So You’re a Librarian (or Library), What Do You Do Now? Librarianing in the Time of Political Turmoil

January 31, 2017 by Karen Jensen, MLS 7 comments

Sometimes inspiration comes in the strangest moments. Yesterday on Twitter I was thinking about what it means to me now to be a librarian. So I started tweeting and ended up with a long string of tweets highlighting the things that I think we – and that we includes me – can do now in light of current events. These thoughts are inspired in part by my mentor who asked me the other day, “okay, so now what do we do?” This question was asked in part because, if we’re being honest, a lot of not normal things are happening at this moment and people are concerned about privacy, about civil liberties, about the quality of and access to information. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about that. So here are some of my thoughts. You probably has some great ones as well, so please add them in the comments.

TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

So my fellow librarians, here we are. What can we do: 1) Print off or create an evaluating media sources page & put it everywhere

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:06:14

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

2) Buy diverse books. A lot of them. Put them everywhere. Flood your library with them. 3) Host diverse or dystopian book discussion groups

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:07:15

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

4) Make a super easy bookmark for your local community. Put contact info for reps/senators on it. Websites. Understanding how govt works.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:08:45

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I punched R. Spencer @betherwisser

@TLT16 4.) Use a canary for government requests about borrower records. 5.) Delete all borrower records when the material is returned.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:09:08

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

5) Go right now & make sure your collection is balanced left/right, progressive/conservative Christian, etc. Order accordingly asap.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:10:05

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

I mention #5 because as a progressive Christian I can almost guarantee you your collection skews overly conservative.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:11:23

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

6) Don't pretend kids/teens don't know/care about what is happening. Put up a so you want to understand govt. page/display/booklist

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:12:22

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

7) Make sure all staff knows phone #/web addresses for things like ACLU, be ready to answer reference questions for help & referrals

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:14:02

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

8) Train staff ASAP - again - about freedom of information, censorship, collection development, patron privacy, what to do if records

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:16:25

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

are requested or books are challenged. 9) Don't keep patron records. It's a privacy issue.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:17:09

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

10) Don't have a collection development policy or materials challenge policy? Get on that ASAP.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:17:50

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I punched R. Spencer @betherwisser

@TLT16 6.) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Kids need to understand data collection and surveillance.

@TLT16

·

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:18:25

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

11) Remind staff AND public the value, duty and role of the public library. Stress Democracy, education, freedom of information.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:18:35

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

12) Make sure staff knows who to refer public/media questions to, what they can/can not say. Write out a script. Bad info hard to retract.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:20:19

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

13) Keep business cards of PR person and/or director well stocked at every public desk. Tell staff to refer all questions/concerns there.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:21:10

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

Our goals: Patron access to info Patron privacy Patron safety Library, patron, information advocacy

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:23:08

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

Another great idea https://twitter.com/mspasek/status/826103658785959940 …

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:25:20

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

I know you all have other great ideas, what are they? #Libraries4Democracy

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:26:11

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TeenLibrarianToolbox @TLT16

Remember, education of local communities doesn't mean protecting people from info, it means providing it. How democracy thrives.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:27:17

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Lyn Miller-Lachmann @LMillerLachmann

@TLT16 Don't forget historical fiction!! We protest today because we know what happened when people didn't in the past.

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:31:24

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Lyn Miller-Lachmann @LMillerLachmann

@TLT16 Community discussion focusing on historical works and why history and historical memory are important. Create oral history projects

Mon, Jan 30 2017 16:34:26

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Filed under: Professional Development, Things I Never Learned in Library School

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Freedom of Information libraries Youth Services

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

March 2017

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by Karen Jensen, MLS

August 2013

Things I Didn't Learn in Library School: Thoughts from a second year school librarian (guest post by Rachel Kammerer)

by Karen Jensen, MLS

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Comments

Sarah Peden says

January 31, 2017 at 11:14 am

Thank you for this!
- Karen Jensen, TLT says
  
  January 31, 2017 at 1:49 pm
  
  You are very welcome. Thank you for reading.
Penelope says

January 31, 2017 at 3:03 pm

Above it is written:

TLT16
TeenLibrarianToolbox@TLT16
I mention #5 because as a progressive Christian I can almost guarantee you your collection skews overly conservative.

As a sister progressive Christian, I still need to ask how contemporary (say, the last 25 years) children’s and teen fiction collections skew overly conservative? These books seem to skew quite liberal.
- Karen Jensen, TLT says
  
  February 1, 2017 at 9:34 am
  
  Penelope, I should have been more specific in mentioning that I was thinking of the 200s specifically in this particular tweet. That mistake on me, but I find that the Christian nonfiction sections of most libraries do in fact skew conservative. I am a teen services librarian with a minor in youth ministry from a conservative Christian college, so I am also tasked with doing the 200s and it was this area I was thinking of – I should have been more clear in my tweet.
  
  Karen
Cathy Benge says

February 1, 2017 at 12:54 am

What a fabulous list — even as librarian at a middle school, there are lots of these I can do!
Mike says

February 4, 2017 at 11:55 am

Please define “Progressive Christian”.

And just what is it about conservatism – and I mean real conservatism, not the hawkish neo-conservatism promoted by Israel and led by RINOs like John McCain, Paul Ryan, etc. – that frightens you?

Trackbacks

Worth Reading: Round 3 | Library Lizard says:

April 18, 2017 at 1:54 pm

[…] Librarian Toolbox tweeted several suggestions, all of which are posted here. Included are purchase diverse books and create source analysis documents for […]