For The People Newsletter Vol. XVI
For everyone working to strengthen and expand public libraries
How can it already be June?! We’ve had a lot going on at For The People! Our first cohort is over. The second phase of our data collection project continues. We invite everyone to host a Libraries and Lemonade stand this summer. We’re looking ahead to an event we are hosting in collaboration with Run For Something in August and so much more. Join us in our work!
SAVE THE DATE
On August 1st, we will be hosting a virtual “Libraries 101” event in partnership with Run for Something. Mark your calendar now and stay tuned for more info in our next newsletter.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Please read FTP’s newest publication: “What We Believe”.
As public libraries become increasingly centered in political struggles, we hope to show up to the fight with a thorough analysis of what it is we’re fighting for and what it is we’re fighting against.
Most importantly, we need to ask ourselves, what is our vision for public libraries and what beliefs about public libraries should we center as we work towards that vision? This document helps answer some of these key questions and situates the struggle over public libraries within a larger picture.
It’s Libraries and Lemonade Season!
Show your support for public libraries this summer by sharing the impact they make on your community while serving up some cold lemonade. Libraries and Lemonade is back this year with resources to help you host your own lemonade stand.
With a social media toolkit, materials to have at your stand (including coloring sheets, scavenger hunts, and fact sheets to fill in with information on your library!), and stats on the benefit of public libraries, For the People has all the things you need to make your support of libraries loud.
$50 grants to purchase materials such as lemons, sugar, cups, and more are also available via a form on our website. For questions about running your stand, applying for the grants, or other general ideas and concerns, reach out to libraries.and.lemonade1@gmail.com. When life gives you book bans, let's make lemonade!
ALL CALLS
Data Collection Project: We’re looking for new and returning volunteers to sign up for Phase 02 research (direct outreach to public libraries). Batches are all currently checked out, but they all have an end of June deadline, so you’ll be picking up where other volunteers have left off. You can learn more about this research phase here.
Also, please feel encouraged to let us know if you currently have a batch assigned and can no longer work on it. Reach out with any updates or inquiries at forthepeopledata@gmail.com.
Sign up for For The People’s 2025 candidate cohort! If you’re planning to run for your local library board or seek an appointment, we’re here to help you. The waiting list is open, and we plan to kick off the next cohort in early 2025 (January or February). Fill out the cohort application online here. And congratulations to our 2024 cohort, who are finishing up this week - you are an amazing group of folks who are doing real, on the ground work to make your public libraries and communities better!
Are you a currently serving member of a state library board? If so, we want to know about you and help you work with other leftist state library board members! Please send us an email with your details to get connected.
Are you a serving member of a local public library board who’d like to join our community of leftist trustees and candidates? Send us an email at forthepeoplelibraries@gmail.com and let us know about your board, your library system, and your background!
Have you recently been elected or appointed to your library board? We’re tracking folks who have been inspired by or encouraged by FTP’s work, and if that’s you, please send us an email at forthepeoplelibraries@gmail.com to fill us in (and similarly, let us know if you want to join our candidate and trustee community!).
Here’s a roundup of interesting reading and listening material that we think you’ll appreciate. Sometimes, articles may be paywalled. In other totally unrelated news, sometimes a fun thing to do on the internet is to use tools like Archive.today or the Wayback Machine.
Palestine: A reflection on censorship, intellectual freedom, and disinformation. Start with Soft Targets: Information Professionals Demand Anti-Colonial Praxis around Palestine and then check out the survey response reports (Alia Reza for up//root)
An Idaho Public Library Will Become Adults-Only July 1, 2024 (Kelly Jensen for Book Riot)
Librarians Are Waging a Quiet War Against International “Data Cartels” (Tara García Mathewson for The Markup)
In NYC, budget cuts could trim libraries’ Saturday service, meanwhile NYC Mayor Eric Adams just announced a $225 million Cop City project. (Richard Khavkine for The Chief: A Voice for Workers)
Red states threaten librarians with prison — as blue states work to protect them (Hannah Natanson and Anumita Kaur for Washington Post)
Toolkit to Defend K-12 Educators and Librarians Against False Accusations of Antisemitism (from Nora Lester Murad)
Documentary Film to Spotlight Black Librarianship (Kara Yorio for School Library Journal) Are You a Librarian: The Untold Story of Black Librarians from director Rodney Freeman is slated for release at ALA 2024.
Check out the recordings from the Abolitionist Visions and Intersections Summit hosted by the Social Responsibility Round Table (SRRT)
Library Worker Wins 2024 Pulitzer Prize for “The Diary of a Rikers Island Library Worker” (Medar de la Cruz for The New Yorker)
City Libraries Eliminated Late Fees Three Years Ago — How Has it Gone? (Reuven Blau and Alex Krales for The City)
Opioid Crisis Support Kit for Public Libraries (OCLC and PLA on WebJunction)
Don’t miss the #LibrariesResist Palestine Solidarity resource list
Information Access as a Public Good: Learning from Librarians, Libraries and Library Science (Emily M. Bender for Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000: The Newsletter)
Most positions in 2023 had only one candidate on the ballot, and many had none at all (from BallotReady)
Archives Unbound: 50 Years of Hope, Resistance, and Rebellion. Recordings from the inaugural conference in celebration of the Cedric J. Robinson and Elizabeth P. Robinson Archive.
Uncovering the Cover-up: How Republican Pennridge School Board Directors Secretly Banned Books (from Bucks County Beacon)
Watch Archives & Heritage for Palestine Seminar #1: Dr. Salman Abu Sitta in conversation with Ghada Dimashk, and sign the letter: “A Call to Archive Against Genocide: Archivists and Memory Workers in Solidarity with Palestine and Palestini Colleagues”
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, June 10th - Library workers! Please help provide input (by June 10th) on developing teen anti-book ban programs (from Kelly Jensen).
Saturday, June 15th - No I In Team: A Solidarity Field Day. Join for a field day fundraiser for Liberation Library's Free the Dream$ magazine (in person in Chicago).
Saturday, June 15th - The Schomburg Center Literary Festival. Sojourners for Justice Press has curated a mini Black zine fair which is from 11 to 6 pm.
Monday, June 17th - Documenting Dissent: Capturing Student Protests, Navigating Disinformation, and Ethical Considerations.
Sunday, June 30th - The Nonbinarian Book Bike is hosting “Riis Read-In” Read in community with The Nonbinarian, partnered with Bookworm Reads & The Reading for Black Lives Project in person in New York at The People's Beach at Jacob Riis Park.
Wednesday, July 31st - Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) Afternoon of Social Justice (proposals due by June 9th).
August 1st - How We Work Better Now: a History of Librarian Professionalization. This is a 5 week course from we here starting August 1st and it costs $200.