“Relationships Instead of Transaction.” X Congreso Nacional de Bibliotecas Públicas. Online.
Abstract: Why libraries must transition from transactions to relationships.
Speech Text: See below
Libraries Leading the New Normal & Beyond
“Libraries Leading the New Normal & Beyond.” Internet Librarian 2021. Online.
Abstract: Insurrection, pandemic, racial awakening, climate crisis, a looming wealth gap. Libraries of all types are functioning in a time unlike any in history. What role can librarians play in times such as these? The answer must be to rebuild trust and reaffirm the foundations of our very democratic ideals one community at a time. Librarians are joining with those in our communities in forging a new normal that embraces diversity over division, collaboration over ideology, and seeks a unified equitable future. But how do libraries have a bigger impact, how do they ensure their communities see libraries as a major partner, and how do libraries move to next level and advance their agenda on a global scale.
Help: Connecting Great Students to Great Libraries
The Too Long; Didn’t Read version of this message is that as part of my work as the Bowden Professor I would like to connect library science students to the real work of great libraries. To that end I am looking for projects that teams can work on in a Community Engagement course and more in-depth capstone projects that I will fund. Interested? fill out the form below.
In August of this year, I started as the Virginia & Charles Bowden Professor of Librarianship at the University of Texas at Austin. Over the past two months I’ve been developing a plan to strengthen the ties between Austin’s iSchool and the library community. I’m writing you today about two of those efforts. Two efforts that will give our library students opportunities to get real experience in libraries.
Continue reading “Help: Connecting Great Students to Great Libraries”An Invitation to the New Librarianship Symposia
Hi, my name is David Lankes. When I wrote the Atlas of New Librarianship 11 years ago my goal was to start a conversation about librarians, libraries, and their role in helping communities of all sorts make better decisions and help community members find meaning in their lives. Over the past decade that conversation has spread across the globe. It has also grown deeper with passionate new voices adding new perspectives, expertise, and challenges.
Continue reading “An Invitation to the New Librarianship Symposia”A new normal – renaissance of the public library
“A new normal – renaissance of the public library.” Stelline Conference, Milan, Italy. Online.
Abstract: Librarians and the libraries they build and maintain must step up to save our communities.
Speech Text: See below
Script for the talk (typos and all):
Greetings all. First let me apologize that I am not in there in person. I can promise you that I am on the losing side of this equation.
Of course, we have become increasing used to this story. Projects started, moving online, slowly trying to regain normalcy and then back online. It seems all of our lives have become a series of waves, variants, and social distancing. Even as we look for the positives that have come out of the pandemic such as accelerated digitization of services and a shift in the work of librarians from maintaining spaces to content creation and community outreach, we must also acknowledge 4 million dead worldwide.
Continue reading “A new normal – renaissance of the public library”Goodbye University of South Carolina
Today thinking about what the School of Information Science faculty, staff, and students have accomplished over my 5 years as director. A 280% increase on the undergrad program, a new graduate certificate in equity diversity and inclusion, hosting 2 national library research conferences, 6 classroom-to-school library cohorts, 8 new faculty, over a million dollars in external funding, increased enrollments in the MLIS and PhD, revised curriculum for the masters and undergrad programs, a successful accreditation, moving up the rankings, membership in the iSchools, membership in IFLA. All of this and 4 provosts, 2 presidents, 2 deans, a pandemic, and a bone marrow transplant.
That’s a wrap for me.
“Spring” Cleaning the Website
tl;dr version: I’m going to be making updates and cleaning up files on the site. This may lead to broken links in the next few days.
I’ve had a website before we called them blogs – hell, before we called them home pages. I started my site as hand edited HTML files, mostly linking to presentations I had done. When I outgrew HTML files I built my own PHP database site…then I got busy so I moved through different content management systems (TikiWIKI anyone). They got hacked, and I kept trying different flavors, until I found WordPress, and have been pretty much twisting it to my will for the past decade.
Seriously, if you have nothing better to do check out http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/ in the WayBack Machine.
With all those editors (anyone remember iWeb?) came different servers. Until about 8 years ago servers I ran (Sun Servers, Apple Servers) then ones at Syracuse’s iSchool, and finally GoDaddy web hosting.
The point is, this site has been part information dissemination, and equal part Frankenstein’s Monster for experimentation. So now it has come time to do a little cleaning. Moving things from an external site into WordPress to make backups easier, killing unlinked files, and yes, possibly even jettisoning early PowerPoint files on the wonders of FTP exported to HTML from PowerPoint. My goal is to keep as much as possible (particularly early presentations and papers), but I need to get this in hand.
So, if this week you run across a dead link – wait. If next week you run across a dead link, let me know.
Interview about Forged in War on Circulating Ideas
Had a great conversation with Steve Thomas on his Circulating Ideas podcast on my new book Forged in War. Check it out: https://circulatingideas.com/2021/06/15/201-david-lankes-forged-in-war/
Come together: Librarians across borders for better communities
“Come together: Librarians across borders for better communities.” Next Library Festival 2021. Online.
Abstract: The great success of librarians in transforming libraries around their communities must be matched by a reinvention of library networks. These networks must be agile peer-to-peer connections of people.
