well, not the stacks exactly, but the stairs near them. There are three more chances to catch the live swing music and dancing at the Central Branch of Brooklyn Public Library. Show up at 6:30, and learn a few steps. Then stick around and dance the evening away.
Plaza Swing Series
Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch
Thursday July 29, August 5, August 12
6:30 pm
Free!
More Info
And, finally …
Seems like there’s a trend sweeping the librarians of the nation at the moment, and it involves singing about your profession. Here’s the latest example. If you’re an archivist, you’re O.K., and you just might find this amusing. (Thanks to lyricist and archivist David Kay for the tip!)
No, wait: there’s more
Check out this terrific interview with Gabriel Levinson, founder of the Book Bike project, a Chicago based library on wheels. Levinson talks about his project, his opinions on libraries, ebooks, book books, and some a-hole’s piece on Fox News.
Jul 21
AbbyFrom Our Guest Bloggers
By: Abby Moynahan
In the past week the library department has been working diligently on the new enrichment program for the district. As my previous blog post noted, there have been many questions and concerns as we unpack the idea of this new program. When we began this project I anticipated more challenges than I can currently foresee. My biggest concern thus far has been the issue of technology access. The program will need to have access to computers in a three hour block of time one day a week. How will an already tight computer lab schedule allow for this kind of access? *Note: My library currently has no computers hence the reason the computer lab is my only option.
This leads me to thinking about the bigger issues at hand. How do we expect students to gain the necessary 21st century skills without adequate access to technology? How can I grow my library program with no computers in the library and limited access to the computer lab? How will schools continue to update technology without proper funding? What does all of this mean for our students?
The computer lab at Seward Montessori School in Minneapolis, MN (Thank you Creative Commons!)
It is no secret that students around the country are not getting the essential technology access to prepare them for the rest of their educational careers. Many computer lab and library media center class schedules look similar; 45 minute blocks of time for each group every week. But what happens to that 45 minutes when you are dealing with ancient computers and general student behavior issues. This 45 minute block rapidly disappears when you factor in all of the other components that need to be juggled in this environment.
How can schools function with limited access, funds and support for computers? How will this situation improve with our current budget crisis? From now until school begins I will be working on ideas to improve the situation in my schools. Perhaps more training for teachers is a way I can personally make changes to help support my school community; Or maybe I can help make a more effective computer lab schedule so that every student gets equal computer access. Maybe I should seriously consider grant writing as a way to gain more computers for my school…
I am hopeful that having the library be directly connected to the enrichment program will improve access issues within the school once we prove what can be done with ample computer access.
Jul 14
AbbyFrom Our Guest Bloggers
By: Abby Moynahan
As in many districts around the country, my district struggled during budget time. During that time there were discussions of cutting the elementary library program. In the end our jobs were saved… for now. There are many theories as to why we did not get cut this year. I try not to over analyze the reasons why were saved, I’m just happy that I will be returning for another year in a district I am proud to be part of.
photo by Allie Pasquier (thank you Creative Commons)
Not only did we not get cut but we were given an opportunity to lead another program. The library department is now running the gifted and talented program for the entire district. First, a little background on this program is necessary to understand what has been presented to us as a department. The program is offered to students in third through eighth grade based on test scores. Once a week all of these students were bussed from their classrooms to the middle school to meet as one large group. After that the details are a little hazy. Some students were rarely ever able to articulate what events transpired throughout the day. Knowing children we know how normal that is; sometimes the only thing they remember from a day was what was served for lunch. However, a number of students withdrew from the program during the year. There are a number of explanations for this. Perhaps the gifted students felt like they were being ostracized by being removed from their comfort zone in school. Maybe the program wasn’t challenging enough for students or maybe they were missing gym class on the day they went to the program. Whatever their reasons were, it was obvious that they were losing interest. The other issue with this program is that is was costing the district money.
The district decided to change the program, not cut it. The decision was to keep the program “in house” to save money and hopefully make it more appealing to the community. However, the library department was not given a working program. On the contrary, we were given the responsibility to fix a broken program and make it work. The good news is we were given a blank slate and told to do something with it that will benefit the students and the school community. Some library teachers wait their entire careers for something like this to happen.
There are various pros and cons to this new challenge, as with anything new that we are faced with in our profession. For me, one of the major issues that I’m wrestling with right now is how to run two gifted programs on top of my two existing library programs. Honestly, it comes down to minutes in a day. We are required to meet with the students in this program for three hours per week. Since I am split I will be doing that twice a week which comes out to six hours a week. For those of you who do not work in a school, that is an entire school day. How can I remove a full day from my already jam packed schedule? What will be sacrificed in the name of this new program? Am I qualified to teach gifted children? These are just some of the questions I have constantly running through my mind.
