RCL Blog

“Supercrips” is a term and stereotype that refers to someone who overcomes their disability in a way that is seen as inspiring under the public eye. This person is viewed as a heroic figure and an inspiration for overcoming their “impairment” against all odds. The action of overcoming their “impairment” is often viewed as the person outright rejecting their disability or the complete erasure of the disability through the ownership of superpowers.. 

 Being able to pass important milestones and achievements are thought of as extremely unlikely for those with disabilities. And when they are successful in life, it is typically explained away as this person having an unnatural superhuman strength or ability rather than just being an accomplished human being. There is a belief that people with disabilities must possess some magical powers or an inordinate amount of strength to live a similar life to able-bodied people. Much of this stems from the vast majority of society not being able to imagine living a life that differs from them, and the result of this is that very little is done to cater or adhere to the struggles that others may face when trying to find space and acceptance within societal structures that have not been built with them in mind. Disabilities are conditions that the dominant society has not prepared for and does not want to see. Because of this, social spaces and communities do not have the capacity to include people with disabilities. This lack of thought or care is typically a side effect of the larger issues surrounding the stereotype of “supercrip”. One that leads to the habit of a large portion of our society being overlooked and undermined. The term “supercrip”, serves as a distraction by putting the responsibility of being accepted within dominant society on disabled people rather than the actual societal structures that prevent them from being included due to the lack of accessibility rather than ability..  

Furthermore the belief in this stereotype, subconsciously hints at the idea that disabled people inherently do not belong in these spaces because they themselves cannot access it. These thoughts place blame on those with disabilities and make it their responsibility to be included. Disabilities become something that has to be overcome, as though the disability is the barrier rather than the man-made obstacle or infrastructure that have physically designed these acts of exclusion for this community. What is worse is that stereotypes like “supercrip” create a sentiment that when disabled people do overcome the barriers, this is viewed as an unnatural feat that would take superhuman strength.  

The supercrips stereotype is really a masquerade for ableism, as explained by English professor, disability rights advocate, and author Tobin Siebers. Siebers discusses how one's disability is typically exaggerated for the purpose of affirming able-bodiedness – only through extraordinary powers, can the disabled person validate themselves according to abled normativity and standards. Societal structures and their lack of inclusionary practices are not questioned or examined, instead disabled people are viewed as being incapable of existing in the same spaces as able-bodied people, and if they do happen to succeed, their success is infantilized, commodified, and at some points completely erased. This is why it has been extremely important and valuable for the disabled community to reclaim the term by redefining what the word crip means to them. The term “crip” can be all encompassing for those with invisible and visible disabilities as well as mental illnesses, and neurodivergence. This word has even found its way into academia through the study of “crip theory”, which studies how dominant and marginalized bodies, as well as sexual identities are understood in society and how to reimagine that understanding for those facing discrimination. While such words are still being explored by those with disabilities, it is important to remember that this is not a universally accepted term and should NEVER be used by those outside of this community amongst other such terminology.   

When disabled people are not viewed as a “supercrip”, they tend to become a lesson for those who exist outside of the community, rather than an individual. They become a caricature of themselves for able-bodied people to reflect upon so they can say,  “See here look, if “THEY” can do it, why can’t you?” Or “imagine if that was you, be thankful that it isn’t and live life accordingly”. These beliefs put disabled people on a pedestal that leaves very little room for them to be multifaceted autonomous individuals. Instead they are given a martyr narrative for able-bodied people to use for their own benefit. A consequence of not being able to fulfill this role or being too successful “despite” their disability is that many people begin to believe that there never was a disability in the first place 

There is a well documented pattern of people who exist outside of this community believing that people who are disabled can’t exist in society without serving the purpose of being a lesson for able bodied people to reflect upon. There is an overwhelming belief that disabled people are living a life that is less than and that they are incapable of having a fulfilling life because it does not fit into societal standards. It can go so far as having any accomplishments made by disabled people downplayed, viewed as a conspiracy, or completely denied. These harmful thoughts continue to be recycled each generation and the biggest resurgence of it exists in gen Z’s social media platform TikTok, with the trending denial of Helen Keller’s existence. This can also be seen in the overwhelming amount of videos claiming that Stevie Wonder is not really blind with “evidence” of him reacting in ways that people believe a blind person is incapable of. These beliefs then feed into the idea that disabled people are not autonomous, nor do they have the right to be because they are viewed as incapable of being so. While this concept is not new, we must ask ourselves why it is such a struggle to see disabled people as capable in their own rights, as well as why society views changing our methods as a downgrade in our standards. 

While there are a multitude of reasons for why these ideologies and politics exist, our job as a library is to ensure that we are actively playing the role of an ally.  An ally, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “the status or role of a person who advocates and actively works for the inclusion of a marginalized or politicized group in all areas of society, not as a member of that group but in solidarity with its struggle and point of view and under its leadership.” The role of ally is one of extreme importance to the Rebecca Crown Library. Because of this, for June we will be working to celebrate disability pride month and its theme “we want a life like yours” through our in displays that can be seen in person or online through our digital collection. This theme encompasses the idea that people with disabilities are deserving of experience that they are too often denied. Please visit the Rebecca Crown Library to celebrate their stories. 

Work Cited

Bypassing the supercrip trope in documentary representations of blind visual artists | Disability Studies Quarterly. (n.d.). https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/6485/5092#:~:text=Tobin%20Siebers%20explains%20that%20the,to%20abled%20normativity%20(111). 

Eisenmenger, A. (2022, October 3). Ableism 101. Access Living. https://www.accessliving.org/newsroom/blog/ableism-101/ 

Lollino, S. (2022, September 3). I AM NOT YOUR SUPERCRIP - facing disability. Facing Disability. https://facingdisability.com/blog/i-am-not-your-supercrip 

Remembering Tobin Siebers, English professor, disability studies advocate |  The University Record. (n.d.). https://record.umich.edu/articles/tobin-siebers-english-professor-and-disability-studies-advocate-dies/

Greetings from Tech Services! I was lucky enough to work as an intern in the Technical Services department of Rebecca Crown Library for six months this year. And what a rewarding six months it was. Although internships are usually one year (July-June) mine was just a little bit expedited and we packed a lot in. My main responsibilities as an intern were to update displays, catalog books, weed the collection, help with events and do the bidding of the tech services overlords.  

