Authentic voices of children

National Library Week: Young adult novelist Chris Crutcher spoke to an audience of local librarians at our library yesterday morning before addressing a public gathering later that evening. The author's two appearances at our library were in conjunction with several presentations before high school classes as part of the Fox Cities Book Festival. In introducing him to the evening audience, high school senior and teen library board representative Ryan Nelson said that Chris Crutcher portrays the facts of life as they are, not as they ought to be.

Talking about how he got started telling stories, Crutcher recalled overhearing a locker room story of a coach who instructed his players to injure a talented opponent to knock him out of game. This became part of the inspiration for his novel "Running Loose." The coach's voice - not character - based on his own high school coach. After his novel was published, he returned to his high school back to school, and found out his book was restricted in the school library, requiring parental permission to read, despite his being the only published author in the history of the town. His book was censored because it got into philosophy of sports, and addressed issues of challenging authority.

Crutcher worked at a mental health center in Spokane, dealing with child abuse and neglect. He felt a need to write about the authentic voice of what was happening to abused children. He became conscious of the tension between the need to protect privacy and not share personal stories, versus the need to tell the story of societal problems. He found that due to limited resources, child protection does not protect rich kids, nor anyone over age 11. His fiction pushed the boundaries of young adult literature. Booklist declined to review "Chinese Handcuffs" because they couldn't recommend it. Crutcher started to wonder if he had crossed a line between fiction and real life that should not have been crossed. When a girl in Texas waited a long time to speak with him privately after a school talk, she told him: "When I read 'Chinese Handcuffs', I thought you knew me. I didn't think anyone understood my life." At that point he felt validated, and became more confident he was doing the right thing.

"If you start thinking about what's going to offend people and what isn't, you're not going to be able to tell the story." He related the story of a gay kid, who parents thought he was confused about his sexuality. The kid wasn't confused, but his parents were in denial. The boy told Crutcher the hardest thing in his life was hiding who he was, and knowing he would have to keep hiding at least through high school, asking: "Who wants to be Matthew Shepherd?"Stories are a way out - it's not about a secret, it's about the story. If other people understand the story, you're not alone. It's safe -- there's a place inside a book where it's real.

He related an Iowa book challenge, where a student got up and said to the school board "I'm an honors student with a 3.8 GPA. I could go to any college, but I'm going into the service. Do you mean to say that if I were to come back and write a book about my experiences in Iraq, using authentic voices, you wouldn't let people in this town read it?" That decided the issue.

More statements from Chris Crutcher:

• The person at risk in a controversy is not the author or publisher, it's the teacher or librarian who gives the book to kids. There are kids who are invisible in their schools and if you ban the book, you ban that kid.
• There is so much about the true nature of why we don't want to talk about things that's just under the surface.
• If my book is banned in a high school, I send five copies to the nearest public library and write the newspaper that I did it.
• Harper Lee guided me because of the intimacy she put into the creation of Scout. If I wanted to tell stories I needed to get the voices right. Storytelling voice is the thing you have to get.
• When we don't grieve properly, when we don't allow ourselves to feel the awfulness of what we've lost, we get stuck and we get sick.
• [About play therapy] You see the world through that kid's eyes, and that's where you start.
• Every time I see a book get taken out of a classroom or library, I think we're taking ourselves out of the short list of people to turn to because when we ban the stories we ban the kid.

I'm glad we have writers like this, who not only tell a good story but an honest story, who will struggle to help those authentic voices be heard -- and spend time with librarians to remind us of the importance of making sure the stories will reach people who need them. There are stories that need to be told, even if secrets are kept. There are those who need to read these stories. Not everybody has to like it, and not everybody has to read them, but freedom isn't free. We owe it to those children to let their stories be read, even if sometimes we have to fight to keep them on our shelves. Chris Crutcher helps us see the world through their eyes, and that's a start.

Thinking about library futures

While I have a lot of respect for business/marketing guru Seth Godin, he misses the mark in his blog posting on the future of libraries. While concern for the future is right, he's off-base in two respects:

1. Godin seems to assume that libraries are now irrelevant, that books are passe or that people can afford all the books they want and all other information is available free online. He writes...

