H-1B visa lottery starts next week.

Palak Jayswal, "The H-1B visa lottery starts next week. Here’s why some experts say the process makes it hard to hire international talent." Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 28, 2023.  https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/02/28/utah-works-recruit-international/

Bashir lived through the struggles of the immigration process for the next decade of his life, he said. Some of that involved his religious background, he said, without providing details. Eventually, after a law firm filed for a H-1B visa for him, he got his green card 10 years later.

“Pretty much lived in libraries, slept in my car, anything that you can see from that textbook immigrant struggle,” Bashir said, looking back. “[I was] making sure my family didn’t know what I was going through.”

COMMENT

International Students in the US can only work on campus, which means that they may be struggling financially. This student was actually homeless, but trying to hide his struggles. 

 

Real Reason North Dakota Is Going After Books and Librarians

 

Taylor Brorby, "The Real Reason North Dakota Is Going After Books and Librarians" New York Times, Feb. 24, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/24/opinion/libraries-sex-books-north-dakota.html

Last fall, I was the keynote speaker at the North Dakota Library Association’s annual conference. The theme was “Libraries: The Place For Everyone.” There were rainbow flags, paper-link chains and multicolored glitter scattered across tables. It was the safest I have ever felt back home as an out, gay man. When I was a young person, libraries were where I went to find stories that made me feel I could fit in, not only in North Dakota, but in the wider world.

...

Growing up in the closet in North Dakota in the late ’90s and early 2000s, I found sanctuary in libraries that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I ate breakfast every morning in Bismarck High School, combing the stacks and reading books by authors like James Baldwin, Truman Capote and Willa Cather. When some of the school’s football players circulated a petition to have the one openly gay boy in my class change in the girls’ locker room, I went deeper into the library shelves, tried to keep quiet and hide who I was.

COMMENT

This op-ed is technically about libraries, but it contains a library story about a place of refuge and finding identity.  

Transgender or Devoutly Christian?

"Transgender or devoutly Christian? An Iowa teen refuses to choose." by Casey Parks Washington Post, December 23, 2022.

Theirs was a God steeped in love and acceptance, and in the months after they left church, Sid decided he wanted to help others find the same safe space he had at home. That June, he helped organize his town’s first-ever Pride celebration.

He was 15, so he planned what he considered a family-friendly event. He booked the library for a few hours late morning, and he arranged to have face-painting and button-making booths. He invited two speakers: a state lawmaker to give the opening address, and a drag queen to read a princess book to kids.

Comment

Elsewhere in the article it mentions that Sid volunteers at the library.  After the event, people in the community called the library to complain and threatened to boycott the library.  About 100 people attended the event, and a few stood outside to protest.

Mamoudou Athie Loves the Library

 "Momoudou Athie Loves the Library" (Headliner, My Ten). New York Times,  February 27, 2022, p. AR8.

8. New York Public Library Theater on Film and Tape Archive
Suzanne Esper [one of Athie's acting teachers] would always talk about particular performances that have long since passed.  I was like, "I wish I could have seen that."  I feel like it was Suzanne that alerted me to the place, but I lived there.  And I've seen so many plays, so much Shakespeare, so many things that taught me so much from watching. 

Being Homeless Cost Me $54,000

 Lori Teresa Yearwood, "Being Homeless Cost Me $54,000", New York Times January 2, 2022, p. SR10.

By the beginning of 2015, I had become a woman forlornly clutching plastic garbage bags as she makes her way from food pantry to shelter to public library to park bench.  I had once been a writer who helped to cover the Dalai Lama's visit to Maiami.  I had traveled to Ireland to interview a famous self-help author.  By contrast, my homeless existance was limited to a two-mile radius.

...

He began appearing every morning at teh entrance of the shelter and he would follow me until I got to the public library.  One day he said he would give me a duffle bag to replace my garbae bags and told me I could keep some of my other belongings in a shtorage shed he owned.  When we arrived, he pushed me inside, where he sexually assaulted me. 

COMMENT

The library is a safe space, but also a dangerous space.  The predator follows a homeless woman to the library because he knows that's where she'll go, and makes a false offer of help to lure her into a bad situation.  Librarians are not social workers, and the library doesn't save this woman.  An actual social worker does that, taking her to lunch and helping her sort out impossible medical bills in order to help her get a place to live and resume working as a journalist.  

Chloe Kim Is Grown Up and Ready for the Olympic Spotlight

 

John Branch, "Chloe Kim Is Grown Up and Ready for the Olympic Spotlight," New York Times, 

Kezia Dickson, a student from New York, vaguely knew who Kim was. She saw people stare at Kim in the dining hall. She heard them whisper, “Oh, my God, that’s Chloe Kim,” as Kim played pool.

