SRRT (Social Responsibilities Round Table)

 View Only
last person joined: yesterday 

The Social Responsibilities Round Table works to make ALA more democratic and to establish progressive priorities not only for the Association, but also for the entire profession. Concern for human and economic rights was an important element in the founding of SRRT and remains an urgent concern today. SRRT believes that libraries and librarians must recognize and help solve social problems and inequities in order to carry out their mandate to work for the common good and bolster democracy.

Learn more about SRRT on the ALA website.

  • 1.  Protest best practices

    Posted Oct 05, 2022 08:25 PM
    We've been having some protesters making the rounds of children's events in NYC and are trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel in putting together a game plan for future protests. Does anyone have any contacts/presentations/blog posts/other resources to point me to?

    ------------------------------
    Tara Brady
    Teen Librarian
    Queens Public Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Protest best practices

    Posted Oct 05, 2022 09:01 PM
    I've been talking a lot with Alison Macrina at thr Library Freedom Project. I know they are working on a toolkit and she's been doing a lot of advocating. Below is from an email I got from her just earlier this week:


    I've been giving many talks this year about building our defenses against right wing attacks. Here are slides I just presented to the Virginia public library directors meeting: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16hJ2MO4kbyactbSOgNyBCn2PQQYQjR4bS0sjBSuVvqo/edit?usp=sharing


    Feel free to repurpose whatever is useful. 





    April 

    Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Protest best practices

    Posted Oct 05, 2022 09:28 PM
    You're awesome! Some folks are putting a rapid response email list together, I'm going to share this over to them and let them know about the in-progress toolkit.

    ------------------------------
    Tara Brady
    Teen Librarian
    Queens Public Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Protest best practices

    Posted Oct 07, 2022 10:28 AM
    Edited by Ayana Looney Oct 07, 2022 10:37 AM

    If you have access to Niche Academy, check out "A Legal-ish Perspective on Book Challenges" by Vanessa Christman, Principal Librarian, Law and Government Publications: https://my.nicheacademy.com/callacademy/course/45881 and "Book Challenges: Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice" by Alison Macrina: https://my.nicheacademy.com/callacademy/course/47619

    Resources in "Book Challenges: Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice:"


    Sincerely,

    Ayana (eye-on-ah) Looney, MLIS
    Technical Services Library Assistant, California State Library
    Sacramento, CA 95814
    (916) 603-7136
    ayana.looney@library.ca.gov


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Protest best practices

    Posted Oct 08, 2022 09:52 AM
    One thing that I haven't seen as an argument is that the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage means that users of both public and school libraries have parents of children of legally married LGBTQ users who should be able to have their lifestyles reflected in the library's collection as being just as normal as that of heterosexual couples. I would hope that some of the gay parents would come out in favor of keeping these challenged items. The same would also be true for single parents who are raising children.

    Bob

    Dr. Robert P. Holley

    Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University

    13303 Borgman Avenue

    Huntington Woods, MI  48070-1005

    email: aa3805@wayne.edu

    phone: 248-547-0306




    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Protest best practices

    Posted Oct 07, 2022 10:44 AM

    A webinar titled "The First Amendment in Libraries with Deborah Caldwell-Stone" might be helpful.

    Guest speaker Deborah Caldwell-Stone shares important information regarding the First Amendment and Libraries on Thursday, October 20, 2022, at 4:00 PM.

    Register free at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-first-amendment-in-libraries-with-deborah-caldwell-stone-tickets-420873854027

    About this event: Deborah Caldwell-Stone is Director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom and Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation. For over twenty years she has worked closely with library professionals and library trustees on a wide range of intellectual freedom issues related to library service in the United States. She has served on the faculty of the ALA-sponsored Lawyers for Libraries and Law for Librarians workshops and is a contributor to the 10th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual. She has contributed articles on law, policy, and intellectual freedom to American Libraries and other publications.

    Link to meeting will be shared after registration on EventBrite. When you receive your email after registration, click on "View Event Details" This will take you the Eventbrite description where you will see "Access link" Click this to take you to the Zoom Link.

    Questions call (951) 368-0368 or email lawlibrary.riverside@rclawlibrary.org



    ------------------------------
    Sincerely,

    Ayana (eye-on-ah) Looney, MLIS
    Technical Services Library Assistant, California State Library
    Sacramento, CA 95814
    (916) 603-7136
    ayana.looney@library.ca.gov
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Protest best practices

    Posted Nov 21, 2022 09:27 PM
    Library 2.0 "Complaints or Protests About Content" Webinar Recording Now Available Without Fee

    In June of this year, we held a paid webinar on "Handling Complaints or Protests About Content" hosted by Dr. Steve Albrecht with special guest speaker Barry Trott, MSLS. Because of continued concerns related to this topic, we are making the webinar recording openly available on Library 2.0. On the recording page is a link to receive an emailed certification of participation for viewing the webinar.

    If you are not a member of Library 2.0, please join Library 2.0 (free). Once your membership has been approved, you will have access to the recording without fee--there is a link on the front page of the community.

    If you or your organization use Niche Academy, you can search for the recording in the Library 2.0 Academy under the title "FREE VERSION - Handling Complaints or Protests About Content." It will be available there for free temporally. It will remain for free on Library 2.0 indefinitely.

    WEBINAR OVERVIEW:

    How do we safely and carefully handle one or more angry or outraged patrons who complain about items (books, films, magazines, CDs, etc.) in our library?

    This 60-minute training webinar is presented by Library 2.0 and ALA author and library service, safety, and security expert, Dr. Steve Albrecht. Steve will be hosting Barry Trott, Adult Services Consultant with the Library of Virginia, to explore tools and training that can help when you have complaints about library collections.

    Barry says, "Book challenges are on the rise in all sorts of libraries. Being prepared to handle questions about library materials will involve more than the library director and other administrators. Often, complaints need to be first handled by frontline staff. To keep these protests from growing into a major media crisis, it's important that public services staff know how to handle user complaints. This issue requires more than just passing the angry patrons up the chain of command. It's essential to have a well-thought-out process for staff to rely on. This webinar will help all library employees feel more empowered during these encounters."

    This overview session is another in our Library 2.0 series for all library staff and library leaders to respond with tact and skill when it comes to complaints about what one or more patrons thinks is inappropriate content in the library. This webinar will also discuss how to handle the security issues and media management related to an organized protest about potentially controversial materials, both in or near your library.

    More info at https://www.library20.com/page/webinars



    ------------------------------
    Sincerely,

    Ayana (eye-on-ah) Looney, MLIS
    Technical Services Library Assistant, California State Library
    Sacramento, CA 95814
    (916) 603-7136
    ayana.looney@library.ca.gov
    ------------------------------

    Original Message