   What should libraries do to become relevant in the digital age?

   ... and thus begins with the preconception that we're already irrelevant.
   

   They can't survive as community-funded repositories for books that individuals don't want to own (or for reference books we can't afford to own.) More librarians are telling me (unhappily) that the number one thing they deliver to their patrons is free DVD rentals. That's not a long-term strategy, nor is it particularly an uplifting use of our tax dollars.

   Let's break that down: our library circulates a lot of books that people either don't want to own or can't afford -- and that's not just reference books. DVDs are hardly the number one thing our library does: most of what we circulate is books and the number of books we circulate has been growing every year, and holding steady as a percentage of circulation for several years. It's also true that our library's DVDs are targeted toward a different market than video stores or Red Box, but books are still our number one.
   
2. Godin suggests our focus should be "train people to take intellectual initiative."

   ... the net turns things upside down. The information is free now. No need to pool tax money to buy reference books. What we need to spend the money on are leaders, sherpas and teachers who will push everyone from kids to seniors to get very aggressive in finding and using information and in connecting with and leading others.

   Even assuming he's recommending that librarians become his sherpas, it's not realistic to assume that our best efforts could turn everyone into aggressive leaders. By implication, this marginalizes those who may never fall, or grow, into that group. This smacks of an elitist perspective -- and while I know not everything we do has be factored by a lowest common denominator, it's a mistake to discount the value of making knowledge broadly available.

   Godin's assertion ot the contrary, information is not free, and that which is apparently free comes with hidden costs. Not everyone can afford even most of the books they'd like to read, nor highspeed Internet connections, nor the databases that hold information they're seeking. Not everyone will be sherpas, nor could the craftiest sherpa make everyone in our community into aggressive information seekers.

What libraries can do -- and many are, very effectively:

• recognize that our core functions of education, connection, information equity and opportunity have not changed, though the delivery methods have
• make books and other media available in a variety of formats to meet user needs -- and keep evolving with the times into downloadable ebooks, downloadable audiobooks and whatever other formats emerge to be effectively useful
  
• train people to become savvy consumers of information resources, help provide tools and instruction in their use -- and give needed assistance where savvy is lacking
• provide formal and informal community spaces
• have a sophisticated understanding that although the public needs equity and "information wants to be free," publishers and creators of information content want to put food on the table -- know where knowledge comes from and what it costs -- and use this understanding to creatively make resources available
• find a variety of channels to push information and learning opportunities out into their communities, through websites as digital branches, through social media, through cultural programs and games, through putting librarians at the table with community groups and through marketing resources -- helping leaders and non-leaders alike find ways to meet their needs
• actively promote family literacy

We're doing these things already. We're hardly sitting around unhappily contemplating our DVD circulation. Education and libraries are for everyone. We're looking to the future -- and it's exciting.

The Community Library

I worked for seven years in academic libraries and found it worthwhile and fulfilling on many levels. There was a focus on formal learning and research, knowledge in depth, extensive research tools, and a community of scholars. But it wasn't quite my niche. I was looking for something broader, more encompassing and inclusive. I found it at the Appleton Public Library.

I love the fact that this is a place that welcomes all ages and income levels. e only criteria for using the public library are wanting to be here and civil behavior. We've made it easy because we need to be inclusive. We get the babies and the senior citizens. We get the able, the disabled, the well and the ill. We get the doctors, the judges, the preachers, and the homeless. We get the readers and the watchers, those who walk, and those in strollers or wheelchairs. We serve the nonprofit organizations, the business community, and the unemployed. We welcome everyone to a place which is, if not a community of scholars, nonetheless a community of learning, culture, and communication.

Communities and people need public libraries: places to read, talk, go to a 4-H meeting, a puppet show, or a discussion series on the Revolutionary War. Some of us may do research and social networking on home computers, but we need to physically gather with other humans, to ask questions, explore ideas, discuss and learn. We need to find what we’re looking for, but also to be surprised by all the things that are here and all the things others bring. In a democratic society, it’s vital that we create opportunities for everyone to learn – as each person determines their own wants and needs. And people need books, and will for years to come.

