Please join us for the Second Annual STEM Information Professionals Mini Conference at Barnard College in New York City, co-sponsored by Barnard College and the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). This two-day conference, taking place Thursday, March 20th and Friday, March 21st from 8:30am to 4:30pm both days, aims to bring together science librarians, other liaison librarians, archivists, museum curators and workers, library workers, LIS students, and other information-focused professionals who want to learn more about information and research services in the sciences. Attend this conference ready to build community, share ideas, and discuss critical approaches to instruction and research in the sciences. Registration fees for this conference are on a sliding scale! All levels are self-selected at registration; please choose the level that best aligns with your current situation. All levels receive the same great experience: both days of conference sessions, invited speakers, coffee/tea in the morning, lunches (takeaway containers for people observing Ramadan). Please note: You only have to register once to attend both days! Would you prefer to attend virtually? An online-only option is available for free, but does not include coffee or lunch. All sessions take place via Zoom. Register here! Call for Session Proposals: Submit by January 21, 2025! Do you have an idea for a session or workshop? Find out more about what the conference team is looking for here, and submit your proposal ideas by January 21, 2025 using this form.

Please join us for the Second Annual STEM Information Professionals Mini Conference at Barnard College in New York City, co-sponsored by Barnard College and the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). This two-day conference, taking place Thursday, March 20th and Friday, March 21st from 8:30am to 4:30pm both days, aims to bring together science librarians, other liaison librarians, archivists, museum curators and workers, library workers, LIS students, and other information-focused professionals who want to learn more about information and research services in the sciences. Attend this conference ready to build community, share ideas, and discuss critical approaches to instruction and research in the sciences. Registration fees for this conference are on a sliding scale! All levels are self-selected at registration; please choose the level that best aligns with your current situation. All levels receive the same great experience: both days of conference sessions, invited speakers, coffee/tea in the morning, lunches (takeaway containers for people observing Ramadan). Please note: You only have to register once to attend both days! Would you prefer to attend virtually? An online-only option is available for free, but does not include coffee or lunch. All sessions take place via Zoom. Register here! Call for Session Proposals: Submit by January 21, 2025! Do you have an idea for a session or workshop? Find out more about what the conference team is looking for here, and submit your proposal ideas by January 21, 2025 using this form.

Join us for an exclusive, closed-to-the-public tour of the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures, which showcases some of the most extraordinary items from the 56 million in its collections. We'll see manuscripts, artworks, letters, still and moving images, recordings, and more! Current exhibitions include "Censorship and the Freedom to Read" and "James Baldwin: Mountain to Fire." Following the tour, join us for a social hour at a nearby location to connect with fellow local library and archives workers. Please note: Space is limited, so if you’ve secured a spot but then find you’re unable to join, please let us know so we can open your spot to someone on the waitlist.