Although I am anxious about this new endeavor, I am also looking forward to the challenge. This experience will be totally new for me and I can only learn from it. I will be working with children that are hungry for knowledge, that is never a bad thing. I truly believe I will learn from these students and I love that part of my job.
In the next few weeks we, as a department, will be working on the curriculum for this program. I am excited to be involved in the process and bring this program to life.
Jul 09
SarahBibliobeat
Mini Festival, Regular Sized Zines
Check out Pete’s Candy Store at the end of this month for the Mini Zine Fest:
Pete’s Mini Zine Fest is what you need this summer. Cold beer, warm handmade zines and books, live music – great location. Come browse and buy, meet local writers and graphic artists and get inspired.
Pete’s Mini Zine Fest
Saturday, July 31, 2010
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn
Free!
More Info
Satisfy Your Curiosity for Vintage Photography
There’s always something unusual to see at the Burns Photo Archive Blog. I’m especially taken with the floating Victorian heads, and a little frightened by the colt with two legs.
© 2010 The Burns Archive
Dr. Burns’ collection of vintage photographs (1840-1950) has been generally recognized as the most important private comprehensive collection of early photography. It has been showcased in numerous national media venues worldwide. Artists, researchers and historians access the one million+ photographs.
Thanks to Burns Archive Librarian, Sarah Simms, for the tip!
Check out the Schomburg Center
If you’re free on Monday July 12th at 3:00, join the Desk Set on our tour and behind-the-scenes look at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. If you’re not free on Monday, check it out some other time! One of NYPL’s Research Libraries, the Schomburg Center is one of the nation’s foremost resources on African and African American culture and history.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading research facilities devoted to the preservation of materials on the global African and African diasporan experiences. A focal point of Harlem’s cultural life, the Center also functions as the national research library in the field, providing free access to its wide-ranging noncirculating collections. It also sponsors programs and events that illuminate and illustrate the richness of black history and culture.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, NY
Tour with the Desk Set
Monday, July 12th, 3:00PM
RSVP thedeskset@gmail.com
Check website for regular hours
Have a suggestion for the next Bibliobeat? Let us know at bibliobeat@gmail.com
Jul 07
AbbyFrom Our Guest Bloggers
By Abby Moynahan
My first year as a Library Media Specialist has come to a close. As the feeling of summer washes over me I can’t help but meditate on the events of this past year as a new teacher librarian.
Before I go any further, let me explain my situation. I am a split library teacher which means I work in two schools within the same district. I service about 700 students between the two schools; One school serving about 500 students and the other school serving 200 students. Personally I am attracted to this district because of the diverse community. There are more than 27 different languages spoken in the community such as Spanish, Farsi and Pashto.
I suppose the most recent challenge has been dealing with budget cuts. Thankfully the elementary librarians in my district did not get cut this year. However, the process has been anything but comfortable. The anxiety over being cut started in September when I signed on with the district. Knowing that you might not have a job the next year can be debilitating at times, especially for worriers like myself. Although the idea did not ever leave my mind, it did not prevent me from doing my job as best as I know how. In fact, it challenged me to always be thinking about how I can do everything bigger and better within both of my library programs. How can I show that school libraries are essential in every child’s education? This is the question that helped me analyze my role as a library teacher.
I thought a lot about my role as a library media specialist throughout the year. Especially as I was loading and unloading my car every other day with all of my teaching tools to go between two schools. How can I show that a library teacher is needed full time in every school? Providing part-time service to students is better than no service but how can I possibly provide them with the tools they need when I see them for 45 minutes every other week? I’m not sure if these questions will ever be answered for me. I try to focus on what I can do to ensure students get full service from me when I am in each building. This can lead to chaos at times but I refuse to deny teachers and students any kind of service when they are already not being given the attention they truly need.
As I continue to evaluate my library program I realize that I must actively promote the library program at all times. I promoted the program in small ways across the curriculum but next year I plan to be more obvious in my advertising. My voice must be heard…
Jul 05
juliaLibrarian in the Spotlight library juice press, radical reference
By Julia Weist, julia@deaccession.org
Happy belated Fourth of July! Here’s a Librarian in the Spotlight to remind us that we are doing the good work as we head back to work. This week: Emily Drabinski!
You’re working on so many interesting projects in the field (more on that soon), what’s your background?
I went through Syracuse’s distance education program, 2001-2003. I’m finishing an MA in English at LIU-Brooklyn right now, with a concentration in composition and rhetoric. I’m writing my thesis about kairos, this idea from the ancient Greeks about qualitative time (long story) and its potential application in research and writing instruction. I can tell you more about any of that if you want.
