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January 26, 2013 was the first Human Library Day , but the Human Library, also known as the Living Library , has been around for several years. The idea is to assemble a diverse group of people to be "books", then invite an audience to "borrow" the books by engaging them in conversation about themselves. The "book" person talks to the "reader" about her or his life, giving people an opportunity to interact with a greater range of human diversity than they might normally encounter. Human books might be called, for example, activist, musician, lesbian, Muslim, doctor, cancer survivor, wheelchair-user, kindergarten teacher, single parent. It's like a career day, on a broader scale. Sounds great, right? So why does it give me the creeps? When I first heard of the Human Library in one of my library courses, the idea made me cringe. It sounded like a jumped-up freak show, or a more socially acceptable version of "some of my best friends are...

Increasing numbers of public libraries are moving towards a self-checkout system, based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. This is not the slow and often painful process you encounter in Ikea or Home Depot, where customers are forced to supply free labour by doing the work of cashiers, while corporations pocket the savings. (I've been planning to write about that for a while; future post.) RFID in libraries is a simple process: you can view an example here . Customers can check out a big stack of items by placing the entire stack on the sensor and inserting their library card into a slot. RFID checkout eliminates the need to scan the barcode of each item individually, and several customers can check out all their items at the same time. Libraries will (or at least should!) still have a circulation clerk on hand to greet customers and help people who don't want to use the RFID equipment. I have mixed feelings about this. RFID checkout is quick and easy to use.

An enormous number of library-related stories cross my path, either through school or this blog. A few have stayed on my mind and seem worth fleshing out. A San Antonio, Texas public library will become the first in the US  (and possibly in the world) to go completely bookless - that is, its collection will have no paper books, only digital books. Much has been written about the pros and cons of digital books, and without recapping all that here, I think it's important to realize that there are both positives and negatives. The digital book, like all technology, is not a panacea, not without issues, and some of those issues are very relevant to the public library. For one thing, e-books are incredibly expensive for libraries. For the price of one digital edition, the library can order as many as ten paper editions. Many digital titles are not available for library use, and at least three major publishers are not making e-books available to libraries at all. This means there's

The wmtc greatest hits page has been updated with the best posts of 2012, as chosen by my editor and second-biggest* fan. Thanks for reading, and thank you always for your support. * My mother, who else?!

In this post, I look at two nonfiction books for young readers. Both are featured in the current " Forest of Reading " program, a province-wide recreational reading program sponsored by the Ontario Library Association. Both fiction and nonfiction winners of the various Forest of Reading awards - Silver Birch, Red Maple, and so on - are featured in public and school libraries throughout the province. In other words, lots of kids will read these books. And that is a very good thing. The Sea Wolves: Living Wild in the Great Bear Rainforest , Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read, 2012 This beautiful book introduces young readers to some fascinating creatures and their unique habitat. The Sea Wolves begins with the many cultural myths and fears about wolves, then dispels those misconceptions with facts about these beautiful, intelligent, highly social animals. The book examines a unique sub-species of wolf that lives in the rainforest on Canada's Pacific coast. Smaller and thinne

Twenty-five years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the federal abortion law in the Morgentaler decision, making Canada one of the few countries in the world without criminal restrictions on abortion access. That historic court decision was the result of activism on the part of women and their allies, a strong, broad-based movement for reproductive justice. Monday night in Toronto, you can hear some of the veterans of that campaign speak about their experiences, and what it took to win significant steps forward for women's liberation. We'll also hear about the challenges we face today - repeated private members' motions and bills trying to roll back our rights, calls to defund abortion in Ontario, women in New Brunswick forced to pay for services, and no services in Prince Edward Island. Monday, January 28, come and celebrate Canadian women's reproductive freedom and learn what we must do to protect and extend it. WHEN: Monday, January 28, 7:00 p.m. WHERE: I

Right now there are no American women who were of reproductive age prior to Roe v. Wade , the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Yet reproductive rights in the US have never been more threatened. 2011 marked the passage of the most state-level restrictive abortion laws ever. 2012 saw the second-highest. More than half of all US women of reproductive age (15–44) now live in a state that is hostile to abortion rights. Ten years ago, it was fewer than one-third. The Guttmacher Institute has produced a series of infographics to illustrate the state of reproductive rights in the US. They are encouraging allies to share them widely. What happens to women who want abortions and can't obtain one? We're finally getting some actual data to answer that question. Annalee Newitz at io9 reports. Public health researchers with the UC San Francisco group Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) used data from 956 women who sought abortions at 30 different abort

