Hateful conduct in libraries: A new ALA resource

During the 2019 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services and the Office for Intellectual Freedom launched a new resource, “Hateful Conduct in Libraries: Supporting Library Workers and Patrons,” in response to a spike in reported hate crimes in libraries across the US, which the two offices began tracking in 2016. The resource outlines best practices on how to create environments that discourage hate speech and hateful conduct in the library, what steps library workers should take after an incident, and how libraries can better meet community needs.

Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, Feb. 14

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President Biden nominated Jessica Rosenworcel as Federal Communications Commission chair, and former FCC staffer Gigi Sohn to a second vacant seat. Rosenworcel has been serving as the acting chair and has been on the panel since 2012. Sohn was counselor to former FCC chair Tom Wheeler. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first openly LGBTIQ+ commissioner. Rosenworcel is the first woman to chair the panel. She and Sohn are expected to push for a return of Obama-era net neutrality rules, which would prohibit internet providers from slowing internet speeds or blocking content. ALA issued a statement October 26 welcoming the nominations.

NPR, Oct. 26
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A Drag Queen Story Time protester who is trying to shrink the mission of the Lafayette Parish (La.) Library System was unanimously elected October 20 to lead the library board for the next year. Robert Judge, who has only been on the library board since February, proposed changing the library system’s mission statement in April to remove “recreation and cultural enrichment” to save money; the proposal was tabled.

The Acadiana Advocate, Oct. 21
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ALA invites library advocates to apply online to join the fourth cohort of ALA Policy Corps members. The deadline for applications is December 1. The Policy Corps initiative aims to strengthen advocacy related to key national library policy areas—ranging from broadband equity and copyright/licensing to federal funding and privacy and cybersecurity. Preference will be given to applicants with prior engagement in ALA and state chapters, such as service on boards, committees, or other entities and/or participation in professional development or scholarship programs.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Oct. 26
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Phil Morehart writes: “School administrators from across the US opened the second day of the 2021 American Association of School Librarians National Conference in Salt Lake City with a general session full of frank, insightful conversations about what they need and expect from school librarians—and how administrators can empower school librarians in their work.”

AL: The Scoop, Oct. 25
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As a Chattanooga school board debated who has the authority to approve, or remove, books in school libraries this week, Tennessee librarians are speaking out. Representatives from the Tennessee Association of School Librarians, the Tennessee Library Association and Friends of the Tennessee Libraries are calling out recent censorship attempts by Hamilton County school board member Rhonda Thurman. Thurman expressed concerns in an op-ed earlier this month over the use of curse words and references to sex and violence depicted in library books found in Hamilton County schools.

The Tennessean, Oct. 21
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Eleanor J. Bader writes: “Since the 2008 recession, many library budgets have been significantly reduced, and the political right has increasingly organized campaigns to challenge library promotion of antiracist and pro-LGBTQ+ events, whether through Black History Month programs, Pride displays, or speaker series. This includes disruptions of Drag Queen Story Hour, a six-year-old reading program where drag queens read to kids, to the sabotage of ballot initiatives that would authorize the expansion or renovation of crumbling library facilities, to vocal campaigns against books that address racism, gender identity, or sexuality.”

The Progressive, Oct. 19
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Dave Shumaker writes: “At a recent professional meeting, I was dismayed to find myself witnessing yet another discussion on whether those present should call themselves ‘librarians.’ The program that hosted this discussion opened with the observation that library spaces are shrinking in the postpandemic world and the question of whether the participants might stop calling themselves librarians if they no longer work ‘in a [physical] library.’ Everything I heard was a repetition of arguments I’ve heard over and over in the almost 50 years since I was working on my first professional degree.”

Information Today, Oct. 19

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