ALA Midwinter Top 5
In this crazy year, I felt so grateful to be able to once again virtually attend ALA Midwinter. Zoom fatigue is real, but compared to booking flights and hotels to travel to a conference, online participation is the clear winner for me! Incredible live speakers ranged from Ibram X. Kendi and Ethan Hawke, to Ziggy Marley and Dr. Jill Biden. Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman gave us a taste of her forthcoming children’s picture book Change Sings… simultaneously winning the unofficial award for best #bookshelfie —
After watching hours and hours of presentations (and taking looootsss of notes), here are my top five:
Deepfakes and the Evolving Misinformation Ecosystem (part of Core Top Technology Trends presentation) Presented by: John Mack Freeman, Branch Manager, Suwanee branch of Gwinnett County Public Library
In 2017, a Reddit user coined the word “deepfake”, a portmanteau of deep learning and fake media. Just two years later in 2019, there were approximately 14, 678 deepfake videos online. Today, nearly 100,000 users are involved with various deepfake communities across the web. With much of the software to create deepfake content being open source, it is generally inexpensive to create deepfake content, such as this video of Steve Buscemi as Jennifer Lawrence.
Though the deepfake video mashup of Steve Buscemi and Jennifer Lawrence is easy to spot, it demonstrates how facial mapping can be used to create new content from original material.
While the technology itself is technically neutral, there is a spectrum of use from entertainment to anti-social purposes (and from cheap fakes to deep fakes). Casual users may try out FaceSwap or Reface to create memes for personal entertainment. (Notably though, most users don’t realize that many of these apps are developed overseas in countries like China, Ukraine, and Russia, who don’t have strong user privacy laws). On the anti-social end of the use spectrum, deepfake technology can be used to create involuntary pornography, by superimposing others’ faces onto actors’ bodies (up to 96% of all deepfake videos may fall under this category, receiving over 135 million views around the world over the last four years). Women are 100% of the targets, their images are used without their consent, and videos can be nearly impossible to scrub from the internet.
Other serious negative use concerns include financial fraud (recorded voice data can be used to recreate the voices of high-up bank officials, and potentially friends and family), bad faith discussions (for example, videos not clearly labeled as satire showing an elected official in a conversation as it didn’t naturally occur). Another major concern is political misinformation, and while the technology is not currently widely used during presidential elections (yet), it has already been used to silence government critique and silence minority voices around the world.
The ideal deepfake is 100% undetectable, and while deepfake detection technology is developing too, it will likely be outpaced by the sheer number of people working to create more seamless deepfakes. Why does this matter to libraries? Deepfake content has the power to contribute to information decay, and make information literacy techniques like applying the “CRAP” test and thinking critically obsolete. Currently, there are very few legal barriers for deepfakes to spread online, as this nuanced tech issue is often a challenge to non-tech-savvy legislators. In addition, most deepfakes are created internationally, providing yet another legal obstacle. Notably, some private companies like Twitter, Discord, Gyfycat, and others have explicitly banned deepfake content from their platform. As of 2018, Reddit banned is users from sharing pornographic deepfakes, while Facebook allows deepfake content to remain live as long as the content doesn’t break other rules on the platform.
What can libraries and librarians do? We can all fight for good policies and provide education. We must educate the public (without instilling fear) by talking about what’s happening now, and what can happen in the future with this still-developing technology. A brief look at deepfakes can be included in any computer literacy workshop. Additionally, we can work to lobby for private businesses to take a clear stance on deepfakes on their platforms. It takes a village to develop public trust in information. We must work together and hold each other accountable to cultivate a strong and reliable information ecosystem.
Libraries and Communities Respond to COVID-19 Queens Public Library Response presented by: Jeff Lambert, Assistant Director of Digital Inclusion and Workforce Readiness, Queens Public Library
The Queens Public Library is the public library of the borough of Queens, NY, one of three public library systems serving New York City, and one of the largest library systems in the world by circulation. During COVID-19, they haven’t been resting on their laurels. No — they have found new ways to keep patrons engaged and serve their community.
