Just a little reminder (and in case you missed this in July)
Former President of the United States Barack Obama published an open letter on Monday, extending his support to America’s librarians in an era of rising book challenges and growing personal attacks against those who resist them.
In his letter, President Obama underscores the importance of communities being able to have access to information via libraries and expresses his and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s gratitude to librarians for their “unwavering commitment to the freedom to read.”
To the dedicated and hardworking librarians of America:
In any democracy, the free exchange of ideas is an important part of making sure that citizens are informed, engaged and feel like their perspectives matter.
We are testing a new product called LibGuides. The Massachuestts Library System Professional Collection and the Policy Collection use LibGuides, and it is popular at colleges and universities. LibGuides can be for internal use (intranet how to guides) and/or for creating pathfinders, booklist, and other guides for public use.
Interested in testing out this product? We are in search of a few curious minds who would like to learn about LibGuides and take a crack at creating a few sample guides. Please contact Amy if you are interested in learning more.
Please note RPL’s current Patron Rights & Responsibilities policy says that patrons are to refrain from “Bringing in animals or pets except for properly leashed and trained service animals.” The section aims to ensure the access, public health, and safety of those visiting the library – those requiring service animals and those not.
If a situation escalates to cause concerns about access, public health, or safety, please remind the patron of this policy. Also, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division,
Q. What questions can a covered entity’s employees ask to determine if a dog is a service animal?
A. In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.
Are you ready for some shout-outs? If you’d like to submit a shout-out, fill out the form on the Forms page. Don’t be shy! Shout it out!
Shout out to Meaghan Clemente for going above and beyond, and helping a co-worker. Meaghan cheerfully wears many hats and covers many public service desks! Thanks for being our back-up!! From Cate.
Shout out to Olivia and Cate. for going above and beyond. Cate and Olivia refreshed our Pride Sidewalk – hard work, positive attitude, and it looks so great! From anonymous.
A huge, ginormous, humongous, gigantor thank you to the Borrower Services team for making the first two weeks of summer easier for us in Children’s. They took on user account issues, sign-ups, and check-ins. We were slammed with people the first week, and it was really nice to have people utilize the smart and capable BS department since they know their way around user accounts much more accurately than we do! Thank you all for your patience, time, and courtesy for doing that even when I know you are all just as busy. You’re the best! From Olivia.
Shout out to Dina for going above and beyond and exemplary customer service. Dina’s first Summer Reading has been quite eventful, and she’s handled it with grace and the utmost empathy! She’s amazing with caregivers and calming down situations at the moment. Shout out to her for telling an adult to take a minute to breathe and remind them that the summer reading program is supposed to be fun and most importantly, optional.! From Olivia.
Shout out to Andrea Hogan for going above and beyond, coming up with a new idea, leading by example, and keeping it positive. Love to see the flourishing pollinator garden carefully tended by Andrea Hogan. Andrea is walking the talk supporting native plants and the larger goal of sustainability. Way to go! Anonymous.
Shout out to Cate for going above and beyond and coming up with a new idea. Cate has been amazing this summer at making sure kids know to take their time with reading and doing the program; her patience, calm under pressure, and ability to move in and out of the hoards of kids and caregivers are unmatched. Running a program while a child is having a meltdown and taking the focus away from the room is not an easy task, but she did it flawlessly. We are very lucky to have her, and I am thankful for all that she does! From Olivia.
Some files in the Administrative folder on the S drive are moving to the more secure town drive. If there is a file that you had previously used and it appears to be missing or in a folder labeled “delete”, let Meaghan C. know right away.
This is the start of a bigger project that may begin in the next 6 months. Questions? Ask Amy, Michelle, or Meaghan C.
RPL employees recognize communications are always a challenge. How can we help over 35 employees keep current on what’s happening and maintain a positive learning curve across three floors, four service desks, and 60-64 hours per week? There is no single answer, but centralized content is one way to help capture and coalesce all this knowledge and experience!
