Category: Random Thoughts

I’m sure most campuses have a similar point of hilarity. On our campus, the hilarity has to do with mass email communication. There are three email lists that govern our lives: the one for all faculty, the one for all students, and the one for all staff.

On our campus, only the faculty and the Dean of the College’s office can email all faculty, only the Dean of Students’ office can email all students, and everyone can email all staff. So I’ve been in meetings where people say “Well, we’ll email all staff and they can forward it to interested faculty or students.” Meanwhile, the staff get the PDF newsletters from all the different departments, the special event notifications… basically, we know a lot about a lot of stuff on campus.

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Ok, I wasn’t going to write more about this. I felt like other people were doing a much better job, and I don’t have much of substance to add. And besides, writing about this kind of thing is apparently risky business and I’m kind of risk averse. But here’s the thing: I’m mad. So here I am again.

I’m mad because I myself am reluctant to put names into the sentence “So-and-so created a hostile environment for me and other women at such-and-such conference” in a public and googleable place. I’m mad because women like Amanda, who experienced blatant and totally illegal sexual harassment at conferences, are afraid to name their harassers. I’m mad because the sentence “But he continues to be famous and I’m just a small fish in libraryland” is such a ridiculously common theme in these conversations, and such a silencing force in our profession (the quote is from Amanda’s post).

The only men who have created hostile environments in gatherings of librarians that I’ve been part of (online and off) have been big name librarians who are on the keynote speaking circuit. I have seen pictures of their naked crotches. I have seen pictures of their daughters in bustiers. I have heard them use their keynote microphones to talk about tea bagging. And I have heard of them doing even more things of this nature that I didn’t witness directly, like using the phrase “you ignorant slut” towards fellow panelists.

And yet they continue to rise through the ranks of librarians and become more and more powerful. These kinds of things are apparently “all in good fun” and hilarious jokes.

Here’s news for you powerful men and the conference organizers who keep you in business: These things are not funny. I no longer attend your sessions for a reason. And no, I am not a super sensitive little girl who just needs to grow up and realize that you’re joking. I have a pretty good sense of humor, actually. Cut it out.

Looking for a way to help out? Consider supporting #teamharpy with words or money or both, and let conference organizers know when this kind of thing happens to you.

[Edited to add: for those of you who don’t know about #teamharpy, conversations about sexual harassment in libraryland were recently sparked off by one prominent male librarian suing two women for 1.25 million dollars. He’s claiming defamation because they spoke out about his harassment. Libraryland is in heated conversation, now, about power dynamics, the silencing affect that lawsuits like this cause, and exactly how much of a problem this is, and how prevalent. Right now the message is clear, speaking out is more dangerous than harassing.]

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We don’t do a lot of collection development in my department, but every once in a while I’m glad we still get choice cards. Otherwise how would my colleague have learned about this exciting new resource!

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This summer will be a summer of upheaval in my physical spaces around me. We still have 4 weeks of classes before summer starts here, but the upheaval isn’t waiting for such things as academia.

The academic support center is moving into the library (so exciting! so many possibilities for closer collaboration!). All but 3 Reference & Instruction librarians are moving offices (some into offices that will be newly constructed because of the academic support center moving in and using space that currently has some of our offices in it). Our technical services department (which is having space carved out of it for the displaced reference librarians) is being completely torn up and redesigned. All the lab computers in the library are up for replacement. The stone on the outside of the reference area half of the building has to be torn off and replaced. The stairwell in the reference area has a crack in the wall and needs repair. We’re putting in some new moveable shelves. An area just in front of the library needs to be torn up and rebuilt.

Meanwhile at home, the city is tearing up my street and replacing water and sewer lines and such (and it has become clear that the city doesn’t quite know how any given house gets its water and sewer connection, so confusion abounds).

Any one of these things would make for an adventure, but all of it together? I’ve decided to choose to find everything related to all of this both exciting and hilarious.

Also, if there are any more potential disruptions, this summer is definitely the time to squeeze them in while we’re all helter skelter anyway. Strike while the iron is confused!

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