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. Schedule: Introductory Remarks Primer Miriam Neptune, Director of Milstein Center Exhibitions, Programming and Public Engagement, Barnard College Library The primer on Case Studies in Libraries from decolonial perspectives will be offered by Miriam Neptune, who brings her creative work as a filmmaker to her library practice of engagement. Neptune collaborates with artists to incorporate media, digital projects, and community engagement projects that cultivate decolonial perspectives in library space. Neptune has supported the installations of various in-space, and digital practices, from her co-curation of the exhibition Undesign the Redline @ Barnard, to most recently I Am Queen Mary, a transnational public art project and collaborative sculpture that memorializes Denmark’s colonial impact in the Caribbean and those who fought against it, and most recently Trigger Planting, 2.0, which explores the landscape of abortion access and reproductive injustice in the United States. Neptune will introduce a process of community connection through various interrogations of the library's roles in practice, geographies, and space. About our presenter: Miriam Neptune is the inaugural Director of Milstein Center Exhibitions, Programming and Public Engagement. She has worked at Barnard College Library in various capacities since 2011, and at Smith College as Digital Scholarship Librarian from 2015-2018. She was previously Barnard Library’s Director of Teaching, Learning, and Digital Scholarship, and Interim Co-Dean, and as the Senior Associate Director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women. From 2021-2023, Miriam co-curated the exhibition Undesign the Redline @ Barnard. She also co-produced the bilingual digital humanities project Nos Cambió La Vida: Our Lives Transformed, and was organizer of the annual Scholar and Feminist Conference and an editor of The Scholar and Feminist Online. Miriam is also a filmmaker whose creative work focuses on resistance to anti-blackness, forced displacement, and gendered violence in the Americas, partnering on activist media projects with Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees. Case Study 1: Israeli Damage to Archives, Libraries, and Museums in Gaza, October 2023–January 2024: Reflections on Reporting Gretchen Alexander, Brooklyn Public Library, and Librarians & Archivists with Palestine Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP) is an all-volunteer organization that was founded in 2013, following a two week delegation of information workers to Palestine. In December 2023, two months into the ongoing genocide in Gaza, LAP began the process of attempting to document the destruction of libraries and archives in Gaza. Through our research, we identified two archives, twelve libraries, and eight museums that had been damaged or destroyed between October 2023 and January 2024. Despite cataloging losses across different types of institutions, there are many archives and book collections that remain unrepresented in our report, including personal libraries and school libraries. In the eight months since this report was first published, the scale of cultural destruction has reached a level beyond comprehension. In this presentation, a member of LAP will unpack the process of researching and writing the report. We will highlight how the destruction of archives and libraries represents a fundamental act of colonial violence, an act that has deep historical context in Palestine. By raising awareness and transparency about these significant losses, we engage with our potential as information workers to strengthen our de-colonial frameworks and capitalize on our visibility. About our presenter: Gretchen Alexander is a librarian at Brooklyn Public Library and a member of Librarians & Archivists with Palestine. Case Study 2: SHIFT from SIFT: Infusing Design Justice to Source Evaluation Shannon Simpson, Scholarly Instruction Librarian, Kenyon College Helping students learn how to effectively evaluate information for use in personal and scholarly endeavors is not always an easy nut to crack. Having adapted the CRAAP test to consider more perspectives beyond scholarly voices and to consider the capitalist nature of information and structures of white supremacy that in large part are still in place, CRAAP can take a long time to get through with so many added adjustments. However, switching to the SIFT method didn’t seem comprehensive enough, either. Enter: Design Justice. Design Justice is a set of principles that asks us to consider Indigenous Principles, and those most impacted by design at the heart of the process. While useful for many other aspects of instruction, I recently started utilizing the Design Justice rubric of “Harm and Help” into the SIFT (now my S.H.I.F.T) acronym and found it filled a much needed gap I was looking for. Asking students to consider who information was designed to Help or Harm and who has access, now and when the information may have first been created, helps illuminate information gatekeepers from the past and present, and illuminate and articulate these barriers in their projects while contemplating a world where information could be more freely available for everyone. In this short talk, I will walk attendees through how to interactively engage students with a more decolonized and anti-racist approach to information evaluation using the Design Justice infused approach of the SHIFT method. About our presenter: Shannon Simpson, Scholarly Instruction Librarian, Kenyon College, has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous articles, presentations, research studies, and web material for various libraries, conferences, consulting firms, and print journals. Her writing, instruction, and research is currently focused on information literacy, design justice, critical pedagogies, diversity, and equity. In a previous life, Shannon played in a national symphony in South America and attained a Series 7 brokerage license. Shannon has an MLIS and has completed certificates from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and the Harvard Leadership Institute. Case Study 3: Praxisioners Platicando: Fostering Belonging Through Culturally Centered Learning Daisy Muralles, Equity & Open Resources Librarian & Vanessa Varko-Fontana, Latinx Student Success Coordinator, California State University, East Bay We took a popular educational model often utilized in libraries, the book club, and added a cultural and community building lens as part of that experience. In this case study we will share our pilot project of how a book club acted as a vehicle to hold platicas that allowed Hispanic/Latinx students space to come together with their own cultural experiences as teachers and learners. We explored things that we didn't know that much about within our culture–the unnamed things that somehow we understood as part of our cultural identities and selves but not always sure of where or why they are part of our culture. We are a Latinx coordinator and a Latinx librarian navigating higher education and currently working at a Hispanic serving institution that recently received the Seal of Excellencia. As praxisioners, we recognize that creating these spaces benefits our students as well as ourselves. We need to keep supporting ourselves, as Latinx educators and cultural workers in higher education, to be able to show up for our racially and ethnically diverse students. We need to keep creating spaces that support and retain us, allowing us the agency to pursue cultural programming and learning opportunities we recognize as impactful to our students AND ourselves. About our presenters: Daisy Muralles, Equity & Open Resources Librarian & Vanessa Varko-Fontana, Latinx Student Success Coordinator, California State University, East Bay Conversation

