Professional Documents
Culture Documents
UA Chapter Newsletter
From the President
Nicole Pagowsky
of collection development, preservation, weeding, and
Welcome to Progressive Librarians Guild: classification all shape the collective memory, and the
UA Chapter’s first newsletter. As the founder and collective memory is what can influence our culture and
current President, I thought I would give you some our society; and providing materials to the public for
background on how we got started, what a progressive self-education can pave the road to a successful democ-
librarian is, and what we are looking to accomplish in racy, because a true, working democracy would be non-
the near future. existent without an educated public.
Our chapter of PLG actually started out as Specific examples of these ideas can be realized
a local collective of Radical Reference, at the end of through what we have accomplished this semester, and
the Fall 2007 semester; although we do still want to what we hope to do in the future.
have ties with Radical Reference, This semester, we attended and
we thought it would be a better briefly spoke at “Of Friends and
move to become an official chap- Whirlwinds: Inquiry, Move-
ter of PLG through SIRLS and ments and ‘Constituent Imagi-
the UA for recognition and fund- nation’: on research and radical
ing purposes. This change took politics”, which was held at Dry
place this semester (Spring 2008), River (p. 2). We also contrib-
and since February, we have been uted two Library of Congress
PLG: UA. Subject Heading suggestions for
So, what is a progressive the Radical Reference LCSH
librarian? A progressive librarian Blogging Party (p. 7). And, our
is an information professional first fundraiser was a yoga work-
who defends and extends the shop held at the main library,
idea of libraries for the people, by led by our Events and Fund-
using LIS education and commu- raising Coordinator, Rebecca
nity ties to champion change for Bliquez, certified yoga instructor
all. (p. 5).
As the PLG parent site states: Next Fall semester, we
“Members of PLG do not accept the sterile notion of have a number of plans, including providing free work-
the neutrality of librarianship, and we strongly oppose shops to the community; organizing events in town,
the commodification of information which turns the such as panel discussions, a Zine Fest, bringing Lost
‘information commons’ into privatized, commercial- Film Fest to Tucson, and organizing a small, non-profit
ized zones. We will help to dissect the implications of library. We also hope to have an official website up and
these powerful trends, and fight their anti-democratic running, aside from our collaborative wiki. If any of this
tendencies.” interests you, and you are a SIRLS student, alumni, or
Progressive librarians are relevant because librarianship Tucson community library worker (at any level), we have
is political for a number of reasons: as information further information on becoming a member and also a
professionals, we can be gatekeepers or distributors of membership form (p. 11).
information, promoting or hindering equity of access We are looking forward to our upcoming proj-
and open access, while fighting censorship; actions ects and hope you will join us!
Of Friends and Whirlwinds Cash, & Kevin Van Meter). Their main page explains
the purpose of the collective as, “to explore questions
Nicole Pagowsky of everyday resistance, mutual aid, the imposition of
work, social reproduction, class composition, commu-
PLG: UA was contacted by Team Colors1 to nity participation and the commons – by creating en-
speak at Of Friends & Whirlwinds, which they had gaging workshops and producing provocative written
organized at Dry River2. The focus of this event was on documents and articles.” Craig spoke about “‘DIY and
the impact of research on social change, with discus- the movement beyond capitalism in the United States’
sion of the schism in activism, pertaining to anti- (An expansion on his essay in Constituent Imagi-
intellectualism and bureaucratic boundaries. We were nation)”. It was interesting to hear effectiveness of
asked to participate because information professionals different kinds of activism, such as the punk and DIY
facilitate research, and our group is specifically inter- movement not posing an actual threat to corporations
ested in activism, so it was a great match. or oppressive government entities. How to potentially
As the Team Colors blog3 says about the event: remedy this was interwoven with Jeff’s discussion of
“A series of talks on inquiry and movements from the “Activist” and “activist”: how often in counterculture
upcoming journal In the Middle of a Whirlwind: 2008 movements in the United States, there can be misan-
Convention Protests, Movement and Movements and thropic tendencies – getting frustrated and fed up with
in celebration of the AK Press collection Constituent the people activists are trying to help is not going to
Imagination: Militant Investigations / Collective Theo- help solve the problem. Understanding why people
rization.” are different and how they make their decisions can
Jeff Juris was the first speaker, and he is an promote a more holistic plan for working together; if a
Assistant Professor of Anthropology at ASU West, person’s basic needs are not being met, they won’t have
member of CAROB [Central Arizona Radicals Oppos- as much interest in issues on a larger scale. A discus-
ing Borders] and the ASU West Border Justice Group. sion then formed about what issues within activism
He spoke about ‘Militant Ethnography’, a phrase he are felt to be most important, as well as what connota-
created to describe “a politically engaged and collabora- tions the term “revolution” has for people, as it is often
tive form of participant observation carried out from present in punk and DIY-movement rhetoric. Many
within rather than outside of grassroots movements. participants said the word conjured negative images,
Traditional objectivist perspectives fail to grasp the such as desolation or apocalypse. A lot of interesting
concrete logic of activist practice, leading to inadequate points were brought up.
