by Charles Kratz, SRRT Coordinator, Dean of the Library and Information Fluency, Weinberg Memorial Library, The University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania
SRRT Statement on Racist Aggression at ALA Conferences
On February 2, 2019, SRRT issued a statement on Racist Aggression at ALA Conferences in condemnation of the incidents of racist behavior that were reported at the most recent American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, the best known of which is the verbal attack on Councilor-at-Large April Hathcock at a Council Forum on Monday evening, January 28, 2019. This ongoing pattern of exclusionary behavior is absolutely unacceptable and completely contrary to our values as both a profession and an organization. Please read the statement at on the SRRT website.
Amelia Bloomer Project
The Amelia Bloomer Project, a subgroup of the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table's Feminist Task Force, has announced its Top Ten feminist books for young readers. The Amelia Bloomer List recommends well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content for young readers from birth to 18 years old. Named for Amelia Bloomer, a pioneering 19th-century newspaper editor, feminist thinker, public speaker, and suffragist, the list features books that spur the imagination and promote equity for people of all genders.
The bibliography is intended as a recommended reading list for children and teens. It may also be used by interested librarians, teachers, parents, and others who work with youth. The complete list can be accessed at https://ameliabloomer.wordpress.com and http://www.ala.org/rt/srrt/feminist-task-force
SRRT Herb Biblo Travel Grants Awarded
The Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) is pleased to announce it has awarded its first annual conference travel grants to Tracy Drake, Archivist/Librarian at Chicago Public Library and to Kate Adler, Director of Library Services at the Metropolitan College of New York. The Herb Biblo Conference Travel Grants sponsored by SRRT help finance attendance at the ALA Annual Conference. The $1000 award covers limited fees related to airfare, lodging, and conference registration. SRRT funds up to two applicants per year.
Tracy Drake is an Archivist in the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection located at the Chicago Public Library. As an information professional, Tracy strives to provide equitable access to the stories of Black Chicago. Her latest exhibit, "All Power to the People," which opened in February 2019, celebrates the impact and radicalism of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. She believes in confronting difficult topics in our collective historical narrative while encouraging community archival practice. In addition to her work in the archives, Tracy writes on anti-racism in society and information. She is the proud mother of a radical ten-year old and burgeoning poet. As a native Chicagoan, she enjoys exploring new places in the city, traveling and reading. She holds a MSLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a M.A. in History from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a B.S. in African American Studies from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL.
Kate Adler is the Director of Library Services at Metropolitan College of New York, where, among other things, she oversees the information literacy and reference programs and has developed special collections that focus on a critical history of poverty and on community organizing. Her professional research interests pivot around the intersection of libraries, social justice, and community empowerment and engage critical theories of race, gender, class, disability, geography, affect and biopower, and histories of poverty, labor and social movements. She has written and presented on these topics and on Critical Reference. She is a co-editor of Reference Librarianship & Justice: History, Practice & Praxis (reviewed in this issue) and her chapter examining the library services, immigration and poverty during the War on Poverty and the Progressive era in New York City will appear in the forthcoming Borders & Belonging: Critical Examinations of LIS Approaches Toward Immigrants. Kate has an M.A. in American Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and an MLIS from Queens College, CUNY. She lives in Jackson Heights, which is in Queens, New York City.
SRRT at ALA Annual 2019 in Washington, D.C.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2019 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. where we will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of SRRT and the Alternative Press on Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 7-10 p.m. at Busboys & Poets, 450 K. St. Washington, D.C. featuring American writer, activist, and political commentator Phyllis Bennis. Besides our regular roundtable meetings, we will be featuring a Chair's Program on "Subverting Other People's Elections: History and Resources" featuring journalist Stephen Kinzer, a Panel Discussion on Hate Speech and Libraries, and a juried program on the US 2020 census co-sponsored with GODORT. All of our meetings and events are open.
SRRT Membership Numbers
As of January 2019, SRRT has increased membership by 12% compared to last year. Included are other roundtables which saw an increase in January.
Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) 1896, +12.32%
Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) 1771, +1.49%
New Members Round Table (NMRT) 1516, +8.44%
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) 1449, +5.92%
Library Research Round Table (LRRT) 1353, +1.35%
Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) 1268, +0.08%
Sustainability Round Table (SUSTRT) 1066, +67.08%
Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) 962, +9.19%
ALA 58,430, -0.08%
Get Involved in SRRT
If you would like to become more involved in SRRT or its task forces, please let us know so we can direct you to a task force representative. The SRRT Task Forces are Feminist Task Force (FTF); Hunger, Homelessness, & Poverty Task Force (HHPTF); International Responsibilities Task Force (IRTF); and Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Task Force (MLKTF). You can also click on the volunteer form to use to serve on ALA, Divisions and Round Tables committees/task forces. This form includes volunteer opportunities in SRRT.