Author Archives: filarwib

ALA Annual Conference in DC 2019

Leave a reply

New Roles and Changing Landscapes, ACRL division level committee (member)

Discussions on CUPA (college and university professional association) work on rewriting national library job PDs; discussion on the work on the OER course development on dealing with change in libraries, and the EDI pipeline work.

Climate Change Conversation/World Café (4 hour workshop)

Sponsored by SustainRT and ALA President Loida. The session was learning while experiencing how to run a World Café style conversation session on dealing with climate change.  Key highlights:

  • An opening mindfulness breathing exercise to get focused after a crazy ALA and city experience; also had a labyrinth on paper to trace your finger through or use a pen was grounding and centering
  • Term “Transformational Resilience” to explain what we need to do now, transform or regenerate while we remain resilient in the horrible state of the world today.
  • Idea of doing “snack meditation” to help take care of ourselves in this stressful time; RE: any small moment you have, take time to breath and be present, and letting the mind relax
  • Art, writing and poetry are still very important; recited the Green Gulch Farm poem “ we live in all things, all things live in us” AHHHH!
  • Espen Stokes’ Five Ds: distance, doomsday, dissonance, denial, identity
  • Libraries as Climate Agents; librarians are the most trusted profession after nurses; libraries are culture of trust, a third space, have resources, make connections, can amplify partner voices
  • 2020 Earth Day 50th Start a celebration that day that lasts all year perhaps? Idea of a Human Library climate change themed
  • BOOKS: Beautiful World our Hearts Thought Possible; Pleasure Activism
  • AUTHORS: Adrianne Maree Brown; Kathleen Dean Moore, Octavia Butler, Grace Lee Boggs
  • CHECK OUT: Art of Hosting by Kristen Mastel, U of MN (*download!!)
  • WORLD CAFÉ: (quick guide to World Café )
    • This is a practice not a facilitated discussion!
    • Min of 12 people; small round tables with groups of 4-5 max; at least more than an hour; Provide snacks; bring foods to share
    • Include a centerpiece of earth (we have cut juniper pieces, but could be flowers, potted plants etc) ; also have large butcher paper and markers to draw, write
    • Have 3 questions, that are open ended but with solid structure
    • Set the context, why you are here and some guidelines; do a warm up “what is stirring in your right now about Climate Change?” Think, draw/write, then share in small group. (*could also hire a student/volunteer who can draw to be your graphic recorder for small groups!)
    • Each questions will take 20 mins; open one at a time; spend time in small group discussing, drawing, etc; make sure everyone has a chance to share with diverse perspectives and listen in each group
    • Either share out the large group from each table OR have a host stay at the table to share with the next group; since at the end of each question, move to a new table, new people

SustainRT Program: Carbon Offsets Panel

Uta moderated an amazing panel of mainly non librarians on carbon offsets. We are looking 544 arctic square feet a year. This IS a critical time people!  First, always think to reduce and cut back.  The gist is this: Use only 3rd party certified carbon offset programs; these not only help the earth, but help others (often women, marginalized populations) trying to develop real projects that are earth and people friendly! Social justice and earth justice program.   1 domestic flight = 1 tome of carbon pollution

Panelist 1: Blake of Cool Effects Carbon Company of about 500,000 people; First, reduce your carbon (they offer resources and tools to guide you!), then look to offset your travel. 90% of their work goes to support projects from solar cookstoves to biogas to forest regeneration.

Panelist 2, Jennifer, director of Center for environmental Leadership; Conservation International.  “We need to work with businesses if we really want to change things” Have over 200 partners now. REDD+  helps developing nations to get carbon lower thorough incentives such as empowering women and their project and education (Ex: Alto Mayo protected forest in Peru that is being decimated; they were using ag practices that don’t work in that climate either; so educated them on growing shared grown coffee that is good and why logging is not helping, etc.)  United airlines now offers carbon offsets purchases when you buy a ticket, from working with this group.

Panelist 3: Lisa of SustainCERT, part of Gold Standard Foundation (Swiss) started from WWF who realized carbon offsets were being offered with horrible consequences like taking land from native owners to do wind turbines. Need to certify carbon offsets! Need to reduce in a robust and permanent way; also must positively support sustainable development/local community! They also do impact investment funds to show the truth in the fluff.  Their project cycle can take 9 months to 2 years, very thorough.

Panelist 4: David Selden, librarian at National Indian Law Library in Boulder. Their library analyzes and cuts back on 4 things:  energy consumption, paper consumption, air travel, waste (reduction). Yes when it was volunteering and paid on your own or through your travel funds people did not do it. They now decide on a project a year for their carbon offset support. They used the data, proved $$ savings to get admin on board and now use their library budget to pay for carbon offsets when they need to travel

–  if you can show your admin you are saving in other ways, can you use that savings toward the offset purchase? OR will you be willing to pay it yourself ($13-20 a trip!)? its only 2 fancy Starbucks coffees you are giving up!