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 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!

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.

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.

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.

Join us for a tour of our fall exhibitions at the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA), Luis Fernando Benedit: Invisible Labyrinths and Dueñas de la Noche: Trans Lives and Dreams in 1980s Caracas. Visitors will also be able to visit the Research Center, which houses the ISLAA Library and Archives. Luis Fernando Benedit: Invisible Labyrinths explores a pivotal period of work by the Argentine artist Luis Fernando Benedit (1937–2011), highlighting his undeniable contributions to the international development of Conceptualism and Systems art. Organized in three sections, it presents his paintings, Plexiglas environments for plants and animals, and experimental installations from the 1960s and ’70s, alongside original notebooks, photographs, and videos from the Luis Benedit collection and the Centro de Arte y Comunicación (CAYC) collection in the ISLAA Library and Archives. Many of the materials from the Centro de Arte y Comunicación collection that are on view have been digitized and made available through a partnership with the International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA) at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). Dueñas de la Noche: Trans Lives and Dreams in 1980s Caracas features Trans, a 1982 documentary by filmmakers Manuel Herreros de Lemos and Mateo Manaure Arilla that follows a group of Venezuelan trans women in early 1980s Caracas as they share their dreams and demonstrate their resilience against the backdrop of the city. Expanding on an exhibition produced through the 2023 ISLAA Artist Seminar Initiative at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard), it marks the first time Trans is shown in New York City, providing an intimate look at these women’s experiences as sex workers, their aspirations, and their community. The exhibition includes portraits of the women in the film, which were taken in exchange for their participation, alongside ephemera related to its production and reception from the Manuel Herreros de Lemos and Mateo Manaure Arilla archive in the ISLAA Library and Archives. About ISLAA: The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) supports the study and visibility of Latin American art. ISLAA recognizes Latin American artists and cultural movements as integral to the trajectory of twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. We seek to expand these narratives by creating opportunities for researchers, curators, and the public through grants, exhibitions, publications, and our art and archival collections. Following the tour, join us for a social hour at a nearby location to connect with fellow local library and archives workers. Please note: Space is limited, so if you’ve secured a spot but then find you’re unable to join, please let us know so we can open your spot to someone on the waitlist.

Among the many styles and theories of management, using a people-centered approach can provide many benefits for your library team. According to Workramp, “People-centric leadership means taking an empathetic, compassionate approach to managing team members. People-centric leaders are invested in their employees, both in their professional success, and in their overall well-being.” This approach can create a thriving work-place where employees feel valued, which leads to greater team morale, longer retention, better collaboration and teamwork, as well as increased creativity, productivity, and meaningful communication. This webinar introduces the concept of a people-centered approach to management, how it compares to other management styles, and how leaders and managers can successfully incorporate aspects of this style into their library. Viewers will learn: The meaning of people-centered leadership and the theories behind it The benefits as well as possible challenges to a people-centered style of leadership What makes a people-centered leader Specific ways to incorporate the elements of people-centered leadership into the workplace Resources and tools for becoming a more people-centered manager or leader About our presenter: Rhonda Evans is the Director of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library at the New York Botanical Garden, one of the largest and most comprehensive botanical libraries in the world. Rhonda joined NYBG from the New York Public Library where she held various roles over eight years. For most of her tenure at NYPL she was the Assistant Chief Librarian at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rhonda has written for multiple library publications, including Libraries: Culture, History, and Society, Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, and the anthology The Black Librarian in America: Reflections, Resistance, and Reawakening. Rhonda is very active within the museum and library professions. She was the former Co-Chair of the History Committee for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Rhonda has served as the Chair of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Intellectual Freedom Round Table, was an ALA presidential appointee to the Intellectual Freedom Committee, she recently worked with Lincoln Center on the Legacies of San Juan Hill Project, and currently serves on the board of the Museums Council of New York City. Rhonda has also taught in the MLIS program at Pratt Institute. Prior to entering the library profession, Rhonda was a practicing attorney in New York.

