The Feds

Since 2003, the Children’s Internet Protection Act has been a presence in schools and public libraries which receive certain types of federal funding.  Under this act, Internet filtering software is utilized, which can do more detriment than good. We all know that filtering software can be problematic for a teenager performing research on “safer sex practices” when they are too ashamed to ask an adult or check out a book on the subject. However, libraries are not in a financial situation to deny federal funds, so what do we do? Do we defend the principles of our vocation, filtering all of the Internet computers, and take the money? Or do we deny the funds thus giving our patrons the right to view what they want–including material deemed obscene? Librarians can override the filter if needed, but very few patrons will want to have their inquiries “approved.”

It is our job to provide information, but if we make the whole Internet accessible to our patrons, the library becomes ineligible for the eRate program. In “Fencing out Knowledge:  Impacts of CIPA 10 Years Later,” a study found that “half of all libraries with Internet filters received requests from adult patrons to unblock the filters for legitimate purposes.”[1]   To have or not to have federal funding for the library’s Internet is quite a conundrum.  Providing information and a broad array of materials to our patrons is the purpose of the library, but at what cost?

The Patrons

I have witnessed two ways in which a patron can censor or attempt to censor.  The first more traditional means of challenging materials is when a patron comes in and reports to the librarian that they believe an item is offensive. Most often this happens in the youth department, but I have seen it happen in the Adult Department. For example, a woman came in and wanted Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out removed because her teenager checked it out and she found it offensive. Now, this is not entirely censorship because we did not remove it, but she did want it removed.

Another incident occurred during the 2008 Barack Obama and John McCain presidential election. We had a patron at our library who decided to make all of the McCain books “unavailable” to other patrons. She achieved this by checking out all of the McCain books we had, so that other patrons could not read them.

The Librarians 

When a librarian does not want to acquire controversial material for the library because it may cause an uproar within in the community, that is a form of censorship. I once had a boss who made me send back a book to our vendor because the title was offensive and she was worried that it would insult the patrons (never mind it was a best seller). Public school libraries are not required to have LGBTQ literature in their collection. While the age in which we live is more accepting than it was at one time, a lot of people still have a problem with these materials. Therefore, many public school librarians will not add the genre to their collection, in order to dodge any potential issues that may arise.

These are a few of the types of censorship that may occur at the library and a lot of us do it more than we know. I wanted to write this article to make ourselves aware of censoring. According to Lamba Legal, in addition to not purchasing materials, “some school districts, organizations and individuals have attempted, unlawfully, to restrict students’ access to books or websites purely because they address LGBTQ themes or other issues related to diversity.”[2]  Instead of trying to hide LGBTQ themes from the library, we should be encouraging patrons to educate themselves. To educate oneself is to alleviate the fear that may be a result of ignorance. Please do not foster ignorance by denying patrons the freedom to form their own opinions.

References

[1] Kristen Batch. “Fencing out Knowledge: Impacts of the Children’s Internet Protection 10 Years Later.”  Policy Brief No. 5, June 2014. http://connect.ala.org/files/cipa_report.pdf  Web 23 Sept 2016.

[2] Lambda Legal. “Preventing Censorship of LGBT Information in Public Schools,” https://www.lambdalegal.org/sites/default/files/publications/downloads/fs_preventing-censorship-of-lgbt-information-in-pubilc-school-libraries_1.pdf Web.  21 Sept 2016.

The post Censors Near You first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Buy in Bulk

Purchasing craft supplies in bulk means that I can stock up on craft material for a reasonable price. I use Amazon Prime for the free shipping as well as Dollar Tree to purchase additional items. One would be surprised at all of the crafting possibilities there are for one dollar! Some staples to have in your craft collection are Mod Podge, acrylic paint, ribbon, and E6000 adhesive. Of course, my office is swarming with “crafts in progress” and several different types of adhesives, but I have saved a lot of money by going this route. What’s more, I can preserve my programming budget and use it for artists who specialize in an art form, like basket weaving.

Crafters Block

Trying to make budget-minded crafts that look great has proven to be a challenge. To expand the range of possibilities, I started asking the craft-program attendees for ideas. I have found they have startedy donating some supplies and also proactively bringing me ideas for future projects. This crowdsourcing has helped not only in keeping the crafts classy but also with crafter’s block.

