Category Archives: information activist

November 8, 2010 · 7:21 pm

Local First

I spent a few years living in Grand Rapids, MI and working with a bunch of wonderful librarians at Grand Valley State University.  Michigan’s economy has been one of the toughest hit in the recent economic downturn, however Grand Rapids seemed to be booming.  As a non-economist, I am not sure of all the factors causing this, but I am certain that their Local First initiative plays a key role.

The Local First program is plastered all over Grand Rapids.  The idea is simple!  Shop at local and independent sellers and keep money in the local economy.  When you shop local up to 68% of every dollar spent remains in the local economy, however if you shop at a national chain only 43% of the money remains in the economy.

Well, my question is how much should libraries support concepts like this?  As a locally-funded organization, should we try to shop local and keep the money within the economy?  Should we raise awareness of Local First with patrons?  It seems we should be doing both, and leaving yet a another positive mark on the community that the library resides in.

2 Comments

Filed under information activist, Local First

October 30, 2010 · 1:09 pm

A Divided City: librarians have become a discretionary purchase

I have blogged about both YOUMedia and Whittier Elementary School, both in Chicago.  YOUMedia is Chicago’s highly successful digital space for teens.  Whittier Elementary School (Chicago Public Schools) was a school where parent’s staged a month long sit-in to restore the schools library.

Well, a recent article explains that the sit-in at Whittier Elementary School was a minor success in regards to the 164 Chicago Public Schools lacking a library.  1 in 4 elementary schools and 51 high schools in Chicago do not have a stand alone professionally staffed library.  The deathblow comes from an expert on urban education who states that librarians have become a discretionary purchase.

So in Chicago, kids likely have no access to a library in their schools, but a lucky few have access to games at YOUMedia?  Don’t get me wrong, I think YOUMedia is great, and will be the future of libraries.  I think Chicago Public Library is a great organization, but I’m just trying to point out the obvious divide here.  How is Chicago so supportive of libraries on one-hand and yet also view libraries as discretionary purchases on the other?

The biggest question for me is how are teens suppose to use the YOUMedia center if they have not had access to libraries in their schools?  More importantly, how are the kids who most need access to libraries going feel about all of this?

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Chicago, digital divide, information activist

October 26, 2010 · 2:18 pm

Ban on all literature

We cannot possible live in a country in which all literary titles, with the exception of the Bible, are banned.  WRONG!  The Berkeley County Detention Center in Moncks Corner, South Carolina has banned all books for inmates.  Not some books, not some magazines, but ALL OF THEM.

Can I remind everyone that the ALA through the ASCLA has created the Prisoner’s Right to Read statement which I posted about a few months ago.  My favorite quote from that document is

Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours. When free people, through judicial procedure, segregate some of their own, they incur the responsibility to provide humane treatment as well as the tools required to bring the prodigal home. Chief among those tools is a right to read.

Leave a comment

Filed under information activist