ALA Midwinter 2015: Discussion of ‘diverse’ books

Image credit: Angie Manfredi on Twitter

The American Library Association Midwinter Meeting is taking place in Chicago, Ill. From my remote perspective in Ashland, Oregon, I tuned in this morning via “live-Tweets” centered around the event hashtag, in time to follow a “Diversity League” panel discussion of diversity in Young Adult literature.

Bellview library books, retrieved from public library

Sackful of books ready to go back to Bellview library

On two occasions during the last seven days, I retrieved Bellview Elementary School library books that had been returned by borrowers to Jackson County Library Services’ Ashland library.

‘Platinum Rule’ and measuring stick for ‘normal’

Among links shared with readers as Religious Explorations administrative coordinator for a Unitarian Universalist church, here’s a thought-provoking post from DRESara at The Children’s Chalice. She identifies a flaw in the Golden Rule, that it “presumes that I can use myself as the measuring stick for ‘normal.’” DRESara suggests that instead, people observe the “Platinum Rule,” to “Treat others the way they would like to be treated.”

Library yarn bombing promotes ‘common read’

Image source: Lawrence Public Library on Facebook

An image added to the timeline this week at Yarn Bombing @ Your Library has extra significance for me, as the installation served to draw attention to a community’s “common read.”

#LibChat library Q-and-A’s curated with Storify

During #LibChat (a weekly Twitter-based chat among library professionals), I used the Storify social-curation platform to group users’ question-and-answer posts. The finished “stories” can be found on the splash page for my Storify account.