Barbrarianism

"Book Recommendations" will be a format for sharing any and all books - with some context regarding use in a library. Maybe. I might keep it to just the review in some cases. Either way, here's a review of Emily Carroll 's Through the Woods . Citation: Carroll, E. (2014). Through the Woods. Simon and Schuster.  Summary: After showing this book to a colleague, they came up with a great way to describe this graphic novel; Colonial Gothic. Carroll’s work is not only beautiful and compelling, but it is couched in unease. The five stories in Through the Woods escort the reader through the sensation of being pulled “down, into the dark”, like Carroll imagined as a young child reading by a single lamp as a child. On the surface, this is a graphic novel filled with characters that are forced to confront something looking at them from a dark corner, or reappearing after being long gone, or unexpected dangers that prickle the back of your neck. A little deeper, and the reader f...

 The Public Library as a Resistive Space in the Neoliberal City  This format is just that - a short review of an article related to library or information science! The Public Library as a Resistive Space in the Neoliberal City This article uses a single library in Queens as a case study of alternative services that all libraries provide beyond checkout of books and equipment. It acknowledges libraries not only as spaces that can establish and enforce social inequalities, but as institutions constructed outside of capitalistic intent can also act as spaces for resistance for populations that may not otherwise have the means or resources to compensate for lacking social services. The article demonstrates the variety of services and attitudes held within a small set of libraries, and is an interesting breakdown of how important libraries are for patrons as community spaces! 

Makerspace: Global Village Construction Set by Open Source Ecology Welcome to the Makerspace! These sorts of posts will focus on any and all tools, designs, or training that allow for personal or small community fabrication. This is not restricted to libraries as well! The goal is to find and comment on how these sorts of resources allow for individuals to not only create but also learn in that process. The Global Village Construction Set is an awesome project started by Open Source Ecology . It is designed to provide a full suite of modular tools and equipment that will allow for farming, construction, fabrication, and many other necessary tasks in providing for a small community. Much of the work they've done has allowed for easier access in countries with access to commercial farming or construction equipment, and is still in the process of designing all of the parts that would allow for a full community to be built. One of the most interesting parts in the design process is th...

  Library Feature: Burton Barr Mobile Hotspot Lending For the Library Feature posts, I'll typically share a service, tool, or program at another library. After that I'll reflect on the sorts of services we provide where I currently work - or how I might imagine implementing something similar.  For this initial post I've got Burton Barr Public Library  and their mobile hotspot lending program. Is this case, we've got a hotspot lending program as well! It's a great service considering that the library can functionally "expand its walls" by providing patrons with hotspots, which accommodates more usage of online library resources. In Burton Barr's case its position in the community allows them to provide more services for patrons to utilize personally, and an internet connection is an important piece of community support that is great to see! Usage of hotspots in our library typically involves students checking out hotspots to take out over break or compe...

So, what is a Barbrarian? Simply put, it's a dumb portmanteau of Librarian and Barbarian, and I think it illustrates how I feel about librarianship as I pursue my MLIS. So - let's look at the parts of Barbrarianism. Librarian (li ·brar·i·an) /līˈbrerēən/ noun: librarian; plural noun: librarians a person, typically with a degree in library science, who administers or assists in a library. Barbarian (bar·bar·i·an) /bärˈberēən/ noun: barbarian; plural noun: barbarians an uncultured or brutish person. "you arrogant barbarian!" I think one of the hardest parts of getting into information science and librarianship is that good ol' feeling called Imposter Syndrome  and playing around with the word Barbrarian was my way to combat my own inadequacy when it came to referring to myself as a librarian. "I don't have a degree in library science, so what do I know?"  Thankfully, that feeling transformed into, "oh hey, why do we do things this way?" or ...