Shoshana Magnet
Shoshana Magnet is a mother of two and a professor of Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa. She writes a listserv…
Weeding as an anti-racist practice: A conversation with Dr. Monica Eileen Patterson
Collection management is an important component of library work in part because the materials on our shelves reflect our deepest cultural beliefs and experiences. I am learning from my colleague, Dr. Monica Eileen Patterson, withdrawing some of Dr. Seuss' books from publication is the right thing to do because children should not be exposed to racist imagery and stereotypes. And yet, there may be times when we might still need access to some of these texts in order to understand how racism operates in our communities.
Monica Eileen Patterson
Monica Eileen Patterson is Assistant Director of Curatorial Studies in the Institute for the Comparative Study of Literature, Art, and Culture, and Associate Professor…
Cultural diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Tiffany Miller is the Indigenous Library Liaison at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
What’s New In Open Shelf: May 2021
It seems as though spring has truly sprung by this point in the month, with the warmth and sun finally showing themselves after what was a difficult winter for many. With the sun comes a promise of togetherness, if not now then soon. It conjures visions of sitting outside, perhaps in a park, perhaps in your backyard with a friend or loved one you have not been able to see in far too long and of catching up with one another.
Announcing the July unconference issue
Open Shelf is proud to announce that our upcoming July issue will have a special theme: The Open Shelf Unconference Issue! Inspired by these participant-led and organized conferences, we want to encourage innovative and engaging discussion and dynamic topics which are dictated by contributors' interests.
Volunteer opportunity: Open Shelf editor-in-chief
The Ontario Library Association is seeking an interim editor-in-chief for Open Shelf. This position is responsible for stewarding the vision of the magazine, coordinating the efforts of the editorial team and overseeing the smooth operation and timely publication of the magazine.
Word of the month/Mots du mois: Book tasting
We will be featuring a “Word (Or Phrase) Of The Month” each issue, courtesy of Library Lexique. This is a tool to feature useful and thematic words or phrases which may arise in day-to-day library work. This month's is "book tasting."
< Code of conduct/ >: Call for coding stories
These days, library staff in many departments have an interest in related issues, including coding. Pitch us your coding story ideas about HTML, Twine, Python, Jupyter Notebook and more.
Team up: Opportunities for writing collaborations
Interested writers have the opportunity to co-author articles with an Open Shelf regular contributor, a member of our editorial team, or another volunteer who is looking for a writing partner.
Introductions are in order
While I have been formally introduced to the readership of Open Shelf since I began my stint as Deputy Editor, I recently realized I have yet to properly introduce myself (Hello, how are you?) and put a face and personality to the name you see in email responses from the Open Shelf email address.
One thing leads to another
You know how it is - you borrow a movie from the library but then you keep it too long. Now you have a fine, so you go to the library to pay it off, but while you’re there you see a book that you want to read so you borrow it. When you return the book, you see that it’s been made into a movie, so you borrow that, knowing you’ll probably keep it late again.