IMPORTANT: If you haven't received an email with registration info by 9:45 AM EDT on Sunday, May 3, please check your spam folder. If you still don't see it, please contact us via the link at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

#LIBREV(olution) is a free day-long web conference for library workers, around the theme of COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE & COMMUNAL RESILIENCE.

We believe it's important to confront the concept of resilience in libraries and archives, which has often been used as a way to encourage workers to do more labor with less support and resources. It's time to reject that narrative and start working together to boldly tackle the threats and opportunities that await us as a field in a transformed world.

An email with instructions and a link for joining the conference will be sent out 24 hours before the event begins.

++++++++++++++++

Please note that all times listed are EST.

9:30-10 AM: Welcome from the Conference Organizers

10-11 AM: Library Responses to COVID-19: Impacts on Ongoing Low-Morale Experiences Kaetrena Davis Kendrick (she/her/hers), Researcher, Facilitator, Leader

This presentation will quickly review low morale development (repeated, protracted exposure to emotional, written/verbal, or systemic abuse or neglect in the workplace - Kendrick, 2017), focusing on Impact Factors and Enabling Systems. This context will help illuminate results of a real-time survey tracking how library responses to COVID-19 impact library employees who are dealing with ongoing abuse/neglect. The presentation will also offer opportunities to share countermeasures for COVID-19 based instances of abuse or neglect as they may manifest during continuing on-site work and/or during pivots to remote work environments.

11:10 AM - 12:10 PM: The Healing Library: Nontraditional Lending Resources Megan Schadlich (she/her/they), The Healing Library, Signal Mountain, TN

This talk will review what The Healing Library is: kits to assist families who have experienced trauma. We'll go over kit topics, kit contents, and how to download the materials for free, purchase, or locate helpful grant language. We'll also go over common troubleshooting and have time for questions.

12:15 - 1 2:45 PM: Understanding Political Power and Influence Patrick Sweeney (he/him/his), Political Director, EveryLibrary

Over 98% of library funding is political in nature. 90% comes from the will of local voters and politicians, 3-5% comes from state legislators, and 3-5% comes from federal legislators. In the last 10 years, we've lost almost 20% of voter support for libraries putting our funding at risk, therefore risking our ability to continue to serve our communities. In order to ensure we have continued funding, we need to understand political power and influence. In this talk, we'll explore the data behind library support and we'll explore ways to rebuild political power and influence that allows us to secure the funding we need to serve our communities.

12:45 - 1 PM: Break

1-2 PM: Moving Toward Transformative Librarianship: Naming and Identifying Epistemic Supremacy Myrna Morales (she/her/hers), Massachusetts Coalition of Domestic Workers and Stacie Williams (she/her/hers), Director of the Center for Digital Scholarship, University of Chicago Libraries

This presentation defines the concept of Epistemic Supremacy as information created by the ruling class to sustain white supremacy, racial capitalism and heteropatriarchy; and further offers a praxis (Transformative Librarianship) with examples, that relies on the ways of knowing and survival of working class and low-income communities of color combined with critical race theory in order to identify or subvert Epistemic Supremacy within the library profession.

2:10-2:40 PM: Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Student Loan Debt Survival Toolkit Matt Amory (he/him/his), Canton Public Library, MA

Student loan debt is a crushing burden for many of us. Income-driven repayment plans can lower payments in the near term, and librarians and other public service workers can have all of their debt completely forgiven after 120 monthly payments under Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If you qualify, this is an excellent program!

2:50-3:20 PM: Licenses and Access Models and Enrollments! Oh My! An Intro to Using Library Resources in Online Courses Anaya Jones (she/her/hers) and Trisha Prevett (she/her/hers), Southern New Hampshire University

Are faculty at your institution venturing into online teaching? Have you ever wondered if your library collections could be leveraged for use in courses? Join Anaya and Trisha for an introductory discussion of things to consider when you or your faculty use digital library resources in online classrooms.

Schools who leverage library and open educational resources can drastically reduce costs for their students, making it easier for students to stay enrolled and do well in their courses. However, both library and open educational resources are far from free. The decision to include these resources in courses should be made with a thoughtful analysis of licenses, access models, and an institution’s size and culture. This session will discuss the issues surrounding sourcing library resources. We will explore licenses, access models, enrollment, and how they affect which sources are reasonable to include in online courses. Attendees will leave with a customizable worksheet.

3:30-4:00 PM: The Library Commons: An Imagination and an Invocation Jennie Rose Halperin (she/her/hers), Harvard Law Library

Commons can take many forms, like gardens and cooperatives, but also neighborhood associations, consensus based community organizations, and more. In libraries, they may take the form of community cataloging projects, civic engagement projects in conversation with artists, community archives, or open and direct dialogue on topics that concern the community. Commons can be ephemeral or permanent, a long term project or a moment of transcendence.

As professionals concerned with the free and open dissemination of knowledge, librarians could represent the commons in their communities, but more often than not fall into the neoliberal paradigm of the managerial business class and free-market values. This talk will introduce librarians to modern commons theory and present alternatives, from Undercommons to worker power to decolonization, and outline alternative paths of resistance for knowledge workers striving to envision the world as it could be, not as it is.

++++++++++++++++

emaila.We're excited you're thinking about joining us on May 4. If you have questions in the meantime, please email callan.bignoli@gmail.com.

#LIBREV(olution): Free Library Web Conference