Annotations: Writing short & sweet reader guides
If you work in a public library, chances are you’ve been asked to write an annotation. While it seems relatively simple—write a few words…
What’s New in Open Shelf: February 5, 2018
In this, our first issue of 2018, we are thinking about relationships—between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, regulations in Canada and the U.S., and libraries…
Guns, knives & other prohibited items: What happens when good 3D printers go bad?
When the St. Thomas Public Library started investigating 3D printers as a new service several years ago, one of the frequent responses I would…
Net neutrality: Is the end in sight?
On December 14, 2017, the U.S. telecommunications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), voted to repeal the country’s net neutrality regulations. What are the…
Campaign literature: Political evidence we must collect
A political paper trail of sorts will start this spring. Candidates hoping to win a seat in the Ontario legislature will hit the campaign…
Canada 151: Visions of Indigenous & non-Indigenous relations through time
Canada 150 is now officially over. However, the reconciliation work of libraries, archives, museums and other memory institutions continues in Canada 151. The Truth…
Safe spaces: Library values in the cultural wars
Headlines today scream about highly charged debates in the sociological and cultural sphere: Whose voices need to be heard? How do we create equity?…
Games: Community building blocks
I may have told you this story before but, even at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will tell it again.…
Decolonization
Decolonization is a powerful and contentious word. What does it mean exactly? Is it feasible? Is it desirable? And what does it mean for…
Canada 150: Library work as a profession for women
B. Mabel Dunham (1881-1957) was the president of the Ontario Library Association in 1920. In her presidential address, she spoke bluntly about the opportunities…
Hidden figures: Book or movie?
We love to compare books and their screen adaptations ... plot and people, pace and perspective. Which version is better, the movie or the…
IFLA/UNESCO manifesto & toolkit: Creating multicultural libraries
As the out-going chair of the IFLA Library Services for Multicultural Populations Section, I shared this manifesto with participants at the IFLA 2017 conference, held…
Makerspaces: Take two
Complete surprise and appreciation: this was my first reaction to reading a response to an article I had written for Open Shelf last spring.…