I also had a lot of professional development opportunities. I joined the event planning committee and the social media team and got real experience with the inner workings of the library. I am so grateful for these experiences and will use them to guide my degree and career. 

One of my responsibilities was to create a monthly rotating display for the Contemplation Space. This was one of my favorite aspects of this internship. Every month I had the opportunity to scour the catalog for relevant titles to put on the shelves for a cohesive display. It was a great way to get to know the collection and then get those books on a shelf where patrons will see them. I really enjoyed making my displays as diverse and revolutionary as possible. I am particularly proud of my displays for Arab-American Heritage, Women’s History month, and Pride month. It was important for me to show students that our collection is meant to represent them, and this monthly themed display gave me that opportunity. I also learned that I really like making displays and will be taking that knowledge with me long past this internship and into future positions.

This post continues upon a previous blog post about the May 2024 LOEX conference in Naperville, IL. This conference focuses on instruction librarianship in colleges and universities. The theme for this year was “Branching Out: Growing and Adapting your Information Literacy Practice.” The majority of the presentation slides are now available on the LOEX website and linked in this and the previous post. 

On Saturday I started with Cultivating an Inclusive Garden: DEI Engagement and Outreach on Display in Academic Libraries (slides) by Alex Boris, the Commons Librarian from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Amanda Breu, the Head of Access Services & Media Librarian from the University of St. Cloud State University, and Molly Olney-Zine, Instruction and Outreach Librarian at the University of Delaware.

This presentation focused on the potential of book/media displays to progress diversity, equity, and inclusion. They discussed the ability of displays to improve circulation rate, reduce information overwhelm, promote inclusion, cultivate partnerships, and mimic successful approaches popular among booksellers. 

Breu described their work updating multiple displays around their libraries monthly. They used the Alma collections feature to create digital book displays and provided QR codes visible on the physical display to route patrons to the online catalog. The most popular displays at Breu’s library were “Banned Books, Horror/Thrillers, and Graphic Novels.” 

Olney-Zine created a partnership with Student Diversity and Inclusion to create student-led displays. This expanded into more partnerships with other student groups and to online displays and exhibits. The library featured displays for Women’s History Month, Asian Pacific Islander and Desi American Heritage Month, and Autism Inclusion. Part of their assessment of success was whiteboard engagement, as they placed a whiteboard near the display for students to give comments, suggestions, and responses to prompts. 

Boris conducted a diversity audit of her library’s collection and found it lacking significantly in culturally diverse, inclusive, and intersectional books. Slowly, she made intentional purchases that made the production of inclusive displays easier. She stressed the importance of creativity and decor in drawing student’s eyes to the books. Her team produced reader advisory brochures to accompany the displays that gave recommendations in different genres, which all included a wide range of perspectives, as well as bookmarks with the QR code to request acquisitions. 

Next, I attended Generative AI: Teaching Students the Applications, Risks, Best Practices, and Alternatives (slides) by Tracy Coyne, the Distance Learning and Professional Studies Librarian, at Northwestern University.

Coyne has facilitated student workshops on understanding and responsibly utilizing GAI.  She utilized Ethan Mollick’s definition of generative AI as  “a word completion tool,” that predicts “what the next word in a sentence should be so it can write a paragraph for you, what an image should look like based on a prompt.” She outlined that students may use GAI to write emails, generate ideas, get an overview of a topic, translate text, and seek improvements to their writing. She mentioned Elicit, Consensus, and Research Rabbit as rising tools in generative AI research.

She described the positives of GAI, including “natural language prompts, remembers whole conversations, brainstorming, generates keywords” and other helpful features that speed up repetitive tasks, arrangement, and starting points for writing. The negatives and limitations are troubling, including “incorrect answers (“hallucinations”), false citations, outdated content, plagiarism and copyright infringement, labor, privacy” and a lack of critical thinking and the presence of human biases. The effects of biases create notoriously racist, sexist, and prejudiced outcomes. Coyne showcased the AI-generated response to “toys in Iraq” as photos of toy soldiers with guns, as featured in the Washington Post. 

Her lessons suggested the use of the C.L.E.A.R method to write prompts, which stands for Concise, Logical, Explicit, Adaptive, and Reflective. Students were taught to evaluate information for authority, purpose, accuracy, and bias. The lessons also worked to better familiarize students with the library resources to show them how their databases can lead them to more accurate information with ease. She suggested using GAI to generate boolean searches that are then used in library searching. 

I then attended Seeding Success: Growing Information Literacy through Curriculum Integration by Scott Schumate, Coordinator of Resource Management and Digital Services, and Jenny Harris, Assessment and Information Literacy Librarian, both from Austin Peay State University.

These librarians are embarking on two separate credit-bearing library courses: LIBR 2001: Empowering Information Seekers in the Digital Age and LIBR 2400: Ethical and Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Like many librarians throughout the conference, they reiterated the difficulties and limitations of “one-shot” library instruction. As teachers, the librarians can’t create ongoing relationships with the students in the same way that they are able to in semester-long classes. This allows them the privilege of memory regarding where the student’s understanding is and where it can progress to. 

One of the activities practiced in Schmate’s class stood out to me as an especially useful tool in comprehending GAI. The students were all given a paper that was written by ChatGPT and told to grade it. Reversing the classroom in this way puts students in the position to think critically about the quality of a generated essay. It also prompted the students to conduct the research themselves to find the missing sources for any claims made in the essay. 

This experience was enriching and inspiring. I look forward to creating my own research as I progress in my career. The academic library field is in an interesting transition period, particularly regarding artificial intelligence. As the field adjusts to the changes in how the scholarly community relates to information systems, it is inspiring to see so many passionate and talented librarians working to help students reach their fullest potential.

