Dear Frank

This is an open letter to the CEO of Library Systems & Services regarding his flagrantly disrespectful statement about library employees.  I was turned onto this story by the wonderful people over at Unshelved who do a great job helping the rest of us keep up on library issues and humor.


Mr. Pezzanite,

I am about to graduate from the University of Washington MLIS program and will be working as a professional librarian very soon.  I have also worked in libraries most of my working life.  I have never worked in a library that was not understaffed and overworked with the many services that we provided to our local communities.

After reading about your company in the New York Times article "Anger as a Private Company Takes Over Libraries" I found myself very disquieted.  I was appalled by this quote in particular:

"A lot of libraries are atrocious," Mr. Pezzanite said. “Their policies are all about job security. That’s why the profession is nervous about us. You can go to a library for 35 years and never have to do anything and then have your retirement. We’re not running our company that way. You come to us, you’re going to have to work.”

Your assertion that public library employees don't work hard to give the best service possible just dosen't coincide with any of my personal experience or that of other librarians I have spoken with.  Statements of this sort degrade my work environment by continuing the myth that private industry can always do things more efficiently than government and by encouraging the communities I serve to expect more than I and my staff can possibly give of our time, energy and low salary.  All the librarians I know do the work for the love of it not for the pay check or some cushy job with a pension.  We often demand certain benefits in exchange for our hard work and taking the lowest pay of any master's degree field. But we are NOT lazy nor do we expect to simply show up for 35 years to hang out in a library and get a nice pension out of it.

You are sadly misinformed and I hope that your staff (who I am sure work quite hard) let you know just how repugnant such statements are.

Sincerely,

Tiny Feminist in My Head

MLIS Student

New project

I've decided to embark on a new website project: How-to be an Adult in Portland.  This came to me as I prepared to buy a house with my husband and some long time friends.  I discovered that there were many things I knew nothing about and thought a website that aggregated resources would be nice.

This project also gives me the chance to put together a website that I can use for my MLIS Portfolio.  I will aggregate and organize information based on subject, source and economic requirements of the resource (low-income only vs. need substantial income).  I will also link to this blog from the website and hopefully keep information about my progress up to date here.

Here is a diagram of roughly what I'd like to do:

Justice is not Weak

Dear Mark and Billo,

I'm a liberal and I'm not weak.  I will not role over when you bully me, I will not cede my rights to your "morality".  And if you think that aggression will get you your way, then you are sadly mistaken.  I will dig in my heals and fight you.  I will be respectful and diligent and I will leave no stone unturned until your uncivilized behavior wreaks its havoc on your own goals.  You DO NOT hold the moral high ground for you use threat and violence to scare people into doing your will.  You are tyrants and will fall to the greater will when you have bullied too many.  I am a civil servant and I will fight for civil society despite the threats the you muster for I work for the common good and do not care for fame, infamy or ratings.  I am  Librarian, hear me roar!

I recently ran into a podcast from a Wisconsin conservative radio host (Mark Belling) that railed against liberals being weak because they push for due process and restrictions on torture in terrorism cases.  He says that he could shut down the terrorists in Yemen by torturing the information out of Mutallab (the Christmas Day bomber) and others.

Here's the thing -- I'm not weak.  The reason that I don't want my government to torture people is not out of some touchy feely sympathy, it because it DOESN'T WORK.  If we could get good, actionable intelligence that saved lives by doing totally egregious things to people I might consider it an option, but we can't.  What works is skillful interrogations that take into consideration the life experience and cultural background of the person being questioned.

The other major reason that I can't abide torture and other suspension of rights is that an innocent person caught in this has no hope.  The rules are in place because innocence isn't always clear and the innocent should never by unjustly imprisoned or tormented.  I understand that he wants to "save American lives" at any cost, but he has not considered what abridging others' right could mean to his in time.  We are all vulnerable to political whim if we destroy our system of due process and while the conservatives may have been on top for the last decade, this is not a permanent state and they are deluding themselves if they theink they are beyond the reach of wrongful imprisonment and torture.

Unfortunately the same mindset that thinks torture is a good idea also seems to lead to generally aggressive behavior that becomes very evident in customer service situations.  The customer becomes angry, aggressive and belligerent, they give orders without any respect for process.  This attitude generally leads to one outcome: dissatisfaction.  Why? Because no matter how much I want to help my customers and no matter what liberal views I have about people the fastest way to make me clam up and be my most unhelpful is to be mean to me.

Mark and Billo seem to think that aggressive behavior will get them the things they want in life and that the liberals in this country will role over out of fear.  I admit that elected officials do that most of the time when they run up against any resistance, but for the rest of the civil servants, we are sick of bullies and we will not stand for it.