We need to be part of a diverse community, to offer and be part of equal opportunity, to seek the challenges of diverse people and different points of view.

Naysayers -- or those neither curious nor community-minded -- may say the day of the library, especially the public library, is past. Those who are paying attention, those who are engaged in making better lives and learning opportunities for themselves and all their neighbors, and the increasing numbers who use us, know better. That’s why U.S. News & World Report picked “librarian” as one of the top careers for 2009, saying “librarians are among our society's most empowering people.” We’re present – and we have a bright future.

Welcome to your public library. We’ll work to keep it welcoming for everyone.


from the Fine Print newsletter, Summer 2009

"The best gift to give a child is a book"

A book can make a difference in the life of a child.

Our community is fortunate to have an active and effective Library Friends group, which for the past ten years has worked to gather and distribute books for children at the holidays. At today's Friends meeting, Ralph Dorn, our hardworking Children's Committee chair, shared the following, which he also submitted to the Post Crescent. The staff joins in thanking Ralph, the committee, our Friends and everyone who contributed:

GIFT OF BOOKS: A sincere thank you to those who contributed to the 10th annual Give a Child a Book Drive sponsored by the Appleton Friends of the Library — 3,737 new and gently used books were donated, the second-highest total in our 10 years of collecting and donating books for local underprivileged children. Books were distributed to four local organizations that serve children in need:

• the Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley,
• Harbor House,
• the Salvation Army and
  
• the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley.
  

And $952 was donated for the purchase of additional books by the children's department of the Appleton Public Library. Many area schools also participated in the book drive, with Horace Mann Middle School in Neenah, Huntley Elementary and East High in Appleton leading the way in donated books. Thanks also to Jane O'Hagan, DeDe Corbett and Dick and Donna Kilsdonk for helping me count and sort thousands of books. The best gift to give a child is a book. It opens the world of knowledge and understanding for them.

Ralph Dorn,
Appleton Public Library Children's Committee chair,
Appleton

(reprinted by permission of Ralph Dorn)

Social trends 2009

From Frank Martinelli's Nonprofit Picks of the Week blog comes a link to trends -- as identified by change.org -- that will affect nonprofits, especially "social entrepreneurs." Many of these dovetail closely with our library's planning conversations; all are worth considering.

• Globally-Engaged Education
• Measuring Social Impact
• Mobile Technology
• Online Action Platforms
• Blended Value Investing
• Green Innovation
• A Partner in the White House

More at http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org.

Homeless at the library

The Post Crescent today published a story about a homeless couple who hope to get married. The couple spends a substantial part of their day at our library, apparently using resources to look for work, reading and watching movies.

The responses in the paper's online comments have been coming thick and heavy. In between the personal attacks such online discussions generally devolve to, there's been some good discussion of homelessness and societal response, as well as the appropriateness of homeless people spending time at the library.

Like the post a couple days ago about sleeping at the library, this issue is not simple or one-sided. We know there are people in the community who would rather not have these folks at the library. I imagine these homeless folks would like to have more alternatives -- like a job or a place of their own. But their time at the library is limited only by their behavior: if they want to use the library and they're not interfering with other people's use of the library or bugging the staff, they're welcome.

What follows is my response on the newspaper's website:

Replying to susan1032003 [who said]:

First of all Appleton Public Librairy should not be a place for the homeless to hang out and look for work. That's what Job Service is for! I won't or can't stand going to the public library anymore because it does smell like, dirty socks, and underwear, PU!

The public library is for everyone who wants to use it and can behave decently. In over thirty years here, I've always seen people using the library to look for work -- as well as using Job Service, Workforce Development and other agencies.

The library is a source of Internet, newspaper classifieds, job and career info, and books with tips on resumes & interviewing. And, of course, the library offers opportunities to learn about almost anything.

On rare occasions, we've asked people to leave because they smelled so badly that it interfered with other people's ability to use the library. That's a sad situation, but most of the time, people are tolerant. We get more people all the time -- a broad cross-section of the community, with people from all economic strata. It's important to be available to all.

