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This post is inspired by an article published by Natasha Quindlin, titled “The Mark of a Woman’s Record: Gender and Academic Performance in Hiring.” In her research Quindlin analyzed the outcomes for “high achieving” women and “moderate achieving” women (achievement was measured by GPA). She found that “moderate achieving” women were more likely to be…

Disclaimer: My opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of my employer. I wanted to write about weeding today, inspired by the ALCTS eForum being generously overseen by Alex McCallister and Allan Scherlan of Appalachian State University. Reading responses to their thoughtful prompts on the reasons and approaches to weeding, I realized I…

On January 28th, at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, April Hathcock, an ALA Councilor and library leader, was verbally assaulted during a Council Forum. You can read April’s account here. This incident is egregious but merely indicative of the dominant culture of white supremacy that pervades libraries and library organizations due to the overwhelming whiteness of…

There’s nothing I love in this world like a working meeting, so I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t looking forward to this ALA Midwinter 2019: the Midwinter about Midwinter. The future of ALA’s annual Midwinter Meeting is a topic currently being discussed throughout ALA’s membership and divisions. Diminishing attendance and returns…

Disclaimer: My views are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Library Association or its divisions. This post concerns the proposed ALCTS/LITA/LLAMA merger.  When I started librarying, I got one piece of advice from a trusted mentor. She told me that the best way to network and get my footing…

I found David Bowie at the Valparaiso Public Library in 1993, when I checked out Hunky Dory on LP. A library- I know- my destiny. Listening to “Kooks” for the first time, a song Bowie wrote for his son, Duncan, I promptly accepted Bowie’s invitation to live in his “lovers’ story.” Kooks is a lavishly…

Here’s the thing- I love resolutions. I know they’re not for everyone- I know many find them anxiety-inducing or counterproductive. But it’s me, your eternal optimist, and I am here to say I love starting the year with an agenda. Hell, I love starting the day with the agenda. LISTS. PLEASE. MORE. ALWAYS. I am…

About three years ago, at the Charleston Conference, I was sitting at a vendor dinner eating a steak (as you do). It was delicious- thank you, Gale. An old timer, a librarian from Wyoming, was bemoaning the way Charleston had blown up. It has gotten bigger in recent years by all accounts. Charleston is my…

It was 2010, and I was in library school. At a dinner, a retired librarian told me that getting an MLS was a terrible idea. Jobs were few and far between, and the positions that were available were undesirable. It was scary in there- I should stay away. It was 2012, and I was finishing…

Check out the Storify of our recruiting event here.