Dickson sensed how uncomfortable it must be. She introduced herself and, at some point, mentioned that she was struggling in French, a language familiar to Kim.

“Chloe gave me her phone number and was like, ‘I really like chatting with you, and if you ever need help in French, just reach out to me,’” Dickson recalled. “I did, and she actually answered the phone. And then we went to the library and she tutored me for three hours. And she would do it every other week.”

COMMENT

The library offers study space that also serves as a place of refuge for an Olympic gold medalist to establish a friendship. 

Dictating All the Terms that Define Their Love

Jenny Block, "Dictating All the Terms that Define Their Love," (Vows) New York Times, Nov 21, 2021, p. ST17.

Over time, Ms. Wilson said her annoynace evolved into an appreciation for Mx. Reynolds' "big personality, humor and kindness." But months would pass before they actually "had a proper conversation," she added. On April 22, 2013, the last day of class, the both "hung out" with Ms. Edmondson t teh camps library's cafe and the two exhanged numbers.

COMMENT 

In this romantic tale, the couple self describes as "lesbian-queer, interracial, progressively Christian."  They met as students in a human behavior course, but made the personal connection within the safe space of a library, and eventually married each other. 

Freedom Made Visable

 Kolbie Peterson, "Freedom Made Visable." Salt Lake Tribune August 29, 2021, p. E1-2. 

On a Saturday morning in August, volunteers at the Glendale library are arranging pairs of shoes, folding jeans neatly on long tables, and hanging  tops and dresses on racks.  At one end of the large meeting room is a table of new binders (which flatten the breasts to create a more masculine-looking chest) and packages of underwear, sorted by size for easy browsing.

Organized by Salt Lake Community Mutual Aid, the community group's first gener-affirming clothing closet was tailored specifically to teenage and homeless transgender people, although anyone in need was welcome.

... 

 The decision to hold the Aug. 7 pop-up clothing closet at a library was a deliberate way to ensure a welcoming environment, said organizer  Cameraon (who uses they/the pronouns and requested to be identified only by their first name).   "Libraries tend to be a very accessible place, they tend to be places where a lot of people com, they tend to be a place where people feel safe," they said.

Glendale library staff worked with the team to set up two private changing areas, so people could try on a variety of items and "see what connects best with them," Cameron said. 

COMMENT

Library safe space provides a way of finding identity throught fashion. 

Alice McDermott

 Alice McDermott, "By the Boo", New York Times Book Review,  August 1, 2021, p. 6.

I've also always loved to read in some quiet corner of a university library -- all the books I'll never get to standing by, lending their fragrance to the place.  An occasion I'm sorely missing of late.

...

My father gave me a brand-new hard-cover edition of W.B Yeat's "Collected Poems" when I was in my mid-20's.  I think it must have been the most expensive book he'd ever purchased (he and my mother both were advocates of the public library), and it signaled to me that he had resigned himself to my troubling ambition to write.

COMMENT

The library is a place of refuge, nd a place to share books (and save money).  It represents aspirational future reading.

Cool zones: Salt Lake County offers facilities to those seeking relief from the heat

Alyssa Roberts, "Cool zones: Salt Lake County offers facilities to those seeking relief from the heat", 2KUTV,  June 13, 2021. https://kutv.com/news/local/cool-zones-salt-lake-county-offers-facilities-to-those-seeking-relief-from-the-heat?fbclid=IwAR24Yy-uP5DL7_PCQ4TaoQe8KTE3b80DH28S9sp4JJ9_d_bsRGsmSB-Wswc

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — With record-breaking high temperatures in the Salt Lake Valley this summer, Salt Lake County is reminding the public that its senior centers, libraries, and recreational facilities are open to anyone seeking relief from the heat.

COMMENT

Global climate change means that people will be exposed to extreme heat.  Libraries are a place to go for a cool zone.  Use of libraries as a cold shelter was a plot point in the movie "The Public" (2018).

He Made Affection Feel Simple

 Denny Agassi, "He Made Affection Feel Simple" (Modern Love) New York Times June 13, 2021, p.ST6

Although my interest was piqued by Jack's picture, it was his gentleness that drew me in.  Our sporadic small talk was harmless, spanning two months.  I brushed him off, but as I commuted to school and spent hours in the library, he was persistent.

COMMENT

For a commuter student, the library is a place of refuge during the day.  The Modern Love column has been a surprisingly rich source of library stories since safe spaces  are important for initiating  romantic encounters. In this love story, the contemplative library space is where a young trans woman  fantasizes about a man she met on Tinder.  

At Long Last, He Really Could Kiss the Bride

 Tammy La Gorce, "At Long Last, He Really Could Kiss the Bride," [Vows] New York Times, April 1, 2021 p. ST13.