I worked in magazines for years before starting library school, I wanted to be a writer. I was a fact-checker at Out, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and then Lucky. That was my last magazine. I worked on the launch, and never thought it would survive. Who would buy a magazine about shopping? Instead, it totally transformed consumer magazines. Before Lucky, buying information was always in the back matter, not printed in the photo spread. (I know, huge deal, right?) I used to count the number of bargains for the coverline, like “648 Awesome Bargains!” I’d count to 648, and then double and triple check it. I once published the phone number for Saks in a story about Barneys or something like that, and it was a huge problem. I hate shopping, and have a rigorous critique of consumer capitalism. What was I doing there? So i quit, got a job as a trainee at NYPL’s Jefferson Market branch, and went to library school.
What’s your position at Long Island University?
I’m an Electronic Resources and Instruction Librarian at LIU Brooklyn (go Blackbirds!). I teach library instruction sessions, work the reference desk, do collection development, work on committees, etc. We’re trying like everyone else to adapt to the rapid changes wrought by digital technologies–the electronic resources part of my job involves adapting and using new technologies in the library classroom and at the desk.
You’re working on a book series with Library Juice Press about Gender and Sexuality in Librarianship. Is this a theoretical read or more practical? In other words, am I going to learn about the gender roles implicit in the reference interview? Or why male administrators are a majority in a female-dominated field?
I come from queer activist worlds (though I wouldn’t really identify as an activist). My thinking about gender and sexuality is deeply informed by that, so my vision of the series is probably narrower than it will turn out to be. My central preoccupation in this field is the fundamental paradox of classification: in order to make materials accessible, we have to fix them in categories, and at the same time, the edges of those categories cannot hold. If you’re queer like me (in the way I’m queer), I think you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. A lot of us experience that lack of fixity combined with the demand to stay still in a really embodied way. Like, the minute I tell you, “I’m a lesbian,” or “I’m a femme,” which I am bound to do so that you’ll know who I am, the edges of that identity start to fray and give way to other identities and I want to keep explaining. There’s something about gender and sexuality that exceeds classification, exceeds language, even. Nothing’s ever fixed, its all contingent, and yet it must be fixed if its going to make any sense at all. This paradox is endlessly puzzling to me, how it works, what it makes possible, what it blocks, and on and on.
So, when I say ‘gender’ and ’sexuality,’ I mean gender, not women or men, and sexuality, not ‘homosexual’ or ‘heterosexual,’ but instead this entire odd discursively-produced demand that we all have genders and sexualities, be gendered, live gendered lives in a gendered world, and our books have to do that too, inside our libraries and our library classification structures. I could imagine an entire book series that just talked about this aspect of gender and sexuality in librarianship from theoretical and pragmatic perspectives. That said, this is a book series that is bigger than me, so I’m hoping to bring out work from a range of perspectives, even those I don’t agree with. Like, I don’t think of ‘women’ as a stable or real category, really, but I’d definitely make room on the series for a book that looked at the representation of women in the library workforce, and our relative absence from higher level positions. That’s not something I’m interested in doing myself, but I’d still welcome a book like that. I’m more interested in the prospect of making room for a multiplicity of voices than I am in making my one single voice sound really loud. The length of this email notwithstanding, I don’t really love listening to myself talk that much.
Emily in the exhibition hall at ALA
Right now, I have three books on the docket: Tracy Nectoux is editing a volume about the challenges and opportunities of being and coming out in the library workplace, and that’s coming out in the winter, we think. Lyz Bly and Kelly Wooten are editing a collection due fall 2011 about documenting feminist activism when contemporary activism is so ephemeral, digital, and de-centered. And Rebecca Dean and Patrick Kielty are working on a collection about gender and sexuality and information-seeking behavior that I think will take some interesting post-positivist positions. They’re both graduate students at UCLA, a program that’s putting out some really interesting work combining theory from the humanities with our odd little social science discipline. I’m excited to see what they put together.
I also want to work against the idea that theory happens in one place and practice happens in another place. We’re all doing both together most of the time, so hopefully the series will encompass both kinds of research and writing.
And I wouldn’t be doing any of this work without Rory Litwin, whose Library Juice Press is really making space for alternative voices and perspectives in our field.
Through Radical Reference you’re involved in social justice-oriented librarianship as well.
