Lowrider Librarian

Lowrider Literacies and Fluencies * 10 Point Program 2015 1. Technology: We demand free access to technology and technology instruction, training and applications that meets our community needs. 2. Mechanics: We demand free access to mechanical technology and instruction. By this we mean we want motor vehicle, heavy equipment and other mechanical training and access that meet our community needs. 3. Reading: We demand free access to books that meet our needs. By needs, we mean: Cultural, Political, HIstorical, Language, Social, Psychological, and Health needs. We also demand books in a variety of formats. 4. Writing: We demand free access to writing and publishing technologies as well as the instruction to become fluent with them, and the ability to apply them to our needs. 5. Critical Political Analysis: We demand free access to critical political science analysis instruction, training and applications of this critical thinking to our nee...

The ALA Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion was created in the spring of 2014 by then ALA President, Barbara Stripling.  The Task Force is currently in the information-gathering phase.  To aid with information gathering, it has launched a series of short surveys to be conducted at times to coincide with the ALA Midwinter Meetings and Annual Conferences through 2016.  These surveys are designed to help understand the culture of the association, the profession, and our communities with respect to equity, diversity, and inclusion. The first survey presents the Task Force created definitions of equity, diversity, and inclusion and asks individuals to consider ALA’s current alignment to those definitions.  The survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey. com/s/TFEDI1EMAIL and responses will be collected through February 16, 2015.  ALA members and nonmembers are encouraged to participate.  The final, analyzed results of the s...

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