LibrarianActivist.org

A couple of weeks ago, the University of Windsor hosted a conference that arguably was history in the making. But before this starts to sound like hype, let me continue.

The goal of ‘20 Years of Propaganda?’ was to critically examine the current relevance and role of the propaganda model twenty years after the publication of Manufacturing Consent. The event congregated the likes of media scholars, journalists, independent media reps and librarians from the US, Canada and Europe. Amongst a gaggle of speakers, Chomsky and Herman provided a (fairly delightful at times) plenary session, and on the final day Chomsky gave a public lecture to an audience of about 1000 people to round out the conference. Overall the event was interesting and galvanizing, if somewhat lacking in the new information and critical debate department. In the end, there was a final session to discuss launching/coordinating a media reform movement in Canada.

Things got particularly interesting from the librarian point of view at the public lecture. From the balcony arose the question (and I’m paraphrasing … those in attendance please correct me if I’m wrong).

What significance do libraries and librarians have in relation to the propaganda model?

Chomsky’s response gave kudos to American librarians for refusing to comply with the Patriot Act … especially since they weren’t known for being a ‘radical’ bunch (ha ha). And that was it, save for the nod for being helpful and keeping the Interlibrary Loan service trucking along.

Chomsky reportedly answers all of his email messages. On the way out of the auditorium, a fellow librarian recalled Naomi Klein’s view of the radical nature of librarianship. I’m thinking maybe Chomsky would like to have a look.

Because as you all know, we are more than helpful. We are a force.

-PC-

Here at LA we’ve made the odd mention of the value of new and accessible audio materials, and how they support patrons needing alternatives to print materials. Shannon LaBelle, a MLIS student at SLAIS, UBC put together a fantastic presentation on the complete history of audio books in Canada.

Have a look …
Audio books and access to information for Canadians with print disabilities.

I’d like an iPod in the fetching canary yellow depicted in “an example of an audiocassette player”.

-PC

Working Together is an innovative project attempting to overcome social barriers for marginalized people in Canada’s libraries. Right now, Working Together exists as a pilot project in four Canadian cities - Vancouver, Regina, Toronto and Halifax as well as a CLA interest group “Libraries in Communities”. The new Working Together web site has lots of information, an overview of best practices in this area as well as a discussion board.

Here’s the official announcement:

Hello all,

Annette DeFaveri
National Coordinator, WTP

(via CLA mailing list)

- JH

A reminder of the approaching deadline for submissions to this conference.
Apologies for cross-postings.

Call for papers

Taking a Stand: A Conference on Activism in Canadian Cultural Archives

This conference focuses on the archives of Canadian writers, visual artists,
performance artists, filmmakers, composers, and other culture creators who
are involved with activism and advocacy. How do archival materials show
imaginative work being created in the context of work for social justice or
in support of political action?

The conference invites dialogue between the archival, scholarly, and
cultural professions concerning how creative artists engage with activism
and advocacy. Activism may encompass concerns for religious or cultural
identity, poverty, racism, mental or physical disability,
gender equality, sexuality, or alternative and mainstream political
movements.

How is the intersection of art and activism demonstrated in archival
holdings and how could this connection be better documented? How do activist
or advocacy concerns overlap with imaginative creative work in artists’
archives? What new types of archival materials are emerging?

Presentations should be based on the content of Canadian archival holdings
and discuss Canadian creative producers. Proposals (300­500 words) and a
brief biographical note (50­100 words) should be sent to:
Dr. Kathy Garay garay@mcmaster.ca, Dr. Christl Verduyn cverduyn@mta.ca
, Catherine Hobbs catherine.hobbs@lac­bac.gc.ca
and Dr. Pierre Anctil panctil@uottawa.ca by 15 September 2006.

The conference will take place in Ottawa at Library and Archives Canada ,
June 12-14 2007.

*********
Appel de présentations

Prendre position : Un colloque sur l’activisme comme thème dans les archives
culturelles canadiennes

Ce colloque porte principalement sur les archives d’auteurs, d’artistes
visuels, d’artistes de la scène, de cinéastes, de compositeurs et d’autres
créateurs de culture canadiens qui se sont démarqués par leur activisme et
leurs prises de position. Comment les documents d’archives reflètent­ils la
création artistique dans le cadre d’engagements pour la justice sociale ou
le militantisme politique?