Jenna Freedman and Melissa Morrone are really your local Radical Reference contacts, if you want to include somebody from that group. I’ve been an occasional member since the Republican convention in NYC, but go very much in and out. I’m actually more embedded in a journal called Radical Teacher, which takes up most of my off-the-clock group and meeting energy. But I definitely have radical politics, and definitely bring that to my work as a librarian. I don’t know how I could find meaning in my world without doing work that has at its root some motivation in working towards liberation, equality, justice. I believe that being able to ask questions, navigate systems and structures to find answers, and being able to engage critically and dialogically with all the voices we encounter can transform the self and transform the world. I wouldn’t spend my life in the library if I didn’t think that at least in some small way I make life and freedom a little more possible for some of the students that I meet in my classrooms and at the reference desk. That sounds extravagant–mostly I show students how to print multiple powerpoint slides to a page. But sometimes a structure is demystified or something that seemed impossible becomes quite easy, and those are the good days I hang onto.
Do you know a unique librarian or archivist? Nominations are welcome for future Librarian in the Spotlight features!
Jul 05
mariaDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from Maria and Sarah a.p. tureaud, book drive, class sets, roll of thunder hear my cry
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the Newbery award winner, written by Mildred D. Taylor is just one of the class sets of books that we, The Desk Set, are attempting to get for the A.P. Tureaud school in New Orleans.
It’s the story of the Logans, an African-American family, living in Mississippi during the Great Depression. Unlike their neighbors, they own their own land are are spared the grim reality of sharecropping. The narrator, nine-year-old Cassie, is a spunky girl who is coming-of-age and boldly refuses to blindly accept the racism she and her family face on a daily basis. Although this story is harsh and sometimes difficult to read because of the blatant, heart wrenching bigotry, its characters are full of integrity, pride, courage and familial love. Taylor clearly sends the message that some things are worth fighting for but one must pick their battles.
The Desk Set has collected 7 of the 30 copies that are needed to complete the class set. Each copy is $7.99 and if you purchase 3 copies, the fourth copy is FREE! Buy the books here. Help a kid out, ya’ll.
Jul 01
BilleyUncategorized
As June comes to a close and the Pride parade has passed, the team from Que(e)ry would like to share our very favorites in GLBT literature:
- Billey Bibliographic Control -
It’s so hard to choose! There are so many great queer books! And how to decide? So many GLBT books comes into our lives at just the right time. When we are teenagers exploring our who we are, when we just want to identify with the characters a little better, or simply when they are just great works of literature that happen to be real gay. My choices fall into coming of age and good queer reads. (oh and I have a real soft spot for short stories that might sway my opinion)
Allison, Dorothy. 2002. Trash: stories. New York: Plume.
Baldwin, James. 1956. Giovanni’s room; a novel. New York: Dial Press.
Barnes, Djuna. 1937. Nightwood. [New York]: New Classics. 
Brown, Rebecca. 1994. The gifts of the body. New York: HarperCollins.
Feinberg, Leslie. 1993. Stone butch blues: a novel. Ithaca, N.Y.: Firebrand Books.
Oates, Joyce Carol. 1993. Foxfire: confessions of a girl gang. Franklin Center, Pa: Franklin Library.
Sedaris, David. 2000. Me talk pretty one day. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Winterson, Jeanette. 2007. The stone gods. Orlando: Harcourt.
- LOC Casanova / Tara -
Ok, my list of “5 favorite queer books” must be a list of books my Dad once sent me in the mail. Before I “officially” told my father I was queer, he gave me a number of books, telling me: “I bought these after discovering that my old girlfriend in high school was a lesbian…I think you should have them.”
His selections are endearing:
Hall, Radclyffe. 1928. The well of loneliness. Garden City, N.Y.: Sun Dial Press.
Sappho. 2002. Poems and Fragments. Indianapolis: Hackett.
Wittig, Monique. 1986. The lesbian body. Boston: Beacon Press.
Barnes, Djuna. 1937. Nightwood. [New York]: New Classics.
McClary, Susan. 1991. Feminine endings: music, gender, and sexuality. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
I also recommend the following:
Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. Thinking gender. New York: Routledge.
Bordowitz, Gregg, and James Sampson Meyer. 2004.The AIDS crisis is ridiculous and other writings : 1986-2003. The MIT Press writing art series. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Genet, Jean. 1974. Querelle. New York: Grove Press : distributed by Random House.
Mishima, Yukio. 1958. Confessions of a mask. Norfolk, Conn: New Directions.
Peraldi, François. 1995. Polysexuality. New York: Semiotext(e).
We can’t thank everyone enough for coming out (pun totally intended) for Que(e)ry on June 18th. Your support made our efforts an enormous success, as well as tremendously helped the Tom of Finland Foundation and the Lesbian Herstory Archives. Please watch for us in the future as we plan the next party! You can find us on Facebook (our profile is coming soon!), Flickr, Twitter, and Tumbr!
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