Community=Friendships

Bringing patrons in to your library for crafts creates a following. I started out with only a few persons in attendance and now I have a waiting list. I have patrons coming in for Girls’ Night Out events, as well as mothers, daughters, friends, and sisters. I love how the attendees have formed friendships and am happy to hear about them going out for drinks after the program! If only I could draw more men…

The Product

So, what are some of the crafts we have made? To name a few, we have created dinner plate clocks, burlap pumpkins, yarn Christmas trees, Easter egg garland, concrete stepping stones, Independence Day door pallets, cupid’s bow wreaths, terracotta wind chimes, shabby chic skeleton key chimes, mason jar snow globes, dryer vent pumpkins, garden plate lawn flowers, clay leaves, picture frame wreaths, and shadow painted canvases, etc. I plan craft programming ahead of time so that I can estimate what supplies will be needed and also provide a sample to boost interest. This also allows me time to solve issues that might come up ahead of time, such as the glue not holding.

For more ideas, please feel free to contact me at marchpane81@gmail.com. Share your crafting ideas in the comments!

The post Crafting at the Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

What about today’s students, though? While thirty-something students had the Internet when it came time to do a research paper, we did not have all of the virtual assistance students have today. As a reference librarian, it is alarming to see how many students are clueless when it comes to researching a topic. From my experience, many of them think typing a phrase in to Google is their “research.” Although Google is a very helpful search engine, these students do not know that they must look at the authenticity of the source rather than taking it as informational doctrine.

In the study “How Teens Do Research in the Digital World,” Kristen Purcell et al express that although the finest students will access research on a wide range, they are equally concerned about students not evaluating the quality of online information.[1] Which is why Purcell et al go on to state that they spend time teaching this in the classroom.

According to a survey taken by teachers, 94 percent of students are most likely “to perform research by using Google, while only 18 percent use a print or electronic book, 17 percent search an online database, and 16 percent consult a public or school librarian.[2] While in college, JSTOR was my go-to database; I used it for many literature analysis articles. In addition to this, I lived in the library’s stacks in my search for literature analysis on a particular author. Now, though, if you were to look up a psychoanalytical analysis of Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips,” you could access any angst-ridden teenaged girl’s take on it.

It is so important to teach students how to use search engines correctly. I believe this starts with informing students that “Googling” is inequitable to “research.” A librarian at University Laboratory High encourages students to use Google Scholar and subscribed databases.[3] Google Scholar is a great tool as it includes scholarly articles, which is just the type of information students should be utilizing. This is an especially fantastic tool if libraries are lacking the funding to purchase subscriptions to online databases.

The “Strategies” page on Carnegie Mellon’s interesting Solve a Teaching Problem website by the Eberly Center has a lot of great pointers. A problem is identified, such as “students do not know how to research,” and suggestions are given to alleviate the issue. The university goes on to further explore how to solve the problems by prescreening the students’ research skills, teaching research abilities, collaborating with the library, etc.[4]

What would assuage all of these research problems by the time a student gets to the university level would be to start making online research methods part of the middle school students’ curriculum. Some schools are lucky enough to have a media specialist teach this, while others do not. Many schools have eliminated professional librarians who used to teach research skills, and because of this, teachers must pick up the ball. I realize that teachers are already have their lesson plans stretched to maximum levels, but it is in the students’ best academic interest to teach them effective research skills from an early age.

References:

[1]  Kristen Purcell et al, “How Teens Do Research In The Digital World,” report by Pew Research Center, November 1, 2012.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Leslie Harris O’Hanlon, “Teaching Students Better Online Skills,” Education Week, May 20, 2013, reprinted in Education Week: Digital Curricula Evolving as “Teaching Students The Skills to Be Savvy Researchers,” May 22, 2013.

[4] Eberly Center, “Explore Strategies: Students don’t know how to do research,” Solve a Teaching Problem, n.d.

Further Reading:

Paul Jackson, “Search vs. Research“

The post Teach Effective Research Skills Early first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

I live in Michigan, the only state where it is illegal for libraries, schools, or any municipality to share vital voting information with their patrons sixty days before an election. If a reference librarian performs their duty of providing a patron with information, it could now be viewed as a criminal act. Senate Bill 571 was passed by legislators that did not consider the weight of its terms.

