Lowrider Librarian

Librarians are NOT representative of the current US Demographics According to my calculations, the ALA had 88.5% White Librarians in 1985, and 87.97% in 2009-2010. According to my calculations, the ALA had 1.8% Asian/Pacific Islander Librarians in 1985, and 2.7% in 2009-2010. According to my calculations, the ALA had 1.8% Latino Librarians in 1985, and 3.08% in 2009-2010. According to my calculations, the ALA had 6.1% African American Librarians in 1985, and 5.19% in 2009-2010. In the US, the above image is linked to the image below. Figures derived from Equity at Issue document from ALA 1985 and ALA office of diversity 2009-2010.

I don't know about you, but I do not have much throwaway cash to buy music nowadays. Being an music junky, I need to keep my supply of fresh music coming in, so I use the library to keep up with music that is out there. Some tips for looking up music librarie

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace hit upon almost all the intellectual struggles I have with education as a scholar of color.  This doesn't mean every person of color will relate to this book, and it doesn't mean that White people can't relate to the book either. It is really a book anyone should read, but the themes covered: Alienation from the dominant culture in an educational institution Bifurcating one's life to handle a life in two worlds What does success mean?        are themes that many people of color in academia can relate to specifically.   Robert Peace was a brilliant Science student, who earned a full scholarship to Yale University.  He graduated and seemed to have everything going for him. This book tells the story of his family background, his upbringing, his education, his post-education decisions and his untimely death.  Rob's story is told from his White-upper middle class roommat...

Police Sniper in Ferguson. Libraries should be developing programs to help people deal with the police. There has been a huge increase in police shooting, beatings and other transgressions against citizens. We, as librarians, should recognize the community's need for information on how to stay safe, avoid police confrontation, and how to act when confronted by police. We can form partnerships with legal organizations to provide patrons with basic survival instructions for the world of today. Lets do this! #LibrariesAgainstPoliceBrutality

I was was gazing at some train tags--some nice bombs in the train yard with my littler brother, who happens to be a graffiti artist.  He interpreted the tags and bombs I could not read.  He and I read me all kinds of information from throughout the country, from LA, to Chicago, to Seattle and other places.  Then a train yard cop came and chased us away. Tags in Denmark My brother Jaimie used to be well known throughout San Jo as Daze2000 back in the 80's, then went on to LOVE and other names throughout the years.  He's retired now. For those unfamiliar with tagging--here is a sufficient definition from Wikipedia: Some of the most common styles of graffiti have their own names. A " tag " is the most basic writing of an artist's name, it is simply a  handstyle . A graffiti writer's tag is his or her personalized signature. Tagging is often the example given when opponents of graffiti refer to any acts of handstyle graffiti writing (it is by far the...

As a library worker who is a person of color, I have experienced discrimination in libraries.  From receiving such edifying duties as "sorting the mail," to being judged harshly in comparison to my colleagues who are not people of color, to being bullied so hard and often that I became shaky about myself and my own skills.  I escaped that situation, and landed a job in IT.  It is illustrative of how much I was being bullied and discriminated against at my library job, by the fact that once I was in the IT department, I was valued, told I was doing a great job, told that the feedback on my work was ALWAYS great and other accolades.  I couldn't believe it at first, because I had been so bullied and told that I " was incompentent," and other such disheartening, and in the end, downright mean, insults and other abuses based on my "weak performance."  I have not had a bad review since leaving the library job I once had.  I have continued to teach for that l...

