The American Memory Project – Japanese-American Internment

Posted on by thecactuslibrarian

I have driven on Catalina Highway en route to Mt. Lemmon near Tucson many times. Each time, I’ve seen the sign for the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground that is part of the Coronado National Forest. It has always been an anonymous name for me, to a certain extent, as I’ve never looked into who this man was.

Named after a Japanese-American man held prisoner in a US internment prison during WWII.

A week or two ago, a coworker was telling me how she spent one of her weekend days hiking the Prison Camp Trail near where the internment camp used to be. “Internment camp(?), you mean as in a WWII Interment Camp?” Mr. Hirabayashi, as it turns out, was a second-generation Japanese-American student at the University of Washington in the 1940s.He was convicted of violating the curfew aimed at Japanese-Americans that had been implemented by Executive Order 9066 during WWII. The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the conviction. Gordon eventually ended up in the internment camp located in the Catalina National Forest in what is now the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground. (See Visit the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation site (former WWII prison camp).

This conversation reminded me of a digital collection on The Library of Congress’ American Memory website, which exhibits Ansel Adams’ Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at the Manzanar War Relocation Center.  Adams donated over 200 prints and negatives to the collection, named the “Suffering under a Great Injustice”: Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar.

The exhibit includes the photographs, a short discussion about the legal evolution of the prison camps, Adams’ work at the camp, as well as resources for teachers. For librarians, the exhibit includes a description of the cataloging process and metadata.

Well worth checking out.

Yes, Virginia, Libraries are Still a Vital Component of Communities

Posted on by thecactuslibrarian

American Libraries has published a fantastic article about how the Queens Library in New York has responded to Hurricane Sandy. The library system is providing the types of services most folks would associate with libraries, such as being a resource for authoritative information about how to apply for emergency benefits, where prescriptions can be filled for those whose regular pharmacies were damaged or destroyed by the hurricane. In addition to providing information, library branches also became a hub for supplies, hot meals, emotional support, and fellowship. The full article is an absolutely wonderful read.

I absolutely love being a part of the library world.

From Libguides to Snowflakes: Libraries Respond to the Sandy Hook Tragedy

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Libraries everywhere have responded to the tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut a few weeks ago.  From providing materials to help kids cope with questions about such tragedies to collecting donations, books, and crafts for the staff and students of Sandy Hook, the library world is working to honor the victims and to support healing. Below is a very short list of what is being done.

Snowflake_SandyHook

The Danbury Connecticut Library has posted online resources from the Healthnet: Connecticut Consumer Health Information Network to help parents/guardians and their kids talk about violence.

The State of Delaware’s Division of Libraries’ blog has posted a LibGuide on how to help kids cope with the events that took place that day.

Other libraries are donating money. The Friends of the Weymouth Public Libraries in Massachusetts has donated money to the  Books Heal Hearts fund. The fund was established by the local Cyrenius H. Booth Library and “is a special project for healing that will make materials available for use in our library, our schools, and throughout our community, wherever there is a need and whatever that need may be. This will be an ongoing effort by the library to meet the immediate and future needs of our community,” according to the BHH Fund’s page on the library’s site.  The Booth Library has also posted information on family and grief counseling services (including a crisis hotline) on its homepage.

The Camden County Library (New Jersey) has posted community resources for having conversations with kids about the tragedy on its site.

The School Library Journal has posted a list of books for helping kids cope with tragedy.

Libraries such as the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library and the Gardiner Public Library are participating in the Snowflakes for Sandy Hook Project, in partnership with the National Council of PTAs and the Connecticut PTSA. The paper snowflakes, created by staff and patrons, will be sent to the Sandy Hook PTA.

Loss

Posted on by thecactuslibrarian

I was planning on blogging about a photograph exhibit on the Library of Congress’ American Memory site documenting a Japanese American internment camp in California. I’ll save that for another time.