Terry Dawson, APL

DC libraries waken controversy

There's a tough dance between being a good librarian, compassionate, progressive, inclusive in providing service -- and yet tough-minded and aware that we're always making choices about scarce resources.

Proposed Rules Would Ban Sleeping in Library

By Martin Weil and Elissa Silverman

Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 29, 2008; Page B03

New rules have been proposed for D.C. public libraries, including a ban on sleeping and a limit on bringing in bags, in what library officials called an effort to make the system more welcoming. [full story]

The coverage is in the Washington Post, but the more interesting story is in the online comments posted, which constitute a fascinating debate about the role of libraries and the problems of homelessness. Seems to be a polarizing issue.

Our approach to date at APL has been to evaluate situations on the extent to which they cause a problem and interfere with library use. The occasional (non-snoring) sleeper has not been a problem, someone passed out in a chair in an alcoholic haze with a booze bottle in his pocket is a problem. If all our chairs were occupied by sleepers it would be different, but where's the line? It's tempting to be black & white: "sleeping is forbidden!", but for now that seems more unjust -- if simpler -- than the more difficult gray of judgement calls.

King Corn - film discussion

You are what you eat, and we need to talk. Next Thursday, Dec 4 at 6:30PM, we'll have a screening of the documentary film King Corn, and discussion led by Dr. Dubear Kroening, Associate Professor of Biology at UW-Fox Valley.

From the PBS blurb:

Behind America’s dollar hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that quietly fuels our fast-food nation: corn. In KING CORN , recent college graduates Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis leave the east coast for rural Iowa, where they decide to grow an acre of the nation’s most powerful crop.

Alarmed by signs of America’s bulging waistlines, the filmmakers arrive in the Midwest enthusiastic about their new endeavor. ... Ian and Curt are increasingly troubled by how the abundance of corn is helping to make fast food cheap and consumers sick, driving animals into confinement and farmers off the land. Animal nutritionists confirm that corn feeding can make cows sick and beef fatty, but it also lets consumers have fast food at low prices. As feedlot operator Bob Bledsoe says in KING CORN, “America wants and demands cheap food.”

Here's the trailer for the film:

Greening the library

Library Journal had a provocative article in the Nov. 1 issue, "Global warming's library challenge", calling for immediate plans and actions. Our library has several times partnered with a local sustainability group to offer programs and discussions. But talk and programs are not enough. We've made substantial strides to recycle and conserve energy, but that's not enough.

We need to be intentional; at the very least, an awareness of sustainability concerns should inform our purchasing and planning. Writing in the September issue of Shambhala Sun, Thich Nhat Hanh noted:

If we continue to live as we have been living, consuming without a thought to the future, destroying our forests and emitting greenhouse gases, then devastating climate change is inevitable. ...

The Chinese, the Indians, and the Vietnamese are still dreaming the “American dream,” as if that dream were the ultimate goal of mankind—everyone has to have a car of their own, a bank account, a cell phone, a television set. In twenty-five years the population of China will be 1.5 billion people, and if each of them wants to drive their own private car, China will need 99 million barrels of oil every day. But world production today is only 84 million barrels per day, so the American dream is not possible for the Chinese, nor the Indians or the Vietnamese. The American dream is no longer possible for the Americans. We cannot continue to live like this. It is not a sustainable economy.

Potential areas for "green library" discussion, planning and action:

• energy use in current operations
• building & construction plans
• library supplies & products used
  
• service implications
• disaster planning
• cost savings
  
• program planning
• recycling
• collection development

All kinds of libraries need to step up and engage the issues; there are many resources listed in the LJ article. Maybe we're not going to put solar panels and wind turbines on our roof, but we still need to get staff at our library talking and working.

Sustainability

Over 100 people attended a June 18 library presentation on "Moving Toward Sustainable Communities", presented by Sara James and Torbjorn Lahti, authors of The Natural Step for Communities. Among other things, the book discusses how some municipalities operate their government without fossil fuels. The publisher has a good web page that provides background on the book and authors.