The month of June, otherwise known as Pride Month, is a time for us to celebrate the accomplishments, beauty, strength, and resilience of the LGBTQ community. Every year a different theme is taken on to help acknowledge all the work this community has done, with this year's theme being “Reflect. Empower. Unite”. Oftentimes as librarians, we like to reflect upon the work we have done as an institution for society by asking, “What positive impact has the library had on queer people?”. All in all, it can be said that the library provides a safe space, offers important materials, resources, and representation, hosts queer-based events, and more. Keeping all of this in mind, I find the library's ability to organize and build community to be one of its greatest strengths in regards to supporting LGBTQ people and materials. The best example of this is in the creation of “The Task Force on Gay Liberation.”

The Task Force on Gay Liberation was founded in the 1970s and is recognized for being one of the very first professional organizations in the U.S that was formally organized to protect the rights and promote awareness of gay and lesbian people. The creation of this group is credited to Janet Cooper and Israel Fisherman after meeting in 1970 at the ALA Conference in Detroit at the Social Responsibilities Round Table Session. During this meeting they found themselves looking for more representation and support for the gay community, which eventually turned into them becoming that source of support. As the organization grew their goals expanded to include the creation of bibliographies, revision of library classification schemes and subject headings, building and improving access to collections, and fighting job discrimination. Alongside this, the group continued to evolve by extending their protection and promotion of gay liberation to those who are Bisexual and Trans as well.

Iconic political figures such as Barbara Gittings, who was the second coordinator of the Gay Liberation Task Force in 1972, worked alongside Frank Kameny to contribute to the elimination of homosexuality as a mental disorder from the DSM in 1972. This in turn influenced the cataloging and classification practices for gay subjects and allowed for more nuanced narratives and perspectives to be held within the library. Gittings is also known for compiling the first Gay Bibliography, a list of gay-positive books and information resources. While her intentions were primarily to improve patron access to gay information and materials that have a positive view on homosexuality, it had a long-lasting impact on cataloging overall. The impact the Task Force had on librarianship only continued through Sanford Berman’s guidance in advising them to revise gay and lesbian subject headings and classifications. The actions that the Task Force took after this advice was given led to new ground being broken as a movement to democratize subject cataloging practices began and continues to influence present-day cataloging practices.

Today, The Task Force on Gay Liberation is now known as, the Rainbow Round Table (RRT). They are formally considered to be a part of the American Library Association and are fully committed to serving the information needs of the LGBTQIA+ professional library community, as well as the LGBTQIA+ information and access needs of individuals at large. They are dedicated to encouraging and supporting free and necessary access to all information, as reflected by the missions of the American Library Association.  In addition to this, they provide awards, grants, and scholarships to those who create and provide aid in the development of queer works, studies, programs, initiatives, and so on that support the needs of the LGBTQ community. They are also known for hosting the Stonewall Books Awards which honors books of exceptional merit in the covering of LGBTQIA+ experiences.

During this month, it is important to remember that it is the people and the community we build around us that truly brings about the change we need. Acceptance is not easily won, and we must continue to actively fight for the rights of all people regardless of their sexual orientation, gender expression, personal identity, and otherwise. Alongside this, it is of equal importance to celebrate the wins of the LGBTQ community, which is why I am happy to say that for the first time ever, the Rebecca Crown Library is proudly displaying a wide range of Pride flags to celebrate the month of July.

Work Cited

American Library Association. (n.d.). Rainbow Round Table (RRT). https://www.ala.org/rrt

Brewer, S. (2018, June 5). Out of the closet & onto the shelves: Librarians and the oldest gay professional organization in the U.S. – American Library Association Archives – U of I Library. https://www.library.illinois.edu/ala/2018/06/05/out-of-the-closet-onto-the-shelves/ 

The fight for positive and accurate LGBT information in Librarie. (n.d.). https://about.proquest.com/en/blog/2016/The-Fight-for-Positive-and-Accurate-LGBT-Information-in-Libraries/

Google's AI Overviews as a Teaching Tool

A new feature of Google search presents opportunities for information literacy instructors.

Google's recent decision to begin including AI Overviews at the top of their search results presents library instructors with a strong metaliteracy teaching tool. These overviews pull information from a variety of sources and present the user with an artificial intelligence powered overview of the topic or query. As of 5/30/24, this appears above all other search results. Librarians will be relieved to know that the cited information is linked under the overview - and the user has the ability to "check the source" if they are so inclined. Google's Search executive Liz Reid recently said this is all about letting "Google ... do the Googling for you."

I am certainly not the first to wonder if that might significantly reduce traffic - add revenue - for websites and content creators whose work is populating the overviews, and there have been numerous embarrassing examples of these AI Overviews simply getting it wrong. I encourage you to search for "Google AI Overview Fails" on your social media platform of choice for some funny - and some disturbing - examples. Leaving these questions aside for a moment, Google's AI Overview also presents those teaching information literacy with a powerful teaching tool:

• These overviews open conversations about the overlap between information literacy and emerging AI technologies and platforms.
• Because these overviews draw on such a variety of sources, they are inroads to talking about intellectual property and the ethical use of other's work.
• They give librarians a concrete way to discuss AI - something that many academic libraries are stepping up and tasking themselves with. 
• They give us ways to help library users better understand how and why they are seeing what they see online.
• Those interested in critical librarianship can discuss the issues related to add-revenue loss for content creators, the ethics of encouraging users to trust a model that hallucinates, or even the environmental impact that this will have.
• These overviews can also be seen as powerful research tools - and something worth discussing with increasingly busy students who can should be empowered to use them ethically and efficiently.

I hope that it is obvious that there are many ways that these AI overviews can be incorporated into a lesson about how information lives, and how it is created online. I can see this connecting to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and seems to overlap easily with several of the threshold concepts academic librarians are encouraged to address in our work with students. I will elaborate on this in future posts, but for now I want to highlight a specific activity you can use to start asking students these questions.

Assumed Intent and Google Search: Beyond Confirmation Bias

Present students with the following images, or generate ones more appropriate to the course content.