Instagram promotion for a recent online program from Queens Public Library
In his presentation on how the Queens Public Library adapted to meet changing needs, Assistant Director of Digital Inclusion and Workforce Readiness Jeff Lambert starts out with some of the positives. For one, the library’s programs are no longer limited by meeting room capacity. Secondly, they were able to repurpose some of their 66 branch locations into COVID-19 testing sites.
A major decision that library staff made was to refine all of their branches into one virtual branch during the pandemic. This meant coordinating with each other to develop policies and procedures that would maximize their ability to work together to serve the public. A TV Guide-like spreadsheet became their virtual program scheduling tool, with time slots for staff to provide programming at set times each day, every day of the week. To reach patrons where they are, they also needed to choose the right delivery platforms to promote their virtual events and activities beyond the reach of their e-mail blast and library website. Various programs found their homes on Cisco WebEx, Instagram Live, Facebook Live, and YouTube.
One of their major priorities was to combine active programming with low-stakes passive programming, like their live DJ sessions on Instagram Live where patrons can tune in and engage with each other through the chat function. This is a great way to invite people to participate with the library, while combating Zoom fatigue that both young people and adults alike are likely to be feeling these days.
Library staff realized that some programs translate well virtually, while others needed some modification. For example, children’s storytimes were easy to offer virtually, while resume help needed to be scheduled via e-mail and carried out over the phone or through video conferencing. Some programs they’re working on adapting include more high-touch in-person programs like adult computer skills and software instruction. For the latter, the library only has permissions to use licenses for software like Adobe Creative Suite in-house; to get around this, they will likely offer graphic design instruction using freely available online software like Canva for the time being.
To meet the social and political challenges of the day, the Queens Public Library launched a Facebook live program for discussions on racial topics with local elected officials and community leaders. They also partnered with the ALA Black Caucus for a summit on black health and healing, while simultaneously looking inward at their own biases in programming and services. They also wanted to engage and inform the community around health issues, hosting regular virtual information sessions with medical professionals on how to keep ourselves, out loved ones, and our communities safe. Health initiatives didn’t stop there: the library acknowledged that patrons were craving opportunities to move, reduce stress, and connect with one another. Their Zumba class went from and average of 10 people in person per class to 50 people virtually, and their guided meditation for older adults has also been popular.
Stacks, their homework help program for youth ages 6-14 moved completely online, and there are currently three programs per day, five days a week. Teens are engaged with coding through VidCode. Brainfuse online tutoring offers assistance to students, as well as live tutoring in English and Spanish. Lynda.com is helping to power asynchronous learning for adults, along with a library facilitator. Through PBC Guru, an asynchronous forum for moderated book discussions, patrons can participate in a community atmosphere at their own pace and at their own leisure.
Finally, and perhaps most impressively, the library launched the Queens Memory COVID-19 Project, a virtual participatory forum for community members to document the effects of COVID-19 on the borough. It is a first person collection of photographs and stories, available online through Urban Archive. Using several of the stories gathered, the team also created a 10 episode podcast. Though not all library systems will have the resources and staff to provide all of the above to their patrons, I think it is beyond helpful to look at the best examples of how libraries have handled (and are still handling) serving their patrons through good times and bad.
Navigating Advocacy in a Virtual World Presented by: Larry Neal, Clinton-Macomb Public County Library Director
With many public library buildings closed or providing limited services, how can librarians best continue to communicate their ongoing value to stakeholders and decision makers? Reaching out is the first step. Larry Neal, Director of the Clinton-Macomb County Library, says it can be as simple as calling up your local representative and saying “Hello, I’m introducing myself, I’ve never done this before. I want to build a relationship with your office because it’s win-win. I want to help you achieve your goals where we have common alignment and purpose.” Representatives and staff will more than likely welcome communication with their community’s library system as libraries are the ultimate bipartisan issue.
During these trying times, libraries can significantly increase awareness of available library services through platforms and relationships with elected officials and community groups. When buildings are closed, how do libraries best pitch themselves to a new community partner-to-be or elected official? Enter the virtual tour.
