#llibrarians

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[ebookporn]

Dancing Dystopias

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” —George Orwell, 1984 (1949)  

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” —William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)

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Only occasional groupings of words held her, and she entered to inhabit them a little while, until they became submerged, finding sanctuary in that part of herself which she looked upon distal and afraid, a residence as separate and alien, real or unreal, as those which shocked her with such deep remorse when the features of others betrayed them. An infinite regret, simply that she had seen, might rise in her then, having seen too much unseen; and it brought her eyes down quick.

William Gaddis,  The Recognitions (1955)

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[greatmardini]

Happy National Library Week!

[brycedontplay]

When I prepped for interviews as a new teacher, I was told that if I didn't cut my hair short, no matter how good my interpersonal/teaching skills were, I would never be hired because I didn't understand lice. I can see that kind of mentality creeping up in the library profession and it scares people into becoming one-dimensional beings: "here's my list of accomplishments and a picture of me in a blazer. I swear. Look how super adult I am. Please pick me." and even worse, it gets people saying "look, I'm so much better than that person! I don't get why they were picked!" as if our existence as a profession is a numbers game. The go-to assumption is us young ones can either choose to have heart or be taken seriously, and that mindset more often than not seems to be rewarded, whether with a job, Twitter followers, or what have you. That's what I really liked about filling out the Emerging Leaders application. It says, "Imagine if you could be yourself AND be considered a professional by everyone. Imagine you could afford to believe in the future of this profession. WTF would you even do with that?" And that's a pretty daunting question!

Part of my email to an Emerging Leaders applicant. Seriously, if you fit the criteria and don't want to apply for any other reason, apply for this one.