Le colloque a pour but le dialogue et l’échange dâ??idées parmi les
représentants des domaines de l’archivistique, des universités et du monde
de la culture, à propos de la façon dont les artistes et créateurs
s’adonnent à l’activisme et au militantisme. L’activisme peut être lié Ã
des préoccupations liées à l’identité religieuse ou culturelle, à la
pauvreté, au racisme, à des déficiences intellectuelles ou physiques, Ã
l’inéquité, à la sexualité, ou bien à des mouvements politiques
traditionnels ou alternatifs.

Comment cette convergence de l’art et de l’activisme se manifeste­t­elle
dans les fonds et collections d’archives, et comment pourrait­on mieux la
documenter? Comment les questions d’activisme ou de militantisme
s’entrecroisent­elles avec le travail de création et d’imagination? Quels
nouveaux types de documents d’archives commence­t­on à produire?

Les présentations devraient se baser sur le contenu de documents d’archives
canadiens et porter sur des artistes et cré ateurs canadiens. Veuillez faire
parvenir vos propositions (de 300 Ã 500 mots) et une courte biographie (de
50 Ã 100 mots) aux professeurs Christl Verduyn (cverduyn@mta.ca), Pierre
Anctil (panctil@uottawa.ca) ou Kathy Garay (, et à Catherine Hobbs
(catherine.hobbs@lac­bac.gc.ca) au plus tard le 15 septembre 2006.

Le colloque se déroulera à Ottawa, les 12-14 juin 2007 à Bibliothèque et
Archives Canada.

Catherine Hobbs,
Archivist, Literary Archives (English-language)
Library and Archives Canada
WS 598, 550 Blvd de la Cité
Gatineau, QC, K1A 0N4

Tel: (819) 934-8331 Fax: (819) 934-8333
e-mail: catherine.hobbs@lac-bac.gc.ca

- JH

SOLS/OLS-N (too much acronym to spell out, just go to the site) have put out an excellent pathfinder of Community Development Resources.

I also discovered that the CLA has a Libraries and Communities Interest Group which I hadn’t heard about before. Here is an excerpt from the terms of reference:

Concerned primarily with socially excluded communities and individuals the group focuses on the philosophies, strategies, empathies and self support that librarians need to reduce the rigidity of the relationships between socially excluded communities and the library. The approach is to encourage a dialogue within the interest group to identify and critically evaluate those values and cultures of our libraries that act as systemic barriers to library participation by those who are outside the mainstream of society. Members will challenge the broader library community to reflect on how our fundamental values of inclusiveness have drifted in the pursuit of efficiency and quantification.

Annette DeFaveri appears to be convening the group, though I’m not sure who else is involved. If I hear more, I’ll be sure to post.

Finally, one of my favourite articles on community development, which happens to be by DeFaveri, is not on the SOLS/OLS-N site yet. In it, DeFaveri goes through some of the social and cultural barriers that patrons may encounter by coming (nor not coming) into a library - forcing people to pay fines and cover the costs of damaged books no matter how poor they are, for example. There are many things library staff can do to change this culture she says, and I particularly like this community card idea:

One suggestion is to create a new “Community Card” for adults who cannot provide proof of a permanent residence. This card could be issued for other adults who, for reasons of poverty, mental or physical illness, and other conditions that create social exclusion, cannot meet the financial expectations of the current library card. People with a Community Card, which would be physically indistinguishable from other library cards, would not be stopped from borrowing library materials because of fines. Similarly, replacement costs and processing fees would be noted, but would not prohibit library use. The default position for this card would be no fines.

One of my friends who used to work in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside said that the Carnegie branch of the Vancouver Public Library has one of these community card programs and that they see their incidental loss of books well worth having such an open-door policy at the branch.

I think this all ties directly back into the whole argument about “professionalism” that we have so much in library school. Roma Harris has written a lot about the topic, and linked it directly to librarianship’s latent sexism. I haven’t read a lot of her articles or books, but I’ve used a few for papers I’ve written. One of the aspects of “professionalism” that so many people identify is the development and protection of a particular body of knowledge. That protection (and measurement and quantification and emphasis on management and technology that go along with it) seems to me so anti-librarianship - especially when we start addressing library service for the marginalized people in our communities! If our goal is to reduce the barriers, shouldn’t we be trying to back away from the ones we create ourselves?

This leads me straight into the enormous beef I have with the 8Rs report . . . but I’m not brave enough yet to venture into that arena - maybe look for that posting once I graduate from library school and find myself a secure job.

-S.