A while back, I wrote some "what i'm reading" posts under the general category "books on books". Allan has just added to this small collection with a post about The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction , a book by Alan Jacobs. If you are a self-reflective reader, and if you suffer from a tendency to judge yourself and your choices, I recommend it. For the record, my earlier posts: Part 1 : Robert Darnton's The Case for Books Part 2 : James Shapiro's Contested Will , his demolition of the who-wrote-Shakespeare "scholarship" Part 3 : Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries and Community by Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Lynne McKechnie, and Paulette M. Rothbauer Sharp Pencils: The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

Still Classic? A Wrinkle in Time , Madeleine L'Engle, 1962 A Wrinkle in Time has always been one of my favourite books. Although I have re-read it a few times over the years, I approached it for this series with some trepidation, a bit concerned that I might no longer recommend it to young readers. I needn't have worried. The book - continually in print since it was first published in 1962 - was reissued last year in a special 50th anniversary printing, and with very good reason. From the moment we begin, we are drawn to Meg - confused and frustrated, feeling like she can't do anything right. Scrappily defending her odd younger brother. Clinging to her mother's calm faith that her father will return. Feeling destined to never fit in. And as we're identifying with Meg, the mystery begins to unfold. Who is this strange Mrs. Whatsit, and how does she know a secret about Meg's mother, one that even Meg didn't know? Family bonds, the pressures of conformity, an

Jimmy Carter: This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries. At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities. . . . We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify

The Government of Ontario is poised to gut the province's Endangered Species Act. Right now, according to the David Suzuki Foundation , Ontario's Endangered Species Act is one of the strongest in Canada. Under the ESA, companies that intend to develop land or extract resources must apply for permits that leave the species better off than where it started. Last month, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources quietly proposed exempting most industries from meeting these requirements - and giving industries the power to regulate themselves . Exempted activities could include logging, mining, quarries, hydroelectric dams, transmission lines, windmills, roads, infrastructure and municipal developments - and more. Under this proposal, Ontario's Endangered Species Act would exist in name only. Click here to speak up for Ontario's endangered species. Tell the Province that the proposed exemptions must be rejected! This is urgent. The period to comment closes this Monday, Janu

At the branch library where I'm currently working as a page, the magazine section is along a back wall forming an L shape - the long part full of magazines, the short part with teen magazines and comic books. This isn't the graphic novel section; it's Archie, Amazing Spider-Man, and such. Around another corner from that short wall is a cozy reading area arranged among the youth novels. The other day, as I was beginning to file a big pile of magazines, I came upon a girl, maybe tweens or early teens, wearing a hijab (not unusual), standing in the very corner of the L, looking through teen magazines. She was facing the shelves so her choice of reading material was hidden, and every few seconds she would look over her shoulder nervously. I smiled to myself. I wanted to tell her, it's ok, I'll cover for you. My presence didn't seem to increase her nervousness - she wasn't worried about me - so I continued to shelve nearby while she read. At some point, I noticed

" There's something happening here , what it is ain't exactly clear..." This week, I attended a talk put on by the International Socialists, featuring an organizer with OUR Walmart , by Skype from Texas, and a Toronto-based union activist. Both speakers were terrific and so inspiring, but although I took copious notes, I'm not posting a summary of the talk. It was similar to the talk I blogged about here -  from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity  - and an extension to an article I wrote recently:  workers doing it for themselves: fighting the austerity agenda in north america . The themes are the same. In a unionized workplace, rank-and-file membership need to challenge the complacency of the official union (so-called) leadership, and apply pressure to be more militant. In a non-unionized workplace, workers need to meet, discuss their issues, work out their demands. They need to link up with other workers, possibly contact estab

I'm re-running this, which I wrote for Socialist Worker Canada (now at a temporary site while a new website is being completed). If you are part of this struggle - or if you want to be part of it - and live in the GTA, please join us tomorrow night for Fighting Austerity in North America: Walmart Workers to Bill 115 . Details below. * * * * Workers Doing It For Themselves: Food service workers in New York and Chicago unite to improve working conditions One of the most exciting developments currently unfolding among the working class in North America is the organizing efforts of non-unionized workers. Non-union workers make up about 70 per cent of the labour force in Canada and about 88 per cent in the US. This represents untold volumes of untapped power. The recent actions of Walmart workers , while significant and exciting, represent only one of several groups of non-union workers organizing to improve their own working conditions. Historic win for Hot and Crusty Workers Associat

I was very pleased to see this run in the New York Times . I guess it was safe because the writer didn't actually use the word socialism. But this Op-Ed is all about the dead-end of capitalism, choking the life out of the working person, and more recently, the middle class. ...we struggle with our personal finances not because we spend too much money on small luxuries but because salaries have stagnated at the same time as the costs of nonluxuries have gone up. Even as the average household net worth plunged by almost 40 percent between 2007 and 2010, the cost of everything from health care to housing has risen for decades at rates well beyond that of inflation. Almost half of us are living paycheck to paycheck, barely able to save a penny. In fact, it’s long been known that the majority of bankruptcies result from health issues, job losses and fractured families, something no amount of cutting back can protect against. One of the main reasons we need to borrow money is college loa

