Survey on Libraries and Community Building. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 350

Please fill out this survey:

Survey to library workers about their community-building work in libraries.

Chrystie R. Hill and Steven M. Cohen say:

We’re writing a book about libraries and community building, and using this blog to support that work. Between now and March of next year, we’ll be researching, interviewing, and scouring the library world for insights into how library staff can (and do) community building work. We’ll use the blog to sort out some of our own thoughts and ideas, and engage our colleagues in that process with us. The book - tentatively titled “Inside, Outside, and Online…” (we’re still working on the sub-title) is due for publication in the Fall of 2007.

About the authors…

Chrystie R. Hill is a librarian, writer, and consultant on technology and community building.

Steven M. Cohen is senior librarian at PubSub Concepts, Inc. in New York City, where he works on various projects within their prospective search software. He is the creator of Library Stuff (published by Information Today), a weblog dedicated to keeping current and professional development for librarians, which has been live since August, 2000.

Cover the Uninsured Week 2006. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 348.

John Gehner, Coordinator, of the Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force of the American Library Association, Social Responsibilities Round Table, provides information on activities and events planned nationwide May 1-7 for Cover the Uninsured Week 2006.
More entries on libraries and poor people at the Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force blog.

"Community Building" Column in the journal, Reference and User Services Quarterly. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 346.

The column "Community Building" in Reference and User Services Quarterly will end in summer 2006.

The column began in Fall 2000 with the essay, “Librarians and Comprehensive Community Initiatives.” Reference and User Services Quarterly 40 (Fall 2000): 20-22. The intention was to develop ideas that had been set forth in the book, A Place at the Table, by Kathleen de la Peña McCook (American Library Association, 2000). The columns were also viewed as a print counterpart to the website, A Librarian at Every Table, that was the forerunner of this blog.


The final four community building columns:

2005-2006

45.4 Libraries Rebuilding Community in Louisiana After the Hurricanes of 2005.
Alma Dawson and Kathleen de la Peña McCook.


45.3.Academic Librarians in the Engaged University.
Lynn C. Westney, Guest Columnist.

45.2. Poverty, Poor People, and Our Priorities.
John Gehner , Guest Columnist.

45.1. Human Rights and Librarians.
Katherine J. Phenix, and Kathleen de la Peña McCook.

The Adult Lives of At-Risk Students. A Librarian at Every Table.No. 345.

The Adult Lives of At-Risk Students: The Roles of Attainment and Engagement in High School.
A cross-sectional examination of the differences among successful versus unsuccessful students at-risk of school failure, particularly with respect to participation and engagement in school. The current study is a longitudinal investigation of the power of participating in high school and later educational outcomes. High school noncompleters, with the highest level of academic risk, stood out in each case. In postsecondary education programs, noncompleters earned the fewest credits; the mean number of credits earned by noncompleters who entered a postsecondary program was 17.0, compared to 49.4 credits for marginal completers and 87.8 credits for successful completers.

From the National Center for Education Statistics.

Public Policy in an Older America. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 344.

Public Policy in an Older America, part of The Century Foundation's The Basics series, provides the best available facts, figures, and projections about the coming demographic changes and the major questions they pose for public policy. After examining why and how the U.S. population is aging, this guide to the issues explores how these changes will affect income security and health care policy.

Tent State University. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 343.

Tent State University (TSU) is a national movement that believes education is a right, not a privilege. Hence, TSU opposes tuition hikes, cuts in public funding, and wasteful wars abroad. Tent State creates an educational alternative where students, faculty, staff, and community can come together, work together, learn together, and practice democracy together. TSU challenges the undemocratic decision-making structure of our universities and our society...
Symbolizing that fact the fact that higher education is losing its home in the U.S., TSU creates an opportunity for progressive thought and discourse and it affects college students – endorsing better funding for higher education, and opposing war. TSU involves the creation of a grassroots-based alternative university that embodies the principles of equality and participatory democracy while serving as an organizing center for students. Members of Tent State Universities demand full and restored support of public higher education and a re-evaluation of our state and national spending priorities.

Workers Memorial Day. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 342.

Decades of struggle by workers and their unions have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions. But the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous. Each year more than 56,000 workers die from job injuries and illnesses and another 6 million are injured. The unions of the AFL-CIO remember these workers on April 28, Workers Memorial Day.

Get the report (pdf): Death on the Job

Get the flyer in Spanish and in English

Responsible Wealth. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 341.

Responsible Wealth is a national network of businesspeople, investors and affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic inequality and are working for widespread prosperity.

Responsible Tax Pledge.

United for a Fair Economy is a national, independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. UFE raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. We support and help build social movements for greater equality.

Plant a Row for the Hungry. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 340.

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Plant a Row for the Hungry

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in ten households in the United States experiences hunger or the risk of hunger. Many frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for an entire day. Approximately 25 million people, including 9.9 million children, have substandard diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. In the past year, the demand for hunger assistance has increased by 40%, and research shows that hundreds of hungry children and adults are turned away from food banks each year because of lack of resources. (More hunger statistics.)

The purpose of PAR is to create and sustain a grassroots program whereby garden writers utilize their media position with local newspapers, magazines and radio/TV programs to encourage their readers/listeners to donate their surplus garden produce to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America’s hungry.