Join us for an exploration of core principles of data visualization and their application within library settings. This webinar introduces fundamental concepts and techniques for visualizing both qualitative and quantitative data. We cover visualization methods, including charts, graphs, and infographics, and discuss how these tools can enhance data storytelling, support decision-making, and create meaningful visual representations of library data. By the end of this webinar, attendees will be able to: Understand key principles of effective data visualization Recognize and differentiate between various visualization types and their best uses for qualitative and quantitative data Assess the effectiveness of different visualization methods in communicating complex library insights 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.

Join us for a behind-the-scenes studio and archive tour of Democracy Now!, one of the leading U.S.-based independent daily news broadcasts in the world. Founded in 1996, Democracy Now! provides reporting including breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. Following the tour, join us for a social hour at a nearby location to connect with fellow local library and archives workers. Please note: Space is limited, so if you’ve secured a spot but then find you’re unable to join, please let us know so we can open your spot to someone on the waitlist. Registration will be closed by Tuesday, November 6th. Where? This event is in person at Democracy Now! headquarters located in Manhattan, New York City. Due to privacy reasons, we will send the location to registrants directly by Friday, November 8th.

Understanding the "manosphere" -- a discursive online space occupied by a loose confederacy of interest groups encompassing a wide range of ideologies and beliefs centered on reinforcing patriarchy -- is important for information professionals for many reasons. First, many manosphere sites act as echo chambers which significantly contribute to the spread of misinformation and hate speech. Narratives on the manosphere tend to reinforce rigid gender binaries and hierarchies. These narratives negate the humanity of women and LGBTQ+ individuals, fueling the biased logic underlying discriminatory policies such as banning books in public libraries that contain LGBTQ+ content. Being aware of manosphere ideologies and their online presence is also crucial for academic librarians as they attempt to educate students on recognizing and critically evaluating sources of misinformation. Information professionals need to understand what the manosphere is, how it operates, how it impacts our patron’s lives, and how to effectively counteract the misogynistic, racist, and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric it perpetuates. Following this webinar, viewers will be able to: Define the origin of manosphere and the spectrum of ideologies that it encompasses (including misogynist incels, Men’s Rights Activists, Pick Up Artists, and Men Going Their Own Way/MGTOW) Recognize key manosphere sites and understand how they contribute to the spread of misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and racist, misinformation Identify key resources and tools for effectively combating manosphere rhetoric and misinformation About our presenter: Robin O’Hanlon (she/her) currently serves as the Associate Librarian for User Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She is a doctoral student in criminal justice at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Her research interests include male supremacist violence, criminalization of abortion and pregnancy, and crimes of power. Robin is also a mentee at the [Institute for Research on Male Supremacism IRMS, an intersectional feminist organization that brings together experts from inside and outside of academia to analyze and expose the dangers of misogynist ideology and mobilization. Her research on misogynistic extremism has appeared in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.

Join METRO's Economics & Business Librarians interest group for an in-person Fall event about AI. Everyone seems to be talking about artificial intelligence, but what does it mean for subject librarians? We'll look at some of the ways that AI is changing how research is conducted, review critical approaches to evaluating AI tools for research, and discuss what AI literacy means in a library setting. Speaker: Carol Choi, Data Reference and Collections Librarian, NYU Libraries. Please note: This is an in-person only event An NYU email is not required to RSVP The event is free, and will take place at New York University's Bobst Library, Room 743 (West Wing, 7th Floor), 70 Washington Sq S, NY, NY 10012.

Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, one of the world’s premier collections of botanical literature from throughout world history, and the largest such archive in the Western Hemisphere. The Mertz Library promotes the intelligent stewardship of the natural world by collecting and preserving works of merit in botany, horticulture, and landscape design. Following the tour, connect with colleagues and enjoy the Wonderland: Curious Nature exhibition, explore the grounds, or find a spot to sit and chat with one another for a while. If you are interested in visiting the Conservatory or using the tram, those will require a paid ticket, but you are able to fully enjoy the grounds of the garden by foot. Transportation: The Metro North is by far the easiest way to get to NYBG. The Botanical Garden stop on the Harlem line will let you off right across from the Mosholu gate, which is the closest entrance to the Library. Limited parking spaces will be available to attendees on a first-come, first-serve basis; please let us know at checkout if you will require parking. Please note: Space is limited, so if you’ve secured a spot but then find you’re unable to join, please let us know so we can open your spot to someone on the waitlist.

This webinar provides and talks through practical tips for supporting the agency of autistic and neurodivergent individuals in your library. Led by Bailey Hoffner, an adult-diagnosed autistic librarian, the session encourages viewers to ask questions such as:  What are specific ways of thinking that aren't serving your entire community, and how might you work towards a neuro-affirming, universal design? What are things that you and your library are doing because you think you should and which of those things could be dropped to better support autistic and neurodivergent individuals? What parts of yourself may need tending to make the necessary paradigm shift towards more neuro-affirming practices? Viewers will walk away with actionable steps they can take in nearly all areas of librarianship, from more inclusive ways to engage with patrons to better policies to support all workers. About our presenter: Bailey Hoffner is an artist, writer, mother, partner, and PDA autistic, white woman. She currently serves as the Metadata Librarian for Digital Resources and Discovery Services at Oklahoma State's Edmon Low Library. In her own research and creative work, she is interested in investigating ways in which metadata and descriptive practices have the power to uphold or dismantle the structural racism, sexism, ableism, and discrimination inherent in their creation and use, with a particular interest in the representation of autistic experience in library work and library metadata.

The METRO-ILL Fall 2024 meeting welcomes everyone interested in resource sharing and interlibrary loan topics. Bring any resource sharing topics/questions/ideas that you would like to discuss. Or, we may take on some topics such as learning/enhancing best practices when dealing with tough requests, resources for searching difficult to fill requests, tips/suggestions for system cleanups (maintenance), e-book chapter lending, etc.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, we made the decision to cancel this event due to low registration. However, we hope to reschedule the workshop in 2025, so please stay tuned! A Beginner's Guide to Failure is a half-day cohort experience that teaches library workers how to celebrate failure–really! Instead of viewing failure as evidence of something lacking, this short course endeavors to help individuals better integrate failure as part of being fully human, taking creative risks, and growing critical skills and mindsets for learning organizations. In other words, despite the common misconception, failure is the rule, not the exception, and more failure actually leads to better ideas, creative solutions, and more productive workplaces! This workshop draws on teachings in emotional intelligence, psychology, philosophy, and culture. Our specific goals and objectives for this workshop are to: Encourage critical engagement and exploration of the concept of failure in our lives, especially, but not exclusively, our work lives; Experiment with new ways of failing productively, including design-thinking and prototyping approaches; Explore stories of failure in library-settings, normalizing the experience of failure; Experience failure as part of a work of beauty and impermanence; and Help workers orient themselves and develop unique connections to fellow workers in a shared spirit of celebrating failure. Lunch will be served. About the Instructor: A.M. Alpin is a creative librarian and educator who teaches creative workshops at NYU, the Made in NY Media Lab, and other institutions. In addition to producing countless failures, she is the past recipient of the Sundance Institute's Sheila C. Johnson Creative Producing Fellowship, the American Library Association's Advocacy & Innovation in Library History Award, and the Association of College & Research Libraries' Outstanding Professional Development Award. Her creative work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, the Independent Filmmaker Project, the Austin Film Society, the Southern Humanities Media Fund, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Join us for a book discussion led by special guest hosts Joseph Morris and Mia Vasquez (Librarians with Brooklyn Public Libraries Jail + Prison Services). Using Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson as a guide, our hosts will lead us in conversation about the politics and societies that grow and exist within prisons, the limitations of prison reform, and their own roles in providing jail-based library services for individuals in NYC DOC facilities. We will end our conversation with takeaways for our participants in how we can all work to provide information to those inside. Materials to discuss: Blood In the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising Of 1971 And Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson (available at BPL, QPL, NYPL) Suggested: ATTICA Documentary (1974) While we are asking you to engage with Thompson’s whole book, we ask that you study Parts II and III (p. 43-161) in closer detail. Parts I, IV, and V are also important for wider context, and will be referenced throughout our discussion. About Our Hosts: Joey Morris is the Outreach Associate in Jail & Prison Services at Brooklyn Public Library. He has been bringing library services into NYC jails for over 8 years. He thinks a lot about the liberatory potential of the public library and is cautiously optimistic. Mia Vasquez is part of the Jail and Prison Services team under Justice Initiatives at the Brooklyn Public Library. They navigate the rewarding yet challenging position of supporting incarcerated patrons through library services and correspondence. Please review our Code of Conduct, our Statement on Viewpoints, and details on Interpreter Services here.

