2020, Black History Month

2020 October, a busy month on all accounts - home (new academic year), world (new academic year), world (new COVID measures). 

Black History Month for me is about learning and connecting to share. This year I learned about Lorraine Hansberry, the inspiration for the song YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK. She was born in 1930, was a Taurus like me and her favourite book was "Strange Fruit" by Lillian Smith, which deals with inter-racial relationships, something I know a little about too.

She was also an activist, actor and writer. She wrote "Raisin in the sun" the 1st drama by a black woman to be produced on Broadway (1959). The play’s messages are to never let go of a dream and the importance of a support network, which for many is the family. The play’s title came from a Langston Hughes poem:

What happens to a dream deferred? (1951)

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over—

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

The song “Young, Gifted and Black” ended up being used as a civil rights anthem. It’s like the passing of a baton to keep the fight and dream alive. 

For more on Lorraine, read “Looking for Lorraine” by Imani Perry. The book talks about her involvement with the feminist and LGBT movements as well as with the anti-colonialism.

Young, Gifted and Black

Young, gifted and black

Oh what a lovely precious dream

To be young, gifted and black

Open your heart to what I mean

In the whole world you know

There's a million boys and girls

Who are young, gifted and black

And that's a fact

You are young, gifted and black

We must begin to tell our young

There's a world waiting for you

Yours is a quest that's just begun

When you're feeling really low

Yeah, there's a great truth that you should know

When you're young, gifted and black

Your soul's intact

How to be young, gifted and black

Oh how I long to know the truth

There are times when I look back

And I am haunted by my youth

Oh but my joy of today

Is that we can all be proud to say

To be young, gifted and black

Is where it's at

Is where it's at

Is where it's at

Thing 11- Mentoring

Mentoring - It's a great idea when it works. It takes commitment and some work from both parts.

I have a mentor since I decided to take on the chartership challenge. We met regularly in the begining but have been finding it harder for the past 6 months.

We work for the same institution but in different buildings and with different collections, which means having advantages as well disadvantages. She, due to her seniority, can advise me on best ways of accessing traininig activities and material which are not so readily available to me. However, it also means that we might try less experimental approaches to problem solving because we both know the limitations posed by the institution.

Anyway, although progress on the chartership has been slow, I must say that if I had no mentor it could easily mean forgetting about the whole thing for now. However as it is, my mentor every now and then get's in touch and I'm prompted to reflect and report on my activities.  This boosts my enthusiam and puts me back on track and away I go. We're do to meet in a couple of weeks...

Thing 10 - routes into librarianship

I started to work in libraries as a way of supplementing my income whilst studying for my Environmental Science degree. I finished the course and stayed on for one of the Library's summer projects and haven't left the academic library world since.  I moved from project worker to Library Assistant, working at the issuing desk and as part of the acquisitions team. It was only 7 years after graduation and 3yrs after my son was born that I decided to go for the MA in Information Services Management.

My second son arrived right at the end of the MA which meant a temporary break from CPD/job hunting (librarian post). It was time to develop new networks - baby groups, the playground gang, and some evening volunteering in a Law Centre. It was in the Law Centre that I finally understood the mechanics of faceted  classification.

Once back at work,  I started cataloguing and was offered the opportunity to work with a special collection, (TUC material) before moving into the Women's Library. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get a librarian position, I decided to register for the Chartership programme, to make my CPD more official and give me some sort of a structure to it, albeit a very loose one. 

Getting the Personal Professional Development Plan (PPDP) together for the Chartership took a while - not easy to incorporate "Chartership-level" projects into a LA's work schedulle.  Having joined CPD23 has given me some great ideas to explore, just wish I could go a bit faster....

Thing 9 - Evernote

I've started using Evernote some time ago and more so when I got my first smart-phone.  That's where I keep photos, sites that I want to go back to, my notes about them, etc.  I'm sure there are many other ways to achieve this but by using Evernote saves me having to go through my "mini-peadia" of tags, I can select what I want to use in a particular piece of work/reminder and save them here. It stops me from getting distracted.

I just hope no one pulls the plug and it all vanishes....

Google calendar - thing 8

I've just got Google calendar at work. It's potentially a great tool which can allow different teams find out about each others activities. Signing up has been slow but I'm sure that by the end of the month we'll all get over the stumbling blocks and be using it for all sorts of things (home, work wardrobe renewal ...).

I've got a home and family ical (google) and love it - have created separate ones for the children and can have them superimposed onto mine. At a glance I can remind myself of what to expect on the coming day/wk. My older son (11yr) can add events to his and keep me update, great!

Face-to-face networks - thing 7

Networks are great whether face-to-face or virtual ones.  They allow different takes of the same topic to be heard, shared and discussed. Having said that, I am one of the introverted people for whom the one-to-one contact is more productive than the one in a crowd. I've read Jo Alcock’s blog http://tinyurl.com/4yengue and have added "Networking for people who hate networking:..." to my Kindle wishlist.

Earlier this year I reactivated my CILIP membership, it had expired after I'd completed my MA. I've signed up again to get on the Chartership programme and as an add-on there was the potential for practical development which I still have to realise (main obstacles being costs, time and relevance to my current position - library assistant).

It is only since I've started with CPD23 that I've started exploring the possibilities of networks beyond CILIP.
Now I'm  signed up to a few networks (LISNPN, WebJunction) and have added a few comments here and there but still not brave enough to start a new topic for discussion. There are still a number of "Things" to get through, more tools to get used to....thing 8 here I come!

Thing 6 - networks

I think online networks are great. They allow me access to a large number of people and information which otherwise would be off bounds - not easy to go for a quick drink after work when childcare is always an issue.  However, there is so much information and people to follow/read about that I tend to find it rather paralysing. 

I have a facebook account which I use sporadically, mainly for personal purposes.

My LinkedIn account tends to get more attention, it's where I get many of the professional updates. It was through linkedin that I'm now connected to Webjunction and Social Media, a subgroup of Webjunction. Updates come to me via email which means I can easily check them. It was through them that I attended  my first Webinar "Trends in Library Training and Learning"
http://www.webjunction.org/trends-training-learning.

Having an American based webinar in the UK meant that it took place after working hours. However, it turned out to be a bit of an ordeal as real world and the virtual one collided - partner and children on one side side and the seminar on the other. The seminar itself wasn't easy to follow - there was the speaker's voice coming out of the speakers, the presentation at the centre of the screen and the attendees/participants tapping away on the right-hand corner of the screen. Next time I must make sure to find a corner in the shed. Not yet quite sure how to deal with the interesting but constant stream of comments.

I've just signed up to LISNPN and  found in it quite a lot of great stuff such as the downloads pages and blogs by  Ned Potter, thewikiman. I also have now CILIP in my group of networks.

I haven't done much of the participation bit yet but hope to do it soon - too shy? too slow? maybe, but haven't given up yet.