ACRL ULS Mid-Level Managers Discussion Group

Somewhat good discussion and sharing in a confidential ways about struggles as middle managers. EDI came up in hiring and many were very interested in OSU’s search advocate program.  Too large a group to have serious conversations but did learn a good process managers might use called Situation Behavior and Impact  (SEI) in order to help people grow and change; also “Cultural humility” and “Other oriented” as key terms and ideas for being more open minded.

ACRL EDI Discussion Group (visiting, not member)

Some updates and sharing:

  • Only 9 people in the room, including the soon to be chair Derrick Johnson from American U
  • Diversity Alliance Task Force ending next year – looking to get this wrapped into this committee!
  • Would like to create a TOOLKIT including webinars about it, to help educate marginalized populations and new librarians on things like tenure, and job negotiation
  • Mentioned our DSP – suggested they look into U of IL scholarship (need to follow up on what this is??)
  • Asking people to please submit EDI related presentations and poster ideas for ALA 2020

Then this happened….   this was annoying when a white male administrator talked for more than 35 minutes about his “great new position” Coordinator of EDI at LARGE RESEARCH Library, both annoying that he dominated so long, and that he thought this idea of a position was the best things ever. I finally called him out on the job a bit “so you can let of POC make the changes your library needs to make in this role and not you as an administrator work on changing your culture and policies?!?” but I did not call him out on dominating the conversations; should I have?? Idk! It was not my group, I was visiting, and others (almost all marginalized populations) did ask him questions that kept him going forever. !?!?

SustainRT  outings: 

US Botanical Garden Tour with the Sustainability Round Table

US Botanical Garden Tour with the Sustainability Round Table

SustainRT Leadership Dinner

SustainRT Leadership Dinner

CCLI: California library instruction conference

Leave a reply

CCLI 2019 – Reimagining Student Success: Approaches that Increase Participation, Representation, and Relevance

http://www.cclibinstruction.org/2019-conference/2019-conference-program/

Fabulous Keynote:
curiosity compassion communication 
Melanie Chu – Lake Tahoe CC  (HER SLIDES)

Critical information literacy and museum visitor studies = participatory learning in the library’s shared spaces. Using museum engagement techniques, librarians can better support the experience, engagement, and assessment of student learning in creative, effective, and nontraditional ways.

  • Context library  series – instructional art exhibit integrated into the  curriculum in the library lobby by local artist, low budget,  by librarian and student workers
  • Museum studies framework- personal, sociocultural, physical
  • Falk and Dierking’s  Contextual Model of learning
  • personal context – constructivist theory, individual role in their learning
    • EX: wounded Hearts exhibit, hearts students could add to the clothesline;
    • they digitized the exhibit heats and put in their IR!)
  • sociocultural context – role for social interactions and experiences in ones learning process;
  • social cognition
    • EX: patterned heritage exhibit – like a game board road map where students add to and create;
    • EX: invisible project photos of homelessness – with large post its on the wall where student can write answers to questions ending with a panal discussion about resources locally
  • physical context – role of library as as learning laboratory;
  • situated learning
    • EX:  enlisting a nation display about WW1 propaganda, students worked through the exhibit reacting and responding to it, creating their own new knowledge from that
  • Other exhibit examples with students:
    •  more than a fence (de) constructing mexico US borders. created by introduction to sculpture class. using a recycled piece of chain linked fence the interactive part was students could add messages, notes, memories on to the fence to create a personal context to them.
    • student created poster session exhibit:  Beyond the Stereotype, a social justice initiative to stop cultural appropriation (posters of students ripping up posters of these stereotypes; there was a call to pledge to civility and diversity on a butcher paper roll on the wall … this produced a lot of conversation on paper white students not understanding (wow); they used Conversations that Matter (Hashtag) virtually through the hashtag and then an in person conversation facilitated by a professor and then captured in storify. (THESE POSTERS ARE CC and FREELY AVAILABLE TO USE)
    •  The Uterus Flag Project
  • Tools that can be used to engage:

SESSION – replace scavenger hunts with Problem Based Learning (PBL)
bit.ly/pbl-lib-instruction

small group discussion on scavenger hunts – sometimes good for tours, or for INTO folks; what is the real need or  goal for scavenger hunts?

– want new students to feel welcome
– want them to know about our spaces and services

these are good things! but apply problem based learning and use in a one shot, orientation, first year writing class, etc  HOW — groups, directions, scenarios, tools, teach others.

PBL from 1970s (Barrow) – student centered, small groups, teaching guide, student demos

why PBL good?