What is the difference between disc and DAT? How can I give my patrons access to audio recordings? Why on earth would you bake a tape? This hands-on workshop will examine the current state of audio preservation for libraries and archives—both as physical formats and digital files. By the end of the workshop, you should be able to: Identify most audio formats found in a library or archive, and understand their operating principles Determine the best environment for long-term care of your physical media Prioritize your audio materials for reformatting according to their fragility, obsolescence, value, and property-rights issues Know current best practices and standards in reformatting of physical audio formats Be knowledgeable about long-term preservation issues of digital audio objects Bring a curious mind, alert ears and—if you wish—an audio item you want to identify! Recommended reading: Guidelines on the production and preservation of digital audio objects. (Aarhus, Denmark): International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA), 2004. Available from https://www.iasa-web.org/tc04/audio-preservation About our presenter: Marcos Sueiro Bal is the Archives Manager at New York Public Radio. He is a member of the technical committees of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA), and was part of the Collection Management Task Force that drafted the Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Plan in 2012. In 2011 he co-translated the definitive text on audio preservation, IASA's Guidelines for the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects. He is a member of the Standards Committee of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), and has taught Audio Preservation at Long Island University's Palmer School of Library Science. In 2011 he mastered and restored Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy (Hyperion), and in 2008 was nominated for a Grammy for his restoration work on Polk Miller and His Old South Quartette (Tompkins Square). Marcos has worked at the Alan Lomax Archives, Columbia University Libraries (where he developed AVDb, a preservation prioritization tool), the Center for Black Music Research, Masterdisk mastering studios, and Emory University.

Join us for a two hour long session dedicated to Archipelago's Search & Solr setup. After the first hour focusing on the nuts and bolts of Search and Solr, we will take a short break and then resume for a live walkthrough of the Strawberry Keyname Providers to Facet Block process, following step-by-step with our related Archipelago documentation guide.