Please report to Amy and Michelle if you see a rat/mouse or any unwanted critters anywhere in or on the Library property. The Town contracts with a pest control company that maintains the rodent black boxes around the perimeter of the building and will also deal with insects, etc.
Never Too Young: Why Kids Deserve Queer Friendly Libraries
by Ashlie Swicker
Book Riot, Jun 30, 2023
“I worked with young children long before my first year teaching in 2007. I have three degrees that qualify me to educate kids. Interacting with young people has been my greatest skill for as long as I’ve been a person. My biggest takeaway over the last, oh, 30 years? Kids will never fail to surprise me. It’s been proven to me over and over that kids know more, feel more, and deserve more than adults ever give them credit for.
My latest lesson in this has been around the palpable relief felt by my elementary students when I worked to make my school library more queer-friendly. This process included no fanfare. I had already been adding picture books that challenged gender norms and middle grade titles with queer characters and storylines for as long as I had been developing the collection. But as I was working to add racial and physical diversity into my library posters and signage, I knew I wanted to branch out to make sure everyone felt welcome.
The first noticeable shift was when I decorated my door with a “This Classroom is for Everyone” sticker from the Etsy artist MegEmikoArt. The sticker is decorated with pride flags and my students buzzed as they came into Media. Soon after, I bought the “Libraries are for everyone” shirt in the same design by the same artist. A 5th grader who didn’t usually stop to chat pointed to one of the flags on my shirt, grinned, and said “That one’s me.” I was wonderfully, pleasantly floored.
I thought I was adding more queer flags, using gender-neutral terms, and featuring books with queer characters to help them prepare for the real world. I thought my students should be exposed to these things in case they met queer people or to make them more comfortable with queer family structures. This was a condescending way for me to think about my students. Thank god the kids are smarter than me.
What actually happened was that my students thanked me. There was gratitude, excitement, and relief. My students already knew how to identify more specific pride flags than I did. They already knew that gender and sexuality are spectrums and each person knows what feels right to them. I had students with whom I had no previous relationship sharing their pronouns. Our STEM building materials were used to build and label different pride flags. Requests were made for the LGBTQ book section; the books had always been there. The kids just needed affirmation that it was safe to ask for them. My students did not need exposure. They needed a safe space.
I was well aware that students in high school and even middle school needed queer-friendly libraries. Despite considering myself an ally and believing that I was doing everything I could at my grade level, I was showing a lack of respect for my students by thinking I needed to introduce them to queer-friendly ideas. If I can understand that a 10-year-old cisgender child can understand heterosexual romance (featured in almost every title ever), why does it surprise me that queer kids are looking for the same kinds of representation? Most importantly, how did I let myself forget the power and agency that young people have when they are given the space to be comfortable with who they are?
In a climate where adults are constantly clashing over what kids should be taught, it’s important to remember that children are vastly more aware and in touch with themselves than we give them credit for. I’m grateful to my amazing students for reminding me that beyond teaching them, my first job is to give them a safe space to explore all the amazingness they already possess.”
We hosted a huge Summer Sizzler party Friday night! We had 125 very happy people. We could not have pulled this off without every department helping out. Lynda was brilliant with set up and break down. She is the best of the best. Book reviewing speed talkers Alissa, Andrea H., Dawn, Desiree, Susanne, and guest star Liz Whitelam were the stars of the show along with M.C. Elizabeth! Michelle helped us get the sound system up and running. The Friends got to shine; showcasing their support of our programs and selling a lot of mocktails.
Kath made fabulous flyers, Overdrive, and catalog booklists. The entire tech services department helped process all the extra Sizzlers I purchased with help from Susan.
The communications queens Desiree and Michelle marketing got patrons to beat the doors down in anticipation. Valerie and the entire B.S. department unpacked bins like the bosses they are. Meaghan C and Jocelyn helped me find and deploy pencils, and finally Jocelyn and Meghan M. helped me get the million books I ordered out for display and safely returned to their home shelves. THANK YOU, thank you, thank you, for all your support and for making this popular event possible.