  • self directed learning
    centered in student experiences
    build  problem solving skills in research and inquiry
    students are teachers
    focus on the students strengths!
    relevant – cultural competences
    what is the students goal for success – it may not be yours!
    always have them do a so what? question at the end

see CORA – community of online research assignments https://www.projectcora.org/ 

EX: 2 websites an NRA site give a gun take a gun but its a .org (share the safety.ogr)| greatness site that is for runners that quotes PubMed but has lots of ads and its a .com — showing its not as easy as .org vs .com

LIGHTNING ROUNDS

Data Literacy as a flipped on shot -(Mary-Michelle Moore, UCSB)
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oWb6pGt8f7UPatMgzCOEVyzvso2sPzn0Xw-r1jNX-G8/edit#slide=id.g58fe40c26f_0_156

ZInes (paige Sundstrom/UCSB)  

  • “Wins Opportunities and Thoughts”
  • Zine in instruction class
  • 4 sources, any type; list of source reflection questions (why did you choose this/what did you learn – via text to images
  • reflection
  • do it again? a group zine

Students at the Center of the Studio: Peer learning, Collaborations, and Service Design
By Beth and Jane 🙂 
A PDF of our slide are here

 

 

Presenting at CCLI!

Presenting at CCLI!

Gleeson Library

Gleeson Library

University of San Francisco

University of San Francisco

** PHOTOS of the Gleeson Library and CSUMB are here!

Mental health First Aid (for youth)

Leave a reply

Mental health for youth April 2, 2019

by Hilary Harrison & Karen Douglas  trainers for SHS
https://www.samhealth.org/MentalHealthFirstAid 
we have a book that goes with it, I am happy to lend to others! 

Note–
May 23 mental health for Higher Ed at OSU via CAPs,
Can also contact them Hilary and Jim to do a workshop just for us!

  • Labels are not always helpful.  They don’t define us. They don’t help w our identity == Use Person first language
  • Don’t use the word TRIGGER but ACTIVATED. If we flip our lid, get activated, it will take 20 minutes to get regulated again, in order to have a real conversation. keep that in mind when working with others.
  • Activity – arm in air, thumb across palm, fingers down, that’s our brain. Fingers up we are in fight and flight zone, flipping our lid. Use this sign to let coworkers, family, kids know your or their state of mind.
  • Key ask w mental health —— Does it affect their ability to live, laugh, love, or learn?
  • Ex: a break up, very upset in the moment but does it stick for days?Does if affect their work or school attendance, carry out daily activities, and engage I satisfying relationships
    • Mental Health Action Plan
      ALGEE
      Assess for risk of suicide or harm
      Listen non judgmentally
      Give reassurance and information (not advice!)
      Encourage appropriate professional help
      Encourage self help and other support strategies
  • Giving info not advice:    Instead of “you should go see a counselor” — reframe to- “often when people are going through this seek counseling”
  • For self help – suggest have you taken a walk or eating something today
  • Signs vs symptoms, you always see signs but not often the symptoms; listening helps uncover
  • So many behaviors are typical teens behavior but it they are excessive and continue for awhile they might be signs of something else

Typical signs vs warning signs page 17
W/draw from family = ok , but from everyone = real problem
Privacy is one thing but hiding and being paranoid = real problem
Medications can give side effects that seems like mental health issues
Suicide crisis moments can ebb and flow, they can be in crisis mode then not and then back to it again.

Hallucinations can be in all senses. Here is one that is auditory–
Activity- one person stands behind someone and rolls a tube to speak to that persons back of head, someone else stands in front and talks to them. The person behind reads quietly things like “why are you talking to them? You can’t trust them? They don’t want to talk to you? ” etc.

Protective Factors p 19
Ways to be more and be more resilient such as mindfulness, community group, a friend or family, a gratitude journal, exercise, sunshine, close to one adult = It’s all about belonging! Don’t tell them “they will get over ” the breakup, more fish in the sea… When they really need is empathy

Communicating with young people page 27-28, 49
non judge mental listening, don’t compare to you, give positive feedback, don’t ask them why they did something, be genuine, silence ok, don’t trivialize their feelings.
Don’t fix the problem! Be the guide on the side, be with them and let them fox themselves.

*facilities that do not mandatory report!!!
Health and wellness in Salem
CARDVq

Undergraduate Student Success Initiative Sumitt

Leave a reply

Since 2015, OSU has undertaken two major Undergraduate Student Success Initiative (USSI) efforts: 1) a fundraising initiative in partnership with the OSU Foundation to raise $150 million to support student success and 2) a series of academic interventions intended to bolster student success directly through expanded student support services, particularly related to advising and financial aid, or indirectly through changes in learning models and provision to instructors and administrators of better and more timely data.

On March 7, 2019 they hosted an all day Summit, which I really recommend anyone going next year, great for networking, connecting, collaborating and sharing with other student support folks on campus! Video from the event:  https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_inr77ekl. The agenda has  links to live streaming too.