The program was co-sponsored by:

• Appleton Library Foundation
  
• ECOS Fox Valley a local coalition promoting sustainability
  
• Foth (consulting & engineering firm)
  

Since Torbjorn was here from Sweden, and the the two authors would lead a "Conference on Sustainability: Balancing People, Planet and Profit" for 130 public officials and business leaders the next day, it was a real joy to be able to provide a free public program of this this caliber and relevance. If people weren't thinking about sustainability issues before, $4 a gallon for gas may have gotten some thinking started.

It was great to partner with a local issue-oriented coalition and a business to make this happen. Public libraries should foster more such partnerships and more such discussions.

"I am curious -- library"

A video of business author Seth Godin, found on John Blyberg's blog -- under the posting "Let's be curious with our users."

We certainly rely on users being curious with us.

Libraries and lewdness

A report in the Columbus Dispatch talks about increasing problems posed by lewd behavior in libraries. "Based on the reports, no community appears to be immune." Many public libraries, including ours, have seen inappropriate or lewd behaviors, including Internet porn, masturbation, public sex, people exposing themselves. and people who stalk.

Where does this rash of lewd incidents come from? A few thoughts...

• Societal problems have marginalized more people and weakened social pressures and opportunities for normative behavior. Examples:
  
• the growth of poverty
• the reduction of social services
• untreated alcohol and other drug abuse
  
• a lack of mental health care
• the increasing criminalization of America
  
• Even among healthy affluent people, changing norms and a growing acceptance of lewd & licentious behaviors in context means that "socially acceptable" has changed. By enforcing standards, we're bucking a social trend:
  
• the "seven words you can't say on TV" are now down to three or four, but on many cable channels, zero
• the NY Times reports that in ruling against the FCC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York has noted: "If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words." Our conservative leaders are not helping the cause here.
  
• porn on demand is available in many, if not most, motel rooms
  
• the AP reported on June 3 that 'more than a third of the U.S. Internet audience visited sites that fit into the online "adult" category' this year
  
• Paris Hilton? Britney Spears? Need we say more?
• Public library Internet access for those without other means of accessing creates a small but disproportionate group of library users with "special concerns." Some use the library only to use the Internet, and some of these use the Internet less for research or for communication than to indulge the sociopathic or obsessive behaviors that some websites pander to. While the vast majority of public access Internet is entirely appropriate, the temptations available online provide a focal point for lewdness. We have to be tolerant of difference, but give some thought to what crosses the line and how to enforce standards.
  

One perspective is that libraries -- and other public places -- have always had some level of "lewd behavior" problem, and the above factors have accentuated frequency and visibility, helped by media eager to sensationalize. As long as we're a public place, and open to everyone, these problems will continue. We had problems with inappropriate sexuality, fetishism and harassment in libraries where I worked 35 years ago. No surprise that in the current climate we still have these problems.

Since almost all human beings are sexual but not all are well-socialized or possess self-control, we can expect more of the same. This does not make our libraries dangerous, but it does mean we need to be vigilant to enforce standards and maintain a good environment to work in and visit. The really dangerous behaviors -- such as stalking, flashing, etc. -- require us to nip them in the bud.

We can also be careful about how we position ourselves. I was recently taken to task by a patron for not having the HBO series Cathouse in our collection. As far as I'm concerned, they can keep waiting. We may be a popular materials library, but that's no reason to spend tax money on soft-core porn in the guide of documentaries. A reputable study of brothels? OK. But customer reviews of Cathouse on Amazon.com are telling:

This is one Hot show. ... If hookers, sex, nudity, and documentaries interest you..then this no doubt is an entertaining look ... A place like that will put strip clubs out of business.

It's not too surprising to me that few libraries stock this title. We should carry demanded quality titles even if they are edgy and not for all tastes. thus we carry the HBO series Deadwood and feature films like Eyes Wide Shut. Nor is it surprising that some public libraries filter the Internet so their staff doesn't have to deal with so much porn. Most of us don't need security guards, thank goodness. But we do need to keep our values and our wits. And keep our eyes wide open.

