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Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice, Together Again: Schlesinger’s Vital Center and Library Activism
No full textContemporary debates within American librarianship, and in the country at large, often frame intellectual freedom and social justice as competing or opposed values, but looking back to earlier moments in the intellectual history of libraries and the country demonstrates the fundamental and interdependent relationship that exists between civil liberties and civil rights. In the early Cold War period, librarians and the American Library Association (ALA) engaged in an activist campaign to protect intellectual freedom from threats like anti-communist censorship and loyalty oaths. At the same time, historian and public intellectual Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.’s The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom laid out a program of radical centrism, capturing the intellectual currents that informed ALA documents like the 1948 Library Bill of Rights and 1953’s The Freedom to Read. Revisiting Schlesinger’s work underscores the extent to which, both historically and in the present, racism and oppression represent primary barriers to the intellectual freedom of Americans and provides an opportunity to explore new framings of fundamental values within the library profession
The Right to Boycott
No full textI am pleased to submit this commentary for the special issue on the intersection of social justice and intellectual freedom. The ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) has been working for several years on an issue that perfectly exemplifies the intersection of social justice and intellectual freedom: the right to engage in political boycotts.At the ALA Annual Conference on June 26, 2022, SRRT sponsored a program titled “Libraries, Free Speech, and Anti-Boycott Laws,” featuring Luna Martinez, from the Center for Constitutional Rights; Alan Leveritt, publisher of the Arkansas Times, which is challenging Arkansas’s anti-boycott law; and a message from Brian Hauss, the chief litigator from the ACLU on behalf of the Arkansas Times. This case is on its way to the US Supreme Court. We also introduced a “Resolution in Defense of the Right to Engage in Political Boycotts” (2021–2022 ALA CD#55). SRRT is trying to work with the ALA intellectual freedom bodies, and we are happy to report that our resolution was endorsed by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table and an amended version of our resolution easily passed the ALA Membership Meeting. However, it was defeated at the ALA Council by a vote of 51 yes, 83 no, and 9 abstentions
Book Review: Managing Data for Patron Privacy: Comprehensive Strategies for Libraries
No full textData is everywhere. It comes in forms one would expect, like numbers in a spreadsheet, but it is also images of patrons and video of your building, along with other types of data. How each of these types of data is used, and maybe more importantly, is protected, is essential for libraries to consider. Managing Data for Patron Privacy provides an informative look at digital library data from multiple angles
Book Review: Metadata, Third Edition
No full textThe third edition of Zeng and Qin’s Metadata, first published in 2008 and expanded in a second edition in 2016, offers a fully updated overview of the latest developments in metadata standards, practices, and tools, with special attention paid to the areas of linked data, open science, and digital humanities. In this latest revised edition, the authors provide updated links to web resources, discuss the most current versions of relevant metadata standards, survey newly developed standards and best practices, and introduce new advances in semantic web technologies
Editorial: Catching Up With LRTS
No full textAs we write this in July, it’s in the midst of record heatwaves and vacation travel, not to mention the start of the new fiscal year for many libraries. So it feels somewhat odd to be putting together our final issue of 2023. With that said, the amount of activity that’s already taken place by midsummer within Library Resources Technical Services (LRTS) and ALA Core at large could fill a calendar year and then some. In pulling together this issue’s editorial, we felt it would be a good opportunity to get our readers up to speed with recent developments impacting Core as well as previewing what to expect in 2024
Documenting Classification Systems: A Case Study and Considerations
No full textThere is little literature on documenting the correct application of classification systems. This paper seeks to remedy this gap by describing how Northeastern Illinois University created documentation for their implementation of system that describes Illinois State publications. We recommend creating documentation that is flexible, accessible, and user-oriented. Flexible documentation not only facilitates changes to the documentation, it also allows librarians to take advantage of other uses of this documentation. In our case, the process of documentation produced a near complete listing of Illinois publications and provided the basis for a structural history of Illinois government. Documentation of classification systems not only improves library work, but also assists in preserving artifacts of library history
Management Practice Changes in Academic Library Technical Services Departments during the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic brought about many unexpected changes for academic libraries. Technical services departments were especially disrupted due to the nature of their responsibilities and library operations. In response to these pandemic-induced changes, technical services managers were tasked with maintaining a high level of operations while also navigating sudden workforce changes including evolving job demands and employees working off-site. This study documents and analyzes the responses of technical services managers during the pandemic. Documenting these practice changes will help inform current managers looking to compare themselves to peers and future managers who may experience a similar event that causes a sudden shift in operations. Overall, managers reported a high incidence of change to their typical management practices. Managers made the biggest changes in communications and practices related to work-life balance. A significant theme emerged from the analysis that shows technical services managers adding several new practices to support and care for the mental health of employees
Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee: Speaking of Pronouns: An Interview with Author/Advocate Maya Christina Gonzalez
No full textAuthor and illustrator Maya Christina Gonzalez is known for her award-winning bilingual (English/Spanish) books such as My Colors, My World and I Know the River Loves Me. But this progressive educator and independent scholar/researcher has also delved into the world of pronouns.Call Me Tree was written without any gender identifying pronouns, and she has since written substantially on the topic as well as writing and illustrating three children’s books on the topic, including They She He Me: Free to Be!, The Gender Wheel, and They, She, He Easy as ABC. I asked Gonzalez to share about the importance of pronouns
School Age Programs and Services Committee: Fostering Racial Literacy with Children’s Literature
No full textThe social construction of race in the United States is deeply rooted in our lives and reflected in our K-12 programs, policies, curriculum, and instructional practices. As more challenges are levied at books that reflect the lives and experiences of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students, we propose racial literacy as a framework to guide critical conversations in response