Sense of Belonging: Supporting Student Success Through Cultural Resource Centers 
Sarah Garcia & Cindy Konrad, Diversity & Cultural Engagement  

  • Students need all layers of belonging:  university belonging and sense of spirit on campus to group(s) belonging. Cultural Centers help with this belonging through Peer mentoring, space to resist discrimination and isolation, creating forums for student voices, building community and relationships, cultural nourishment, positive identity development.
  • Barriers students face:   cultural shock/microaggressions;  lack of whole self spaces (various identities); lack of supportive messaging from campus; lack of cultural relevant curriculum; system of dominance embedded in the institution (white patriarchy, Heteronormativity)
  • Impact on students:  impostor syndrome, mental health/increased stress; extra labor (more work to find/form groups of people like them); pushed out of desired majors; lower retention and grad rates.
  • Ways to support:  increased cultural competencies beyond a training attendance; building relationships across campus/refer students to people; Listening and validating students (thank the student for sharing before offering solutions); commitment to continues learning and transformation; supporting their learning advancement (help them question what they think they can/cant do); validating curriculum (more than adding a multicultural week)
  • Q/A: 
    • We need more images of people of color someone asked, but we don’t want to toss up a totem POC to pretend we are diverse. How do we do this? Sarah suggested going to various student groups on campus, meeting them and asking them to help campaign for you, perhaps offer money toward travel funds or something that would be helpful toward their success.
    • think about whats your sphere of influence? how can you leverage it to better service marginalize students?
    • Also Note: Sarah Garcia did her master on this topic and would be a great speaker!
    • See this handout – for a quick reference that summarizes how each cultural center seeing the barrier and suggestions or support!

Data for the Undergraduate Student Success Initiative 
Chrysanthemum Hayes, Institutional Analytics and Reporting | Dan Larson, Student Affairs
Link to live streaming this session

  • This sessions was the unveiling of the Undergraduate Student Success Initiative Metrics dashboard (SSI0100) in CORE   
  • Includes  six metrics:  UG Enrollment, First-Year Retention, 4 year Graduation rates, 6 year graduation rates, First-Year retention for junior transfer students,  % of students with High Financial Need.
  • Views can be either university, primary college, and primary major
  • Student demographic areas: Legal Sex, Students of Color, Pell-eligible, Residency, First Generation, Veteran Status, and students with High Financial Need
  • The IAR Data Dictionary has all the definitions of these categories. 
  • . Additionally, users are able to navigate the metrics through a variety of views including visualizing the data as a graph or heat map and also seeing the results in a tabular format. A tabular view of the metrics is available down to the major level for most metrics.
  • Who can access? OSU employees with CORE access, this is for internal use not to be printed, presented globally and shared.
  • there are NO individual students = aggregated data only
  • want to learn more or how people are using this? Come to their open data Lab in Kerr 094 on Fridays 12-2pm 

OSU’s Peer Mentoring Programs and Student Success MU Main Lounge
Chris Ervin, Writing Center | Beth Filar-Williams & Jane Nichols, Valley Library

We hosted a peer mentoring round table, and though it was a strange location in the MU Main Lounge filled with students studying and fires going on, we had a few stragglers find us. We connected with Housing & Dining’s Charlie Beckers running the academic learning assistant program and with an instructor in IB who has both LA (lab assistants) and TI (UG who help TAs, not sure what the I is for?) . Also there was Alex Giltelman  – VP for UG education, part of the faculty mentoring program. Small group and range of peer mentoring but we had a lot in common: struggles with funding, solid assessment for these softer skills and how much time training takes to do it well.  overall we learned, there are some excellent peer mentoring opportunities on campus. AND. we all invest a fair amount of time training not just for the job but academic success and beyond OSU so called hard or soft skills. Check out Iowa Growth Model.

AND BRYANS NOTES ARE HERE:  https://wiki.library.oregonstate.edu/confluence/display/LEAD/2019/03/19/2019+Undergraduate+Student+Success+Summit+-+March+7+-+Bryan

NW College Reading & Learning Association Conference Day in McMinnville

Leave a reply

Jane and I attend the NW College Reading and Learning Association conference on Saturday March 2 at Chemeketa Community College.  It was a first for us both and a really useful conference day from CRLA, who’s role is for college professionals working with student academic success in areas of reading, learning assistance, tutoring and mentoring. We visited their learning center/library/tutoring center too, see photos of their version of our flippies in the URWS and other signage. 

Shawn O’Neil an academic coach from UNCG (the school where I use to work ironically!) was the keynote and really good one at that!  He gave a really keen analogy of learning to garden and grow a tomato plant in how we want to grow out students learning. The volunteer plants he got the next season grew into more and more plants – more and more tomatoes – in the end he was able to feed many more people through the growing of very few. His 5 steps to growing your students’ growth especially in the academic coaching area:

