Blogs

Radical Reference NYC presents a salon discussion on effecting change in librarianship.

Sunday, September 23 at 5pm
ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St., 3rd Floor

How do you launch an alternative press collection, develop a radical films series, organize a union, start a group (like Radical Reference), etc? Come hear how others have achieved their pet projects and brainstorm new ideas and ways of implementing them.

Since the spring, i've been cataloging posters at UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center. The recent post on maoist propaganda got me thinking i might post on some different movement images.

Rini Templeton "made drawings of activists in the United States, Mexico and Central America while she joined them in their meetings, demonstrations, picket lines and other actions for social justice. She called her bold black-and-white images "xerox art" because activists and organizers could copy them easily for use in their banners, signs, leaflets, newsletters, even T-shirts, whenever needed.

People working on immigration matters might want to use The New Sanctuary Movement at http://www.newsanctuarymovement.org as a resource for undocumented residents seeking various kinds of assistance.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a five page message for Labor Day that concludes:

Labor Day 2007 is a time to look back, look around, and look ahead. It is a day to celebrate the work and the workers who are at the heart of this holiday. It is a time to recall the powerful and consistent teaching of our Church on the dignity of work and the rights of workers. It is an opportunity to remember when we have fallen short and when we have made a difference. Most of all, like New Year’s Day, it is a time to resolve to do better. For Catholics, Labor Day 2007 is a time to recommit in our own small ways – to our own work, to treat others justly, and to defend the lives, dignity, and rights of workers, especially the most vulnerable. This is a requirement of our faith and a way to advance the promise of our nation.

One outcome of Library Camp NYC's session on Green Librarianship was the creation of a wiki, hosted by Radical Reference. Please contribute!

Well, this is my first blog entry, and we'll see how many others i put together. Really, this entry is to post on the life of Yolanda Retter Vargas, an amazing mujer who kept me in check and made sure that i put my politics into practice whenever i was inside the archive or library, and outside of it as well. We had disagreements from time to time, but we had many more laughs. Her support made my second year in library studies much more meaningful, and made my work for this website more effective.

The following nine books were cited in the June/July 2007 issue of the Catholic Worker. You can find a hyperlinked version of this list with holding libraries at http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/CatholicWorkerDigest/lists/16987

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/humanrights//conferences/2007

Human Rights Archives and Documentation:
Meeting the Needs of Research, Teaching, Advocacy and Social Justice

Conference at Columbia University October 4-6, 2007

The conference is free; registration is required.

I wish I had more to say on the issue of the Vancouver Public Library strike than, "Go team!" or "Solidarity!" Fortunately Kathleen de la Peña McCook and Shinjoung Yeo are articulating the issue and their support brilliantly on the Union Librarian and the Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship blogs.

Since this has been in the news a lot lately, I thought I'd upload it for your viewing/downloading pleasure:

Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat. NYPD.