Governor Rick Snyder’s stated intent was to disallow municipalities to spend taxpayer money on political propaganda, stop officials from sharing their personal opinions with others, and prevent the use of public facilities as debating centers.[1] Many people, though, including legislators, are confused about what the bill actually entails. Although Senator Margaret O’Brien and Republican Representatives David Maturen and Brant Iden all voted “yes” on Bill 571, Maturen told the Kalamazoo Gazette,”For something this big and with these kinds of ramifications, I think we need to discuss it more, I really do.”[2] It is frightening to think that our lawmakers are voting on bills without understanding the ramifications that it will have on its taxpayers. In addition to the bill being a “last-minute vote,” it also gave lawmakers little time to review the bill which grew from fourteen pages to fifty-three. [3]

Now, Governor Snyder has requested that legislators clarify the diction of Senate Bill 571 in time for the March 2016 election. But even after the language in the bill has been explained, I am sure it will still embody a clear infringement on not just our vocational obligations as librarians, but also our First Amendment rights. Patrons go to the library to obtain information, and with the passing of this bill, the law will prohibit librarians from performing one of their most important vocational duties: providing our community with information.

I contacted our local branch of League of Women Voters to see if they have any plans on publishing candidate information before the sixty-day window so that we can make it available to patrons, and they informed me that it would be accessible about the time absentee ballots go out to voters. If I give the “League of Women Voters” publication to a requesting patron 59 days before the election, though, my library could be fined $20,000. In my experience working the reference desk, many patrons will inquire about the candidates a few days before an election occurs.  Is it not their right to know for whom they are voting and the candidates’ principles? How can an uninformed person exercise their right to vote?

We must fight and protect our vocation and what it represents. It is our job as librarians and information professionals to provide our communities with reliable and unbiased information. We cannot allow our government to enact an aimless means of voting in complete darkness. Update: The bill referred to in this article is currently on hold via a federal court injunction. Read more here. (Editor, February 24, 2016).

References:

^[1] Christopher A. Wigent. “Senate Bill 571 censors factual election information,” The Detroit News, December 23, 2015.

[2] Julie Mack. “Kalamazoo County GOP lawmakers rethink votes on ‘gag order’ election bill,” M Live, January 5, 2016.

[3] Lisa Peet. “Bill in MI would limit info to voters; Librarians protest,” Library Journal, January 12, 2016.

The post The Library and Michigan Senate Bill 571 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The senior citizen population has been hit the hardest by this tax-form cutback. Some senior citizens are not comfortable with this level of technology, and if the IRS eventually scraps the Tax Forms Outlet Program, how will they file their taxes? Although the number of tax forms has not decreased that exorbitantly, they are only sending out three of the 1040 instructions, and those will be allotted to “reference use.” At our library, we charge patrons after the first five copies, and even a double-sided tax booklet could add up to be $5.

Although the number of senior citizen computer users keeps climbing, the rest rely on the assistance of others or their local librarians. The Pew Research Center found that 59 percent of senior citizens are currently using the computer.^[2] What is of concern, though, is the other 41 percent and the shortage of “old-school” tax forms.

The Goodwill in Kalamazoo County, Michigan offers the Kalamazoo Tax Initiative for tax assistance, but it only covers individuals or families who have an income of $54,000 or less.^[3] Although this is an excellent service, the drawback is that patrons have to make an appointment or choose a “drop-by” location that only offers a few different dates.   Additionally, many patrons cannot make an appointment because all of the slots have limited capacities and are occupied, or if they attempt to go to the “drop-by” location, they cannot get in during that time block.

Libraries have been an imperative dispensary for tax forms for quite some time, and although they are still offering this service, we need to find alternate ways to help those patrons without computer skills file their taxes. Many libraries offer computer classes; however, many patrons need more one-on-one attention after these courses. At my library, we offer strictly one-on-one computer classes for patrons. In addition to the Kalamazoo Tax Initiative, I see these one-on-one computer lessons really benefiting senior citizens when it comes in tax season (and not to mention in the long run).

I think the Kalamazoo Tax Initiative has the right idea, but a lot of the patrons that participate in the program already know how to use the computer. It would be nice to have a program specifically for seniors or any other patron who does not know how to use the computer. We as librarians are not tax professionals, but we can most certainly guide a patron to the right website. Besides, we face too many liability issues in “filling” out the tax forms, but we can find ways to help them. Many of us have demanding jobs both on-and-off desk, but we need volunteers who would be willing to donate their time to help these technologically timid patrons file their taxes online.

Sources

[1] IRS Tax Forms Outlet Program News and Updates

[2] Smith, Aaron. “Older Adults and Technology Use.” Report by the Pew Research Center, April 3, 2014. Web.

[3] Kalamazoo Goodwill Free Tax Preparation

The post E-filing For the Technologically Timid? first appeared on Public Libraries Online.