  • INTENT – guides us to our impact, clear as to why you are there. He suggest a survey to your students:  What did you want? and What did you get?.    He provide some great talking points with students:
    • “you are an expert in your own life – every decisions you made so far is fine with all the data you had at the time”
    • “you are not broken… we are not trying to fix you … we are just the GPS and you drive you own life”
    • “ how can I learn from you, as you are the expert in your life? what experiences got you here today that have been successful; where do you want to go; what are your strengths, goals – we’ll help get you there”
    • (for when they miss a meeting or appointment with you) “ hey we missed you today? Is everything ok? Maybe you are having a hard time prioritizing, can I help?”
  • FEEDBACK –
    • Suggest the read: “Thanks for the feedback” book by Douglas Stone.
    • Replace “BUT” with “AND” in your talking points
    • Get feedback from everyone; especially those who don’t like you! and sit with it  a bit – don’t be defensive.
  • LEAD THROUGH SERVICE: Know you are an expert; Co mentor each other
  • MENTORING – build bridges, students mentor other students. Read “the Spark of Learning”.
  • BE HEALTHY – do not burnout yourself or you cannot help others. Middle management is the most difficult – hard to think well with overwhelmed and stressed day in and day out. Some tips:
    • Write down everything you do at work a week – rank it, can you stop it, can you delegate
    • Set up a train the trainer model (peer to peer and staff to staff)
    • Make it visible, what you do, how you are doing it.
    • Stay grounded in your INTENT
    • COMPLAIN IN A WAY THAT SEEKS FEEDBACK! Not just complain to complain.

Session One breakout:  Incorporating High Impact Student Engagement and Active Learning

This session offered a number of small and larger active learning activities.  The Learning Log was given to us to fill out during the session, modeling what they do with students.  Here are some of the examples:

Sole Mates – an icebreaker, find a person who has the same shoe sole as you (what you discuss depends on your session outcome but it’s a way to get people moving and meeting each other)

Names on Table Tents – when using 8×11 paper with folks names  on it here are some options:

  • Have them turn it in at the end of the session with any questions they might have written inside the table tent – a way for questions to be asked for those not comfortable asking aloud in front of everyone.
  • Have them add other info about themselves on it, one at each corner such as fav book or movie, position, major, etc.
  • Use various colors for the name and then use that to break up into groups later

Frayer Model – in small groups, to understand tough words. Picture a square divided in 4ths with the word in the center, in the 4 areas: define, characteristics, example, non-examples

Pre-reads with reading prompt –  have students read ahead of time with PROMPT as to what lens to have when reading, or what sections to concentrate on, or what themes to keep in mind. This helps them be better prepared for the discussion.

Galley walk –  on computers or flipcharts or paper on tables, 3-5 discussion questions for small classes that gauge  knowledge and comprehension; walk in small groups around, comment, review, discussion, rotate station.

Quick Writes – 1-3 min write, often used at the start of every training or meeting; a quick write on the topic before discussing, especially good for touch topics or when it’s an early morning class or to just get in the habit of writing.

3-2-1 exit ticket –  3 questions you still have, 2 new things you learning, 1 thing you will try.

They suggest these other really good options  too  – role playing, scenarios, think/pair/share, giving feedback in small groups, small groups always, students teach trainers, scavenger hunts, observing & reporting back, students create a guide or handout

Session two:  Strengths-based Holistic Approach to Academic Coaching to Neural Diverse Students  (Check out their slides for more info)

Very interesting session from two Gonzaga folks in an area I didn’t know much about!  A plant analogy again – everyone has an environment to thrive in, like a plant, some have different needs, strength and interests.  Let’s all agree the goal is empowering students to be active and independent learnings in pursuit of their academic success. They work with many students but especially those with AS, ADHD, etc:  students who are often frustrated, feel shame about their “deficits” and have low morale. A key with neural diverse students is to flip their deficit to a strength (see HANDOUT: swap this for that)  Or find other strengths they possess to help them more forward.  Book:  Strengths-based Advising: a new lends by Schreinder and Anderson (2005)

Ask students:  why are you here? What have you done in the past to help? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Dialog helps you to pull this out them. Re-framing what they share, make them realize how far they have come vs how far they think they need to go. Many many students are FIXED mindset  – change to growth mindset by focusing on awareness, choice, responsibility  with questions on what and how (not WHY!)  HOW can I help you?  WHAT can you do?  WHAT do you think you can do. NOT “do all I told you and you will be fine”   Look for their speech that denies power!  Accountability and choice.

Try Motivational interviewing  – student is expect and they led the show, foster self-efficacy and self-trust through empathy’ guide them and help them find their strengths.  One key is being this ways as a practitioner & sharing your struggles with the students too.  Consider Intersectionality and power and oppression factors too!   (See HANDOUT: Motivational Interviewing)

NASPA 2018

Leave a reply

Lori Hilterbrand attend and presented at  NASPA 2018 in Sacramento last week. NASPA  = Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.    She presented with folks from our HSRC Human Services Resource Center on the textbook lending programs and other collaborations of the library and HSRC on:

Building Partnerships to get a Yes!

Students shouldn’t have to choose between buying textbooks and basic necessities like
food or rent. Partnering with other campus units on textbook lending requires creative
thinking to provide students access to other services in addition to the books they need.
This program describes a partnership between an academic library and a student
services unit to help meet students’ basic needs.

Lori notes are here in google doc for those interested in skimming! 

