“What we think time is, how we think it is shaped, affects how we are able to move through it.”
-Jenny Odell Saving Time, p. 270
What I love about reading Jenny Odell’s work is that I often end up with a list of about a dozen other authors I want to look into after
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Slowness, disability, and the art of losing
A few weeks ago, I had what honestly felt like a perfect day. It was a bright sunny day in December that felt almost stolen from the jaws of our long, cold, gray Portland winters. I woke up with almost no joint pain for the first time in ages and tons of energy. I worked…
Open Offices are Neither More Open nor More Equitable
I can’t properly describe the level of annoyance I felt when I read Steven Bell’s latest piece in College and Research Libraries News about open offices entitled “We’re all about openness: Except when it comes to our workspaces.” At first, I thought the piece was about open communication and transparency in the workplace, which is…
Out of sight, out of mind? prioritizing support of online learners
It’s been eighteen years and I can’t believe this is still an issue.
In 2005, I started my first professional library job as a distance learning librarian. At the time, half of Norwich University’s students were in fully online graduate programs and when I started in this brand-new position, very little had been done to…
Slow librarianship and prioritizing life over work
I recently wrote an essay for CHOICE’s LibTech Insights blog entitled “Building a Better Library Tech Future with Slow Librarianship.” It provides a brief introduction to slow librarianship, how it relates to library technology, and how our profession’s reification of innovation has kept us from really focusing on the needs of our patrons. I know…
The power of shame and belonging
In my last post, I wrote about the absolutely monstrous difficulty I was having getting off the migraine prevention medication (that wasn’t actually preventing migraines) I had been taking for 11 years. I saw two doctors and a sleep specialist about the issues I was having and none of them were helpful. My interactions with…
Have you thought about just quitting?
In a world where there is always content being pushed at you, it’s hard to notice when a particular author hasn’t posted in a long time. There have been so many times where it has taken me a year or more to realize that I haven’t heard anything from one of my favorite bloggers or…
Vocational awe is always harmful
A friend of mine wrote a tweet that really made me think the other day:
I understand arguments against a default “vocational awe,” but much of the discourse denies the existence and validity of vocations. Some think of what they do as more than a job. They feel called to it. Not everyone is, and…
Valuing maintenance
My town maintains an old dairy farm from the turn of the 20th century that now contains public gardens, a CSA, and community garden plots. In the Summer and Fall, I love to walk through the gardens and see all the amazing flowers, fruits, veggies, and more growing there. I love the mix of well-manicured…
The end of Twitter?
The tl:dr is in whatever online communities you frequent, do you ever ask yourself “who isn’t here? Who doesn’t feel welcome here? What barriers are there to participation?” If not, you should. What I like about Twitter is how much more diverse it was than any place I’ve been online, and also how so many…