Dear Grandpa,

Thank you for believing.

You looked at your bright and quizzical daughters and and believed that they could do anything. When society wanted nice little cookie cutter women who could bake and sew you said "My daughter can do more". When the schools put your daughter in remedial math you forced them to move her into advanced math because she could do it and you knew it.

You helped to create a generation of women who burned their bras and became Presidential candidates. Despite the prevailing culture, your belief that your daughters were worthy of the world created a generation of strong and confident women.

But you didn't stop there, no, you also taught your sons that their mothers and sisters and daughters were strong and intelligent and ready for the world.

And what came out of your quiet fight to ensure the strength and poise of your children? Me. I was blessed with parents who believed that I could change the world for the better. That I was strong enough and smart enough to take on any prejudice, biggotry or societal norm.

But you are not the beginning of this story because you are the son of the generation that gave women the right to vote in America. You learned from your father that your mother and sisters and daughters are great assets to be cherished. You are the son of a generation that seems in retrospect unimaginably sexist, yet they passed a Constitutional Amendment that brought us one step closer to equality.

You are not a power broker working in the halls of Washington D.C. You are not a high powered executive who can choose to discriminate more or less at a whim. You are the quiet voice of truth and justice that moves our society forward toward a better future for you children and grandchildren. And your contributions will outlast those in "power" because you hold the real power to make the world better. Your are the original "Culture Warrior", working to make your world live up to the principles and ideals that it espouses so that my life can be better and more fulfilled than those that came before.

--The tiny feminist in my head

Passion: Ethics and Politics in 2008

I have had a lot to say in recent days and I love that I have a forum in which to say it.

When I was a kid I thought that politicians could help change the world and was quickly disillusioned with the way they keep doing the same things over and over. But, you see, sometimes things do change and most often for the better. Things change because ordinary people lend their voices to the cause and make things better.

I have reawakened to my political passions for a couple of reasons. First, as I begin to think about the world from a professional perspective I must choose what morals and ethics will guide me. Second, I see a political landscape that both threatens those ethics and insults my dignity as a human being.

Ethics:

I chose to become a librarian long before I ever thought about codes of ethics and professional conduct. When I did start to think about those things I realized that I was drawn to the field because I saw librarians live the ethics codified in the ALA Code of Ethics in a way that I saw few other professionals do. The other thing I discovered is that I agreed with those ethics and I want to see them defended and strengthened. For those who don't know much about librarian ethics or who want to know more take a look at the ALA's Keystone Intellectual Freedom Documents which include our code of ethics and statements on the right to read and other important intellectual freedom issues.

In essence these ethics state that I will protect intellectual freedom and access to information and that I will treat everyone with respect and dignity. I may have political, social, economic and entertainment oppinions but they should not color my interactions more than absolutely necessary. This does not mean that I shouldn't defend my ethics when they come under fire from political fronts, which leads me to my next point:

Ethics Under Fire:

Over the last eight years (though I do not doubt that we had problems earlier) we have seen an assault on the values that form the basis for our society. I'm not talking about marriage rights or equal opportunity or even abortion because, thought these are important issues, they are nothing compared to the dismantling of the Bill of Rights.

The First Amendment to the Constitution is supposed to ensure that the voices of the people have expression so that we can always gather and say to our government through the press, protests and faith that we don't like what they are doing. Further, the Fourth Amendment states that we shall be protected from search and seizure accept under probable cause. Between these two statements we can see there is a long and glorious tradition in the US of telling the government that it has to allow discent and it must make an effort to protect the free flow of information.

So here is what my fellow American Librarians did to uphold these most basic rights. In 2005 the FBI sent National security letters to four Connecticut librarians asking for information (no warrent here) and imposing a blanket gag order that prevented the librarians from even seeking legal council. After a legal battle for the right to state that they had recieved the letters at some point and that the letters asked for some information the John Does won. Here you can read the ruling of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals stating that the gag provision was both unconstitutional in that case and in general.

This is not the only case in which librarians have been asked to break their ethics or even the law in the name of getting the bad guys, but this case got national media attention and so makes a great example.

Passion:

So here I am, just one person in a sea of 300 million. What can I do? Well, I'm not religious, but the Serenity Prayer comes to mind in this situation. I may not be able to change the world with just my voice but I can stand up for the fundamental principles of justice and personal freedom that this country was founded on. And, even when there are those who question my patriotism for doing so, I can try to make my country live up to its promises and ideals.

I am librarian, hear me roar!