ACRL-OR/WA Menucha Oct 2018

Leave a reply

ACRLPNW Menucha Oct 25-26, 2018  | ADVOCACY Theme  https://acrloregon.org/conferences/2018-acrl-or-wa-joint-conference/

Loida Garcia-Febo, president of ALA was the opening keynote on Libraries  = Strong Communities

Amanda Dalton, Lobbyist for OLA   “How to give an elevator speech ..” to legislators and in your professional workplace!  https://drive.google.com/file/d/131dkbFiI-O8NUBrvcpUTTX0gITkjywjT/view 

Prepare to spend time prepping and creating a 1 page sheet:  Ask yourself:

  • How did we get here? (a problem identified)
  • Where are we going? (what happened so far, possible solutions)
  • Bring the one pager you created as a “leave behind”  – this will encapsulate your elevator speech. It includes 3-4 bullets only, headline, bold/underline key points, add image/make attractive and easy to skim quickly.

Tips – especially w/ legislators

  • Make it personal. Find something about them that you can remember and connect with them on (but don’t make it something that would suck in your short time with the person, short, sweet, and lead into your main top)
  • When talking to legislators – go in, say hi and sit, do not fidget, be firm and confident
    • Also know what committees they are on, where they are from (constituents), their vote on issues or oppositions
    • Send the handout a day before to staffer; send messages after 8pm sunday night is key time
    • Always do a thank you (email) with staffers too. They are key to legislators!
  • Know your 3-4 bullet points very well and stick to them and come back to them, don’t get off topic
  • Say I don’t know but Ill follow up (which is great, b/c it means you have to follow up with them again and get your want in a second time!)
  • WII-FM (what’s in it for me) keep this in mind. They hear a lot all day so really find a way to convince them what’s good for them and why they should care
  • Manage expectations  – make it easy for them to agree with you; offer to help, talking points, etc

The Steps!

  1. Problem-solution OR law of 3 (offer 3  things/solutions); who supports/who opposes; why they should support this
  2. Message box – ONE goal, 2-3 messages (with 3-4 bullet points below each); think political ads; ALWAYS stay here, pivot back here, transition here when tangents occur.
  3. Action Item- be specific. Offer help.

OR … in other words of Inigo Montoya   https://twitter.com/eliganrood/status/1055587574188625920

Other Notes:  https://acrloregon.org/conferences/2018-acrl-or-wa-joint-conference/ 

Bishops Windows, mirrors and sliding doors – read up on for advocacy and understanding
Mirror = you
Window = understand how others may see you

The hate you give by Angie Thomas  (UW-T)
A Real Lit book club reading for social justice theme –  We believe that e sharing and cultivation of knowledge and experience is activism and a move toward social justice.

Colleen Sanders’ lightning talk  she gave a call to action to get interested library workers to sign up for a local (PNW) CritLib community of practice.

Irene herald, closing keynote, on advocacy. (In Beths words)

  • affirm issue (state high level purpose)
  • tie to org/vision (always must align)
  • State purpose (state real purpose)
  • Transform to ask in phrase “based in your…” ( show you did your history)
  • Make the ask clearly ( stay in the box)
  • Be quiet (active listening)

Key :: it’s not about meeting your goals but meeting the goals and needs of those who you are asking.
Check out AAUW vision 2020 women equity initiative
Helps to advocate – Look at unusual partners, Volunteer, Make connections

Shannon Mattern on Forms of Spatial Knowledge at the Sherrer Lecture

Leave a reply

Notes from attending the Sherrer Lecture at Lewis & Clark College Friday, October 19, 2018, 3pm with Jane Nichols

Shannon Mattern, Professor of Media Studies, The New School
twitter: @shannonmattern
http://wordsinspace.net/shannon/
Local Codes:  Forms of Spatial Knowledge

She talked FAST and there was a TON of information. Here is what I could gather from this fascinating talk.  Data from an epistemological sense. Place Based Data.

Data → information → knowledge → wisdom

4 Case Studies:

1) Pittsburg   https://civic-switchboard.github.io/

  • tech industries, Carniege Mellon, Robotics, startups
  • “Publicness”  is the city theme
  • Open civic data is their case study showcase
  • Lots of strong supported public institutions
  • Western PA data centers  – partners with the libraries for research, mapping etc and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (https://www.neighborhoodindicators.org/)  and the Digital Library Federation, connected to offer data sharing and serving == civic switchboard – its local, ecosystem collaborative culture
  • They map out local data to determine the local true ecosystem.
  • Local issues = local partnership; goal to democratize data and suppose equitable access to information.

2) Jakarta  https://info.petabencana.id/about/  

  • Legacy of colonialism, environmental voluntility (13 rivers, always had seasonal flooding), 100 year floods now occur every 5 years, the city if sinking
  • Little data, little knowledge on how to model this risk. Tried Crowdsourcing via social media instead!
  • Petabencana – a collaborative partnership, using government data, user data via social media. https://petabencana.id/  used to build the data set and create a visualization
  • Twitter is a real time partner, but any social media platform will work.  When flooding is happening, and users are on social media posting about it, they can be sent  a chat with animated gif to ask them to add the content (CogniCity Open Source Software)

3) St Louis  http://stlmaproom.org/  (oh  how super cool this is!)