Ask students to briefly jot down, 'What do you notice about the two images below?'

What we are seeing here is the assumed intent of the Google search algorithm. The keywords we use actually do matter(!) and will change the results that we are presented with. Google is designed to present users with results that answer our question - not provide the most accurate or most authoritative information. Google assumes to know what we want based on how we ask. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing, and in fact is a great opportunity to teach students how to be better internet users and better researchers.  The AI Overview could be used to highlight all of these ideas to students - and I imagine students working in groups to find similar examples that could be shared out with the whole group. Hopefully in the end, students can better understand how using a more neutral vocabulary will yield better results. This also parallels the importance of using a controlled vocabulary when searching disciplinary databases, so I can easily see this activity leading into a disciplinary research workshop. 

These AI overviews are useful to students - and if we are encouraging them to be metaliterate learners and creators, I think it is incumbent on us to empower them to use these tools effectively and ethically. There is also room for us to encourage students to be critical of these tools - as more and more will certainly proliferate. Metaliterate learners need to must learn to evaluate not just the information that they are encountering but the platforms they are using to find that information. Encouraging students to explore Google's AI Overviews can be a very tangible, accessible, and practical way to get students doing just that.

As far as the difficult questions all of this raises, I think that is also up to the next generation to begin answering. After all, it will be their media, their work, their faces, and their sweet sweet content that has fed and will continue to feed these large language models.

On the 3rd and 4th of May, the instruction intern team at Rebecca Crown Library attended the LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange) conference in Naperville, Illinois. The 2024 theme was Branching Out: Growing and Adapting your Information Literacy Practice. This conference focuses on instruction librarianship within academic institutions. 

The morning of Friday, May 3rd, began with the preliminary speaker, Maura Seale, who discussed critical literacy pedagogy, labor issues in libraries, and the influence of AI. Her discussion of one-shot classes, a continued topic throughout the conference, is relevant to our internship at RCL, where we have all taught one-time-only library sessions to students. Seale advised that these work well when it is the beginning of an ongoing partnership, whether through follow-up classroom visits, research consultations, or project collaborations. This provides librarians the time and connections to impart critical information literacy skills. She discussed the importance of human conversation in learning and the value of this labor, which can be undermined by unrealistic demands on librarians' work capacities and by using AI in substitution for research consultations. 

Seale quoted Brian Merchant's blog post from the Substack Blood in the Machine: "There’s a tight labor market, high employment, and companies are very eager to embrace technological tools to either replace human workers or wield as leverage against them.” She mentioned the trend hype cycles of technology in academia, recalling the use of tools such as SecondLife, that were quickly discarded when the trend faded. She referred to slow librarianship as an alternative to fast-paced, trend-chasing, competitive approaches that can lead to burnout and decreased human connections. 

After this session, the interns (Mary Laffey, Keeley Flanigan, and I) attended four sessions throughout the day, starting with: 

Assessing College Students' Everyday Information Seeking: Implications for IL Instruction, facilitated by Stephanie Ward and Rachel Dinnen, who are Teaching and Learning Librarians from the University of Northern Colorado.

This session focused on a study performed by Ward and Dinnen, who asked students who "previously had IL instruction to describe their thinking as they completed information-seeking tasks and selected information sources" (LOEX). They learned that students mainly performed basic verb searches and judged the results by the indicators of the website's appearance and domain name. The librarians noticed a lack of investigation into the author of sources and connected this to a theme of “saying one thing and doing another,” meaning that the students know that sources should be interrogated for authority, but in practice, this is overlooked. To help students improve their overall information seeking, librarians can demonstrate keyword revision in instruction, build on tendencies to examine objectivity and bias, and practice lateral reading.

Our next session was The Incarcerated One-Shot: Applying Critical Pedagogy to Support Information Literacy Skill Development in Higher Education Prison Programs by Rebecca Blunk, a Reference & Instruction Librarian at the College of Southern Nevada. 

This was an enriching talk on a topic outside of any of our day-to-day work experiences. Blunk first introduced us to the prisons she works within and the demographics within, noting the disproportionately large population of people of color, specifically Black individuals, in prisons, contrasted with the overrepresentation of White individuals in academia. Amongst college-seeking incarcerated people, the White population remains overrepresented. She connected this to the school-to-prison pipeline. She then gave a timeline of college education within prisons in America. 

Blunk explained the volunteer training visiting librarians undergo in Nevada, including an acknowledgment that they will not bring any technology into the institution. She discussed the critical pedagogy that informs her work, referencing Pablo Friere, Michel Foucault, and Henry Giroux. She quoted Giroux, who stated that Friere believed education should be a "political and moral practice that provides the knowledge, skills, and social relations that enable students to explore the possibilities of what it means to be critical citizens while expanding and deepening their participation in the promise of a substantive democracy" (Giroux). Blunk stated the difficulty/impossibility of truly implementing this belief when the students are actively kept from participating in many aspects of society. 

Blunk explained the challenges of her role as a visiting academic librarian in prisons, focusing on the "old school" teaching she must use due to the lack of technology. She prints screenshots of search results, online resources, and presentation slides. She discusses imparting information literacy tips by asking the students to share something they are an expert in, how they came to know the topic, stereotypes about it, the most important parts of it, and keywords one could use to research it. 

After this session, we stopped by a poster session featuring Rebecca Crown Library’s Megan Hoppe, who demonstrated the social media overhaul they facilitated in the past year. This was an exciting look at the progress in RCL's outreach efforts and the collaborative effort that our librarians, archivist, and student workers undertake to communicate with library patrons. 

The next session I attended was Growing Critical Information Literacy in our General Education Program by Grounding Ourselves in an Ethic of Care by Perri Moreno, Student Success Librarian, and Catherine Baird, Online and Outreach Services Librarian, both from Montclair State University. 