He was so comfortable in her company that, as the night wore on and she started falling asleep across the table from him -- McDonald's was the local destination for studying after the school library closed at midnight -- his playful side emerged.  "I started drawing on her chin with  a marker," he said. "That's not something I would have done with anybody but her.  It was like we were already best friends."

COMMENT

When the library as Place of Refuge at Stephen F. Austin State University shuts down at midnight, a couple who are interested in each other more to a late-night fast food restaurant.  At the restaurant, studying begins to transform into something more physical.  Librarians know that people make out at the library, but here there is a clear implication that the McDonalds seem  less safe than a place where study space is the explicit agenda.

An Architects' Muted Triumph

 Brett Sokol. "An Architect's Muted Triumph" New York Times, March 18, 2021 pp. C1, C6.

[Maya]Lin appeared equally buoyed by touring the library.  She led the way to a rooftop terrace that offered stirring views of the surrounding mountains, pointing out meaningful details along the way.  Large upper-floor windows that were near treetops had been laced with an ultraviolet webbing pattern-- invisible to human eyes buy not to flying birds that might otherwise crash into the clear glass. Bird watchers had a comfy nesting spot too, with many of the window frames large enough to climb into.  "People are going to be sleeping in here," Lin said with a chuckle, flashing back on her won long days -- and longer nights -- studying at Yale, where, as a 21-year-old senior she beat out 1,420 competing proposals for the Vietman Veterans Memorial.  "I know because I was one of those people."

COMMENT

When Architect Maya Lin was hired to remodel the Neilson Library at Smith College she designed a place of refuge with window nooks to sit in.  My college library had with window nooks, but sadly, they   were lost to remodeling that created larger windows and overall brighter space.  Lin's design also highlights ink and paper books. "You're still in a house of books," Lin says, "Ultimately a library has to be about reading.  I don't read on an iPad and I never will.  Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm a dinosaur.  But I still feel the beauty of a book, I still believe in that beauty".

The Missing Hours

 Julina Kim & Lila Barth. "The Missing Hours: 7 Students on Losing a Year of After-School Activities" New York Times, March 16, 2021, p. A6.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/nyc-after-school-activities-reopening.html

While living in homeless shelters as a child, Sam Bilal, 18, a senior at the Lowell School in Queens, could count on any public library to be a free, clean and quiet place to study. For the past year, the city’s public libraries have been open mainly as grab-and-go centers for books reserved online.

The 96th street library on the East Side was my second happy place, after home. I would go there after school, get my work done, then go home. The security guard knows me, some staff know me. It was like a family to me over there.

Sometimes, I would hang out with people after school but most times, I would just take the train with some of them, then we would go our separate ways and I would go to the library. Libraries were the place you could rely on and have peace. I’ve been through shelters since I was 8 years old. My dad kicked out my mom, and she took me and my little sister with her. It was a lot of back and forth.

When I was in elementary school, right across the street was a library that my little sister, my mom and I would go to. We helped each other out with homework, played computer games, talked for a bit until the library was closing or it got dark.

But since 2017, I’ve been living in a NYCHA apartment. It can be a little distracting at home. My mom would have the TV up. My little sister would be somewhere around the room, playing her music.

Some kids out there might go to a cafe, but they have to buy something if they want to study. So it’s hard. The library is really the only option. When they were opening up schools, I was like, “OK, are they going to open up the library?” But they mentioned nothing about the library. What’s the whole point of opening up schools if you can’t go to the library?

COMMENT

A classic Place of Refuge story, and also,  Sam is right.  There are no redeeming qualities to lectures and homework if you can't go to the library. 

 

Hey Let's Go and Zone Out at Hogwarts

 Eliza Brooke, "Hey Let's go and Zone Out at Hogwarts", New York Times, February 18, 2021, pp. D4-D5. 

Picture this: You’re in the Hogwarts library. Rain falls outside, a fire crackles across the room, and somewhere offscreen, quills scribble on parchment. You might look up from time to time to see a book drifting through the air or stepladders moving around on their own. Or maybe, you’ll feel so relaxed, you nod off to sleep. Welcome to the world of so-called ambience videos, a genre of YouTube video that pairs relaxing soundscapes with animated scenery in order to make viewers feel immersed in specific spaces, like a jazz bar in Paris or a swamp populated with trilling wildlife. They are part of a long tradition of audiovisual products and programming designed to make a space feel a little more relaxing, a little nicer.

...

There’s a video for just about every taste and mood. Library and cafe environments tend to be popular, but viewers can also enjoy the more specific experience of a carriage ride through the woods, a haunted Victorian manor, the RR Diner from “Twin Peaks” or a full hour of Olivia Rodrigo’s hit single “Driver’s License” edited to sound like it’s playing in another room during a rainstorm.