accounts and theoretical models of little use to activists Progressive Librarians Guild spoke last, with
themselves.”4 The point of this form of research is to myself (Nicole Pagowsky) representing our group.
make findings more relevant to subsequent action for I explained what PLG is and how activism can be a
the groups the information pertains to, and also to dis- large part of librarianship, as well as our present and
tinguish the difference between a ‘capital A Activst’ and future goals. I also explained our roots, which are in
an ‘activist’; the former more prone to self-righteous- PLG (parent organization) and Radical Reference6.
ness, and not being as truly immersed in the relevant The PLG parent organization was started in 1990 by
communities. He also delineated publishing for the information professionals tired of ‘business as usual’,
university bureaucracy in contrast to publishing freely where no one was taking a strong stand on issues. PLG
in regards to ‘copyleft’5, with implications and possible was hoping to ignite progressive change in libraries
cognitive dissonance engaged from the former. A great and dissuade librarians from taking too neutral of
discussion evolved from his talk, including some par- a stance. Since its formation, PLG has participated
ticipants sharing how they felt internal conflict about in activist events, such as taking action or standing
the potentiality of returning to the university. (As the in solidarity with other groups, and publishes the
Team Colors Blog states, Jeff Juris’ talk was “an expan- Progressive Librarian periodical, as well as books,
sion of his article in Constituent Imagination: ‘Bridg- collectively, or by individual members. Radical Refer-
ing the divide between activism and research: Militant ence was formed in 2004 in NYC, in response to the
Ethnography as a tool for social transformation’”.) Republican National Convention. Librarian volunteers
Craig Hughes was the next speaker: a collec- provided ‘street reference’ to activists, which consisted
tive member of Team Colors (Craig Hughes, Conor
2
of actually getting out into the streets and answering Constituent imagination: Militant investigations//collec-
questions and providing information.7 Radical Reference tive theorization. Oakland, CA: AK Press.
also supplied ‘ready reference kits’, which included city
facts on transportation, emergency phone numbers, and Cash, C., Hughes, C., & Van Meter, K. (Eds). (2008).
other essential information. Radical Reference has now In the middle of a whirlwind: 2008 convention protests,
expanded to include local collectives all over the country, movement and movements. (Available later this year).
as well as some international groups. Services include
community outreach and taking action on local issues. 1
http://www.warmachines.info
They are probably most well-known, however, for pro- 2
http://www.dryriver.org ; also, see pgs. 3 & 5 for a
viding virtual reference services to activists and indepen- community group feature on Dry River
dent journalists through the Radical Reference website. 3
http://teamcolors.blogspot.com/2008/04/will-you-
Individuals can ask questions, (mostly) anonymously, join-us-in-middle-of-whirlwind.html
of specific concern to topics pertaining or tangential 4
Juris, J. (n.d.). Practicing militant ethnography within
to activism. See the website for examples of questions movements against corporate globalization. Retrieved
asked. A few of us from PLG also volunteer with Radical May 5, 2008, from http://www.euromovements.info/
Reference. html/jeff-juris.htm
We were happy to be included in this engaging 5
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft for defini-
and informative event, and if these topics are of inter- tion
est to the reader, the following resources provide further 6
http://www.radicalreference.info
discussion: 7
Yeo, S., Rane, J., Jacobs, J., Friedman, L., & Freedman,
J. (2005). Radical Reference: Taking information to the
Shukaitis, S., Graeber, D., & Biddle, E. (Eds). (2007). street. Information Outlook.
