57th chat, Monday May 2nd 2016: emotional labor

Moderated by @lettersfromvani
Storify (pdf, html) by @PoorCharlotte

Suggested readings:

• Wingfield, Adia Harvey. “How ‘Service With a Smile’ Takes a Toll on Women.” The Atlantic 26 Jan. 2016. theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/01/gender-emotional-labor/427083/ (Trigger warning: specific descriptions of workplace racism and misogyny)
• Accardi, Maria. “Emotional Labor and Library Instruction.” Librarian Burnout. April 23, 2015. https://librarianburnout.com/2015/04/23/emotional-labor-and-library-instruction/

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What does emotional labor look like (and feel like)?
• Q2. Is emotional labor part of your work, and if so, how? Is it part of your colleagues/coworkers’ work?
• Q3. What are implicit and explicit expectations around the kinds of emotional labor library/archival/info workers do (and how do these relate to intersections of power and privilege)?
• Q4.  How could naming emotional labor inform and transform critical approaches to librarianship? Beyond naming it, what else can we do?

56th chat, Tuesday April 19 2016: lead up to #gsisc16

Moderated by @edrabinski
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

#gsisc16 is the Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium, happening this weekend (April 23) in Vancouver, British Columbia. We’d like to use Tuesday’s chat as a chance for presenters to share what they’ll be talking about, and for those who aren’t able to attend to share their experiences and thoughts on gender & sexuality issues in libraries and related fields. Please join us!

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What are critical topics to address when we discuss gender & sexuality in information studies?
• Q2. How do we see gender & sexuality issues play out every day at work?
• Q3. How do we intervene when we see sexism at work in your library?
• Q4. What should #gsisc16 attendees be sure to address with each other on Saturday?
• Q5. Gender & sexuality in information studies #critpitch! [Share your ideas, upcoming projects/presentations, interesting resources, etc.!]

55th chat, Monday April 4 2016: intro to #critlib (part 2)

Moderated by @courtums
Storify (pdf, html) by @AlicePrael

A repeat of the March 22 chat. For those new to twitter chats, we’ve got a quick outline of the mechanics–just search for “#critlib” in Twitter to follow along!

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What does #critlib look like in practice? How do you define it for yourself?
• Q2. What does change look like in #critlib? Have you seen progress using a #critlib approach in your work?
• Q3. Where do newcomers belong in #critlib? How can we make #critlib more inclusive, especially to people who are new to crit. theory?
• Q4. What was your intro to #critlib and what tips do you have for newcomers?
• Q5. What’s a good reading or primer for an intro to crit theory? #critlib

54th chat, Tuesday March 22 2016: intro to #critlib

Moderated by @catladylib & @courtums
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What does #critlib look like in practice? How do you define it for yourself?
• Q2. What does change look like in #critlib? Have you seen progress using a #critlib approach in your work?
• Q3. Where do newcomers belong in #critlib? How can we make #critlib more inclusive, especially to people who are new to crit. theory?
• Q4. What was your intro to #critlib and what tips do you have for newcomers?
• Q5. What’s a good reading or primer for an intro to crit theory? #critlib

53rd chat, Monday March 7 2016: you don’t have to wear white gloves: critical approaches to rare books

Moderated by @ForgetTheMaine
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

Suggested readings:

• The “Women in Print” project through the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois Press, a project that “explores the impact of the imprint in its original form and offers fresh insights into the reception history of books written by women”: http://womeninprint.press.illinois.edu/
• “The Archival Object: A Memoir of Disintegration” by Lisa Darms, Archivaria, 2009: http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/download/13212/14492_1 (pdf)

Discussion questions:

• Q1. Tell everyone about your experience with rare books, if any. Were you allowed/encouraged to handle the materials? #critlib
• Q2. What can rare book librarians do to break down barriers between repositories and the communities they serve? #critlib
• Q3. What do we need to collect to ensure that rare books is more than old white texts? #critlib
• Q4. Can rare books be critical or radical? Can they be separated from capitalistic value? #critlib

52nd chat, Tuesday February 16 2016: serving homeless library users

Moderated by @GinaMurrell1
Storify (pdf, html) by @oksveta

Suggested readings:

• “A home to the homeless” by Ellyn Ruhlmann, from American Libraries (2014)
• “What do I do now? Handling challenging situations with mentally ill and homeless library users, part 2” from Infopeople (2013) (direct link to 50-minute webinar)
• “Not just a place to sleep: homeless perspectives on libraries in central Michigan” by Angie Kelleher, from Library Review (2013)

Discussion questions:

• Q1. Does your library offer support services/outreach to homeless patrons?
• Q2. Does your library have policies that prohibit behaviors often associated with homelessness?
• Q3. What kind of staff training, if any, does the library provide in serving homeless patrons?
• Q4. What role should the library have in providing support services to homeless patrons?
• Q5. What can libraries do to better serve homeless patrons?

51st chat, February 1 2016: patience/impatience

Moderated by @lisalibrarian, @skeskali, & @AprilHathcock
Storify (pdf, html) by @violetbfox

This week’s chat is a chance for everyone to talk about the struggles we face in wanting to do important social justice work and to see change immediately when reality is often much different. There is no reading for this chat; we just ask that you come ready to share and listen. It can be difficult working against age-old oppression and striving for right-now change – how do you manage?

Discussion questions:

• Q1. Do you ever get impatient with the social justice work done by you or others? Why or why not?
• Q2. When does patience reinforce the status quo?
• Q3. Is talk without immediate action justifiable?
• Q4. Is there a difference between being impatient with circumstances vs with individual people?
• Q5. How can we reconcile our sense of urgency with self-care and not burning out?

50th chat, January 19 2016: #mashcat crossover: communication

Moderated by @chiuchiutrain

Storify (pdf, html) by @thomthomthom

No suggested readings, but if you’re interested in learning more about #mashcat (“a loose group of metadata specialists, cataloguers, developers and anyone else with an interest in how metadata in and around libraries can be created, manipulated, used and re-used by computers and software”), check out mashcat.info, where you can also read all about the great presentations given at the #mashcat event on January 13th 2016 in Boston.

Discussion questions:

• Q1. How do technical services, public services, and library IT inform each other in their work? #critlib #mashcat
• Q2. How can we encourage better communication between all parties? #critlib #mashcat
• Q3. What opportunities do we have to work together to enact change in the status quo of our profession? #critlib #mashcat
• Q4. What opportunities do we have to work together in providing unified services for empowering our socioeconomically disadvantaged communities? #critlib #mashcat