Researching Book Challenges
Studying library values and best practices to respond to book challenges was a valuable research project this semester
Access, Accessibility, & Edgar Allan Poe
I recently celebrated the end of the summer with a somewhat impulsive trip to Providence, Rhode Island. As a native Coloradan, my landlocked background thoroughly equipped me to enjoy the […]
Review – The Disorientation Guide to Librarianship
My very first week of library school, my assigned reading for my intro class – LIS 601: Information Contexts and Perspectives – was “Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We […]
Tools for Community Advocacy
I must confess, despite being an online student, to being slightly less than tech-oriented by nature. So, of all the courses required for my MLIS, the “Advanced Technology” requirement is […]
Library Cards for Library Students
September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month. While it seems like a no-brainer that library students should get library cards and take advantage of public library resources, I thought I’d […]
Hack Your Worldview: How to Build a Diverse Network of Allies and Mentors
As future information science professionals, each of us has a responsibility to promote diversity in our profession, the collections we manage, and the services we offer our patrons. This notion […]
Parting Thoughts (and My Farewell)
It’s crazy to think that I’m finally writing my farewell post. It’s even crazier to think that I’ve written over two dozen posts for Hack Library School because I applied […]
Make 2021 the Year You Take Action
Friends, there’s a lot of work to be done in the field of librarianship, and in the world at large. Too many of us are squatting in our bunkers, watching […]
Passivity in Library School
Midway through my first quarter in library school, I sat in class with twenty or so of my classmates and potential future colleagues as they conducted a lively conversation about […]
10 Things Librarian Allies Can Do
According to a 2010 ALA diversity study, 88% of librarians are white [1]. This is a huge problem in its own right, but guess what? 88% of us have an […]
On Pride, Plagues, and Black Lives Matter – The Life and Death of the Right to Information
scottmontreal. (2012, July 24). AIDS Activists protest private prison Wells Fargo [Digital image]. Retrieved June 07, 2020, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottmontreal/7654400724 If one does not learn from history, one is doomed to […]
Library Unions Were Not Built in a Day
Fourandsixty. (2015). [International Labour Day Edit-a-Thon, University of Maryland Hornbake Library] [Photograph]. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/DC/UMDLabor Next week will be the first time I will not be working, in school, or both […]
Serving the Public When the Building’s Closed
This past Friday, I was leading a session on Empathy-Driven Customer Service with approximately 20 public library staff members in my county. It had been an interesting day already: I […]
The Good, the Bad, and the Other: The Library Community vs the Communal Library
Photo courtesy of Stones15woon Over the past few weeks, I have had several opportunities to consider the confluence of library institutions and neuroatypicality.
Intellectual Freedom in the News: Net Neutrality Rollbacks & Banned Words
“Diversity. Entitlement. Evidence-Based. Fetus. Science-Based. Transgender. Vulnerable.” Over the weekend, reports have been rolling in about a list of words that the Trump administration wanted removed and banned from official […]
It’s Not Shelved In the 420s: Legalized Marijuana and Other Intellectual Freedom Concerns
I’m lucky enough to live in Colorado – an absolutely beautiful state that boasts mountains and prairies, great educational opportunities, and an awesome community of library professionals. It’s also one […]
What’s Mine is Yours: A Love Letter to Interlibrary Loan
When I started working in interlibrary loan two years ago, my experience with the system was limited to getting one book on vintage hairstyles through my public library and frantically […]
Changing Tides? Diversity and Inclusion in the Society of American Archivists
We live in interesting times to be an information professional. Among archives and allied professions (cultural heritage institutions, libraries), more professional organizations are recognizing the value of and urgent need […]
Self-Advocacy in the LIS World
For many people, self-advocacy is tough. Period. But, it’s especially tough when you’re part of a profession in which budgets are often tight, roles are hierarchical, and barriers can feel […]
Getting involved outside of school
Now that I’ve finished my first year of library school at the Catholic University of America in D.C., and after reading excellent posts from Desiree on Personal and Professional Development […]
Grounding Academic Librarianship and Elitism
Less than four months into my MLIS, I have already become immersed in the library world within academia. Not only do I wish to be an academic librarian after I […]
Unencrypted: Why you should care about Apple vs FBI
The standoff between the US District Court of California and Tim Cook of Apple Inc. should concern everyone who works in our industry.
HLS Holiday Gift Guide 2015
We haven’t featured a librarian gift guide since 2013, so I figured it was high time to give some updated ideas for great gifts for your friends, coworkers, and of […]
Do we really need to worry about the future?