Speech Text: See below
Script for the talk (typos and all):
Here’s the Too long; Didn’t Read version of my talk: The systemic change of libraries being shaped around their communities must be matched with a systemic change in the community of librarians themselves. Hierarchy and structure must give way to agile networks of people-not institutions.
Continue reading “Come together: Librarians across borders for better communities”New Librarianship Symposia Invitation
I am so happy to announce a symposia series on New Librarianship.
Ten years ago MIT Press published The Atlas of New Librarianship. We are taking the opportunity of its 10th anniversary to explore some of the key issues in librarianship that have evolved and emerged since 2011 in a series of online symposia in October and November 2021. We would like to invite you to be a part.
The symposia series is sponsored by MIT Press, the University of South Carolina, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, the British Library, KB National Library of the Netherlands, the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, Gigabit Libraries Network, URFIST de Bordeaux, Enssib, and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. We also expect more international organizations to join as sponsors shortly.
Call for Contributions
We seek abstract and creative format proposal submissions for ideas and approaches that can guide the field over the next decade and address the following areas:
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Post-neutrality librarianship
- International influences
- A “new normal” agenda in a COVID-affected world
Symposia sessions will be streamed live, free of charge, and with efforts made to meet accessibility needs. Detailed descriptions for each topical area are below.
Accepted abstracts will be presented during a symposium and published on the University of South Carolina ScholarOne digital platform. Three abstracts for each symposium will be invited for development into white papers and awarded $2500 stipends. In addition, selected presentations will be developed into commissioned essays to be included in the Atlas of New Librarianship. Submissions from library practitioners and early career faculty are highly encouraged.
Each symposium will focus on concepts that guide library practice and development, rather than focusing on skills or specific functions tied to a given institution. Participants will be encouraged to seek broad concepts and theory that ultimately determine how librarianship is defined in and outside of the context of a library, as well as beyond sectors (public, academic, school, etc.). These symposia seek the ideas that will guide the field over the next decade instead of the latest trends or services.
Abstract submissions should address one of the four following core topics:
Symposium 1: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: The vital need for diversity in librarianship stems from twin beliefs in the inherent value and dignity of all people and in the fact that the best knowledge is derived from the richest variety of sources. How can this be expressed as a core value of librarianship and what are its implications for the institutions librarians build and maintain? How can we address institutional racism, biases, discrimination, and inaccessibility in library institutions, education, and practice internationally? How might we integrate principles of inclusion and universal design?
Symposium 2: Post-Neutrality Librarianship: Librarians cannot be unbiased neutral information professionals and passionate advocates for better communities. To seek an improved society calls for a vision of what “improved” means. How can librarians reconcile the reality of making service decisions in a context of limited resources with a mandate to serve the whole community?
Symposium 3: International Influences: Concepts of diversity, of service, and of librarianship itself are strongly influenced by local contexts. The idea that the work of librarians looks the same in Kenya, Norway, China, and the United States is founded on the strained concept that universal structures serve all. What in librarianship transcends national boundaries, what varies, and what is the process that connects the two?
Symposium 4: A New Normal Agenda in a COVID-Affected World: The COVID pandemic has put in sharp contrast the role of libraries in communities, and made clear how what was once considered normal, must never be normalized again. Librarians must fight for universal broadband, better workforce development, and expand democratic conversations, to ensure the wellbeing of communities and understand their roles in a crisis. What does the new normal agenda for librarianship look like?
Paper Abstract Submissions:
Abstracts for papers to be presented during a symposium should discuss, analyze, and critique critical ideas, theories, and concepts addressed within the chosen symposium topic. Submissions will be evaluated on quality of content; theoretical, conceptual, or practical significance; relevance for practice; originality; and clarity. The maximum length for an abstract, including references, is 500 words. Appendices should not be included. No author names should be listed in the abstract submitted for review.
Creative Format Contribution Proposals:
In addition to the call for paper abstracts, we invite multimedia contributions in visual, audio, audiovisual, or hybrid formats. Contributions should include a sample of work and a contributor statement and engage with critical ideas, theories, and concepts addressed within the chosen symposium topic. Submissions will be evaluated for quality of content; theoretical, conceptual, or practical significance; relevance for practice; and creativity.
Editorial Board Review: Submissions will be refereed by an editorial board assigned to each symposium area. Please see the “About” page for Editorial Board Member information.
Important Dates
- June 30, 2021: Abstract submissions due by 11:59 PM EST
- August 1, 2021: Notification of abstract and creative format proposal acceptance; notification of abstracts selected for white paper commissions
- October 28, 2021: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Symposium
- November 4, 2021: Post-Neutrality Librarianship Symposium
- November 11, 2021: International Influences Symposium
- November 18, 2021: A New Normal Agenda in a COVID-Affected World Symposium
- February 28, 2022: Publication submissions due by 11:59 PM EST (GMT -5)
- July 2022: Processing of materials, copyediting of submissions, and preparation of introductory materials, including audio introductions of selected content, will be completed and published on the University of South Carolina ScholarOne site.
- End of 2022 (approximate): Target publication date for The Atlas of New Librarianship,Second Edition
Click here for more information and to submit your abstract: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/newlibrarianshipsymposia/cfp.html