A few thoughts on the book Archives and special collections as sites of contestation

Archives and Special Collections as Sites of Contestation by Mary Kandiuk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book focuses on the need to disrupt some archival and library practices, for example the need to have items catalogued in the language they are written in (for example Spanish or Japanese) and not only in English. It also has helpful examples of how to describe and provide access to archives with racist content in a way which provides a better understanding of their creator/s. This is not to change the past, but to improve the understanding of it.

This book shows the importance of building new collections which address the importance of social justice, to include those who have historically been excluded from collections, while being visible in the communities. Building new audiences for archives (both old and new) is shown as crucial, for sustainability and for understanding the historical context (recent or further in the past). Elizabeth Hobart reminds us that
Cataloguing is an ethical act, ensuring the discoverability of library resources regardless of content...Without a detailed, accurate record, items literally remain hidden . This applies to many collections in libraries.

There are many ideas of relevance to local studies collections in the different chapters in this book.

This is yet another excellent publication from Library Juice Press. My copy has lots of annotated post it notes sticking out, with notes on them for follow up.

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A few thoughts on How to create a relevant public space by Aat Vos

How to Create a Relevant Public Space by Aat Vos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book reads like it is written as a provocation. It has many interesting ideas, and I don't agree with them all, but it is still interesting reading. Ideas to consider include, who are you excluding from your library. It may not be deliberate (or it may), but it could be in how the library is designed, and services are provided that some people feel unwelcome. The chapter by Diane Ghirardo is of particular interest for this.

One of the libraries discussed (in Gouda) was a chocolate factory before it was a library. The chapter by Jan David Hanrath and Rob Bruijnzeels highlights the importance of telling the stories of the buildings in a context like local studies. They also stress the importance of collections, and of connecting communities to these collections.
It is important that you remain true to yourself. The library's existence begins and ends with the collection. I mean a modern collection with, in addition to books, other forms of content such as music, art, tools, videos, course and activities, either physically or online. But that the collection is the core...the collection is what you inspire people with stories and information that is relevant to them...The library is going to ask questions, questions that are important for both individuals and community' (pp162-163, 165).

There are many lovely photographs of libraries in this book, but for some of these libraries access seems limited to those who are able bodied with stairs seeming sometimes as barriers not for access. When reading this book, think about whose voices are not included.

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A few thoughts on Cultivating civility: practical ways to improve a dysfunctional library by Jo Henry, Joe Eshleman, Richard Moniz

Cultivating Civility: Practical Ways to Improve a Dysfunctional Library by Jo Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a helpful follow up to The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships. The chapters in this book each have a different focus and include work place examples. At the end of most chapters are questions for discussion which could be helpful prompts for a reading group. This could be an interesting book for a work reading group, and would suggest that the focus is on chapters and not the whole book as there is much to explore chapter by chapter. While much of this information is not new, it is brought together in a helpful way, to help people improve communication and relationships at work. There are many references to explore for further reading including The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism (which I am yet to read), Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (which I probably should re-read) and Masked by Trust: Bias in Library Discovery (which I am currently reading). This is a book which encourages creative thinking to solve problems, but also encourages taking action against bullies (including passive aggressive ones). The references at the end of each chapter provide much additional reading to explore specific topics.

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Writing about failure for #GLAMBlogClub

Failure can be a way of learning. It can also be uncomfortable, disconcerting, at times distressing or even very traumatic. It can depend on the scale of the failure. I think there are different kinds of failure, including failure you can learn from, and failure which has catastrophic consequences (and these are not the only kinds of failure, there are more including failure which is out of your control).  You can learn from the second kind of failure but there are usually really bad things happening along the way (for example think of how the COVID-19 pandemic is happening differently in each country, state and territory, how the climate crisis is not being dealt with and in relation to systemic racism and injustice towards Indigenous people, as well as the experience of other systemic racism - and comments about this). There are many more examples I could provide for failure with catastrophic outcomes and these broader failures have an impact. In our work places (galleries, libraries, archives, museums and records repositories) it is mostly the failure you can learn from, but the fire in the National Museum of Brazil is of the catastrophic kind (see also Blue Shield for their work or disaster prevention). 

Have a look at this earlier post I wrote about failure (and yes I know that at least one of the people I quote is contentious).

I also think we can shy from talking about failure, and I find this unhelpful.  I think it is better to go 'that could have worked better' (which can be a way of describing failure without resorting to a 'woe is me' approach), and see what can be done better next time, rather than pretending every thing is fine.  We can do better with our collections (this looks a helpful session to participate in) and services (think about who is invisible in your library, and this US information from 2015 may be helpful).  We can make these changes because otherwise we continue to fail at least some parts of our communities.

