Today was the second time that Rad Ref members have been present at the Really Really Free Market in NYC. This event is put on by the In Our Hearts collective, which agreed to let Rad Ref set up shop and (attempt to) do reference and promote the project to market-goers (they are generally encouraging folks to do skillshares and provide services at the RRFMs, so if you've got other ideas, I'm sure they'd love to make space for you!)

The RRFMs will be held indoors, in St. Mark's Church, through the winter, which is unfortunate because we could not pick up a wireless network and therefore were hindered from the start from providing on-the-spot reference. (Happily, we connected with impromptu home support, who did assist with a question about human-powered generators.) But, despite the setback, another librarian and I sat for about two hours in a couple of the chairs that had been set up around the perimeter of the room. With a bright hand-lettered sign taped to the monitor of my otherwise useless laptop, we did get people stopping by and asking what we were about. We handed out the small flyers and explained how Rad Ref is composed of librarians and library school students who have our day jobs and then in our off hours help activists and independent journalists with their research via a website and occasional workshops. Most people were intrigued and also expressed goodwill towards librarians and libraries in general.

So look for us at future RRFMs, and let me know if you want to help out!