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Public libraries asking for free zines is so exploitative and gross. Zine makers are as entitled as getting paid for their work as authors are.
And for the record, if any library ever wants to buy a zine of mine? I’ll happily make a special durable edition via laminating each page and binding with knotting yarn through punched holes at no extra cost.
I’m not against libraries, I am just calling out a bad thing that my local library is doing for its zine fest. (Asking for a zine to be donated in lieu of table fee. Like, fuck right off with that-)
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Stepdad got a new HP printer. Needed help connecting it to the wifi. (Why does it need an app? Why is there no screen?) Almost certain he did not look into the details of their subscription service. (Hasn’t signed up. Yet.) $1.79 a month for 10 pages? For 10 pages a month I’d go to the library. Our local library offers thirty cents a page for black-and-white or color printing for fifty, and I know there’s a fair chance I’ll get a discount if I bring my own paper. I will gladly give my local library $20 before I give HP ten cents.
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Today, during the second round of Battle of the Books*:
Team Member: *anxiously* IS IT TRUE OR FALSE???
2nd Team Member: *hysterically screeching* IT’S TRUUUUUEEEE!!!!!
3rd Team Member: AAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Emotions were running high. lol
* A game where the kids read the assigned books and then answer trivia questions about them. At the elementary school I work at, we have 1 round where all the Grade 4-6 students who want to participate can compete, then a second round that’s the official game, where the top two teams represent the school against the other schools in the district.
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Yknow what hurts? It’s wanting a million different books but knowing they’re far cheaper as ebooks or free as library books (if you can find them).
Not to sound like Book Goblin, but I want my book trophies!
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Today’s Shelf Life episode takes us to the preservation section and their ingenious way to store glass plate negatives in a custom archival container.
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“Hi, you’ve reached an actual person. Do you want to try that again in the form of a question?”
Clearly I need to be blunt with people who do this on the library reference chat. Which, btw, has a click through letting them know they are being connected with an actual person.
GenAI chat bots are programmed to be polite, unfortunately that leaves me with few options.
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Seattle’s libraries could see a major boost 📚💰 Mayor Katie Wilson is proposing a $410M, 7-year levy—nearly 50% bigger than 2019—to fund hours, safety, collections & branch upgrades. What’s at stake for Seattle readers? 👉 https://hyperlocalnews.website/seaen/seattle-mayor-proposes-50-increase-in-library.html
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St. Charles County libraries ban LGBTQ flags, other ‘personal beliefs’ decor
Ethan Colbert at St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Library employees here have been ordered to remove flags — including LGBTQ pride flags— and other decor that “promotes personal beliefs” from their workspaces, officials said on Tuesday.
St. Charles City-County Library CEO John Greifzu said the move is part of a push to make the library “welcoming to everyone."
In a statement that Greifzu said was shared with library staff this week, employees were reminded that workspace displays should "not promote personal beliefs, social agendas, political affiliations, advocacy positions, social positions or personal identity expression."
But some library employees, including some who identify as members or allies of the LGBTQ community, say they were targeted. Their pride flags had been up for years, but, in the recent warning, they were told they could face "disciplinary action” for not removing them.
PROMO Missouri, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, criticized the move.
“Policies like this only reinforce the idea that simply being LGBTQ+ is political and that we shouldn’t have the ability to freely express ourselves,” said spokesperson Robert Fischer. “Expression is a First Amendment right and should be treated as such by any government entity."
Greifzu, however, said no employees or particular flags have been targeted and that the policy has been in effect, with various levels of adherence, for roughly a decade. Over the years, employees have had to remove a St. Louis Cardinals flag and a "Thin Blue Line” flag, which signals support for law enforcement, as well, officials said.
This latest push limits employees to only showing the American or the Missouri state flag on their desks. Flags promoting law enforcement and first responders, the Black Lives Matter movement and other “various cultural movements” are barred, including in non-public areas.
Flags from other states or other countries are also not allowed under the policy.
The push, Griefzu said Tuesday, was sparked by “a concern brought to the administration’s attention regarding the display of a flag representing personal beliefs in a staff workspace."
The ban applies to images on other items, too, such as mouse pads, screensavers, stickers or reusable cups so the library can "uphold impartiality” and be a professional and neutral space, he said.
Shameful and disgraceful from St. Charles City-County Library here.
They have issued a bigotry-fueled ban on LGBTQ+ Pride Flags and “personal beliefs” decor (including sports teams).