A few thoughts on Incubating creativity at your library: a sourcebook for connecting with communities by Erinn Batykefer and Laura C Damon-Moore

Incubating Creativity at Your Library: A Sourcebook for Connecting with Communities by Erinn Batykefer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a pacy read with examples of these ideas being described from actual library experience. If you have read the Library as incubator project blog or The Artist's Library: A Field Guide you will have already seen much of the content in this book, however, this book is still well worth reading. While the premise of the book is how to incorporate more creativity in your library, the ideas would also be applicable for thinking about how to better connect with many groups and individuals in your community (and the authors suggest this). The chapter on evaluation has some useful ideas to consider to help people think more effectively about how to evaluate programs. The book looks at resources, partnerships, staff, evaluation, community and more. Sustainability is important as is looking at long running programs to see if they should continue, be changed or stopped.

I also enjoyed the shout out to BiblioCraft: The Modern Crafter's Guide to Using Library Resources to Jumpstart Creative Projects as I am a fan of this work and they way it shows different ways to think about collections.


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A few thoughts on The dysfunctional library: challenges and solutions to workplace relationships

The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships by Jo Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a useful book to help you describe how dysfunctional the library you work in is (if your library is dysfunctional). The authors provide ways of exploring this, and of working to decrease dysfunction. They start with the individual library worker providing advice about how to explore one's own level of disfunction. They encourage an outward looking focus, and highlight the importance of professional development.

They make effective use of research and highlight work being done in a range of libraries (and provide these references to follow up). This book is about encouraging library staff, and then libraries to be the best we can be, working well with each other, and for our communities. Being proactive and planning is important as is professional development for staff. Good leadership is important, but it must be the right style of leadership.

This may not be a book to read cover to cover, however, it has some very useful information as well as reference to follow up for further reading.

I am trying to increase my professional reading, which I usually do as commute reading, but have been working from home since late March.

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thinking about time - a post for #glamBlogClub

Strangely I thought I was out of time to write this post.  Yes, I should be doing something else with my time at present but am choosing to use my time this way.

I suggest you spend five minutes look at 367 Collins St Falcons (there are two eggs) or you could watch Sea-EagleCAM4 (there are two youngsters) or enjoy penguins in the evening (and make sure you read Virginia Trioli's post which includes information about the Peregrin Falcons and penguins).  There is information in all these links. Please also choose to use some time enjoying Peacock Spiders 🕷 (there are lots more videos of them).

I have been encouraged by the way many libraries have been spending this pandemic time serving their communities in different ways, and while only some libraries are mentioned here it is great to see that part of the wider story is being told. You may make time to read this research NSW public libraries - the COVID-19 response (put out by my work place).

Take time to explore the British Library sound archive and think about how you are (or aren't) recording sounds in your community. Are you recording the sounds of your community?

Take time to be excited by the coming Horror Writer's Association's Librarians Day as you can participate as it will all be online (information and link to register is here).  You also have time to anticipate this as it is on in November.  I am genuinely looking forward to this. There may still be time to register for one of the Summer Workshop Series on Anti-Oppression and Oral History from Columbia University (information and link to register is here).

I am out of time to write this post, and if I had taken more time to write it, it would have flowed better.

 

A few thoughts on The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a reading group you do not want to be a member of. While their true crime discussions are interesting (this is not the reason to avoid this group) the members face sexism at home, and do not think about their behaviour as potentially racist. A new man come to town and proves a disruptive force for families as the husbands befriend him. It is interesting seeing how the reading group changes over time - but keep in mind this is a tale of horror and is, at times, very disturbing reading. It is also a tale of readers bonding over books with implications for what is regarded as acceptable reading. I have also read Horrorstör which provides other interesting angles for horror.

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A few thoughts on Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (and there are mobile libraries)

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This near future Western is pacy and punchy. There are Librarians, and the capital matters, but don’t make assumptions about them. Not making assumptions is key to much in this piece.

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How are you documenting the pandemic? a post for #GLAMBlogClub about forever

How are you documenting the pandemic?  If you have been working on site at a library have you photographed it?  Did you photograph moving the furniture to fit other staff in?  Did you photograph what the click and collect looks like?  Did you photograph the new spray screens, the supplies cupboard?  There are records which can can be kept forever (with decent digital preservation).

Plus while you weren't going out much, did you photograph the occasional times you did?  