PAR’s success hinges on its people-helping-people approach. The concept is simple. There are over 70 million gardeners in the U.S. alone, many of which plant vegetables and harvest more than they can consume. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food banks and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger. Food agencies will have access to fresh produce, funds earmarked for produce can be redirected to other needed items and the hungry of America will have more and better food than is presently available.

PAR’s role is to provide focus, direction and support to volunteer committees who execute the programs at the local level. We help gather the human resources necessary to form a nucleus for a local committee. Then we provide training and direction to enable the committee to reach out into the community. Finally, we assist in coordinating the local food collection systems and monitor the volume of donations being conveyed to the soup kitchens and food banks. PAR is proving that every individual can make a difference in his/her community. (Last year, PAR had over 600 volunteer committees with an average of 45 people involved in each program totaling 27,000 volunteers!)

PAR began in Anchorage, AK, in the garden column of Jeff Lowenfels, former Garden Writers Association president, when he asked gardeners to plant a row of vegetables for Bean’s Cafe, an Anchorage soup kitchen. Since then, PAR has grown exponentially through continued media support, individual and company sponsorship, and volunteerism.

It took the first five years to reach the major milestone of a cumulative total of one million pounds of donated produce. In the next two years, a million pounds of food was donated each year. This is a significant contribution considering that each pound of food makes four meals. Last year, more than 1.3 million pounds of produce were donated generating meals for over 5.5 million needy recipients. All this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape — just people helping people. PAR’s current goal is to make more than 8 million pounds of produce available to food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations by our tenth anniversary in 2004.

[Thanks to NEG for the idea].

The National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 339

April 10 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 2 million people may rally across the U.S. today against an immigration reform bill passed by the House of Representatives that would tighten the borders and impose stiffer penalties on illegal immigrants.

More than 300,000 gathered yesterday in Dallas in the first of the demonstrations organized by the nation's Hispanic community. Today, `The National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice' will feature 136 rallies from New York to California.

USAToday reports: As many as 1 million people will join protests today in more than 100 cities across the USA in an attempt to pressure Congress to approve legislation that would offer citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.

Rallies were planned in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston and elsewhere. The Immigrant Solidarity Network, one of many organizing groups, called the marches "historic."

"We think this is the largest mobilization on the issue of immigration reform ever," said Avril Smith, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, which helped organize a march in Washington.

Chicago Stories of Community Building. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 338.

The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building . Better Neighborhoods are Built When Libraries Step Out of Bounds: Report released at Partners for Successful Cities Conference says libraries are working outside the walls for stronger, safer communities.

Urban Libraries Council

--
seen on
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week
Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2006.

EL GRAN PARO AMERICANO 2006: THE GREAT AMERICAN BOYCOTT: A Librarian at Every Table. No. 337.

MAY 1, 2006: CALL TO ACTION!

"EL GRAN PARO AMERICANO 2006" "THE GREAT AMERICAN BOYCOTT
2006"

"Un dia sin immigrante" "A day without an immigrant"

Nationwide Immigrant General Strike

Immigrants contribute 7 billion in social security per year. they
earn 240 billion, report 90 billion, and only are reimbursed 5
billion, "where are the 85 billion?" They also contribute to the U.S.
economy 25 billion more than they receive in healthcare, etc., etc.,
etc.
According
to the anti-immigrant politicians and hatemongers, "immigrants are a
drain on society." If this is true, then during the day on May 1st
the stock market will surge, and the economy will boom. If not, we
prove them wrong once and for all. We know what will happen!

Therefore, the "March 25th Coalition against HR4437 in Los Angeles,"
the organizers of the mega march of almost 2 million on March 25th,
has called for an emergency videoconferenced meeting on April 8th
between Los Angeles and any city that wishes to join the efforts
toward "El Gran Paro Americano 2006." The following meeting will take
place in Chicago on April 22nd, we ask that all that wish to
participate and be a part of a national effort on May 1st and
beyond, to attend by finding facilities in your areas that can hold
the meeting, technologically.

The points of unity are: No Work, No School, No Sales, and No Buying,
and also to have rallies around symbols of economic trade in your
areas (stock exchanges, anti-immigrant corporations, etc.).

Cities across the United States have marched during the week,
therefore, in essence observing a regional boycott, which is only
felt regionally. The March 25th Coalition against HR4437, calls for
these regions to develop a national network that will "connect the
dots." We believe with numbers we have power, the power currently
necessary to keep the pressure on the White House to propose
provisions that are just and fair for all immigrants.

We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the
millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe
that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will
only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border
in terms of deaths and family separation.

More details to come... Keep your eye on http://www.nohr4437.org/
and or write to granmarcha2006@hotmail.com

and any tax deductible donations should be made to:

La Hermandand
Mexicana, 7915 Van Nuys Blvd. Panorama City, CA 91402.

Please organize your areas, and join this monumental event that will
put our mark on U.S. history.

http://www.nohr4437.org/

Immigration Reform- National Day of Action-April 10, 2006. A Librarian at Every Table. No. 336.

On April 10, 2006, immigrants and their allies are continuing historic mobilizations in Washington, DC and multiple cities to oppose the harsh and unworkable HR 4437 and demand real immigration reform that is comprehensive, respects civil rights, reunites families, protects workers, and offers a path to citizenship for the current undocumented and future immigrants to the US.
The New American Opportunity Campaign lists events across the U.S.

The current immigration system coupled with the Bush administration’s failure to enforce labor laws undermines labor standards for all workers in the United States.