Robert Fisk has a good piece in The Independent about the incivility (to put it mildly!) that is endemic in the comment sections of online news stories: "Anonymous trolls are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate the gutless journalism of the New York Times, BBC, and CNN" . Fisk wonders why newspapers that will not publish an anonymous letter to the editor will allow anonymous lies and hateful screed in comments. Surely he knows the simple answer: money. Advertisers are paying for clicks, and the idiots in the comments section are increasing the clickage. Why should we help them by reading those comments? Consider this. We know that governments pay people to troll the comments section with disinformation and misinformation, just like they hire fake journalists and bribe working columnists to influence public opinion. We know that the number of comments in any one direction cannot be taken as a gauge of public opinion. When Common Dreams respond

Company abuses animals/the environment/labour. Employee comes forward to make the abuse public. Company tries to silence employee. It's an old story, and it repeats itself again and again, in many different contexts. You've seen it dramatized in movies like Silkwood and Erin Brockovich. It's what Bradley Manning is going through on a grand scale. Whistleblowers risk their jobs, and in some cases their lives, to stand up for others. Often, without whistleblowers, we would never know the truth. That's why we have an obligation to stand up for whistleblowers. If you live in Ontario and watch any television, you've seen the ads for Marineland, with that cloying song: They come from a land of ice and snow, now belugas have a home in On-tar-ee-o... Everyone loves Marineland... Everyone loves Marineland... That chorus is bitterly ironic. If the residents of Marineland could speak, I doubt those marine mammals would say they love living in unhealthy water that causes const

In this children's book review, I look at a book about military war resistance and analyze its lessons and conclusions. Shot at Dawn deals with many unpleasant realities of war - including some shameful episodes in Canada's past - with open eyes and without sugar coating. Ultimately, the author pulls his punch, forcing a conclusion that is palatable to mainstream sensibilities. At the same time, though, the book insists on difficult questions without clear-cut answers. So while it doesn't square with my own views, neither does it satisfy pro-military or nationalist propaganda. I add this book to my ongoing exploration of war and war resistance. Boys read about war I recently compared some children's historical fiction that I read as a child, such as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series, with more contemporary books in the same genre. I was dismayed to find that most children's historical fiction is marketed to girls. For example, Scholastic's Dear Can

Dr. Dawg has written a terrific piece about the mainstream media's disturbing, if predictable, response to the courageous actions of Chief Theresa Spence. Extraordinary things, we are being instructed, may only be done by extraordinary people. Spence is frumpy, not particularly witty or intellectual, somewhat inconsistent as things change around her by the day, perhaps untutored in Constitutional matters, maybe above her level of competence as a manager. And after days of hateful mockery, she doesn’t want to talk to the jeering media any more—how self-indulgent of her. How dare she commit an act of self-abnegation? That’s for her more presentable betters. It's a must-read: Ordinary people .

I am reading Changó's Beads and Two-tone Shoes , the latest novel by William Kennedy, one of my very favourite authors, and in my opinion, one of the greatest English-language writers of our time. Changó's Beads  is Kennedy's first novel in several years, and after not reading him for so long, his work is a bracing shock of beauty and possibility. I've read all of Kennedy's fiction - Legs , Billy Phelan's Greatest Game , Ironweed , Quinn's Book , Very Old Bones , The Flaming Corsage , and Roscoe - and loved each one, each book very different, but all linked and related to one another. I've also seen him read a couple of times, and although audiences tend to fixate on his political savvy, it's Kennedy's understanding and articulation of the human heart, and his intricate weaves of events, that win my admiration. Ironweed put Kennedy on the literary map, but his story might have been very different. His two earlier novels were ignored, and Kenned

I must preface this post with a statement. If you aren't a regular wmtc reader, if you've stumbled on this post without knowing anything about my views: I am a fierce proponent of free speech, and I am passionately committed to intellectual freedom. Once, discussing my opposition to capital punishment, someone asked me, "Even for George Bush?" And I thought, you don't know me very well, do you? I'd give my eye teeth to see a POTUS - former or sitting - stand trial for war crimes. I'd dance in the streets as he were sentenced to life behind bars, his wealth distributed to survivors as partial restitution. But if he were sentenced to death, I would protest. My commitment to intellectual freedom is along those lines. If I am bothered by a book in the library, that doesn't mean I want it removed from the collection or banned from publication. So that's out of the way. For the past few weeks, I've been working as a page in one of the system's br

Today I begin my last term of grad school. There are thirteen weeks to a term, so as of today I am counting down weeks to the finish line. My courses may be interesting this term: graphic novels and comic books in the library, which I'm excited about, and issues in children's and youth services, which is at least relevant to my career. The term itself will be difficult, because both classes are at night, plus I will be working at least one night a week, possibly two. Working at night is fine, and standard for the public library, but night classes are tough for me. I am a total morning person. I do my best mental work before noon, and in the late afternoon, my concentration and mental clarity plummets. I'll need to come up with some sort of routine where I have downtime in the afternoon before going to class. But who cares! Here we go... thirteen!