This session stressed the importance of caring for the genuine well-being of ourselves as library workers and for the student body. They stated, "Working conditions are learning conditions," emphasizing that by caring for our library staff and faculty, student learning will benefit in the long run. They recommended the books Transforming Hispanic-Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice by Gina Ann Garcia and Feminists Among Us: Resistance and Advocacy in Library Leadership edited by Shirley Lew and Baharak Yousefi. Moreno and Baird have switched to taking a proactive approach to teaching sessions rather than reactive. They have decreased their time spent teaching writing courses, which was a strain on the library staff and inhibited their ability to help other disciplines as thoroughly. They learned this partially by tracking their work activities, which showed how packed their schedules were. They maintained a good relationship with the English department while creating more space to enact an ethic of care for themselves. 

Similar to the first speaker, they mentioned embracing slow librarianship and doing "less with less." They also discussed the integration of critical information literacy, explaining how librarians face institutional challenges when working to impart critical thinking skills that challenge and critique hegemonic structures. They mentioned sneaking these teachings into their lessons without naming them directly, which was a strategy mentioned by other speakers in an era of DEI pushback. 

The last session I attended on Friday was Fertilizing the Social and Emotional Roots: Assessing Belonging, Confidence, and Connectedness in Academic Library Programming by Kate Langan, an Engagement Librarian from Western Michigan University. 

This session discussed flourishing, which Langan quoted Deigh in defining as "the ability to develop personal standards and practices to navigate not only for the good of the self but for the collective good of society" (Deigh, 2010). She referred to a LibGuide she created on the topic, which includes her references and slides from the LOEX presentation. She stated that flourishing with information for early adults in college looks like an "increased sense of belonging and legitimacy, improved confidence in academic abilities, and having stronger connections to the university community." Langan was able to help students flourish at Western Michigan University through a library "Amazing Race," which acquainted them with the physical space and varied resources through a collaborative game. This presentation stressed the importance of community for college students, many of whom feel isolated in their experiences. The library has valuable potential to gather students and provide a safe space for exploration and engagement. 

This blog post will continue soon with learnings gathered from day 2, but until then, the intern team is grateful for the opportunity to have heard from professionals in the field! It is exciting to see the kind, thoughtful, and intelligent work librarians are sharing with universities across the country. It was interesting to see the repeated themes of concerns and developments within varied types of academic libraries. 

The beginning of May signals the end of the spring semester and the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to encouraging self care, remembering those who have been lost to mental illness, and raising awareness about mental health to create lasting change.

Mental illness has long been mistreated by medical professionals, misrepresented in literature and media, and misunderstood by most of society. People who suffer from mental illness are often perceived as “crazy” or “insane” because there is seemingly no physical evidence of their pain. Many characters in literature and media with mental illness have been portrayed as subhuman or violent such as Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre, the “true story” Sybil, Norman Bates in Psycho, or Michael Meyers in Halloween. Historical attempts to cure mental illness have resulted in inhumane treatments and the creation of asylums to isolate “the insane” from the rest of the population, when in reality, more human interaction is needed. As a result of these influences, society has developed a warped understanding of mentally ill individuals, falsely believing them to be excessively violent and dangerous.

In truth, 1 in every 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year, meaning that most Americans struggle with mental health issues on a day to day basis (NAMI). Mental wellness is just as important as physical wellness, so raising awareness is imperative to erasing the stigma around mental health. Below are some of the library’s positive research and learning materials on mental health awareness, including a LibGuide, films, personal narratives, books, and more…

• https://research.dom.edu/mha 

• https://www.dom.edu/campus-life/wellness-center/counseling-services 

LGBTQ Mental Health : International Perspectives and Experiences by Nakamura, N. & Logie, Carmen H. editors (2020) -- LGBTQ Mental Health: International Perspectives and Experiences expands our understanding of mental health by considering the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ communities in the Majority World. Increased globalization and migration have highlighted the need for mental health clinicians to better understand these communities' experiences and needs. Contributors summarize existing research on mental health outcomes for LGBTQ individuals in these countries or regions; offer key insights that challenge culturally specific conceptions of normative, LGBTQ mental health and behavior; and offer recommendations for further research and mental health practice with these populations.

Peace is Every Step by Thích Nhất Hạnh -- In the rush of modern life we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. A ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to "mindfulness," the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy -- A memoir by Jennette McCurdy about her childhood as a child star, her problematic relationship with her mother, and her struggles with eating disorders, addiction, body image, and mental health. The book is divided into two sections, "Before" and "After", which describe the events of her life before and after her mother's death from cancer in 2013, as well as her journey toward self-acceptance and reconciling her past and current relationship with her abusive mother.

Awakenings -- Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a shy research physician who uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. The awakening of the first patient proves a rebirth for the doctor, too, as the patient reveals life's simple but sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor. Encouraged by Leonard's stunning recovery, Sayer administers the drug to other patients, finding new meaning in life and providing more patients with a renewed passion for life.

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Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky -- This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas, and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

A Beautiful Mind -- From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. experienced it all. A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his tragedy, and finally - late in life - received the Nobel Prize.

Insane : America's Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness by Alisa Roth -- In America, having a mental illness has become a crime. One in four fatal police shootings involves a person with mental illness. The country's three largest providers of mental health care are not hospitals, but jails. As many as half the people in US jails and prisons have a psychiatric disorder. In Insane, journalist Alisa Roth goes deep inside the criminal justice system to reveal how America's tough-on-crime policies have transformed it into a warehouse for people with mental illness, one where prisoners are denied proper treatment, abused, and punished in ways that make them sicker. Investigating police departments, courts, jails, and emergency health-care facilities across the country, Roth provides the first nationwide account of this mental health crisis--and uncovers the hidden forces behind it.

Mind museums : Former Asylums and the Heritage of Mental Health by Lanz F. (2024) -- Mind Museums offer a fresh perspective on the heritage of mental health, bringing museums into sharp focus by examining former psychiatric asylums that have been converted into museums and exploring their potential to raise awareness and dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health. By uncovering the power of these heritage sites in facilitating discussions on mental health, civility, and care, Lanz provides new insights into the emotive capacity of the museum and visitors' reflexivity at place-based memory sites.

