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Helping libraries damaged by Hurricane Irene

Image, which I hope is self-explanatory, by Darien Library.

One of the first places I went after the storm was over was the local library. I was supposed to work the day earlier because our librarian literally couldn’t get to work, but then wound up not working because there was no power at the library. My local library suffered no storm damage. Other libraries weren’t as lucky. The Department of Libraries in Vermont has been terrific both in trying to contact every library as well as informing the other librarians statewide about what needs to be done, who is in trouble and how to apply for FEMA grants now that libraries are an essential service (again thanks thanks thanks to all the people who lobbied to have that done). Here are some links to people doing things that may be instructive or useful for you either in figuring out who to help or in managing crises like this in the future.

Department of Libraries website which has a front page post about the flooding
Marlboro College’s LibGuide about flooding in their local area with resources and links
LibraryThing has set up a wiki for tracking libraries that have been damaged and are in need of assistance. Not much there yet, please add informaiton if you have any.
This Library Journal article also details other libraries that have suffered damage. One of the problems we’re having in Vermont is that due to power failures and transportation issues, some of the most badly affected areas are the ones we’ve heard from the least.

I’ve spent a lot of the past few days checking out the pages on Facebook where a lot of the communication about the recovery efforts are taking place. In case you’re curious, here are some of the pages where a lot of the local recovery work and information dispersal is actually happening

Vermont Flooding 2011 was where the first news and photos were. People would tag news media organizations in their photos so photos would show up on the news media’s facebook pages and people asked a lot of “is this or that area okay?”
VT Response and VT Response forum which has a listing of town-specific places to ask questions and offer or receive help
HELP VERMONT specifically targeted towards relief work efforts
Vermont 13 – keeping awareness alive about the 13 towns that were literally inaccessible thanks to flooding
A road specific page about the damage to Route 107 which is a road that goes through the town next to mine.
Road closures: official state page, collaborative Google map, another page with data visualization about the state
CommonGood VT has a round up of services for citizens who need help
VT Emergency Management has updates on Twitter via Facebook
802 Rescue is about how to volunteer for relief efforts

I’ll probably talk more about the upsides and downsides to using social media for this sort of thing, but the upside is it worked. People got information and they got help because they had access to things like Facebook and Twitter through their phones when they didn’t have any electricity, telephones or computers. Worth learning about.

that’s one good use librarians have for facebook

Posted on 30Aug11 by jessamyn

As you know, Vermont was hit hard by Hurricane Irene and a lot of resultant flooding. I am fine and my house is fine. I’m not sure what the library damage assessment is at this point but I’ve been hanging close to the Vermont Flooding facebook page and doing some “on the fly” reference with some of the local information I have access to. I came across this post on the Roxbury Free Library’s facebook page and smiled. I hope she gets a ride.

Goddard Commencement Speech – text and citations

Posted on 07Aug1107Aug11 by jessamyn

So I spent a good chunk of the day today at Goddard College which is up the road from me. I was invited to give the commencement speech for their MA in Individualized Studies Program. They graduated ten people and had a terrific ceremony including a singalong to the tune of the Muppets’ Rainbow Connection, a group of drummers during the processional, origami creations given to the graduates, and a lot of schmoopy speeches because when you graduate ten students, everyone gets a chance to be on the microphone. It was wonderful and heartwarming and I was so pleased to be a part of it. I gave a fifteen minute speech that I probably ad-libbed out to twenty minutes. Unlike most of the talks I give, this one was written out word for word for the most part. I was asked by a few people for the text of it so I’m tossing it here, adding some links to things, and people can link to it, copy it, whatever works. Thanks to everyone who hosted me, and congratulations again, graduates. Continue reading “Goddard Commencement Speech – text and citations”

Librarians: have Robert Dawson over for tea

Posted on 28Jul11 by jessamyn

Thanks to Library Bazaar, I now know about the Kickstarter project of Robert Dawson who is traveling the country taking photos of libraries. If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a way to crowdsource fundraising for creative-type projects. I’ve supported a few things including the GET LAMP text adventure documentary and a recent MC Frontalot video. If Dawson is coming to your town, or even near it, I’d suggest giving him a call.

a shot over the bow – Aaron Swartz indicted for … downloading articles from JSTOR?

Posted on 19Jul1119Jul11 by jessamyn

I saw this post circulating around facebook and, of course, the word “library” caught my eye. The Boston Globe has a longer explanation about what all the kerfuffle is about, but still uses words like “hacking.” The Demand Progress blog, the organization that Aaron directs, has this statement and some additional blog posts. The New York Times seems to have the most comprehensive explanation of what happened when and has the text of the indictment.

What we do know is that the US Government has indicted Aaron Swartz [who you may know around the internet for any number of things] for, apparently and allegedly, downloading 4mil articles from JSTOR without (I think?) the proper credentials. Aaron turned himself in. At issue are many points of JSTORs terms of service and what sort of access is given to guests of the university. As Aaron is a net activist, I’m certain this is some level of intentional move on his part, I’m quite curious to see where it goes.

Update: JSTORs official statement, Wired article with more details