  • History of racial issues…
  • Created the Map Room project, brings people together for local data gathering, about their city (what they love, hate, enjoy)
  • Civic data, local environment
  • People in a room wiht large maps drawing on them, creating data basically
  • Ipad to project maps on floor really big so groups can work together, walk around it,etc. Various groups come together like Non Prof, schools, etc or random groups to work together OR on top of each other to show the try map of the city.
  • Added knowledge layers on top of this both draw by people or previous  groups but also other data. One key example: the relining maps added to show major effect those had on the city today
  • Map Rooms are growing in other cities too:  Atlanta (beltline) map room, uses civic data tired to lived experiences; all local data both geographies and biographies

4) San Fran/Silicon Valley

  • New wealth, bid rich city, gentrification, too much growth, little affordable housing
  • tech industry has disrupted knowledge produced and circulated – how can libraries help get this public knowledge and info out there?
  • Launched in April 2017, Public Knowledge is a two-year project that aims to promote public dialogue on the cultural impact of urban change. https://www.sfmoma.org/artists-artworks/public-dialogue/public-knowledge/
  • Public Knowledge Library -temp  branch in the museum as a public knowledge project to house and share various artists activities that reflect the changes happening in SF.
  • Civic Knowledge Solidarity – mapping project to help understand the story behind the data, the political and civic understandings
  • .Many other projects, check out here: https://publicknowledge.sfmoma.org/  

Library 2.018: Social Crisis Management

Leave a reply

Wednesday October 17, Lori, Bryan (and beth, for some of it) attended the free Library 2.018: Social Crisis Management online conference. Here are some notes from the sessions:

 Active Shooter, Mary Soucie, State Librarian of ND

  • Covered Run, Hide, Fight and keeping phones silenced during hiding and fighting with all you have if necessary
  • Responding to police
    • Initially the police will only be interested in stopping the shooter and will not stop to help those that are injured
    • Follow their directions, keep hands in air, no sudden movements, keep calm (as you can), don’t ask questions
  • Make sure you have Active Shooter procedures in your library disaster plan
  • Train on a regular basis with local law enforcement
  • If fire alarms are activated, always listen for gunshots. If they are heard, find a place to hide or exit the building if you know it is safe
  • Have a plan for frontline staff – what do you do if a shooter walks through the main doors?
  • If patrons will not evacuate leave them behind. Take care of yourself.
  • Have a communication plan within the building – how are you going to communicate with staff?
  • When evacuating, have a predetermined gathering place, like another building nearby.
  • Know the signs of potential threats – behaviors of possible active shooters
  • Do a risk and safety assessment of your library and work areas.
  • We may want to move the red phone at our desk so it is not visible to the entrance lobby.

Ryan Dowd (ryan@homelesslibrary.com) spoke about homelessness.  We started late so missed the title and theme, but a few points of interest stood out.  He only presented 2 main rules for making things move along better – 1. Respect common humanity, and 2. Appreciate diversity.  If you assume others have had all the same opportunities as you, you will dismiss their suffering, problems, and maybe them altogether if they don’t measure up to where you would expect them to be in life.  Don’t assume they’ve shared your path and your privileges.  Many homeless patrons will also have a hyper-sensitivity to unfairness – they have been unfairly targeted regularly and have little patience and more than a little anger about it in many cases.  Others also may have unexpected triggered reactions since trauma changes the brain.  2 types of questions from “non-homeless” patrons – 1.) will you keep me safe and take problematic behaviors seriously (legitimate) and 2.) why should I have to see this, see homeless people, see poor people, see immigrants (illegitimate).

Madelaine Ildefonso from LA public libraries focused on services available to marginalized populations in the LA area.  Focus is on families, path to citizenship, small business assistance, housing, financial coaching, know your rights.  If you can’t offer all services in your library it’s okay – something is better than nothing.  Build programs that focus on peoples’ assets (like entrepreneurship) rather than on their deficits (like language barriers) and they’ll be more likely to attend.  Sometimes people are afraid to attend deficit-centered events – afraid of being labelled as needing mental help, housing, or language assistance.  Some people have been afraid of attending “Know your rights” meetings for fear they will be highlighted as undocumented.  Offer these kinds of sessions privately.  Don’t offer advice – refer them to experts and try to bring experts and services to the library.