The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health by Walker, R & Akbar, N. (2020) -- There is an unaddressed Black mental health crisis in our world today. This book is an exploration of Black mental health in today’s world, the forces that have undermined mental health progress for African Americans, and what needs to happen for African Americans to heal psychological distress, find community, and undo years of stigma and marginalization in order to access effective mental health care. Psychologist and African American mental health expert Rheeda Walker offers important information on the mental health crisis in the Black community, how to combat stigma, spot potential mental illness, how to practice emotional wellness, and how to get the best care possible in a system steeped in racial bias.

21st Century Media and Female Mental Health Profitable Vulnerability and Sad Girl Culture by Thelandersson, F. (2023) -- While early 21st century media was marked by a distinct focus on happiness, productivity, and success, during the 2010s negative feelings and discussions around mental health have become increasingly common in that same media landscape. This book traces this turn to sadness in women’s media culture and shows that it emerged indirectly as a result of a culture overtly focused on happiness. Using discourse analysis and digital ethnography to study contemporary representations of mental illness and sadness in Western popular media and social media, this book takes a feminist media studies approach to popular discourse, understanding the conversations happening around mental health in these sites to function as scripts for how to think about and experience mental illness and sadness.

References:

“Mental Health Awareness Month.” NAMI, 24 April 2024. https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month/. 

“Mental Health by the Numbers.” NAMI, 3 May 2024. 

https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/. 

Public Libraries Singapore. “Exploring Mental Illness in Literature.” Medium. 4 February, 2021.

https://medium.com/publiclibrarysg/exploring-mental-illness-in-literature-66f3dfde57a3. 

"Blíndur er bóklaus ma∂ur. Blind is a man without a book.”

-- Icelandic proverb [1]

This summer I am traveling to Iceland. In addition to enjoying a much needed spiritual journey (cue Björk’s “Wanderlust”), I will be visiting several libraries in concert with a course I am taking during the second summer term, LIS 760 International Libraries. 

It is my goal to visit the Reykjavík City Library, the National and University Library of Iceland, and The Nordic House – all of which can be found in the small country’s capital. Somewhere in between worshiping the Northern Lights and finding out once and for all whether the Huldufólk truly exist, I aim to familiarize myself with “the enormous contribution to Western culture made by this small nation on the fringes of European civilization.” [2]

The Nordic House

The Nordic House has a fascinating scope in that its goal is “to foster and support cultural connections between Iceland and other Nordic countries.” [3] The center accomplishes this through diverse programs, cultural activities, and events. I love Robijn’s description in an article for Bookbird: “The blue rooftop merges with the mountain range to the south, and the brightness, transparency, and warmth reflect the objective of the Nordic House.” Naturally, a library containing books and media in all Scandinavian languages is the “heart of the house.”

As an MLIS-MAYL (Youth Literature) dual major here at Dominican, the Nordic House’s focus on children’s literature is of particular interest to me. The center biannually hosts the Mýrin International Children’s Literature Festival, which is organized by several Icelandic literary organizations. In 2016, the Festival symposium included topics such as the influence of Nordic myths on the self-image of Nordic YA-literature, a subject I have considered exploring for my MAYL thesis. A recent exhibit at the children’s library, “Under the Polar Ice,” educates children and families about animals and plant survival in the coldest region of the world, how they are all connected, and how humans can be better caretakers of the environment.

The National and University Library of Iceland

Iceland’s National Library houses nearly every copy of works published in Iceland. This complete catalog benefits posterity and research. [4] In addition to the National Collection, the first floor contains manuscripts and the Women’s History Archive. The main service and circulation desk is on the second floor, along with the UI Center for Writing. Journals, theses and quiet workspaces are on the third floor, while the fourth floor houses music, films, and course reserves. The 150 lockers for guests to store working documents strikes me as a unique feature. [5]

I enjoyed shuffling through the University libguides. While many common items exist such as Course reserves, Interlibrary loans and New titles in the collection, other guides such as Doctoral students, International students, and Viking and Medieval Norse Studies caught my eye. The library also hosts various events and workshops, such as the recently held Workshop Against Procrastination where students gained advice on academic writing, encouragement via writing sprints, and individual assistance for citation and reference management tools like EndNote. 

Reykjavík City Library

In the video below, I appreciate how the main interviewee, Valli, cherishes the meaning of bókavörður -- a word that means “librarian,” but more specifically translates to “book guardian.” As guardians of books, staff at the Reykjavík City Library perform many tasks familiar to their counterparts in America: recommending books for patrons to read, helping customers make copies, or simply charge their phones. Just like in the states, the library proves to be a haven for those who need a safe, warm place if they have no other home to go to. [6]

Several times, the documentary describes the library as a good place to go to if one is experiencing loneliness. Some of the programs involve games or other social events that provide a low-stress opportunity for people who are learning Icelandic to practice. When it comes to working at the library, Valli feels it does not necessarily have the gendered stereotype that might exist in other cultures. And I found the leadership structure particularly interesting. There are two bosses at the city branch, but “outside of that, I don’t think there’s an hierarchy.”

I wonder if there are some aspects of librarianship modeled here that could benefit libraries in the United States. Perhaps libraries should make a stronger effort to present themselves as a great career path for more diverse populations. There might be even more that libraries can do as institutions to focus on youth learning and literacy. It's easy to romanticize a country that bears the nickname "Land of Fire and Ice." However, Iceland has a truly unique literary heritage and fascinating history. I can't wait to step into their houses of learning with an open mind and see what lovely lessons I may come away with.

References

[1] Kent, H. (2013). Burial Rites. Little, Brown and Company.

[2] Roth, R. (2019, November 26). Icelandic and Faroese collections at the Library of Congress. LOC. https://www.loc.gov/rr/european/coll/icel.html

[3] Robijn, M. (2017). The Nordic House in Reykjavík, Iceland: A house with a big heart for children and literature. Bookbird, 55(3), 36-41. https://doi.org/10.1353/bkb.2017.0038

[4] Law and Regulations in the Library. (n.d.). National and University of Iceland. Retrieved April 30, 2024, from https://landsbokasafn.is/index.php?page=law-and-regulations

[5] Law and Regulations in the Library. (n.d.). National and University of Iceland. Retrieved April 30, 2024, from https://landsbokasafn.is/index.php?page=facilities

[6] Chen, Jiaqian. (2021, April 26). Reykjavik public library – Documentary in Iceland. [video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/QSwNqFu2VGQ?si=s0AsiLc4gIwtY8uy

For Further Reading

Lauramarsch. General Recommendations: Iceland. CPL.