I hope that you are staying safe, and that the opening up of your libraries has gone/will go well.

looking at partnerships for #GLAMblogClub

As we continue in lock down, with people working from home or from closed libraries, or various other combinations of work, means this sign serves as a prompt to us, to change, and to think about different ways to do things.


 We are experiencing service changes, and we need to continue to plan for service changes as we are likely to continue at a distance from one another for a while, even when more of us may lose our jobs during this time.  The example shown below is a recent partnership.

Recently, Monash CEO Dr Andi Diamond had the idea that Libraries could supply reading material to Meals on Wheels clients in Monash while Stage 3 restrictions were in place in Victoria.

Thread... pic.twitter.com/Amag6Yu9br

— Monash Libraries (@MonashLibraries) April 23, 2020

Thanks to an alert from Rachel for this. 

What new partnerships is your library involved in or is considering?

A few thoughts on The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-By-Shelf Guide

The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-By-Shelf Guide by Rebecca Vnuk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a pacy and helpful book to read. When I worked in public libraries I always enjoyed weeding, and I think it has a key role in developing and maintaining library collections. Too often people are at extremes either weeding little or taking a slash and burn (or throw) approach with little regard to the actual statistics on use (or consideration of poor cataloguing or inadequate displays or even poorly managed selection). Vnuk also highlights the importance of informing the community so they are seeing you manage rather than pillage the collection.

This is a detailed booked looking at the different number classifications, however the most helpful sections are looking at the over all strategy of weeding, and references to other resources such as Crew and the examples from specific libraries mentioned within the book. While some of the material is slightly dated, the big picture information is still crucial. It also includes the need to manage your econtent selections.

I read this on Indyreads.

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A few thoughts on Palaces for the People: How To Build a More Equal and United Society by Eric Klinenberg

Palaces for the People: How To Build a More Equal and United Society by Eric Klinenberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a pacy an engaging read, and it still took a long time for me to read it. It highlights the value of social infrastructure including places like libraries for community health. Places like libraries can help connect people and these connections help lead to stronger communities. The examples are not all about libraries, but they show that the connections people have with others in their communities are crucial for community health (and in a key example in the book led to less deaths during a heatwave).

Key points in this book include connecting people of difference ages and backgrounds, and this will take work. Anyway, go and read this book, and think about how you can apply these ideas in your communty.

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a few thoughts on Conducting the Reference Interview: Third Edition by Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Kirsti Nilsen

Conducting the Reference Interview: Third Edition by Catherine Sheldrick Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a pacy and engaging read. It is also a very useful reminder of the value of an effective reference interview. The authors bring together research which highlight the importance of a reference interview to finding out exactly what the person is seeking help to find. There are also sections on online or telephone reference interviews. This is a practical book which could also be used for training.

Some of the research which is described in this books shows how little some staff actually listen to the people seeking help, and this information helps show the value of a well done reference interview.

I really enjoyed reading this book.

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A few thoughts on Baking with Kim-Joy: Cute and Creative Bakes to Make You Smile

Baking with Kim-Joy: Cute and Creative Bakes to Make You Smile by Kim-Joy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is joyful. I am yet to make any of the recipes, but I keep borrowing this as an ebook, and reading it again. There is a halloween cake with meringues as ghosts and some spooky pears. I am sure that everyone needs a space turtle cake in their lives with the incredible colours it provides. There are pages of instructions for some cakes but this seems helpful rather than overwhelming. The recipe I want to make first are the Tangzhong Cat Buns (think a tin of bread rolls that look like sleeping cats), but first I need to add some food dye to my kitchen supplies. The Space Turtle Melonpan Buns also look joyful. Macarons are turned into many animals including cats and koalas. The lemon tarts with meringue cats also look lovely as do the Pigfiteroles in Mud (choux pigs in chocolate).

This would be an interest addition to reading group discussions.

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I am doing this as my #GLAMBlogClub post for January, because I am struggling for humour this year, so I thought this joyful book may help.  With the struggle for humour I have been exploring data instead. The NSW Department of Primary Industries has excellent data on the extent of the drought in NSW, and the Bureau of Meteorology has excellent climate data including for temperature and rainfall. The Fires near me site or app also provides useful data.  Apologies for not providing drought and fire map links for other states, but I am trying to not spend too long on this blog post. If this is all too grim, have a look at the Customer service wolf. 

Make sure you have a look at Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service Birdie stories which are written to help children through stressful events, and can be helpful for others to read as well. You could also contact an organisation like Beyond Blue for help.