Photo by Sam McGhee
To prepare for a virtual tour with an elected official, for example, library staff should gather together the areas of their programming, services, adaptations, and developments they wish to highlight. Here’s where comment cards from the community (whether physical or virtual) can really shine. Neal suggests that library representatives move beyond statements and get to stories to highlight their invaluable assets. Show how your library has been an asset to the community, whether it be through computer rentals, WiFi extenders, providing virtual library cards for every student in the county, or through other significant research, projects, or achievements. When planning to present your library to a representative, try to make it more than just a PowerPoint presentation — make it a two-way conversation. It helps immeasurably to find out in advance (by asking staffers) what interests the representative has that can be included in your pitch. Perhaps they are an avid birder (perfect time to show off the library’s birding backpacks), or have a fitness goal for the new year (yoga mat rentals, anyone?). They will appreciate the effort you took to try to reach them personally, and libraries can better communicate the clear, tangible, and immediate value they offer people in their community.
If there are new building developments or modifications underway, use this virtual tour to show them off by “walking” your guest around relevant areas of the library. When the virtual tour/conversation is complete, be sure to continue to keep the representative and their staff informed on what’s happening at the library. Invite them to events throughout the year, especially those where they can connect with their community. Lots of elected officials and their staff may think they “know” libraries, but many won’t know the full extent of what libraries have to offer the community. Once you’ve developed these relationships, know that it is not always possible for elected officials to say yes to everything a library requests their help with. But if you can make an impact on them, you will be in the back of their mind when something relevant comes up, and they can ask their staff, “Who was that person I talked to from the library?”
When your efforts have helped to turn an elected official into a library superstar, tell the world! In a non-political/bi-partisan way, promote their interest to work for libraries on your library’s marketing channels, and encourage other leaders in the community to be library superstars, too! Strive to make each relationship with a community partner and leader a win-win, and the future of libraries will be looking bright.
The Future of Trust Panel discussion with: Veronda J. Pichford, Amanda J. Wilson, and Vanessa L. Kitzie, PhD.
Libraries are consistently ranked among the public’s most trusted sources of information. But trust is a two-way street. Libraries reflect not only who we wish to be, but also who we currently are as a society, warts and all. Though many libraries strive to provide equitable service to all, in many ways they fall short as the industry (dominated by white women) has plenty of blind spots. Librarians making decisions for the community must look around the table, and see not only who is but also who isn’t there. In addition to diversifying library staff and those in decision-making roles, libraries must also look to involve their communities by directly consulting and building ongoing relationships with people representing diverse identities and perspectives.
This isn’t about checking a “diversity” box and calling it a day. It is a continual evolution, striving to make libraries, much like other governmental institutions, representative of the people they serve. Panelist Veronda J. Pichford says, “It starts inward. Inward for us as professionals. Inward for us looking at our library collections, and programs, and services. And getting our own house in order too as we cultivate and engage…Like when you have people over, you want people to be comfortable, and safe, and part of your home. How is our space making people comfortable and safe?” She says that trust is the umbrella under which equity can be built.
Panelist Vanessa J. Kitzie claims that libraries can become mirrors that reflect all of our society’s biases and prejudices, even if we don’t think they do. By requiring an official “birth certificate” name and having only two gender options on library card applications, transgender and nonbinary folks can easily be made to feel unwelcome at the library through microagressions. Security staff overly-patrolling or questioning patrons who are black, queer, or who otherwise stand out as “other” (as Kitzie notes) will also make these patrons feel that, as Pichford summarizes, “this place is not for you. You’re not safe here.”
There are plenty of non-obvious ways that libraries may be making certain groups of patrons feel unwelcome or unsafe. Kitzie drives home the importance of considering different modes of visibility. For example, some patrons will be happy to check out a book from a Pride Month book display, while others may fear being outed in their communities against their will, which can be a legitimate risk to their safety, especially in small or rural communities. Offering self-checkout machines helps to offer invisibility during checkout, and can be a literal life-saver for someone who doesn’t want to “put all their business on the street.” For some patrons, Pitchford notes, information-seeking privacy is vital to their personal safety.
Photo by Timothy Eberly
Kitzie claims that as librarians, we also can’t impose our own values of what’s “best” on members of marginalized groups. For example, a transgender patron is likely to come to the library for reader’s advisory or tax assistance, but not health information. Why? There is relatively little medical research on trans health, and library materials can be too out-of-date to support a trans individual’s health information needs (old health literature may even be downright hostile and dismissive towards different gender expressions). Therefore, if a trans patron is getting health information from a Google doc compiled by fellow trans people, this may be the safest and most appropriate and authoritative source of health information for that individual.
