Places of inquiry (Letter to the editor)

As a librarian and reader who is autistic and nonbinary, I wish to express my gratitude for “More than a Month,” for ongoing access to local libraries (“County library: Check out DEI,” Feb. 6). It is immensely validating to see myself in stories and to be able to find informational books about issues that I face. These works of fiction and nonfiction give me much-needed vocabulary to explain who I am and the issues that I face. Thank you to library workers everywhere for making our local libraries safe places for inquiry — where our differences (and our similarities) are celebrated and protected.

Published on Feb. 18, 2025 in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Book haul : Friends of the Library, summer 2024

I’ve acquired several great books from “Friends of the Library” venues, including More Tales to Keep You Up at Night, by Dan Poblocki; The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Sam Maggs; The Otherwoods, by Justine Pucella Winans; Puzzleheart, by Jenn Reese; Loveless, by Alice Oseman; and The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a short-story anthology.
https://youtu.be/Is4LtXrXoa0

Ellen Outside the Lines, by A.J. Sass (eBook preview)

Presenting ... First-chapter Friday, the eBook edition, beginning with Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass: Read via the Libby app, checked out through San Francisco Public Library. I will preview another eBook on the first Friday of each month, or on first and third Fridays if available content warrants it. Each eBook will be available from an area library.

Netflix drama ‘Heartstopper’ affirms importance of libraries

At The Mary Sue, D.R. Medlen discusses Isaac, a character on the Netflix drama “Heartstopper,” as Isaac explores his identity. “As a bookworm, it’s only natural that when Isaac is at a loss, he heads to his school library for answers. But what if Isaac had no library to go to? What would this shy, bookish kid do if he had questions that he couldn’t ask anyone else?”

Book-Talk : The Lost Library

In my latest video review: The Lost Library, by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass, was a quick read with an engaging mystery. It concerns the sudden appearance of a “little free library” on the Martinville town green. The “little free library” is filled with books that were returned to the public library on the day it burnt down 20 years ago. I admit that, inasmuch that I was caught up reading this story, I was very frustrated with the town of Martinville: In 20 years, why hadn’t anyone rebuilt the town’s public library?
https://youtu.be/p0QWNDlGhNg

Digital inclusion : Libraries provide access to Internet, technology

Hotspot, available from Sonoma County Libray

For LIS 5804, my studies this week focused on technology: specifically on “digital inclusion.” This subject is important to me because, through personal experience, I recognize how important it is for people to have access to the Internet in our ever-more-connected society.

Librarian competencies for library programming

In my studies this week for LIS 5804, I took a look at library programming: including core competencies for a librarian involved with programming. I was also tasked with highlighting examples of children’s and adult programming, as well as a program “that inspired” me.

Project Outcome case study

Project Outcome is “a free online toolkit designed to help public libraries understand and share the impact of essential library programs and services by providing simple surveys and an easy-to-use process for measuring and analyzing outcomes” (Project Outcome, n.d.-a). It was developed by the Public Library Association, for use by “U.S. and Canadian public, regional and state libraries” (ibid).

Milestones in U.S. public library history

My studies this week addressed several important milestones in the history of U.S. public libraries: including establishment of the idea that local taxes would support public libraries, an emerging focus upon library services to young people, and the desegregation of public libraries during the civil rights movement of the ’60s.

Public libraries and democracy

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “democracy” as “government by the people, especially: rule of the majority” (2023). In my reading this week for LIS 5804, McCook and Bossaller describe the public library as “democracy’s hope.” They tell us that “The narrative linking democracy and public libraries has been a consistent theme (with many variations) that can be seen in professional statements, landmark decisions, and library literature (2018, p. 2).

LIS 5804 : Ways that libraries enrich my life

In its Declaration for the Right to Libraries, the American Library Association lists several ways that libraries change people’s lives. Among them are statements that “Libraries empower the individual” (ALA, 2013, p. 16), and that “Libraries support literacy and lifelong learning” (ibid).

LIS 5804 : Haiku and reflection

For my first week of studies in LIS 5804, The Public Library, I was to write a haiku in response to a photograph in Robert Dawson’s The Public Library: A Photographic Essay.

UCM, LIS 5804 : Introducing myself

I am taking graduate courses in Library and Information Science through the online program at University of Central Missouri. For Spring 2023, I am taking LIS 5804, The Public Library. I made this video to introduce myself to classmates.

Collaboration between libraries

Identification of partners, collaborators, and resources is an important aspect of a “Library and Community Analysis.” The local public library is where I can make referrals in instances when my library is not equipped to meet a particular need.

LIS 5100 : Collaboration between school and public libraries

As an aspiring youth librarian who works in a school library, I am interested in ways that school and public libraries might collaborate. So as part of my studies, I was interested in reading the Public Library & School Library Collaboration Toolkit. 

First Partner issues a ‘Summer Reading Challenge’

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom has issued a five-week Summer Reading Challenge to encourage California families to “check-out” their community libraries. SRCSA families, your first task is to sign up for summer reading through Sonoma County Library. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you are enjoying my videos.

National Library Week, April 7 to 13, 2019

National Library Week is being observed from April 7 to 13. It, along with “School Library Month,” which is observed in April, is an opportunity to reflect on the significance of libraries.

Libraries versus Amazon subscription

Here’s a text-graphic that compares monthly costs to subscribe to Amazon Prime versus the average cost in taxes to support a library.

The graphic was compiled by EveryLibrary​ in response to an opinion piece in Forbes. In it, contributor Panos Mourdoukoutas argued that Amazon should open its own bookstores “in all local communities.” Amazon could supposedly “replace local libraries and save taxpayers lots of money.”

‘Of course’ Trump wants to strip funding from libraries

“Of course” U.S. President Trump wants to strip away federal funding of libraries. Writing for The Nation, Sue Halpern argues that libraries provide the “raw materials of civic education.” They offer a “space where everyone belongs.” And not only are libraries built on “the open and egalitarian promises of democracy;” libraries also exist to promote those promises. Cuts to libraries are consistent with Trump’s assault on immigration and democratic principles.

Yarn bombing commemorates library anniversary

Image credit: Manchester Community Library on Facebook

In Manchester, Vermont: Artist Trish Weill and Youth Services Librarian Janet Kleinberg spearheaded a yarn-bombing by community members of the Manchester Community Library (MCL).
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