The Librarian By Day Notebook

Librarian. Speaker. Writer. Consultant. Privacy, new media, tech, policy, class, digital literacy, political communication & behavior. Gamer, dog lover, geek. I'm not as funny as I think I am. Subscribe by email

[librarianbyday]

Public libraries and the neuroscience of aging - Chestnut Hill Local Philadelphia PA

by Stan Cutler A “superager” is someone over 80 years old without memory loss. Neuroscientists have discovered that the brains of such people are

[libs4health]

Why libraries can become the heartbeat of health in communities

Americans trust and depend on their local libraries to disseminate factual, credible knowledge.

[libs4health]

Fitness kits available for checkout at Rockland Library

ROCKLAND — As part of the Check out Movement and Healthy Living at Your Library series, Rockland Public Library announces the availability of six new fitness kits for checkout by Rockland Library cardholders. They include T'ai chi: beginner's...

[librarianbyday]

New blog

[betterlibraryschoolclasses]

Happy National Library Workers Day! May your break room snacks be plentiful and your library snakes scheduled and well supervised!

[briarpatchfinn]

Hate Groups in Libraries

As of June 26th, 2018, the American Library Association guidelines now explicitly permit hate groups to organize in public libraries:

“A publicly funded library is not obligated to provide meeting room space to the public, but if it chooses to do so, it cannot discriminate or deny access based upon the viewpoint of speakers or the content of their speech. This encompasses religious, political, and hate speech. If a library allows charities, non-profits, and sports organizations to discuss their activities in library meeting rooms, then the library cannot exclude religious, social, civic, partisan political, or hate groups from discussing their activities in the same facilities.” (Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights)

The basis for this policy is a misguided understanding of the effects of hate speech on marginalized people:

“Symbols of hate are also constitutionally protected if worn or displayed in a public place. Libraries should comply with the ideals and legal requirements of the First Amendment. We make room for offensive, bigoted, and biased speech in the libraries if that speech is simply that: just speech. Hate speech stops being just speech and becomes conduct when it targets a particular individual and includes behavior that interferes with a patron’s ability to use the library.” (Hate Speech and Hate Crime)

In other words, ALA policymakers do not believe that hate speech interferes with any patron’s ability to use the library. ALA leaders don’t see a contradiction between allowing fascist organizing in the library and the commitment to “advocate conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions” (ALA Code of Ethics). 86% of librarians are white, and while most are female, men are over-represented in directorship roles. Entry into the profession as a full librarian (versus an assistant) requires at least one master’s degree, which can cost upwards of $40,000. (Most states do not offer library science programs at any of their public universities.) Funding to attend national conferences and policy-making discussions is often not provided to librarians, and rarely to library assistants. Custodial staff, who are vital to every library and also disproportionately people of color, are not a target audience for ALA membership and are not addressed in ALA conference programming. Like other ALA conferences, the conference that took place this June was inaccessible to many library employees, including those with disabilities, children, or financial constraints. The decision to allow white supremacist organizing in libraries was almost certainly made by a room full of highly educated, financially privileged white people. The library profession is hiding behind its commitment to “intellectual freedom” to avoid confronting the reality of fascist organizing in our local communities. White library leaders are content to host White Pride Night in their meeting rooms (note that library leaders tend to go home at 5pm, whereas lower-ranked staff work night shifts) without regard for the safety of non-white patrons and staff. It is our responsibility as human beings to stand up against fascism and white supremacy. If “professionalism” gets in the way of ethical duty, we must challenge the norms of our professions. While intellectual freedom is valuable and worth defending, shrinking away from ethical duty is not acceptable, nor does it promote a free and open society. All of us in the library profession - particularly those of us with power - have a responsibility to acknowledge the real harm that results from allowing hate speech and organizing in the library. There is no magical world where white supremacist fascists can co-exist with the people of color, immigrants, disabled people, and queer people that libraries claim to serve. We need to draw lines around unacceptable behavior in our institutions. We have a responsibility to use our free speech to collectively organize against hate. We cannot wait until “mere” hate speech turns into hate crime, and we cannot evade responsibility for any crimes committed as a result of our complacency.

Please spread the word. Talk to your friends who work in libraries. Tell your public librarian that white supremacy in the library will not be tolerated. Even so-called “progressive” librarians are reluctant to call out this policy. Do not let it go unchallenged.

[librarianbyday]

So is depression. Once again, the effect of screen activities is unmistakable: The more time teens spend looking at screens, the more likely they are to report symptoms of depression. Eighth-graders who are heavy users of social media increase their risk of depression by 27 percent, while those who play sports, go to religious services, or even do homework more than the average teen cut their risk significantly. Teens who spend three hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35 percent more likely to have a risk factor for suicide, such as making a suicide plan. (That’s much more than the risk related to, say, watching TV.) One piece of data that indirectly but stunningly captures kids’ growing isolation, for good and for bad: Since 2007, the homicide rate among teens has declined, but the suicide rate has increased. As teens have started spending less time together, they have become less likely to kill one another, and more likely to kill themselves. In 2011, for the first time in 24 years, the teen suicide rate was higher than the teen homicide rate

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? - The Atlantic

[librarianbyday]

what is the origin of the quote "if it is inaccessible to the poor it is neither equitable nor revolutionary." ? I am considering teaching it to some middle school science students and i want to apply credit!

