Four RA strategies to promote new voices and inclusion
We can use Reader’s Advisory to both ensure that our communities feel seen and that they discover new voices and cultures by working on polices, merchandising, book lists, and handselling.
Library tech services are crucial to social well-being during a pandemic
Core tech services such as internet connectivity and access to computing devices are crucial to those people who do not have an alternate means of access in their local communities.
Not too fine a point: COVID-19 reveals the origins of public libraries as agents of social control
In Library Land, the pandemic has exposed inherent fragilities including discriminatory class and race based practices. In turn, these praxis reveal that public libraries have a history of being agents of social control and exclusion.
Care calls, PPE production and more: How Ontario public libraries have responded to COVID-19
To learn more about how public libraries were responding and adapting to physical buildings closures, OLA issued a survey in March 2020. Here are the summarized results of this survey.
Collecting and using data productively in a time of COVID-19
Data may not be coming up in library-related conversations very often at present, but perhaps it should because good data collection and use will help us by improve and showcase our services.
The COVID-19 effect on small rural libraries
COVID-19 has definitely created new access needs. Unfortunately, not everyone has a well-equipped home office that comes with internet access, which is where the public library can help.
Drew Hayden Taylor: A contemporary storyteller
Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor visited Thunder Bay last March. In her last podcast of this series for Open Shelf, contributor Sam Bird took the chance to sit down with this celebrated Indigenous storyteller.
Theory in practice III: Moving from systemic racism to anti-racism in Ontario public libraries
In this final installment of her series on anti-racism, Amber Matthews argues that library staff must recognize libraries as racialized spaces in order to construct equitable social structures.
New North Branch public library reflects a unique public partnership in Sault St. Marie
Schools and public libraries have long been important centres of activity in Ontario communities. The new North Branch of the Sault St. Marie Public Library is a case in point.
The new model public library
Someone will have to pay for all the government money being used to get us through the COVID-19 crisis. This will usher in a newer, longer and deeper era of austerity and a new understanding of what defines a “model public library.”
Clear guidance yes for LGBTQ+ support, but context matters
Are there hard-and-fast rules for libraries engaged with LGBTQ+ communities? While there are areas where there should be clear guidance, there are others where context is more important.
Black Lives Matter: Does silence signal complacence in public libraries?
I have been waiting for a statement from my local library on the recent protests aimed at confronting systemic anti-black racism in our North American society and across the Western world. It has been weeks and I am still waiting.
Phone-a-friend: SOLS helps libraries (pandemic or not)
Remember the TV game show, Cash Cab? Contestants could try to answer questions on their own, but if they got stuck, they could phone a friend. The Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) is like that friend who you can call or turn to for an answer.