Dear John,

What were you thinking?

Do you really think that all women care about is having a woman President or VP? Do you really think that people voted for Hillary because she had two x chromosomes? And on the other side, do you think that conservatives care how pro-life your VP is if she has no foreign policy experience and seems more interested in routing their power structures than in maintaining the status quo?

You're a maverick, all right, and I mean that in the worst possible way. Let's go through the reasons that this choice is crazy and ill-advised.

1. You're old (I'm sorry, but that does matter in a position like the leader of a country) and while you are cancer free now, there is no guarantee that you will stay that way. It's great that you made sure your veep is young enough to be a pretty sure backup, but I question the wisdom of picking someone who is going to have to do so much on the job training.
2. This choice seems to be pandering to a group who only hate one thing more than losing - being patronized. Hillary voters liked her because she is a great woman leader with a vision for the health and security of ALL Americans not just the chosen few. You chose a woman who disagrees with Hillary on every issue, especially when it comes to a woman's control over her body and her future.
3. The power structure that your policies support does not like change or challenge and the American people can now see through your cheap tricks. By this I mean that either you loose the support of lobbyists and power brokers who rely on your policies to strengthen the top 5% of the population or you loose the voters because we see that you won't actually bring change. So, which is it going to be, throw out the old including antiquated ideas of "trickle down economics" which have done nothing but harm the American middle class? Or, renew your commitment to the corrupt power brokers you sold your soul to in order to get the nomination this year? I think we all know the answer to that question.

Ok, so maybe I'm not your ideal constituent, but here's the thing: I WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR YOU IN 2000. Back then you had some amount of integrity, you called the far religious right "agents of intolerance" and you were right. You called for campaign finance reform and partnered with Democrats to do it. You were by far the lesser of all the evils up for office. But you sold out, you lost any support you had from the young generation that is sick of politicians who think that sending our friends, brothers and sisters to war for no good reason is ok. We are sick of policies that leave us (and our children, even though we don't have children yet) in debt and we are sick of being patronized by politicians who think chromosomes are more important than policies.

So, John McCain, if you thought you could win over voters with another cheap trick, be warned we are wise to you and we know that "Maverick" really means unpredictable, unreliable and not able to lead us into a better future.

-- The tiny feminist in my head

Dear Hillary,

Where were you for the last 19 months?

I'm a twenty-something women in the middle of a master's program. I am middle class and come from middle America. In other words I am your best hope for support. I have the energy and drive to help you win if only you can inspire me to do it.

Last year I heard your announcement that you would run for president and two things happened. First, I heard your husband introduce you and I thought "Wow, I really want Hillary to be president. I will totally work to help her do that. I have always dreamed of having a woman lead our country and finally break the last barriers of sexism that exist in our society." Second, I heard you speak. I was was not thrilled, in fact I was totally turned off to you. I thought, "This woman is the least charismatic politician I have ever heard. I can't believe anyone ever voted for her and I'm ashamed that she is the first viable female candidate for president."

So, I voted for Obama in the primary, I worked to convince my friends and family that he was a far superior candidate than you. I was convinced that you couldn't win, not because of your policies or voting record and not because you were a woman. No, it was because I found you anti-charismatic and I feared that you would tarnish both the Democratic Party and feminism.

I was annoyed with you as you dragged out the primary season, refusing to concede. I thought you were trying to cheat your way into the nomination with your push for seating both Florida and Michigan despite their disregard for the rules.

Throughout this year my inner feminist became small and would no longer voice her former conviction and strength. The voice that my parents instilled in me to tell me that a woman can do anything no matter what became silent in the face of your utter failure to inspire any hope for women in politics. I feared that your failure would mean many more years before women would again try for such leadership roles.

Fast forward to August 26, 2008, your speech at the Democratic National Convention. On the anniversary of the dream of women's suffrage in the US becoming a reality you spoke and for the first time I was excited. I listened to you and I wanted to vote for you. I knew you could beat any oppenent and I wanted you to do it. I no longer felt that you were some strange automaton with only a steel heart and inorganic features. You were a person, real and inspiring and I wanted you to be president.

So now I have to ask, if you were there this whole time why did it take giving up to bring you out? Did you think that we were so scared of a woman president that you couldn't be a woman, let alone human? I'm sorry that we, the people of this fine nation couldn't show you that what we want is not strength over humanity, but true and honest attempts to lead us to a better future.

I hope you get another chance and I hope that you and others like you can remain true and honest to your humanity so that some day soon all glass ceilings will be crushed and cleanse our land with renewed dreams and satisfied hopes.

-- The tiny feminist in my head