Barbara Ehrenreich at the library

It was a wonderful evening at the library, as author Barbara Ehrenreich spoke to an overflow crowd of 400-500 people. This was the culmination of our community read. We were dragging chairs from everywhere to try to accommodate the standing room only group, and working hard to keep doorways and fire evacuation routes clear. This is a happy problem. Clearly, the community read of Nickel and Dimed struck a chord, and clearly the huger collaboration among many libraries and community agencies paid off. A personal highlight during my introduction: when I noted that it was Library Workers Day and thanked all those on our staff who worked to make the evening possible, this got a big round of applause. Not all of us could be there, but I think the public has some notion of it taking an entire staff to do what we do, and appreciates the work.

When Barbara Ehrenreich spoke, she was also warm in praising public libraries and their service to communities, saying:

I need also to say a personal word of gratitude to public libraries everywhere ... I depend on public libraries and I have since I was a little kid. You know, public libraries, I got my education in, I do research in them to this day, and you know, we've got to support them. We've got to stand up for them.

She went on to talk about her book, her experiences of working in low-wage jobs, and other economic issues. There are some areas of current economic policy that clearly anger her, and she got into some provocative comparisons of rich and poor and the U.S. & other countries.The crowd was generally appreciative and enthusiastic, and the talk was followed by some good discussion as Barbara answered questions.

It was a sweet night for the many organizations which had collaborated in Project Promise, and it sets up an opportunity for additional community dialog when we come together for a follow-up meeting on April 30.

Valerie Magno has posted another account of the evening is on the FVTC Library Blog, and the newspaper account is here.

Diversity semantics & logic

Editor, the Post-Crescent:

I am writing in response to the letter from Jim Dickson published in the April 3 Post-Crescent. Mr. Dickson asserts that "One of the latest deceptions to be introduced as politically correct is the concept that diversity is good." He then postulates a series of unethical and criminal behaviors as evidence that diversity can be bad.

Merriam-Webster defines "diversity" as "the inclusion of diverse people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization." I know of no advocates who use the label of "diversity" to include unethical, criminal or harmful behavior. Rather we talk about the spectrum of human diversity to include all types of people -- not all types of behavior. There is still a sad lack of acceptance, in our community and in the world, for different cultures, races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities and faiths. Hurtful, unethical, unkind and criminal behaviors are not examples of "diversity" to lift up, but anti-social behaviors to discourage and censure.

To label anti-social behavior as diversity and then label diversity as "deceptive and dangerous" is to knock down a straw man. Let's not use semantics to justify prejudicial behaviors in a world that needs to do a better job of embracing diversity. This is not mere political correctness. People may not be equal at creation, but we should afford all people equal dignity, and appreciate the richness that diversity brings our community.

Terry Dawson, Chair
Toward Community: Unity in Diversity
Appleton


Post-Crescent, April 3, 2007 letters:

Reflexively praising diversity not smart

One of the latest deceptions to be introduced as politically correct is the concept that diversity is good. Diversity may be good but it may be bad.

Something is not good just because it is different, and putting the label "diversity is good" on a bad habit or improper activity does not make it good.

If diversity is good, what's wrong with smoking in a bar in Appleton? Driving under the influence of alcohol? Taking performance-enhancing drugs? Raping corporate coffers to satisfy a greedy nature? Prowling around for sex partners? Being a bully? Taking a life?

To go from from "all men are created equal" to "diversity is good" involves a step across a huge chasm. People may be equal at creation, but diversity involves a totally different subject: what we do after our creation.Anyone teaching "diversity is good" has a lot of qualifying to do along with their teaching and the qualifying can't be as simple as saying diversity is good "as long as you don't hurt someone else." Diversity may start as an individual activity, e.g., reading pornography, but can end up being a Manson, Gein, Bundy, Dahmer or Gacy.

The teaching that "diversity is good" is deceptive and dangerous. If there needs to be a teaching on our differences, teach that we are created with different abilities and gifts to be used for the good of mankind.