Instead, considering the horrifying events from yesterday, I’d like to just take this small space in the internet universe to remember all of those killed and injured at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I cannot wrap my mind around what happened, nor can I imagine the grief the families must be experiencing. I cannot imagine the terror the kids and staff in the school must have felt, and, for those who survived, the trauma they are likely still experiencing.

Thoughts and prayers to all of the victims and their families.

Books and bikes – what else could a girl ask for?

Posted on by thecactuslibrarian

  

Photo of Pima County Public Libraries' (PCPL) first Book Bike on January 30, 2012 at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. The modified cargo bike, made by Haley Tricycles in Philadelphia, is outfitted with book shelves. Donated books will be given away during appearances. Photo provided by PCPL.

Photo of Pima County Public Libraries’ (PCPL) first Book Bike on January 30, 2012 at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. The modified cargo bike, made by Haley Tricycles in Philadelphia, is outfitted with book shelves. Donated books will be given away during appearances. Photo provided by PCPL.

Pima County Library Associate Toby Wehner, left, and volunteer Steve Zupcic, right, are seen with the Bookbike on August 15, 2012. The Bookbike provides books and information about library and literacy programs, library cards as well as bike maps and information about bicycling events. The books are free gifts to the community. Photo provided by PCPL.

Pima County Library Associate Toby Wehner, left, and volunteer Steve Zupcic, right, are seen with the Bookbike on August 15, 2012. The Bookbike provides books and information about library and literacy programs, library cards as well as bike maps and information about bicycling events. The books are free gifts to the community. Photo provided by PCPL.

I love my public library system for many, many reasons. In particular, I love Pima County Public Libraries (PCPL) because of its book bike program, started by the fabulous librarian Karen Greene.

I was fortunate to have ridden on the inaugural ride, where we gave out approximately 500 books. Folks of all ages were able to take home free books – books to keep and enjoy. Books are donated to the program by the public and by some of the fabulous businesses around Tucson.

Retention (and I don’t mean of the fluid kind) in Academic and College Libraries

Posted on by thecactuslibrarian

Working for a career college, I am keenly aware of recruitment and retention efforts.  As I sit in daily academic department meetings, I am constantly reminded of the school’s census, of what is (or is not) being done to retain students. As a librarian, I could scream from the mountain tops the importance of libraries in supporting academics. However, my reasoning sometimes (more times that I would like) falls on deaf ears.

This brings me to retention. With budgets being cut and layoffs occuring in many sectors, and, here, especially in my campus’ case as a for-profit-college, it becomes more and more important for libraries and librarians to be able to not just discuss, but actually illustrate and provide proof, of our value and of the positive effects libraries and library services can have on campus retention efforts.

In the November 2012 issue of the College and Resource Libraries News, academic librarians Nicole Pagowsky (University of Arizona) and Jaime Hammond [Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC)] discuss this very topic (“A programmatic approach: Systematically tying the library to student retention efforts on campus“). On my own campus (a campus that is a part of a nationwide network of for-profit college campuses), information literacy/library instruction sessions are typically offered when faculty request them for their classes. I do provide a short (typically 15-20 minutes – if I go any longer, the instructors begin to stress a bit) orientation sessions for all new students; however, this orientation session includes orienting the students to our student portal, student email, and logging in to the network, leaving very little time to actually discuss the school’s Virtual Library, print holdings, and services that the library (that would be me) provides, let along providing any real instruction on searching, evaluating resources, etc.

One obstacle for me in presenting more library related instruction sessions during class time has been the limited time instructors have to provide their own material during class sessions.  This has been a primary reason (at least on my campus, though apparently not necessarily through the larger network of campuses of which we’re apart) for resistance from the instructors and even our campus Dean. It would seem that such instructional mini-workshops would be best presented during classes as I would be able to impact the most students.  However, because of the resistance I’ve encountered, I will likely, in the near future, begin to offer voluntary workshops before classes. My hope is that I have a significant turnout among students.  Here’s to hoping!