Reflections

  • Future of Libraries,  Librarianship,  Reflections

    Censorship and patron privacy in the hyperlinked world

    Reflection #2: Does privacy only extend to the patrons who agree with us? This week’s choose your own adventure reading had me excavating the connections between censorship, patron privacy, and the politics of libraries. Folks, it’s a doozy. My explorations were informed by the recent passage of a Colorado law, SB24-216, which aims to help public libraries in my state address the recent rise in materials challenges (Llanes, 2024). Put into place because of the “increasingly hostile political environment,” the bill includes protections from employment retaliation and establishes guidelines for libraries to follow with their request for reconsideration processes (Llanes, 2024). While “library and school policies are made locally,” the widespread…

  • About Me,  Librarianship,  Reflections

    Meditations on civility in the library

    Reflection #1: Meditations on civility in the library  While exploring Module 5 this week, I was drawn to Dixon’s (2017) article on facilitating community dialogues in the library. It percolated in my mind alongside Ashley West’s Assignment X on radical trust and some ongoing thoughts I have about community, civility, and conviviality. Now, bear in mind that I have just been diving into some Wendell Berry (if the nod to conviviality did not give it away), but also that I am taking this course alongside one on critical librarianship. So, I am currently preoccupied with notions of affection, obligation, ethics, and values. On the one hand, I am inspired by…