Jim Dickson, Neenah

Two kinds of library problems

In an article on AlterNet, "America Gone Wrong: A Slashed Safety Net Turns Libraries into Homeless Shelters", Chip Ward -- former assistant director of the Salt Lake City Public Library System -- writes about the problems urban libraries face with some "problem patrons." While Appleton is less extreme than Salt Lake City or any big metropolitan library, we wrestle with the same problems on a smaller scale. Homeless people, street people, the chronic mentally ill, emotionally ill and chemically dependent are daily fixtures and frequent challenges. Local social workers tell their clients: "if you have nowhere else to go, go to the library." While many of the homeless and street people present no problems, some entail substantial behavioral and service concerns. The resultant issues divide our staff and other library users. Although libraries are for everyone, it's easier to serve the people without problem behaviors and with good social skills. We can insist on proper behavior and treat people according to behavior, but its an ongoing challenge, while some other users just think the police should make these problematic people leave town.

We face a tension between legitimate concerns of keeping the library a nice place to work and visit and keeping it a place of opportunity and dialog for all citizens. We don't have social worker training.

By contrast, four days ago I was in Deva, Romania. While walking down the street, I spotted a public library reading room. Curious about Romanian libraries, I stepped in for a look around, hoping I might be able see collections, classification, and talk with staff. It was a small facility: a front room with card catalog and a service desk, a back room with wall stacks and reading tables. As I entered, a library worker stood up and quickly stepped in front of me.

This is a good place to note that I cannot speak Romanian and was wearing dirty work clothes. The staff person asked me a question I did not understand, but the inflection was a lot like "Yes, can we help you?" I responded with my stock "Do you speak English?" No. "Sprechen sie Deutsch?" No. "Parlez-vous Francais?" No.

Not yet quite defeated, I tried to lean in to peer into the reading room. She leaned as well, resolutely blocking my path. I said thanks and left. Final note: I did not see anyone else using the library. Good thing it was so well defended.

A Romanian friend later told me that if I had been well dressed and presented proper papers, they would no doubt have let me in. Another friend, a fairly responsible official in the school district, thought that there was a fairly new central public library, but did not know where it was. She thought she might be able to find out in a day or so. So, are there any happy problems here? Which library is better off?

Diversity letter to UW Law

The Toward Community Board last week directed their chair (yours truly) to send a letter to the UW regarding the situation that occurred as a result of comments by one Professor Kaplan (or at least the way in which his comments were perceived) in a class at UW. While very likely a misunderstanding, whether innocent or insensitive, Hmong students at the UW Law School now feel they are living in a more hostile climate and need to air their differences with the prof. Thye have been unable to get a meeting and the statewide Hmong community is looking for broader support, this the involvement by Toward Community.

March 26, 2007

Dean Kenneth Davis, Jr.
University of Wisconsin Law School
975 Bascom Mall
Madison WI 53706

Dear Dean Davis:

I am writing you on behalf of Toward Community: Unity in Diversity, a grass-roots membership organization in the Fox Cities for the past fourteen years. Our group has consistently spoken out on diversity and justice issues. We are concerned about events in your school that have created some divisive issues respecting Prof. Kaplan and Hmong students.

We encourage you to take a leadership role in facilitating a settlement of these issues. This unfortunate situation can be addressed by intentionally creating opportunities for meaningful dialog. A controlled setting with a mediated discussion can assure that feelings and issues will be explored in ways that seek to reduce, rather than promote, conflict. This situation requires opportunities for healing and closure that such discussion could provide.

We believe there is no inherent conflict between academic freedom and diversity. Indeed, mutual respect and acceptance of diversity are essential for intellectual freedom to flourish. People in Wisconsin look to the UW Law School as an exemplar of justice in our state, and your issues and actions can create statewide ripples.

On our behalf, we hope that you will "encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found." You have our best wishes and support in seeking an equitable solution that will address the needs of all parties.

Sincerely,

Terry Dawson
Chair, Toward Community: Unity in Diversity

Just as universities need to be sensitive to diversity issues consistent with academic freedom, public libraries need to support diversity in their communities. This isn't a matter of political correctness, it's a matter of sensitivity and mutual support.

