libraries – Information Wants To Be Free

Open Offices are Neither More Open nor More Equitable

I can’t properly describe the level of annoyance I felt when I read Steven Bell’s latest piece in College and Research Libraries News about open offices entitled “We’re all about…

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Out of sight, out of mind? prioritizing support of online learners

It’s been eighteen years and I can’t believe this is still an issue. In 2005, I started my first professional library job as a distance learning librarian. At the time,…

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The power of shame and belonging

In my last post, I wrote about the absolutely monstrous difficulty I was having getting off the migraine prevention medication (that wasn't actually preventing migraines) I had been taking for…

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Valuing maintenance

My town maintains an old dairy farm from the turn of the 20th century that now contains public gardens, a CSA, and community garden plots. In the Summer and Fall,…

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Universal design for work?

I've had migraines for over 20 years. I didn't seek workplace accommodations for them until this year. The biggest barrier to getting accommodations at work was my own internalized ableism,…

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“Listening theater” and employee voice

I’ve been reading a lot about employee voice and silencing in organizations and there’s a phenomenon I haven’t really seen discussed explicitly in the literature, though it's possible I've missed…

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What is slow librarianship?

Last week, there was a lot of chatter about slow librarianship on social media. People were looking for writing on the subject and I realized that my work is scattered…

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Drop the ball

When I visited my parents in December of 2019, they asked me to go through a box of old stuff they wanted to get rid of. My mother had kept…

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In all the bad… some good things

Wow, this has been a hard year. No one's life has been untouched by 2020 between the pandemic and unrelenting proof that the social safety net has been dismantled by late-stage capitalism, the…

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The crushing expectations on working women and where’s my fucking village?

On Friday and Saturday, my Twitter feed was full of anger and frustration over a blog post on the ALSC (Association for Library Services to Children) Blog. Entitled "How Motherhood Has…

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Recognition doesn’t have to be a zero sum game

As usual, the week the 2020 Library Journal Movers and Shakers were announced, I saw plenty of complaints about the award and, in some cases, awardees. I’ve been reading this…

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Thoughts on work, well-being, solidarity, and advocacy in our current… situation

I have been wanting to blog for weeks. I have several blog posts I started that I just couldn't get through. My attention span reminds me of my son's at…

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When libraries and librarians pretend to be neutral, they often cause harm

Two recent events made me think (again) about the toxic nature of "library neutrality" and the fact that, more often than not, neutrality is whiteness/patriarchy/cis-heteronormativity/ableism/etc. parading around as neutrality and…

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Thoughts at Mid-Career Part 3 – Our Achievement Culture: What You’re Doing Will Never Be Enough

This is the third in a series of essays. You can access the rest here, though it’s not necessary to read them all or in order. Of all my annoying qualities, my…

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“Devaluing” the MLS vs. respect for all library workers

I'm sure some of you remember the big push last year and early this year to require the MLS for the Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA) --…

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Whose rights matter more?

My dad recently shared with me a book, written by a distant cousin who is a professor in Israel, about her grandmother's immigrant experience and her relatives. Her grandmother just…

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Holding to our values during difficult times

I write a lot in my American Libraries column about library values, particularly those around access and privacy. My latest column (Jan/Feb 17), which should be out soon online just…

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Is the Framework Elitist? Is ACRL?

Many of you who read my blog already know that I came to librarianship from social work, where I was a child and family psychotherapist. As a therapist, one of…