It sometimes feel like the debate over the future of libraries and librarians will never go away. Recently, volunteer-run / community led libraries in the UK have become quite an […]
Handicap “Hack”-cessible: Disability Services and the Library Student
Raise your hand if you have a disability. While I can’t actually take a count, I can guess that at least 8% of you should have responded in the affirmative. […]
Curating a Twitter Presence as a Library Student
I have to admit that I didn’t “get” “twitter” “before” I was in library school. I may not “get” it. I had an account before I applied and it has […]
Interview with Alison Macrina (@flexlibris)
As we enter the “information sciences,” LIS students cannot help but be on the front lines of recent important debates in digital privacy. While digital privacy issues have simmered below […]
Reaching out to politicians about LIS issues
I’m sure many of you saw the distressing news last week: the budget resolution for 2016 released by the U.S. House Budget Committee and then passed by the House of […]
Becoming Your Own Personal Advocate
How many of you have had family members, friends, acquaintances, strangers, etc. ask you why you are in library school or give you a quizzical look and say something along […]
Cuts to Higher Education: Consequences for Libraries and Future Librarians
Today I’m going to scale back a little bit to talk about graduate school more generally, and some events that have been affecting my own university in particular. These last few weeks have been tough for my school, UW-Milwaukee, as the governor of Wisconsin has announced that his proposed budget […]
HLS Weekly Roundup
Editor’s Note: Each week, we reflect on the top articles, blog posts, tweets, news, thoughts, and other tidbits we’ve found interesting or useful . Enjoy! Julia My dissertation work has me thinking a lot about scholarly communications, and particularly venues for sharing my work. I got an email recently from a […]
Introducing the New hacklibraryschool.com: A Love Letter to Our Readers
Dear hackers, Well, we did a little spring cleaning, and we are delighted to welcome you to the new and improved hacklibraryschool.com! Since the Fall of 2010, Hack Library School has grown by leaps and bounds, from Google doc to wiki to the rotating cast of bloggers you all know and […]
Librarians I Most Admire
Mentors come in all shapes and sizes. Some come to us through formal mentorship programs, others come to us from our workplaces or personal lives, and still others come to us through social media. But sometimes finding the right fit is a bit of a struggle. Differences in geography, culture, or […]
Defending your chosen profession to friends, family, and complete strangers
Today’s post was supposed to be a fluffy list of librarian-centric movies you could work into a nice Netflix binge on your last weekend or two before the spring semester starts up. I had actually started to compile a nice little list for you. But then Saturday night I stumbled […]
The (Other) Digital Divide
When people discuss the digital divide, they are usually talking about how race and class differences contribute to one’s ability to access and use computers and the Internet. But in my opinion, there is another digital divide among professionals, one that separates those who make their living creating technologies and […]
Do What Makes You Mad
In the library world, enthusiasm is not in short supply. I’d even go so far as to say that being excited about things is quickly becoming part of the new librarian stereotype, along with being 25, tattooed, pink-haired, and on a skateboard. Think about it—an abundance of library websites, blogs, […]
Questionable Promotion/Advocacy
I recently received an ALA Store catalog in the mail and was happily flipping through the pages, considering whether or not I should order my own supply of Love My Library buttons, when I stumbled across this t-shirt: It has pictures of endangered animals (a giant panda, a mountain gorilla, a […]
Getting Political
I’m always on the lookout for articles, blog posts, and anything else with some variant of “things they don’t teach in library school,” as I’m sure many of you are […]
Introducing EveryLibrary!
Recently, library-land has been buzzing about the soft launch of EveryLibrary, a non-partisan , national organization dedicated to helping libraries at the ballot box. As we move towards election time, I’m sure we’re all reading about what measures and initiatives we’ll be voting for and against (because we’re all responsible […]
HackLibSchool on Occupy Wall Street: Part II
A few weeks ago we wrote about how libraries fit into the Occupy Wall Street movement. In the comments there was a discussion of emergency plans so I wanted to write a bit of an update on what has happened with the Audre Lorde to Howard Zinn (A-Z) Library at Occupy […]
HackLibSchool on Occupy Wall Street: How Do Libraries Fit In?
“I learned that the most important thing about teaching is not what you do in the classroom but what you do outside the classroom. You go outside the classroom yourself, bring your students outside, or have them bring you outside the classroom, because very often they do it first and […]
Banned Books Week: A Discussion on Intellectual Freedom for Kids
In honor of Banned and Challenged Books Week, Britt and Rebecca want to discuss the assumptions, implications, and consequences of challenging and banning books in public and school libraries, particularly for youth. We think that library school is the best time to explore these topics so you can develop intellectual […]
The Elevator Speech
As soon as you start library school (or maybe before) people will ask you— “Why?” Besides asking why you specifically are going to grad school to get your MLS they will ask questions like: “Why does a librarian need a master’s degree to check out books to people?” or “Why […]
Ethics in LIS
I work as an intern for a youth program in a public library. Most of my time is spent planning or implementing programs or leading book clubs, but every once in a while I encounter a parent with questions about books or technology issues for his or her teen. A […]
The Uni Project
Today’s guest post is brought to us by Chelsea Gunn, who is about to start her final year of the Simmons College GSLIS program, with a concentration is archives. She got involved with the Uni Project (which you can follow on twitter: @findtheuni) through her work with Street Lab. The […]
Transition: Student to Professional
About a month ago I wrote a post titled: Some thoughts from a #n00brarian. The day that post went live, I was offered the position at my dream job as the Library Director of Muir Library in Winnebago, Minnesota. Unfortunately, I couldn’t announce it because it had to be approved […]
LIS Education, Advocacy, and the Future of Librarianship
Note: I posted this a bit ago on my blog, but since it has a lot to do with how we approach LIS education as students and new professionals, I […]
[Series] TMI #6 – Editorial Edition
Welcome to TMI Week! We are taking a break from blogging to dedicate some brain-time to our coursework, and so we thought we’d beef up our Two Minute Insight shortcast series. Over the next 5 days stop back by to hear some brief thoughts on a variety of topics related […]
Advocacy in Library School
Dictionary.com defines advocacy as “the act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending; active espousal.” I know I heard and used this term before I began library school but I honestly think my awareness of it has increased tenfold in the last two years of my program.
Speak up! Advocating for the UW iSchool
For those of you who don’t know, I attend the Information School (iSchool) at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. And while I, like most students, have had both positive and negative experiences in my education (you have or can read about them here or on my blog), I […]
Theory Vs. Practice: Separating What’s Important
Please welcome our first guest Hacker, Lauren Gibaldi! Lauren Gibaldi is in her second to last semester at Florida State University’s School of Library and Information Sciences. She’s aiming to become a youth services librarian within a public library, and hopes to create information literacy programs for kids and young […]
Save Our Librar*
{This is from a post on my personal blog but felt that it may apply here as well. A small disclaimer – I’m now actually working in a corporate library despite my hopes of working a public one. However, I believe that the involvement and advocacy that I discuss really […]
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