“The racial and cultural personality of the Black community must be preserved and the community must win its freedom while preserving its cultural integrity” (Stokely Carmichael)

My project “Stories of Resilience”, was born out of a need for cultural integrity. Cultural integrity is defined as the process of honoring, respecting, and protecting the materials, traditions, and knowledge that originate from a particular community or culture (Brislin, 2015). Oftentimes, due to the marginalization of many communities and the commodification of minority culture, people find their identities being overlooked or lost. Because of this, it's important for people to preserve the customs, behaviors, ideas, language, stories, and works of arts that define their culture. For those who exist outside of that community's culture, they must show proper allyship by recognizing those identities and demonstrating respect for all that comes with it. For libraries, allyship, representations, diversity, and inclusion is vastly important.

The Director of the Diversity Programs at Mayo Clinic, defines the act of allyship as "when a person of privilege works in solidarity and partnership with a marginalized group of people to help take down the systems that challenge that group's basic rights, equal access, and ability to thrive in our society."(). Performing cultural integrity is one way in which others can be an ally to those with minoritized backgrounds. This requires honest and ethical behavior that does not override the voices of those who need to be protected. When they are not in the room make sure their presence is heard, and when there is an opportunity for them to be in the room, ensure that space is made (Cultural Integrity - Manitoba Arts Council, 2020)

As a librarian, there are many occasions in which we have the chance to represent and support various different communities. This can be done through our collection, the displays we showcase, community outreach, inclusive events, public statements, and more. I believe that one of the reasons libraries are so good at supporting their communities and others through their diverse and inclusive practices is because they are strongholds of unbiased knowledge. Libraries are not meant to discriminate on the basis of personal belief, speech, or background when it comes to providing services and access to information. There is a level of neutrality that every library must have. This is important when it comes to serving patrons, but can become a double edged sword when it comes to community support. Which is exactly why I found myself encountering a problem when it came to event planning for the holiday season. The holiday in question, being Thanksgiving.

Most people know the history of Thanksgiving and the ensuing celebration that comes with it. In the United States, it is overwhelmingly seen as a day to give thanks, while for others it is a day of mourning. This juxtaposition between two vastly different perceptions of this holiday can make event planning around this time of year hard. Do we overlook this side of history to continue on with a tradition that means a lot to some people or do we curtail any events involving this holiday out of respect? What would either option say about the library and how would it affect patrons ability to feel safe and welcome in the space? 

Because of this I decided to begin a project called, “Stories of Resilience” counter-storytelling and oral history. My intent behind this project was to create a space where people could speak about the traditions they have in their families and their own cultural background, with an emphasis on those who come from a marginalized community. In doing this, issues surrounding cultural events due to a difference in narrative, can be counteracted by the personal experiences of those who are affected by these and other moments in history. This is because counter-storytelling is a way to reflect on our experiences and knowledge, they inform others on people's life experiences. 

Counter-cultural storytelling is a method of Critical Race Theory that is used to uplift the voices and stories of marginalized and underprivileged people. It is considered to be a radical form of inclusion and resistance to the dominant narratives that lead to erasure and misconstruction of minority stories. This method is used to gather evidence from different communities through interviews, surveys, participant observations, ethnographies, and other similar practices. By adding in oral history, which is a method of historical research that involves collecting historical information about people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. The ways and manner in which we can reach people is expanded. Both practices bring the power of telling minorities stories back in their hands, which was my main purpose in creating “Stories of Resilience”. I wanted to give people the opportunity to speak about their own life experiences and personal background without recourse. While this project is still in development, I am hoping students continue to share their stories with Dominican in an effort to showcase the different people that make up this community.

The library exists as a space for people to make connections with what is around them. This includes connecting to oneself, to information, to our needs, and to the community as a whole. These connections are something that needs to be celebrated and put on display. Libraries are 100% capable of doing that, and have been considered an experience that is shared within and without the community. When we plan events and perform different projects, creating a space and bringing in materials that will serve, reflect, and inspire patrons should be at the forefront of every thought. The objective of creating Stories of Resilience was to give students an opportunity to come in and share parts of their identity and culture that has allowed for them to remain resilient against life struggles. Click on "Stories of Resilience Mission Statement" to share your stories.

Stories of Resilience Mission Statement

Similar to Dominican University’s mission statement, the Rebecca Crown Library has emboldened itself with creating an environment that pursues truth, offers compassionate services, and contributes to the effort of making a more humane and just world. It is the responsibility of faculty librarians to ensure that this space is inclusive and meets the expanding needs of students. To do just that, the Rebecca Crown Library is undertaking an oral history counter-storytelling project based on your stories of resilience. This will include, but is not limited to, cultural stories, traditions, histories, art, music, and ideologies. 

What does it mean to survive and remain resilient? As a minority, it can be difficult to keep a hold of your identity against structures of power that seem to erase you.  We are put under an inordinate amount of pressure to conform to a majority-based standard. Because of this, many people find their identities and life experiences to be undervalued, if not discredited. The rare instances in which minority stories are told, it is almost presented as an afterthought, put on the wayside due to being viewed as conflicting with the dominant narrative.  

As a result, many people find themselves assimilating to the dominant culture’s views and regulations for survival. People are being asked to hold themselves up to an image that is unrealistic and unattainable. While others are being told to put themselves in a space that is not welcoming to them. Too often the collective requires that we shed parts of ourselves, including our culture, community, and identity, to be seen and respected. Overlooking that much of our identity, and therefore abilities, are made up of our own unique cultural experiences. 

Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about people, families, important events, and everyday life. It illuminates the environment, perceptions, and feelings of an individual by painting a verbal picture of one's life. Marginalized communities hold a wealth of information and knowledge that is often overlooked in comparison to the dominant culture. Counter-storytelling is a method used to tell the stories of those whose experiences are not often told. 

Historically minorities have been defined as “any group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.” (Sociologist Louis Wirth, 1945). This includes, but is not limited to, the elderly, the LGBTQIA+ community, gender minorities, BIPOC, neurodivergent, disabled people, religious minorities, and more. Those who do not find themselves personally aligning with these groups are still welcome to share their stories of resilience and survival. This is a space for anyone who feels a need for their stories and/or culture to be shared. 

The wealth of information and knowledge that marginalized communities have is something that should be celebrated as well as formally acknowledged. At Rebecca Crown Library we believe that it is important to put power back into the people’s hands. 

Work Cited

Cultural integrity - Manitoba Arts Council. (2020, November 26). Manitoba Arts Council.https://artscouncil.mb.ca/grants/resources/cultural-integrity/#:~:text=Cultural%20integrity%20is%20the%20practice,a%20particular%20culture%20or%20community.

Librarians are always thinking about how to best utilize their houses of learning. How can the layout be maximized to benefit patrons and staff? Libraries are always balancing what is best for their stakeholders in the present with what will set them up for success in the future. In short, how will they remain relevant to students and the public?

When it comes to libraries stepping into the future, there are two establishments that offer good examples. One is the Hunt Library at N.C. State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, which features a bookBot as a means for repurposing space and preserving books. In Denmark, Dokk1 houses library resources in the same building that offers citizens services and their national TV.

Books: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

The term "bookBot" makes me think of an android librarian out of an Asimov novel. Thankfully, that's not what's going on at Hunt Library, one of two University libraries at N.C. State University. Most of their printed collection is stored in over 18,000 bins with each bin holding 125-150 books. A huge benefit of this storage method is that it takes up one-ninth the space. The books are also saved from the erosive effects of dust, gravity, and sunlight. 

To retrieve a book from the catalog, a patron first requests the item from the library website (similar to how we request holds here at Dominican). Then the bookBot, which looks like a tall crane on wheels with a small ledge, is activated. The bookBot brings a bin containing the requested item to a workstation.

How the bookBot Works || NC State University Libraries from NC State University Libraries on Vimeo.

At the workstation, a human staff member finds the requested item and brings it to the hold shelf. After email confirmation, the patron can check out the book at the circulation desk. I was surprised to find that there is still significant human involvement in the process. While the bookBot performs most of the leg-work, the patron still receives face-to-face service.

I was able to visit Hunt Library on Spring break, and while it did take some getting used to the lack of book visibility while touring the space, it was interesting to see how the saved space was utilized. There was much more space for students to socialize and collaborate. However, there are still some collections available to browse, such as the Rain Garden Reading Lounge containing faculty publications and the The Quiet Reading Room which has recently printed STEM resources.

A Monument to Learning

As the largest library in Scandinavia, Dokk1 was built as a statement on the future of community learning in 2015. The Dokk1 website describes the structure as "a public space that functions as a culture house...Dokk1 provides a space for communities, contemplation, learning, and play."

The four-story structure consists largely of transparent glass which allows for a beautiful view of the Aarhus waterfront. Two levels contain collections of printed and digital media resources, exhibitions, a cafe, and a section for children. Two event halls, one large and one small, are used for lectures, small concerts, and film screenings. There are also study spaces, reading areas, and public computers. 

Dokk1 has its own version of a bookBot to sort books returned to the library. This integration of AI into library circulation is becoming more popular in modern libraries, especially ones with highly circulating collections.

There are forward-thinking design aspects of Dokk1 that go beyond AI integration. The library is built to be enjoyed by people of all ages. The features of Dokk1 evolves with what its patrons wish it to be. Part of an effort to re-purpose former industrial areas, the library is a monument to learning, creativity, and sustainability. 

The Future of Libraries

As learning centers, libraries have an important role to fill as places that provide education for a changing society. The role of information-bearers will always be an important one, as writers of science fiction have often pointed out.

As someone who loves cataloging library materials, I find it fascinating that the Hunt Library bookBot accesses books in bins organized by size rather than call number. If this is the future of book storage, will we soon no longer need Library Congress call numbers or the Dewey Decimal System? How long do we have until the information in books is completely divorced from a physical item?

We will always have information, and we will always need people to sort and access it. Personally, I will miss physical books when they are gone. I like to hold a work while I read it. I enjoy browsing the physical stacks, taking fifteen books off the shelf, then checking out five of them. I like taking the books home so I can spend time with them for several weeks. And then I am always glad to have to return them so that I have a reason to go back to my favorite place.

Further Reading:

DeMarco, N. (2023). The future of libraries. Bookriot. https://bookriot.com/the-future-of-libraries/

Dorner, D., Campbell-Meier, J, & Set, Iva. (2017). Making sense of the future of libraries. IFLA, 43(4), 321-334. https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035217727554

Duxfield, A., & Liew, C.L. (2023). Libraries in contemporary science fiction novels: uncertain futures or embedded in the fabric of society? Journal of Documentation, 79(3), 546-566. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2022-0097

Guran, P. (Ed.). (2017). Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries & Lore. Prime Books.

Knudsen, M. (2019). Curse of the Evil Librarian. Candlewick Press.

Morgenstern, E. (2019). The Starless Sea. Doubleday.

Perez-Reverte, A. (2022). El club dumas / The Club Dumas. Harcourt.

Sci-Fi-brarian. (2016, February 27). Representations of Libraries and Librarians in Popular Culture, Particularly Science Fiction and Fantasy. The Sci-Fi-Brarian. scifibrarian.com/2016/02/27/representations-of-libraries-and-librarians-in-popular-culture-particularly-science-fiction-and-fantasy/

Tavosanis, M. (2017). Libraries, linguistics, and artificial intelligence: J.C.R. Licklider and the libraries of the future. IJLIS, 8(2), 137-147. http://dx.doi.org/10.4403/jlis.it-12271