Welcome to LIVE from the Library Lounge (#pwlounge), a new favorite gathering place for librarians and library stakeholders to meet each month for candid and thought-provoking discussions about the challenges and opportunities facing libraries now.
Hosted by Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer and editor of PW's Preview for Librarians newsletter, in conversation with a range of special expert guests, this free discussion series aims to respond to timely happenings and give viewers actionable solutions and models they can emulate.
We'll tackle a range of topics:
- Race, equity and inclusion
- Programming and providing services in a Covid-19 world
- Advocacy and action
- And more!
We'll also take questions from the audience to deepen the conversation. Questions can be posted before and during the event on Twitter by using hashtag #pwlounge.
So bookmark this page, put on your thinking cap and tune in each month from your favorite device for lively conversations with some of the best and brightest in the field.
Have an idea for a topic? Want to be a speaker? Email Krista Rafanello, krafanello@publishersweekly.com.
Episode 1: Rethinking Libraries in the Wake of Protests and the Pandemic
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
11:00 a.m. EDT/8:00 a.m. PDT
"The crises we face today—in public health, in our economy, and in confronting the structural racism in our society—demand that we rethink everything," wrote R. David Lankes in a recent Publishers Weekly column. "Including what we've always considered virtuous institutions, like libraries, schools, and publishers."
We've all seen the statements of solidarity from various institutions following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in May. But what do these statements mean in practice? How do libraries back up their words with actions? And how do libraries pursue change in the midst of a public health crisis and the economic and social disruption wrought by the pandemic?
In this webinar, Lankes and Nicole A. Cooke, authors, educators and colleagues at the University of South Carolina, will take stock of this unprecedented cultural moment and kick off a discussion on how libraries can proceed on the path to becoming the anti-racist, truly equitable institutions our society needs.
Nicole A. Cooke is the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina. Her research and teaching interests include human information behavior, critical cultural information studies, and diversity and social justice in librarianship. She was awarded ALA's Equality award in 2016, and she was the 2019 ALISE Excellence in Teaching Award recipient. She has edited and authored several books, including Information Services to Diverse Populations (ABC-CLIO, 2016) and Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-truth Era (ALA Editions, 2018).
R. David Lankes is director of the University of South Carolina's School of Information Science and author of The Atlas of New Librarianship (MIT Press); and The New Librarianship Field Guide (MIT Press). Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today's society, earning him the American Library Association's Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship in 2016. He has been a visiting fellow at the National Library of Canada, the Harvard School of Education, and was the first fellow of ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy.
Andrew Richard Albanese is Senior Writer at Publishers Weekly. He has covered the publishing and information technology fields for more than 20 years for numerous publications around the world. He is a former associate editor of American History at Oxford University Press, and is the author of The Battle of $9.99: How Apple, Amazon and the Big Six Publishers Changed the E-Book Business Overnight.
Can't make the live event? No worries. All interviews will be archived so you can watch it at your convenience.