Panelist Amanda J. Wilson urges libraries to train their staff in cultural humility. She cites research in the field of critical librarianship to demonstrate how to apply social justice to our work in libraries. By involving those who don’t currently have a seat at the table, “That’s how you keep a pulse on what’s shifting, what questions or what problems are happening in communities that libraries can be responsive to?” Wilson also invites libraries to check out her workplace’s funding opportunities and tools for conducting community needs assessments, finding health information access tools, free training opportunities, and connecting with local partners who want to work with libraries at the Network of the National Library of Medicine.
Cicely Tyson in conversation with author Donald Bogle
The internal spark of actress and activist Cicely Tyson was sure to kindle a glow in the hearts of anyone who tuned in to her live chat with author Donald Bogle during ALA Midwinter. It is unfathomable that she passed away just days after this interview, at the age of 96.
Screenshot of Cicely Tyson in conversation with Donald Bogle
Promoting her brand-new autobiography, Just As I Am, Tyson shared moving, amusing, and wise anecdotes from an inspired life well-lived. Author Donald Bogle regaled viewers with Tyson’s long list of professional accomplishments. Throughout her career, her acting work has made her an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony award winner, among other honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed in 2016 by President Barack Obama. She writes her autobiography now because, “I was aware of where I came from. My audience and fans were not.”
Years before she herself played the titular role in a television adaptation of Ernest J. Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Tyson spotted the book in a bookstore. Compelled by the image of the woman on the cover, she bought it and took it home. “I went home, I sat down, I started reading it, and I didn’t stop until I finished it. And my heart was pumping like I was about to leave here. I’d started calling all my friends, and telling them about this woman Jane Pittman. And they all said to me she’s fictitious, she’s not real. I said no, please, don’t do that – don’t do that, okay? She is real. All right?”
While shooting Sounder (a role for which she was later nominated for an Oscar), she was on set with Kevin Ritt and Marty Hooks and his brother, when Marty asked her if she knew anything about Jane Pittman, “ I jumped up! I said yes, yes, yes, why? I said why are you asking me? He said the writer Ernest Gaines, is here.” He’d been invited to set to be persuaded to make it into a film, but Marty himself hadn’t had time to read the book. Tyson exclaims, “I said, but I’ve read it! I’ve read it. I’ll go to lunch with him. I want to meet him! I was a wreck...” Gaines took her to the home where he grew up, and the house “was full of women. And these were the women that were friends of his mom, his grandmother, and so on. And Jane Pittman was a compilation of all of those women who came to visit his mom.” Gaines invited her to call him for lunch any time she was in San Francisco, but she never heard from him again until she saw him on the set of Pittman. He’d made the decision that she was Jane. “I got the notice from my manager, and that was it.”
In the meantime, she’d been turned down to play another role, and on this day when she came home looking forlorn, her mother reassured her, “What’s for you in this life, you will get. What’s not for you, you will never get.” She was so hurt inside, and thought that her mother’s words were irritating and foolish! Two weeks later, she got the call to play Jane Pittman. “Now, had I taken the other job…I might not have been available for Jane Pittman. So I allowed that to guide me through my whole career.”
Her life wisdom and career passion are evident in each story she shares so graciously. When asked about pay disparities for black actors, Tyson responds, “I never made money the reason I was working. Okay? It was the substance of the piece. I would have done Jane Pittman in the basement of a basement – do you understand? I would never have turned her down…It never bothered me that I didn’t get what I was supposed to get. And they knew it…I think it still exists. There’s not a question that it doesn’t exist.” She adds, “You have to hold on to what you believe in. I know one has to do that. And you cannot let matters contrary to what you believe in discourage you from moving forward or achieving the goal that you are working towards.”
It is impossible not to feel the palpable energy and passion Cicely Tyson had for life itself. Though she is now sadly no longer physically with us, her inspiration carries on in the hearts of any and all who listen to and read her stories. At the end of the interview, Bogle calls Tyson’s autobiography Just As I Am “ a moving, compelling, enlightening, and inspirational” book, to which Tyson responds:
“Thank you so much, Donald. I’m so happy we did this.”
So are we.