Help us imagine the future of the Library Field Project. Get involved today! This summer the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO), alongside our consulting team BKS Studio, is hosting a series of community gatherings aimed at bringing together a diverse and creative group of cultural institution workers from New York City and Westchester County. We began with the meet and greet Social Happenings in June (more info here) where participants explored key relationship skills, reflecting on their histories with spaces, and began to identify needs and challenges of working outdoors. These meet and greet social happenings set the groundwork for building new or renewing existing relationships with each other and our surrounding environments. Now as we shift to full summer mode, it is time to find inspiration and envision ideas for the future outdoor Library Field project! We invite all current and future METRO members to the following community envisioning sessions - THE IMAGININGS! Help us keep the momentum going this August! Imaginings are in-depth nature learning, interagency demonstrations, and brainstorming sessions in outdoor spaces. We will focus on bringing together METRO’s current members and potential partners to explore the benefits of place-based programming, learning, and sharing. Participants are invited to attend 1 of 2 sessions held at various sites in Westchester County. During the Imaginings attendees will share and relive memories of New York City and Westchester County using native-to-space/ native-to-place based techniques that center the past, present, and future of the Library Field initiative. New and returning participants welcomed! For these Imaginings we invite all current and prospective METRO members, leaders and workers at cultural heritage institutions to meet and share with each other their vision for the Library Field. This would include not only your expertise in the fields of galleries, archives, libraries, and museums but also your insights as inhabitants and enjoyers of the local environments, land, and resources found in New York City and Westchester County. Your views will help craft the future of the project! As a token of our appreciation, we would like to offer participants an honorarium of $25 for sharing their time, expertise, and engagement with our Imaginings. Are you ready to join the fun? Registration is open through August 12th, 2024 on a first-come, first-served basis. What to expect at Hilltop Hanover Farm ABOUT THE SITE: Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center is dedicated to the development and advancement of sustainable agriculture, environmental stewardship, community education, and accessible food systems for all. The Farm is a bucolic 400-year-old historic working farm in Yorktown Heights, Westchester County New York. In 2011, the non-profit organization The Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, Inc. a 501(c)(3) was established. Today Friends conducts the farming and educational programming, in a cooperative public-private partnership with the County of Westchester. More information can be found on their website. After registering through the Eventbrite link, an email will be sent out with further details about transportation and access details Transportation and environmental information about Hilltop Hanover Farms Lunch will be provided Activities will be held outdoors with adequate shade, hydration, and sitting breaks Are you a beginner to outdoor programming? Nervous about extreme climate such as heat, rain, or other inclement weather? Worried about being outside unprepared? Not a problem! With the guidance of METRO staff and BKS, we aim to provide all necessary supplies to help soothe some outdoor frustrations or concerns. BUT we also emphasize that as we plan for the Outdoor Library, there will be many lessons to learn on how humans can re-adapt to our constantly changing environments. What METRO will provide Meal ingredients, cooking and eating supplies, and fire pit Cool and icy treats Canopy for shade Bug repellent Sunscreen Lighting Coolers and ice Potable and drinking water Chairs Emergency first aid supplies Backup toiletries Trash bag and containers Ventilation and reflectors Flashlights Multi-tools Hand sanitizer and basic cleaning supplies Emergency electricity Experience and advice on various camping and outdoor activities What YOU should bring to make the event more enjoyable Water bottle Hat Sun screen Bug repellent Fans (anything to help with heat and potentially rain) Closed-toe shoes (optional back up sandals) Change of clothes, light colors preferred (optional) In case of inclement weather, METRO staff will Notify registered participants day-of if weather prohibits event attendance Confirm a backup rainy-day alternative date once after registration If you have questions or issues when registering please contact libraryfield@metro.org for more information. If you can’t make these events, sign up for the monthly newsletter for future opportunities (details below). But what exactly is the Library Field project? The Library Field is a new project for METRO. We are looking for a nonurban, semi-rural outdoor location that our network of libraries, archives, museums, and other organizations can use as a shared programming space. During the COVID-19 pandemic, METRO took part in a nationwide initiative that revealed some of the implications of moving library programs and services outside of buildings. Cultural institutions all over the country refocused their efforts on safe outdoor programming through environmental education, storywalks, community gardening, nature connectedness work, citizen science projects, and more. Based on what we learned during that difficult time, METRO plans to open a permanent facility that will serve our region and become a prototype for a new service model for libraries, their partners, and their communities. With activities situated somewhere between those of a park, a preserve, a museum, and a library, the Library Field will be a shared environment that will deepen the community’s understanding of the natural world and the way that we study it, find inspiration in it, and are responsible for its protection. For more information about our ideas and our progress, sign up for our newsletter via this form or peek at our journal entries here.

Strawberryfield Formatters are one of the key tools powering Archipelago's display and rendering of your repository assets. In this session we will review Archipelagos default Strawberryfield Formatters and Display Modes, and discuss how you can adjust these to your own display preferences and needs.

Description: Join us for a walkthrough of an Archipelago 1.4.0 Local Deployment and a quick tour through some of the new and updated features baked into the latest release.