 COMMENT

The library place of refuge is so compelling that it is translated into things that remind people of libraries, in this case, a video meant to create a library mood. 

Latina/o transfer students’ selective integration and spatial awareness of university spaces

 Andrade, Luis M. "Latina/o transfer students’ selective integration and spatial awareness of university spaces." Journal of Hispanic Higher Education 17, no. 4 (2018): 347-374.

The most prevalent theme that emerged was that students navigated toward spaces where they could connect with other Latina/os. The most common place they visited to meet other Latina/os was the library. In total, nine students identified the library and areas within the library, such as the Chicana/o Resource Center 

...

The second consistent emergent theme was that students navigated to areas on their campus to be alone. They sought quiet spaces to escape the academic life and to rest. Unsurprisingly, the library was the most cited area where students visited to be alone. 

... 

The third most prevalent emergent theme was that students navigated toward spaces where they could benefit from others—students or faculty—in their majors. Five students indicated that they preferred to visit the buildings that housed their majors, such as the business, biology, or science buildings.

Library association awards Carnegie medals to McBride, Giggs

 

Hillel Italie, "Library association awards Carnegie medals to McBride, Giggs" Washington Post, February 4, 2021.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/library-association-awards-carnegie-medals-to-mcbride-giggs/2021/02/04/5a82f238-6735-11eb-bab8-707f8769d785_story.html

NEW YORK — This year’s winners of the Carnegie medals for fiction and nonfiction, presented by the American Library Association, have each checked out a few books in their time.

“I work from libraries a lot, and my wallet is full of library cards,” says Rebecca Giggs, an Australian author whose “Fathoms: The World in the Whale” received the nonfiction prize Thursday.

James McBride, the fiction winner for “Deacon King Kong,” has library cards in four different cities and wrote parts of his novel in branches in New York City and Philadelphia.

“In New York you can get anything you want but it takes longer because you can’t leave the library with them. But in Philly, you can,” explained McBride, whose novel last year was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club.

...

McBride and Giggs each have strong childhood memories of libraries. McBride, a longtime New Yorker, would visit them often because they were a “safe space” and because his family couldn’t afford to buy many books. Giggs remembers her mother getting into aerobics “in a big way” and , a few nights a week, dropping off her and her sister at a library next door to the workout space.

Ghost stories were a favorite.

 

COMMENT

Authors describe using libraries as a workspace and to check out books.  

 

 

 

 

In the Archives

Tess Taylor. "In the Archives: Susan Howe's New Poems Paste Together Collages from Old Letters, Manuscripts and Concordances." New York Times Book Review, August 2, 2020, p. 18

When do we risk happiness? When do we risk encounter? How can reading offer those things now?  Howe's books may accompany you in these questions.  They may also make you long for the smell of libraries, for the humming quiet of reading rooms, the gentle rustle of others turning pages, too.  Howe writes against a world that disappears too far away online, in which we lose the bodily perception of space, the tenderness of touch.  In this era of social distancing, I felt the prick of these poems: They urged me towards aliveness.

 COMMENT

Howe's collage poems evoke a sensory experience of the library as place.  "We need to see and touch objects and documents," Howe writes, and the reviewer agrees.

Greeting the Future, Gingerly, With Mortarboards and Masks

John Branch and Campbell Robertson, "Greeting the Future, Gingerly, With Mortarboards and Masks." New York Times, May 31, 2020, p. 1

     Charlie Forster was at the library one afternoon in March when he ran into a friend from Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh
     "I was like, 'Do you want to come over to my house?'" he said, "So we took the bus home and made grilled cheeses and watched that movie 'Her'" which explores isolation and relationships nurtured via electronic devices.
     Little did he know that the coronavirus that was spreading accross the country would give him and his friends their own lesson in being along. 

COMMENT

In this library tale we don't know why Charlie went to the library, but we do know that it turned into a social encounter with a friend he might not have though to contact via social media.  The library functions as a physical community space where people can run into each other.

Bindings

Anthony Lane, "Bindings; 'The Truth' and 'The Booksellers'", New Yorker, March 23, 2020, p. 68-69.

     The dealers' mission, one declares, is to "inculcate neophytes into the wonder of the object of the book." (Translation; get the suckers hooked.) We glimpse one volume containing mammoth hair; another covered inhuman skin, with teeth embedded in the cover; and a librarian doll, "with Amazing push-button Shushing Action!"

COMMENT

   A review of the documentary  "The Booksellers" is about people who are obsessed with print books.  I happen to own the librarian doll mentioned, a toy that was all the rage with librarians back in 2003.  She was modeled on librarian Nancy Pearl who wrote "Book Lust." Here's a history of the famous librarian action figure: https://mcphee.com/pages/history-of-the-librarian-action-figure