Poverty, exclusion & library behavior

Connect these dots -- what picture emerges?

• Hunger Homelessness & Poverty Task Force - a website for a task force of ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table, says: "U.S. libraries have been slow to adopt the social-exclusion framework for public service ... Librarians who are seeking community-building models can benefit tremendously from projects launched in Great Britain and Canada ... Through national campaigns, these countries promote relationships between library staff and traditionally excluded groups. The resulting collaborations create more useful programs and services and more cohesive communities." A Canadian model is detailed in the document Breaking Barriers: Libraries and Socially Excluded Communities.
• There was a 2006 lawsuit against Worcester, Mass library for restricting circulation to homeless people. The suit was settled out of court, but the library had to remove its restrictions.
• Project Promise is our collaborative effort with other organizations to address problems of poverty in the Fox Cities. So far, we're talking the talk -- and its a worthwhile conversation, with our community read of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel & Dimed at the core of it. But after we talk, how do we walk the walk? Obviously, this is bigger than the library, but what's our piece of it? Do we just talk about books, or do we need to think about how we provide library service?
• We just held a poverty simulation exercise at the library with 45 community participants and 15 volunteers. During the course of the two-hour simulation, participants get a small taste of the frustration of people who, for a variety of reasons, can't quite make ends meet. Just simulating these situations can leave you angry and questioning your own ethics. It gives me some sympathy for how those in real poverty must deal with repeated frustration and authority which can seem arbitrary. This makes me reflect on our own library and how we provide service.
  
• Homeless and poverty are rising faster in our community than nationally and our downtown feels increasingly urban. . Some people in the community feel the library or the library neighborhood is unsafe. We need to gain more insight into this perception. We see increasing public dissatisfaction with safety in the library neighborhood and to some extent in the library, as expressed in a October, 2006 survey. A major root of this is widely held to be loiterers at the edge of our parking lot. This situation was exacerbated by the City's smoking ordinance, which pretty much requires all bus passengers to leave the bus depot area and stand near the library if they want to smoke while waiting for a bus. This in turn has created a mini community center for street people, with a lot of litter, profanity, harassment of women, destruction of plantings. Library staff and Police have not been able to address the situation so as to eliminate the problem. In a free country, people are allowed to stand on the sidewalk and even to cuss publicly. But it creates an unfriendly feeling.
• A librarian reported a family that had apparently been using the library with their children and experiencing no problems, abruptly leaving. The father, observing another patron who was minding his own business, loudly announced that they were never coming back to the library again, because he had seen at least two or three former inmates or felons here. The family left before staff could engage him -- he didn't want to discuss his concern, he just wanted to announce his unhappiness publicly.

Here's the picture I see:

• Our public library needs to be, and to be perceived as, "a safe place for everyone" -- and the operative words here are:
• safe: people need to feel comfortable, for themselves and their children, that this is an OK place to be
• everyone: we cannot abandon the promise of public libraries as a provider of universal educational opportunity and community gathering place. We need to moderate inclusiveness for all legitimate users. Nobody gets to drive other types of people out. It's not about who you are, it's not about how you look, it's about how you behave – and everyone is responsible for their own actions. Being poor, mentally ill or having a criminal record is neither an excuse for bad behavior nor a reason to be disrespected or excluded.
• Everyone involved in the library needs to be invested and empowered to make this real
• Library staff needs tools to deal with these concerns -- how we collectively do this has room for lots of discussion! Tools include:
• policies & procedures
• well-designed spaces
• sufficient staff
• training
• backup & support
• technology for communication & documentation as needed
  

There are a lot of forces in our society which mitigate against the growth or funding of library services. They can point fingers and trivialize what we do. But a thoughtful look at public libraries reveals the value of information, self-determination and education that we provide. It's good that we bridge the digital divide and its good that we provide bestsellers in many media. But the good thing is not to increase library use of popular services, the good thing is to bring people closer to the rich variety of opportunities we offer -- for everyone.