Dorothy: At this sad point most of the characters pre- Dorothy: I like information. I like knowing how to
date most of the people I know. find information, and I like the different ways systems
seek to manage, control and organize information. And
Q: Tell us about Donation Derby… both of my parents were librarians. I never really stood
a chance.
Dorothy: When people donate money to me I draw -Nicole Pagowsky
a picture of how I spend it, post the picture online
and then mail the original drawing to the donor. How
many cancer research foundations do that?
4
Continued from page 3
that’s something unique and new.”
Contact Information:
The Dry River Collective is comprised of vol-
Dry River Radical Resource Center
unteers who donate their time and money to keep the
740 N. Main St. @ University Blvd.
space open. There is a core group of people who do-
Tucson, AZ 85705
nate money for rent each month; Dry River also seeks
info@dryriver.org
donations at events and their website’s PayPal account.
They have weekly meetings on Wednesday evenings
www.myspace.com/dryrivertucson
which are open to any who are interested; it is at these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz96thhwv10
meetings that decisions are made using consensus. The
Collective hopes to one day own a permanent space in
Tucson.
But in the meantime, Dry River is an all ages
venue and a drug and alcohol free space that wel-
comes all. As stated on their MySpace page, “NONE
WILL BE TURNED AWAY from any event, class,
or resource due to lack of money…and [Dry River]
welcomes all people regardless of race, gender, sexual PLG Yoga Fundraiser
identity, and age.” There is no fee to use the space and
everything at Dry River is by donation. The Resource
Center functions as an infoshop, music venue and free
school. It is an open space equipped with a stage, a
free store, computer lab, and a small lending and zine
library. They hold a variety of events from benefits
to movie screenings to skill shares and workshops, as
well as offer free Spanish, screen printing, yoga and
self-defense classes regularly. Eric Richardson, another
Collective member, states, “This whole thing is really
an experiment. I think one of the things we’ve done is
opened the doors and gotten the word out to as many
people as we can in the community and sort of let the
people that aren’t necessarily involved in the Collective
decide what they want to happen here.”
PLG’s first fundraiser included a relaxation
Upcoming events include weekly punk shows
yoga class taught by yoga instructor and PLG officer
and a music festival. Dry River also hosts a bi-weekly
Rebecca Bliquez. PLG hopes to repeat this event in
Anti-Civ, Anti-Reading Circle group, and has regular
Fall 2008 and include a discussion about concepts
open hours on Fridays from 12-4pm. Also, PLG will
from the book “Aftershock” by Pattrice Jones regarding
soon collaborate with the Collective on a project to
the relation between de-stressing and physically main-
organize, catalog and update their check out system for
taining balance. The discussion will emphasize the
their zine and color-coded lending library.
psychological and somatic issues relevant to higher-risk
So, if your interest has been piqued, check
activism.”
them out on their website, MySpace page, YouTube
video, or simply drop in. As Carrie professed what
she likes most about Dry River is that “it’s not limited
to just activists, and it’s not limited to just anarchists
or just people into punk shows. Anyone is welcome
here!”
5
Book Reviews terrorism as vehicles for intimidation and arrest.
