METRO’s Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York (DCMNY) repository provides online access to digital collections that document the history of the Metropolitan New York region. Through DCMNY, METRO endeavors to cultivate sustainable digital spacemaking and cultural heritage resource exchange, provide access to collections materials from a spectrum of diverse viewpoints, and support research activities for individuals seeking information and resources related to Metropolitan New York’s history and unique communities. Join us for an information session for METRO members interested in participating in DCMNY, led by METRO's Digital Services Staff, Allison Sherrick and Diego Pino Navarro. Allison and Diego will discuss the DCMNY membership model, the Archipelago platform that powers DCMNY, and walk through the DCMNY Contribution Guidelines and Requirements. Allison and Diego will also provide time for a Q&A session with participants.

This interactive workshop builds on foundational concepts covered in the first session, Foundations of Data Visualization: Theory and Techniques. Scheduled three weeks later to allow time for individual practice, this session provides an opportunity for participants to workshop their own data visualizations. Participants will engage in discussions about their data visualizations, receive and provide constructive feedback, and develop strategies to make their library data more accessible and impactful. By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: Apply visualization techniques to create compelling and effective representations of library data Critically evaluate and refine your visualizations through peer feedback and iteration Develop an approach to using visualization tools and techniques tailored to your specific data and goals This is Part 2 of a 2-part series. Find out more about Part 1 here. About our presenter: Jordan Packer (she/her) is a data analyst and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. As the Senior Data Analyst for the Assessment Program at Columbia University Libraries, Jordan leads library assessment and analytics initiatives, supports colleagues in their own assessment projects, and collaborates with staff to effectively build data analysis tools. Additionally, Jordan serves as a part-time faculty member at the Parsons School of Design, where she teaches undergraduate courses, such as Information Visualization and Politics and Ethics of Design. Please review our Code of Conduct, our Statement on Viewpoints, and details on Interpreter Services.

So you want to be an information worker? Congratulations and welcome to the noble and complex world of public service! An MLS/MLIS degree can prepare you for a lot of the technical side of things, but it may not prepare you for the everyday reality of the work. Join Brooklyn Public Library's Emma Karin Eriksson for a seminar on what to expect in the first five years of your information career. Designed for both current students and early career library workers, you'll hear about her journey, and gain practical tips about what the work is really like. Following this event, participants will be able to: Understand strategies for standing out in the job market Confidently handle networking opportunities Determine and set goals for success in their first five years Participants will not only gain valuable and honest information from an experienced professional, they will also have the opportunity to: Meet peers and make connections Pick up a goodie bag filled with professional development swag Enjoy lunch, which will be provided for all participants Bring all the questions you have about a career in libraries! Please review our Code of Conduct, our Statement on Viewpoints, and details on Interpreter Services.

Join Library Freedom Project, Library Futures, and Metropolitan New York Library Council as we host some of our favorite small, progressive publishers like Verso Books, Seven Stories Press, Feminist Press, PM Press, Pluto Press, and more at Francis Kite Club in Alphabet City (Manhattan). We'll hear about new titles, and there will be door prizes and advanced reader copies. Tickets are $20 and get you drinks and food all night!

Join the Prison Library Support Network for the last Abolitionist Futures meeting of 2024. We are beyond thrilled to be hosting the incredible Dean Spade as our guest. As part of this conversation, we’ll discuss Dean Spade’s Mutual Aid (a resource PLSN has used directly in its organizing work), and ways that groups like our own can work through difficult conversations, major organizing decisions, and structural change -- all while remaining accountable to our stakeholders (specifically -- the folks inside who rely on PLSN’s work!). While this conversation is free to attend, we will be sharing our 2024 PLSN fundraiser -- ending at the end of December! Attendees are welcome to contribute a suggested donation of $20 after the discussion (all donations through 2024 are matched 5x!) Materials to discuss: Mutual Aid (chapter 5) by Dean Spade. While we’ll be focusing part of our discussion on decision-making structure in organizing work, we highly recommend reading the whole book (available at BPL, QPL, NYPL). Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back! (documentary by Dean Spade). Recommended by Dean Spade: Voices from Within documentary (23 min, available to rent on Prime Video) - explore the film trailer here Explore resources about Calls from Home - a radio show featuring prisoner families’ voices broadcast into rural prisons. You can listen to a recording of a holiday broadcast here, or explore several resources at the bottom of this page. About Our Host: Dean Spade is an organizer, writer and teacher. He has been working to build queer and trans liberation based in racial and economic justice for the past two decades. He is a professor at the Seattle University School of Law. He is the author of Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law, and Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the next) (published by Verso Press in October 2020). Dean’s new book, Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together, will be out in January 2024 and can be pre-ordered now with the discount code F<3CKED from Bluestockings Bookstore. More of Dean’s videos, words, and work can be found on his website.

Join METRO’s Reference and Instruction Interest Group for a conversation about decolonial perspectives - practices and frameworks - in librarianship. For the upcoming 2025 Critical Pedagogy Symposium on Decentering the West, the Case Studies in Critical Pedagogy will feature case studies and a primer for learning about and thinking about anti-colonial theory and pedagogy together. A call for proposals for this event is open through November 15th. Find more information here, and submit your proposals here.