A few thoughts on the book: The troubles and beyond: curating conflict

The troubles and beyond: curating conflict by Karen Logan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is about how the National Museums in Northern Ireland changed their approach to collecting information about The troubles, and also changed their approach to how exhibitions about this time are shown. They aim to present a 'view of broader social, cultural and economic history as well as exploring the impact of conflict on everyday life, people and communities' p 18. They are seeking a critical discussion with the community who are coming to exhibitions, especially of recent history. They are looking at recent history including for 'accuracy, inclusiveness and balance' p24, and are also seeking to build stronger community connections to advise the museum.

The book explores past approaches to describing The troubles, and the new approach of greater diversity and inclusion as well as community projects which are bringing together people who have similarly tough experiences. There are comments from people who provided personal testimony to the museum because they were shot, they had a family member killed, they were present at a bombing, or they were a nurse who treated people from all sides.

I was interested in this book because of local studies, and reading it highlights that difficult and divisive topics can be dealt with well by museums (and presumably libraries) and that it is important to not sidestep the tension.

View all my reviews

A few thoughts on How to turn a place around: a handbook for creating successful public spaces - relevant to libraries

How to Turn a Place Around: A Handbook for Creating Successful Public Spaces by Project for Public Spaces
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a pacy and engaging read. This, unsurprisingly, is a book about public spaces, and generally outdoor space, however there are many elements which are applicable for public (and other) libraries as well. In a description of Discovery Park in Houston, TX, it says that it is 'not enough to have just one great destination on a great park - you need at least 10 of them to create a truly lively place' (p91). This is relevant for libraries as you need different kinds of spaces within the one building. It is also not a new idea that libraries need different kinds of spaces, for example see this produced by my work place.

I have been following Project For Public Spaces for a while, but it was watching a recent Victorian public library conference about library buildings which encouraged me to read this. There are place making principles including creating a place not a design, and the importance of community consultation, and evaluation. Place making is also continuous as communities change over time.

I found it was helpful reading this book, because of the different locations explored as I could then think about the implications for libraries. I will need to read it again, but that will be enjoyable.

View all my reviews

A few thoughts on Pivoting During the Pandemic: Ideas for Serving Your Community Anytime, Anywhere

Pivoting During the Pandemic: Ideas for Serving Your Community Anytime, Anywhere by Kathleen M. Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting publication for many reasons including the short, snappy chapters and the speed of the production. The range of topics covered include online story times, readers's advisory at a distance, and how to help connect people with a range of (mostly) online services. It is timely that I am writing this during the lockdown which includes Sydney (where I am) as well as coastal local government areas to the north and south. It highlights that the relevance is not just for pandemic experiences overseas. Important ideas are covered early on, including be patient, be flexible, use a growth mindset as well as the importance of assessment and reflection.

The chapters are written by public library staff, and show the need for continued learning, being willing to change, and the importance of thinking through organisational policies for example: do they make things easier for staff but harder for the community? It highlights the importance of continuing professional development, and that includes moving some training online (as we have also done in NSW). I would suggest reading this book - and keep in mind, if you don't like one chapter, you can quickly flick ahead to the next one. This ideas in this book while relevant for the pandemic are also relevant to how you think about your general library services.

View all my reviews

#BlogJune, maybe

 I saw the post this morning by @Infoventurer and was reminded of #BlogJune.

I had a look at the posts from 2011 the first year I participated in #BlogJune and it was (mostly) about libraries I would like to visit.  I would rethink the list now, and also take more account of other factors. 

I won't be posting every day, but will try and play along for some of the time.

online reading groups and neighbours - combining a few ideas for #GlamBlogClub

 It was only recently that I realised it was ten years since #ReadIt2011 and it was because I was wearing a t-shirt with this hashtag on it.  #ReadIt2011 was the start of of a collaborative twitter reading group which lasted until the end of 2018.

#ReadIt2011 was a theme based reading group so you read around a theme and not just one title (this was to help libraries be able to participate with the collections they had rather than purchasing lots of one title). You can see the (dated) blog here.  It even had a couple of t-shirts (thanks to @CatyJ).  This twitter reading group was about public libraries in NSW working together (hence the neighbour aspect). The themes were decided on by a group (including me).  What this meant was that it could be collectively promoted, and each library did not have to do a lot.  Some libraries tweeted the themes and the times of the online discussions, other libraries participated in these discussions - this continued through the various versions of the group.  It was my year of making tea cosies to tie with the themes (as I was trying to make the point that the themes can be used in a variety of ways.

The #CrimeRead tea cosy for #ReadIt2011 (it has been given away)

2012 was the national year of reading, and the team which had done #ReadIt2011 offered to run a twitter reading group for this nationally (so there was yet another hashtag change). There were some active participants from other states as well.  #Love2Read twitter discussion used the themes suggested in the logo.  After 2012 people were still keen, but had learned more about hashtags (although not about #NotAllLowerCase) so that read became part of each hashtag, and the reading group was called Read Watch Play, using #RWPChat so that a wider group of library activities were included. It meant that people could read different themes each month or work out how to bring their favourite reading, watching or playing to every theme (and ambiguity was encouraged so that #ReelRead included film, sewing and fishing).  The planning included suggestions on a wiki so that many people could contribute ideas, with the themes decided at a meeting (based on who was there).

There is a lot I could say about this, but to tie it to neighbours I will focus on one aspect. At this time it became an international twitter reading group. There were some fairly quiet partners, but Nelson Public Libraries in New Zealand, Public Libraries Singapore and Surrey Libraries in England were all active partners, suggesting themes, writing blog posts and participating in the twitter discussions.  This highlights that neighbours can be a bit further away, through the use of online connections, and you can see a bit more about it here and here. There is a data-visualisation of the tweets (it takes a while to load).The international partners also highlight that neighbours can be anywhere. On the neighbours aspect it can matter who is digitally near us but online connections internationally are valuable.  

It also matters who is geographically near us as Yarra Libraries shows, and as can be seen here in research from my work place.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yarra Libraries (@yarralibraries)