-Nicole Pagowsky
Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? : Reflections on the The No-Nonsense Guide to
Liberation of Animals World History
Edited by Steven Best and Anthony J. II Nocella Chris Brazier
This book chronicles This book lives up
the beginnings and cur- to its title... it really is a
rent state of the Animal no-nonsense guide to world
Liberation Front. This is history. Brazier gives an
an anonymous group of excellent overview with just
individual “cells” of activ- enough detail to keep the
ists who commit to no vio- reader engaged. This version
lence against any animals of world history also exam-
(human or non-human), ines information left out via
and use direct action to white, Christian, upper-class
rescue and protect non-hu- male privledge (terms to describe those who usually
man animals from condi- wrote history), and fills the reader in on what women
tions they are in, such as were doing and how some Europeans created opinions
mink farms, medical and and “facts” about non-white groups to justify brutal-
cosmetic testing labs, and factory farms. Eco-terrorism ization and pillaging, while providing further informa-
and animal-enterprise terrorism are terms thrown tion explaining the truth about these civilizations and
around often by the government, especially after 9/11, their advancements. The book is living and breathing-
and these essays debate whether direct action by the -not stale--and provides an excellent overview of the
ALF to rescue animals being used and abused for history of our world. -Nicole Pagowsky
vivisection, factory farming, the fur industry, and oth-
ers can truly be considered terrorism or not. The main The Bachelor Girl: 100
focus here is a discussion on if destruction of property Years of Breaking the
should be considered terrorism, and if aiming to only Rules - a Social History of
rescue these non-human animals consists of trying to Living Single
terrorize human oppresors. Comparisons are made to Betsy Israel
the Abolitionist movement, feminism and women’s
rights, and actions taken against Hitler’s Nazis by Jews I spotted this book on
and other groups. It is oft a delicate situation to com- the sale table at the ASU
pare anything to the Holocaust or slavery, but if one bookstore and decided,
views animals as living, breathing creatures with feel- hey, why not. It was only
ings, both physical and emotional, what we as humans $5 and had cool action
do to exploit these non-human animals can be shock- figures on the cover! All
ing. Because there are people who feel non-human joking aside, this book is
animals are objects belonging to humans to exploit, a fascinating read. As the
there are also essays discussing, philosophically, how title suggests, it chronicles the lives of single women
and why animals should be considered comparative to and perceptions of single women throughout the span
humans, and why it is then possible to relate animal of American history. What I especially loved about
exploitation, torture, and slaughter to the aforemen- this book is the way it describes of single and work-
tioned historical events, issues, and movements. This ing women incorporating impressions from a variety
book is fascinating and really explores issues involved of sources including personal diaries, the press, film
in the animal rights movement, its connections to and other popular media. Very cool and interesting to
other movements, and how far the government should note the different stereotypes about singles, working
really be allowed to go in using the terms terror and
6
girls, spinsters, “Old Maids,” etc. Reading this book describes a trend in libraries (both U.S. and abroad) of
made me realize that society’s perception of the single destroying paper copies of historic journals and news-
lady, although very different from the 19th century, papers and replacing them with microfilm or scanned
is still laced with stigmatization. I still see a lot more copies. The Library of Congress and British Library are
concern and hand-wringing over the “singleton” status both cited as “culprits” in this document destruction
of ladies than that of guys - even from the most liber- effort. According to the author, the microfilm copies
ated of quarters. A great read, highly recommend it! are often incomplete, difficult to read and deteriorat-
-Rebecca Bliquez ing from exposure to light, fungi or poor storage with
no original paper copies extant to replace them. The
Double Fold: Libraries author argues that the justifications for paper destruc-
and the Assault on Paper tion such as lack of storage space and cost-effective-
Nicholson Baker ness, are inadequate. I found his research and argu-
ments to be very compelling and as a future librarian,
This book is actually a I found the “gorey” scenes where original documents
required text for my IRLS are hacked apart in warehouses by “guillotines” to be
541 Preservation class pretty disturbing. Another great read! -Rebecca Bliquez
but it’s definitely worth
a read for anyone that is
interested in history and
the preservation of mate-
rial culture. This book
8
PLG Welcoming Social Event!
PLG members and friends met on 9 April 2008 at Bison Witches for food, fun and drinks! This was a
great opportunity for members not only to mingle and get to know one another, but for prospective members to
meet current PLGers and learn a bit more about the new club. We’ll keep you posted for the next social event!
Clockwise from the left: Paulita Kewanwytewa, Sho Ikeda, Danielle Stanley, Lisa Dillivan, Nicole Pagowsky, Arvey
Basa, and Jacy Bell.
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