Fast & Vigil to End the Death Penalty. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 359

STARVIN' FOR JUSTICE 2006

The 13th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty
at the U.S. Supreme Court
June 29th - July 2nd, 2006.

Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP) works to end the death penalty in the United States through aggressive campaigns of public education, and the promotion of tactical grassroots activism.

See also Cornell Death Penalty Project Website: a collaborative effort between the Death Penalty Project and the Cornell Law Library.

More People in Jail & Prison. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 358.

Overall, 738 people were locked up for every 100,000 residents, compared with a rate of 725 at mid-2004. The states with the highest rates were Louisiana and Georgia, with more than 1 percent of their populations in prison or jail. Rounding out the top five were Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

U.S. Bureau of Justics
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005

Highlights include the following:

* From midyear 2004 to midyear 2005, the number of inmates in custody in local jails rose by 33,539; in State prison by 15,858; and Federal prison by 6,584.
* On June 30, 2005, a total of 2,266 State prisoners were under age 18. Adult jails held a total of 6,759 persons under age 18.
* An estimated 12% of black males, 3.7% of Hispanic males, and 1.7% of white males in their late twenties were in prison or jail.

See Also:
War and the Family and the Cost of Prisons: A Librarian at Every Table. No. 319.

I Thought I was Seeing Convicts/ Ich glaubte Gefangene zu sehen

We Are America Alliance. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 357.

The We Are America Alliance is a newly-forming nationwide alliance of immigrant, grassroots, labor, local, statewide and national organizations.

We are an alliance of key immigrant, grassroots, labor, local, and national organizations joining together to:

Produce a million new voters and citizens between now and Election Day 2006.

Press our lawmakers to stop the punitive and harsh HR 4437.

Enact real and comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for America's undocumented immigrants, reunites families, respects civil rights, and protects all workers.

Humanities Indicators. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 356.

Where is the ALA's Public Programs Office? in this discussion? The National Endowment for the Humanities has been a public voice for libraries and culture for many years, but this new initiative seems--in its public documents so far--to have dropped the work of libraries from the data being considered. How do librarians get to be an indicator? What about IMLS?


As part of the Initiative for the Humanities and Culture, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is working with a consortium of humanities organizations to develop comprehensive data on the state of the humanities. Patterned after the influential Science and Engineering Indicators (published every other year by the National Science Board), the prototype currently under development will create a set of indicators that address the particular interests and concerns of the humanities.

The Humanities Indicators will help equip researchers and policymakers at universities, foundations, public humanities institutions, and government agencies with better statistical tools for answering basic questions about undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities, employment of humanities graduates, levels of program funding, public understanding of the humanities, and other areas of concern in the humanities.


COE article here
notes:

Some of the most interesting questions... involve the "public humanities." That's a slippery term; it can describe a historical association's special exhibit, a library's reading series, or almost anything else designed, as the National Endowment for the Humanities puts it, to "promote lifelong learning in history, literature, comparative religion, philosophy, and other fields of the humanities for broad public audiences."

Upstream & Downstream:Equity and the American Library Association. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table.No. 355.

"A call to reset the research and policy agenda of information technology and social inequality provides a simple metaphor that helps frame discussion. "Downstream" issues relate to literacy, education, income, gender, ethnicity; "Upstream" issues relate to technology, connectivity, and infrastructure."
--from Rocks in the Whirlpool:Equity and the American Library Association [2002].
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Upstream is the name chosen by SirsiDynix Institute in 2005.

Upstream is an invaluable facet of the SirsiDynix Institute, posing thought-provoking questions in each issue regarding important issues in librarianship. It offers unexpected ideas and uncensored opinions aimed at provoking thought, generating discussion, and fueling creative approaches to contemporary industry topics. Like the SirsiDynix Institute Web Seminar Series, you won't want to miss reading this issue in which we posed this question:

"What is the best example of libraries building communities that you have come across or experienced? How will libraries in the future be empowered to play even a greater role in their communities?"

Here are the answers.

Operation Refuse War. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 353.

Center on Conscience and War works to defend and extend the rights of conscientious objectors.

International Conscientious Objectors Day is May 15.

Through workshops, actions, and an international conference from May 11-16 Operation Refuse War will highlight the difficulties that current conscientious objectors face as well as help build relationships and connections between the various communities within the anti-war movement. The focus of the events is on supporting contemporary American conscientious objectors and their families, as well as examining the current potential of conscientious objection (in its various forms) as a strategy for building an anti-war movement. In addition, Operation Refuse War will bring together international and American conscientious objectors to share their experiences and ideas.

Thinking of Tom Galvin as New Creative Cities Become Part of the UNESCO Network; Sad about the Ambassador. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 352.

When UNESCO news comes up I think of former ALA President and Executive Director, Tom Galvin. In 1980 Dr. Galvin was appointed by the secretary of state to the United States National Commission on UNESCO.When Reagan pulled the U.S. out of UNESCO in 1984 Tom Galvin was one of the most passionate voices speaking for us to stay. I believe that the U.S. lost much of its status as an international cultural force during Reagan and Bush I. Now that we have returned to UNESCO it will be a challenge for librarians to participate in programs like Creative Cities. The U.S. has lost so much by our heedless bullying of the world. Librarians foster understanding of world cultures by going where music, art and literature take us regardless of politicians. Prior to Bush II's appointment the UNESCO ambassador, Louise V. Oliver, was president of the controversial political action committee founded by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, GOPAC. She is also listed as an emeritus director of the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), a Washington-based group of mainly far-right Republican women who often take positions opposed to grassroots feminist organizations, such as the National Organization of Women (NOW) and the League of Women Voters (LWV).

Amidst this cronyism librarians can fight for UNESCO's true purpose. Again, we need to change the people at the table. No cronies.


The Creative Cities Network connects creative cities so that they can share experiences, know-how, training in business skills and technology. Cities may apply to be endorsed by the Network and join the programme to ensure their continued role as centres of excellence and to support other cities, particularly those in developing countries, in nurturing their own creative economy.

On March 30,2006 Sevilla was named UNESCO’s first City of Music.

Santa Fe, New Mexico (U.S.A.) was appointed first UNESCO City of Folk Art in July 2005.

"A Day without an Immigrant."A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 351.

Yesterday was "Un dia sin immigrante" "A day without an immigrant." I stood at the corner of Highway 301 and State Road 674 with Mexican immigrants from the Wimauma, Florida area. Everyone wore white shirts. We waved at trucks and cars. Most were encouraging.
The fields where tomatoes and strawberries have been grown in this rural part of Hillsborough County are filling with housing developments. Migrant farm workers are becoming settled with jobs in construction and health care.
We were just down the road from the Beth-El Farmworker Ministry. There is a library there in the charter school that friends helped me to stock with books. A few summers ago I worked at the library's e-library at the Bethune Rec. Center with youth from the area.
I see the kids around...mostly grown up now. They have lived here most of their lives. How wrong to send them back.
There are several libraries within 10 miles but no other librarians were at the Wimauma demonstration. These are the people with whom we need to stand.