I have attempted to track it down many times. Including trying to locate who took the original photo and have not had success. Sorry 

[librarianbyday]

Libraries need your help! Ask Congress to support LSTA and IAL funding: http://bit.ly/fight-for-libraries #NLLD17 http://thndr.me/tJfjIe

[harriscountypl]

Your public library is still your most reliable source for reliable sources. http://www.hcpl.net/content/ask-librarian #publiclibraries #alternativefacts #harriscountypl

[archivlibrarianist]

And thank you, Ms. Gordon.

[librarianbyday]

Employees who decline genetic testing could face penalties under proposed bill

“In general, employers don't have that power under existing federal laws, which protect genetic privacy and nondiscrimination. But a bill passed Wednesday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce would allow employers to get around those obstacles if the information is collected as part of a workplace wellness program.” 

“...the legislation, if enacted, would undermine basic privacy provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act and the 2008 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).”

“It's a terrible Hobson's choice between affordable health insurance and protecting one's genetic privacy,”

[librarianbyday]

Health literacy is the ability to obtain, access and understand health information and use services to make appropriate health decisions. In the United States, 77 million adults have basic or below health literacy manifesting in difficulty with tasks such as following prescription drug labels or reading a medical pamphlet to know how often one should complete a preventative screening such as a colonoscopy or mammography. Low health literacy is not at all uncommon, but it is costly. Low levels of health literacy contribute to mistakes in taking medication, worsened glycemic control among patients with diabetes, greater use of health care services including emergency room visits, and poor self-reported health.

Health illiteracy is costly and can be deadly - Crossroads Today

[librarianbyday]

Surveillance has historically functioned as an oppressive tool to control women’s bodies and is closely related to colonial modes of managing populations. Big data, metadata and the technologies used to collect, store and analyse them are by no means neutral, but come with their own exclusions and biases. This paper highlights the gendered and racialised effects of data practices; outlines the overlapping nature of state, commercial and peer surveillance; and maps the challenges and opportunities women and queers encounter on the nexus between data, surveillance, gender and sexuality.

Big Data and Sexual Surveillance | GenderIT.org

[libraryprivacy]

Library Privacy Checklists

This set of seven checklists is intended to help libraries of all capacities take practical steps to implement the principles that are laid out in the ALA Library Privacy Guidelines. Each checklist is organized into three priority groups. Priority 1 are actions that hopefully all libraries can take to improve privacy practices. Priority 2 and Priority 3 actions may be more difficult for libraries to implement depending on their technical expertise, available resources, and organizational structure.

These checklists were created by a group of volunteers from the LITA Patron Privacy Interest Group and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee’s Privacy Subcommittee.

Overview

Data Exchange Between Networked Devices and Services

E-book Lending and Digital Content Vendors

Library Management Systems / Integrated Library Systems

Library Websites, OPACs, and Discovery Services

Public Access Computers and Networks

Students in K-12 Schools

[libraryprivacy]

Free ebook download “The future of reputation: Gossip, rumor, and privacy on the Internet.”

Solove, D. J. (2007). The future of reputation: Gossip, rumor, and privacy on the Internet. New Haven: Yale University Press. 

Download

[librarianbyday]

“Under-investing in our libraries simply pushes costs elsewhere and means that a young person growing up today has less help and is more vulnerable to the impact of mental health problems on their life.”

Library cuts harm young people's mental health services, warns lobby | Books | The Guardian

[librarianbyday]

Issue brief on 2-generation programming in libraries from NCFL and Urban Libraries Council

Libraries have emerged as powerful 21st-century education leaders to help fulfill educational and learning needs—for learners of all ages. And with more than 16,000 spanning the U.S., there is no better resource for families learning together than the public library. Their status as safe, trusted, inclusive community hubs helps parents feel welcome. As important, libraries are the only education institution that connects with individual learning needs from birth through the senior years.

Read more

[librarianbyday]

“People tend to be more comfortable asking their librarians something rather than their doctor where they might feel rushed or intimidated,” said Renee Pokorny, branch supervisor at the Philadelphia Free Library, in the article. With demand for health information soaring at public libraries, some population health-minded officials are setting up clinics or housing caregivers directly in the library, including a branch of the Philadelphia Free Library and Pima Co., Ariz.’s library system.

CVS to Offer Cheaper Alternative to EpiPen; Libraries Create In-house Clinics | H&HN