In the US, every piece of information and every bit of knowledge we have has been mediated through a White-Supremacist lens--this is especially the case the more educated an individual is in the US. It usually doesn’t matter what the ethnicity of the creator of this knowledge is, nor what their first language is because they have been educated in a system that is fundamentally White-supremacist. It takes much work and effort to even attempt to break out of this colonial mind set. #InformationLiteracy #education #EthnicStudies #Libraries #Information #knowledge #colonialism #21stCenturyEmpire

The fact that people are allowed to say this kind of shit is illustrative of the state of Race relations in the US. It isn't politically correct you fucking barbarians--it is called being civilized and not offending, especially knowingly, those whom you live with. If he were educmacated, he would know that being civilized comes from the Latin word Civi, which means, roughly city. Being civilized is possessing the skills necessary to live with others, especially in a city of society. This guy is a barbarian who ONLY understands force and is ignorant of his own culture. I know his culture better than him and it isn't even my culture.   ‪#‎ racist‬   ‪#‎ bigot‬   ‪#‎ Traitor‬ ‪#‎ WelfareRancher‬

[This is meant to be a series of posts that will illustrate the importance and the process of creating a set of uniform documentation policies and procedures for a large organization that has many physical locations.] Uniform documentation policies and procedures are vital to any organization. The creation of documentation is often formatted differently, created with different tools, are stored in a variety of locations and use inconsistent terms throughout the organization. One obvious improvement to the creation and utilization of documentation includes creating, modeling and using a style guide throughout the organization.   This style guide should be created by the departments and approved by management.  This will increase transparency and "buy in."  Another, less obvious improvement to create a uniform and efficient documentation system throughout your organization is to have a classification style guide as well as a writing style guide. ...

From Jerome Offord, Jr. Colleagues: Thank you for the notes of support and the quiet concerns. However, I want to make sure you understand the purpose of the press release and BCALA's intent. Please allow me to provide you a timeline of events. ·         In the fall of 2013, BCALA leadership received a note regarding the Orlando Conference and the Stand Your Ground issues in the State of Florida. ·         The aforementioned question sparked dialogue on the Executive Board electronic list. ·         Several board members requested that this issue be on the January 2014 Executive Board Midwinter Meeting agenda. ·         During the Midwinter Meeting, the Executive Board discussed this issue at length and the Board voted that BCALA should go on record expressing our concern about the implementation and interpr...

Black Caucus of ALA Denounces ALA’s Decision to Hold 2016 Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.  For immediate release: March 10, 2014 Media Contact: Jason Alston, jasonalston@gmail.com The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), condemns the American Library Association’s (ALA) decision to continue with plans to hold the ALA 2016 annual conference in Orlando, Fla. in the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict and that state’s refusal to revise or repeal “Stand Your Ground” laws, which were included in jury instructions in Zimmerman’s trial for second degree murder for fatally shooting unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. in 2012. BCALA believes that “Stand Your Ground” laws enable a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality against African-American men perceived without merit to be threats or assumed without evidence to be engaged in criminal behavior. Kenneth Nunn, a professor at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, wrote in the ...

Ten D2L Retention Strategies By Max Macias 2/2014 Email the class their assignments for the week via D2L email every Monday to make sure everyone is kept abreast of where they are supposed to be and the time frames for the class. Create a Google Calendar and share it with the class.  Either embedd it, or send it to your students via email.  Have all the class assignments on entered on the calendar and the due dates clearly stated.   Embed your Google Class Calendar in your news feed with the D2L embed tool.  Tell your students they can click on events in the calendar and directly copy them to their own personal calendars. Give clear feedback that lets the student know what they are doing well, and what they need to work on to get the outcomes for the class.    Make comments on the student’s documents with the “insert comment” tool.   Contact Students via Dropbox list, when dropbox assignments...

Pathways to Progress: Issues and Advances in Latino Librarianship Review by Max Macias Last fall I had the honor of being asked to review the much anticipated Pathways to Progress: Issues and Advances in Latino Librarianship; edited by John L. Ayala and Salvador Güereña.   This book is a collection of essays by Latino Librarian/Advocates on Latino Librarianship.   It is part of a series called Latinos and Libraries Series, published by Libraries Unlimited.   I do not have time to write about every essay in the book--there are 12 chapters and 17 pieces written by some of the leaders of the Latino Library Movement.    Chapter one is by Dr. Sergio Chaparro and is entitled: Common Denominators in the Development of Latino Library Leadership.   This chapter was far too short and underdeveloped.   It was surfacy and generally vague without references to the diversity within the “Latino” label.   It was supposed to outline and disc...