I decided to try acupuncture again. In October, I saw my nephew and niece-in-law who practice Traditional Chinese Medicine and other holistic healing methods. They encouraged me to use our small insurance benefit on more treatment, even though I can't afford to continue it past that. I purposely started in December, so I could use the acupuncture allowance for 2012, then go straight into the benefit for the 2013 calendar year, for maximum bang for my insurance buck. I definitely feel a change. I have more energy, my head is clearer (less fibro fog), and I am cooler . Like many women my age, I am always overheated. My face is usually flushed, and I have frequent and pronounced hot flashes. I always ran warm - always preferred winter to summer, rarely complain about the cold, and so on - so this age-heat thing has been pretty dreadful. And suddenly, it's 90% gone. The doctor expected immediate results and seemed frustrated that it took five or six treatments to start working. He

Michael Moore: These young men and women sign up to risk their very lives to protect us -- and this is what they get in return: 1. They get sent off to wars that have NOTHING to do with defending America or saving our lives. They are used as pawns so that the military-industrial complex can make billions of dollars and the rich here can expand their empire. By "supporting the troops," that means I'm supposed to shut up, don't ask questions, do nothing to stop the madness, and sit by and watch thousands of them die? Well, I've done an awful lot to try and end this. But the only way you can honestly say you support the troops is to work night and day to get them out of these hell holes they've been sent to. And what have I done this week to bring the troops home? Nothing. So if I say "I support the troops," don't believe me -- I clearly don't support the troops because I've got more important things to do today, like return an iPhone that

Naomi Wolf, in The Guardian : Zero Dark Thirty is a gorgeously-shot, two-hour ad for keeping intelligence agents who committed crimes against Guantánamo prisoners out of jail. It makes heroes and heroines out of people who committed violent crimes against other people based on their race – something that has historical precedent. Your film claims, in many scenes, that CIA torture was redeemed by the "information" it "secured", information that, according to your script, led to Bin Laden's capture. This narrative is a form of manufacture of innocence to mask a great crime: what your script blithely calls "the detainee program". This is an excellent and important piece. I hope you will go here to read it .

In the current issue of Harper's , there is a long feature by author Barry Lopez about the sexual abuse he endured as a child, and his path of recovery and healing. It may be the best first-person account of such trauma you will ever see. Right now it is only available on the newstand or online by subscription. Harper's makes most of their features available online eventually. However, if you have a personal or professional interest in child sexual abuse, I highly recommend buying a copy of the January 2013 issue of Harper's as soon as you can. Barry Lopez, Sliver of Sky .

Have you heard about Line 9? Enbridge has begun a process that would create a third option to get their dirty tarsands oil out of Alberta to sell to the rest of the world. The Keystone XL pipeline would stretch from Alberta to Nebraska. (Gee, what could go wrong ?) The Northern Gateway pipeline would see, impossibly, huge supertankers threading through the rocky, island-dotted British Columbia coast. (Another no-brainer .) Under this third plan, Enbridge would reverse the flow in two existing pipelines - Line 9 and the Portland-Montreal Line. Oil would flow from Alberta through Sarnia, Ontario, onto Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area, into Quebec, through Montreal, and down into New England, ending in Casco Bay in Portland, Maine - approximately 1200 kilometres (750 miles), through the most densely populated area of Canada, through the sources of drinking water for millions of people. The route passes through 99 towns and cities and 14 indigenous communities. To quote NRDC , "

This beautiful wolf, the alpha male of the pack at the Haliburton Wolf Centre, was shot and killed on New Year's Day . The previous night, some idiot cut both the inner and outer fences on the pack's enclosure. Four wolves escaped. Haida is now dead, and the other wolves, who were born in captivity and are unlikely to be able to survive the winter on their own, were missing. An update from a local paper says that the other escapees have been spotted outside the fence, trying to get home. Wolf centre people are trying to lure them in with food. Poor Haida. What a terrible waste, and so traumatic for the rest of the pack. My wolf-loving friend J, who sent me this story, says: "It's just a shame that whoever vandalized the compound didn't get munched by the wolves on their way out." Can't say I disagree.