2020-10-30 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 6, Issue 9
Featured Story
Hamilton and the Fight Against Misinformation
Now that election season is in full swing I would like to share some thoughts. I am currently finishing up a reread of the YA dystopian series The Hunger Games. If you pay close attention to many popular YA dystopian novels you will find that many of the events of these novels can be based on what if scenarios from current day events. It has made me do some deep thinking about our current political state. I want to share some thoughts about politics from another source, the popular musical, Hamilton. I love that the catch line associated with this phenomenal musical is that it is the story of America then, told by America now.
Political lessons from Hamilton
- Are you ready for a cabinet meeting? – The political stage is just that, a stage where both sides bring their best showmanship and attempt to play on our emotional responses as an audience.
- When you got skin the game, you stay in the game. But you don’t get a win unless you play in the game. We all have skin in this game, when it comes to our tax dollars, the impact on our livelihood, etc. If we want to stay in the game we need to participate in the game by getting out to vote. If you don’t take the time to vote then you have no place to complain.
- Oh, you get love for it, you get hate for it. You get nothing if you wait for it, wait for it, wait. With a two party system and a wide range of viewpoints there is no way to make everyone happy all of the time. What one side sees as a victory the other side sees as a defeat. We can choose to let this tear us apart or we can learn to see things from the other side and find a better way to come together.
- Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature? Continuing down that path, we need to stop pinning each side against the other because when we do that neither side wins.
There are so many more lessons that can be taken away from this extraordinary show, but I’ll stop there.
During the course of my work at my local public library I recently had the opportunity to research the importance of dispelling the misinformation and disinformation that is running rampant these days. In case you don’t know the difference between these two terms, the first refers to false or inaccurate information that is likely shared accidentally while the second refers to the sharing of false information in order to further an agenda particularly a political one. One resource that I found particularly useful in my research was an article from October 29, 2018 entitled Fake News, Bots, and Incentivized Reviews: Some Tools for Fact-Checking from ICfL’s website. This article lists some excellent resources that we can promote to our patrons to help them find the best sources of news when they are feeling bombarded by inaccurate information. I also think that anything that we can do as libraries to help patrons learn how to see news with a balanced perspective would be a huge benefit. We, as librarians, try our best to lay biases aside as we strive to maintain balanced collections. We also understand how reading a variety of books portraying a wide selection of viewpoints helps us to broader our own understandings and world views. How vitally important is it for us to then pass on this message to our patrons.
I hope that this post is beneficial to you, my fellow library folk, as we all strive to navigate these difficult times. I have the honor to be your obedient servant J. Wood
– Jackie Wood, Marshall Public Library
Fail Forward
We’ve all been there. You pour your heart into a program, and no one shows up. You try something new, and you fall on your face. Sound familiar? Fail Forward is the place to share your failures, and give you the opportunity to share what you learned from them. Did you promote your program in a different way after no one showed up? Maybe you took a new approach to the new thing you were excited about? Awesome! Share your story via our online form so others can learn, and realize that failure is often part of the process.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays… curbside service?
Like many libraries throughout Idaho and the nation, we have implemented Curbside Pickup at our library. When choosing how to deliver items, we settled on putting a table out on the sidewalk near our Outside Book drop return. This location had a lot going for it… close parking, location was somewhere patrons were used to going, somewhat close to the Library staff doors for delivery. The only thing that wasn’t ideal was the lack of cover… the table was far enough away from the building and trees that it was open to the sky. Not a problem, we thought…. we place our items in plastic bags for delivery, and who really comes to curbside in the rain anyway? As it turns out, some of our busiest days are the gloomiest. The plastic bags worked great… library items were protected! Patrons and library staff used umbrellas to stay as dry as possible. The table we chose, however, did not quite survive the weather demands that we placed on it. One of the first lessons we learned while during curbside was to upgrade the table we chose to a table that can survive anything the weather can throw at it… because Library Patrons are coming, even in rainstorms and heatwaves… just like the Post Office.
– Mike Sloan, Nampa Public Library
Crush Corner
Is there a library you follow on social media who is always doing new and exciting things? How about a blog you follow that inspires you? What about a new idea, book, or resource that you want to share? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who or what they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!
The Community Library
I’m crushing on the Community Library of Ketchum, Idaho– their new library building won the American Library Association and International Interior Design Association’s Library Interior Design Awards for a Public Library. It’s an incredible looking library that both community members and visitors are sure to enjoy! Congratulations!
– Jessica Martinez, University of Idaho Library
SPLAT explores the ever-evolving library world and supports library folks as they adapt to meet the needs of their communities. Library folk throughout the state of Idaho volunteer to serve on the Special Projects Library Action Team (SPLAT). Learn more about SPLAT at splat.lili.org
SPLAT is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and was made possible, in part, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LS-246156-OLS-20). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.