Alix Midgely of the Denver Public Library spoke on providing support to people facing adverse challenges. Hired as a social worker by the library (awesome) – they also have peer navigators who are people who have lived the situation of the patrons experiencing crisis – whether that’s being homeless, facing addiction, overcoming poverty, etc.  Must have an understanding that any or all of those you serve have had different circumstances and may have individual trauma and triggers that result from that trauma.  Focus on people’s strengths, avoid words that label and individual – person battling addiction rather than an addict.  Don’t label people as their adverse circumstance.  People experiencing homelessness, not “The Homeless.”  Eliminate barriers, be inclusive, collaborate with community services – wondering if we could have CAPS and HSRC do walk-in/drop-in hours in the library?  I know this has been mentioned before in reference to CAPS but not sure it’s going forward? Evenings would be FABULOUS.

Julie Ann Winkelstein, School of Info Science, U of TN,  spoke about her course for library staff on homelessness and poverty in the library.  She used the phrase cultural humility which I’m not sure yet that I understand but it seems to be about focusing on the cultural identity and preferences of the other person in your conversations and interactions.  Libraries are operating from a place of power (comparatively) to the marginalized populations they serve – they can help make change.  Things contributing to marginalization can include housing, health, age, disability, gender, sexual preference, race, family status, and etc. plus any number of combinations of the above. Some people will deny their situations for fear of the stigma of being labelled “addict” or “homeless” or “illiterate” and etc.

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director at the Mid-Hudson Library System in New York, spoke on sustainability of library services in light of the environmental degradation and uncertain safety and financial situations it will cause.  She sees the need to express our libraries as Vital Visible and Viable.  Not everyone will be impacted equally by coming environmental crises (or any crises) and the poor will almost always be impacted more profoundly.  We need to build on the uniqueness of the library and why we do what we do – we need to be able to define those things.  We must focus locally as many of the problems that we’re facing are far too large to focus on nationally or globally.  We have the best potential for local impact if we can be Environmentally Sound, Economical Sustainable and Socially Responsible.  Check out reports from the ALA on Sustainable Libraries.  I like the idea of involvement in local repair fairs, farms and food shares, seed libraries, etc.

 

ALA MW Denver 2018 – Conference Highlights!

Leave a reply

I use to live in Colorado, worked at CU Boulder for 3 years running the Map Library;  then for 5 years I worked as a consultant mainly in the western part of Colorado.  So it’s a going home feeling to be back there,  and I saw many people I use to work with or support in Colorado which was so lovely!!   Though the cold and snow reminded me of why I left 🙂  We did rent a cool AirBnB close to the Convention Center and cool downtown Denver views.  And we had one blue sky day to walk the canal and see the outside art in Denver.

Mainly my trip to Denver in February was for two committees. First, the Sustainability Round Table.  The Business Meeting included several new people, and several from other groups wanted to collaborate such as the AALL and IRRT’s sustainability group We learned about :

  • FREE student memberships to SustainRT!
  • the upcoming resolution from our governance team to keep ALAs investments socially (and fossil free) responsible,
  • a white paper due in June, including a survey and online forums (coming soon) from an ALA Sustainability Task Force including key sustainrt members looking at the triple bottom line and other guiding principles of sustainability

Saturday evening in the snow and cold only a few of us made it to the SustainRT Social Event at Mercury Cafe, http://mercurycafe.com/ –  What a cool place! solar energy on the roof, grilled tofu with amazing sauces,  and a locally-sourced cocktails!

Sunday I facilitated a discussion: Crisis and Community (notes are in ALA Connect) where we discussed how Libraries and librarians can (and do) play a pivotal role in helping vulnerable communities build the physical, social, economic, and emotional resources and skills necessary to endure and thrive in the face of catastrophic climate, social, and economic disruptions.  We defined sustainability in connection to Crisis & Community; we brainstormed examples of what libraries are doing  in this area (such as the New England spring training for librarians); What support could ALA provide for libraries that have or are experiencing climate change crisis (such as more training like this NE one; and ways to collect and share these stories more widely); and What would it be perfect…idealistically? (such as  creating Climate Avengers, like Librarians Without Borders for ALA and taking it on a road show like the schol com for ACRL does)

Monday we had a lively panel for our News You Can Use: Sustainability Strategies for Libraries and Communities (Symposium on the Future of Libraries)  This session assembled practitioners doing sustainability work in a range of settings, including the implementation of a regional certification program, an institutional transition to renewable energy sources, a university system-wide sustainable OER initiative, and a classroom approach to teaching information literacy from a civic engagement perspective.  Check out the NYLA Roadmap to sustainability for librarians!

I also attended my ACRL committee New Roles and Changing Landscapes business meeting and lunch with the committee. This is a ACRL strategic plan goal committee to oversee and implement this by working with the ACRL Board and other ACRL units in creating a comprehensive effort including coalition building, professional development, publications, research, advocacy, diversity, and consultation services and in developing the ACRL New Roles and Changing Landscapes Initiative; and monitor and assess the effectiveness of this initiative. I’m fairly new on this group and still finding my place but I am excited about the one collaborative effort to help create this new  Symposium for Strategic Leadership in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion happening in May.

I also visited CU Denver’s Auraria library and saw some cool spaces, services and furniture. check out my slides of the photos of took of the space here