Tag: Brooklyn

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Exciting Changes Happening Everywhere!

It has been a *crazy* time in the land of Julia, but I wanted to  update my readers about a few of the things going on!

New Book!
My first book, based on the Modernizing Markham blog and project I did for the Center for the Book, is now out through Candle Light Press! It’s going to be the first in a series of books that deal with the works of Gervase Markham and the foodways and domestic culture of 17th century England. I’m excited about it because I love the press, and the project allowed me to pull in learning from my work with social media and blogging along with work in book art and history. I’ve got a few ideas for what the next books in the series might be, but I’m always open to suggestions too!
You can purchase the book here, or here, although as always I encourage folks to first try to order books through local indie booksellers.

Moving (again!)
Wait, you say, didn’t you just move to Tallahassee 2 years ago? Well, yes. And I love it here–I’ve made some of my closest and most incredible friends, grown as a scholar within the best department I could imagine being involved in, and had plenty of fun experiences. I’ll definitely feel homesick for this place, but I’m moving on in late May to go to New York in order to work on my dissertation research and to live in the same city as my partner.
Right now I’m selling off my artwork and most of my possessions, and I’m looking to adjunct or work in a research facility to bolster my income while I work on the next steps to my degree. We’re planning on living in Brooklyn, so if you’re in that neck of the woods, let me know! I’m always up for librarian/PhD meetups!

Housekeeping
Last, I wanted to solicit some input about my site: I’m considering making another page on my site that has resources for recent grads/LIS students. One of our faculty members has done a similar thing, and I think it’s an awesome idea and a great way to continue to connect with and help students after the semester ends. I’m not sure exactly what would go up there yet besides his site, some things from Hack Library School, and INALJ, but I’m curious if any students out there would find that helpful or if any students/instructors have tips on what should go on such a page. If you have an idea, please leave it in the comments!

 

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Rebuilding Libraries After Hurricane Sandy

Update 11/8: So far, we’re up to $80 between all three libraries. I’ll keep updating totals as more people donate!

It has been a little while since I’ve gotten the chance to update here, but there are good reasons (I promise!) that I’ll be announcing to you all soon. The recent hurricane, though, was enough to knock me out of hibernation. It has been so devastating to watch the impact of the storm on communities around the East Coast, and particularly hard to see the devastation in my future home. I am absolutely in love with that area of the country and with all the people I know there, and have been trying to think of ways to really make an impact from afar. I’ve donated to the Red Cross and a few other groups, but the thing that keeps coming to mind is the success we had as a community of professionals in raising funds after the Joplin tornado.

So, this message is a plea to everyone in libraryland (and everyone who loves libraries) to show that kind of support to libraries in need. The staff are working like crazy to keep libraries open and serving as the most effective community spaces possible by providing resources, bringing in trained experts, and giving people a place to charge their phones and get out of the cold.  When the library isn’t open, library staff are going mobile to bring resources to their communities.
This is a time when our colleagues are really shining, and showing why their libraries matter to communities. I know this is something we would all do in the same position, because we love our patrons and we love our libraries, and I’m hoping we can all come together from afar and help those communities out. There is an excellent article in American Libraries Direct  that helped guide me to some resources, and I’m listing them here, along with opportunities to donate to individual libraries that have listed immediate needs on their websites. If anyone knows of other  libraries in impacted communities that are taking donations, please share them in the comments. It would be great to have our library love reach as many people as possible!

Libraries in need of assistance

Queens Library: Several libraries were damaged during the storm, and many materials were lost. These libraries are in some of the hardest-hit areas, which means their patrons need everything from FEMA assistance to outlets to charge their phones. Staff have taken bookmobiles out to bring resources to patrons and are doing some really incredible work, but they need help to rebuild their collections. Their library foundation has a donation page where you can donate using a credit card.

Brooklyn Public Library: BPL has not set up a disaster-specific donations page, but some of the branches sustained damage during Sandy, according to the BPL website. The library has a page for making donations which allows you to specify where you want to gift to go (I would recommend selecting ‘where it is most needed.’) If anyone knows of additional funding needs for BPL (or a recovery-specific funding site), please let me know.

New Jersey Libraries: The New Jersey Library Association has set up a donation page to raise funds for libraries around the state that were damaged during the storm. Like the other libraries, these folks are working hard to help communities recover, and need assistance as they begin to rebuild.

I’ve donated to each of these sites, and I hope you’ll join me today in helping out our colleagues in need. Our field is filled with passionate and awesome professionals, and I’m looking forward to seeing that in action! Once you donate, you can tweet your amount using the hashtag #sandylibraries, leave it in the comments on this post, or send me an e-mail with the amount (JuliaCSkinner at gmail dot com). I’ll update the totals as I get them in! Remember, any amount (even $5) helps–and enough small donations really add up. Thanks everyone!

Update 11/8: Reader-Suggested Sites

American Library Association site for how to help U.S. libraries after a disaster.