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Progressive Librarians Guild
Rider University Library
2083 Lawrenceville Rd.
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648


News Archive



2012

03/30/12  − First issue of PLG Bulletin published, March 2012.

02/22/12  − Miriam Braverman award, call for papers.

01/22/12  − PLG editor Susan Maret's article "True Community" is published in Information, Society and Justice Journal,4(2),2012.

01/21/12  − PLG Statement on Censorship and the Tucson Unified School District.


01/18/12  − SOPA RESISTANCE DAY

Learn more about SOPA, censorship, & piracy:

http://sopastrike.com/

http://www.article19.org/sopa.html

http://arstechnica.com/

http://blog.softlayer.com/2012/how-the-internet-works-and-how-sopa-would-break-it/

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2012/01/pipa-sopa-and-open-act-quick-reference-guide

The Swiss study (2011)...Piracy pays for itself

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397173,00.asp



01/16/12  −  Read PLG editor Elaine Harger's review[.pdf] of R. David Lankes' Atlas of New Librarianship.

01/15/12  −  PLG meeting January 21 @ ALA.


2011
10/15/11  −  Response to Beall’s“Librarians and the Threat to Free Political Speech” by Mark Rosenzweig.

10/13/11  −  Progressive Librarians Guild's Statement on Occupy Wall Street.

06/30/11  −  Response to McMaster University librarian Jeff Trzeciak from the Edmonton chapter of the Progressive Librarians Guild.

02/27/11  −  Progressive Librarians Guild stands in solidarity with public employees.

2010
12/21/10  −  PLG Coordinating Committee issues statement On wikileaks and the Library of Congress.

12/4/10  −    PLG endorses Electronic Frontier Foundation wikileaks letter.

11/15/10 −   PLG signs  " A Petition Against Four More Years of War."

05/30/10  −  The 2010 Miriam Braverman Memorial prize awarded to Kristen Hogan for her essay “‘Breaking Secrets’ in the Catalog: Proposing the Black Queer Studies Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.”

2009
10/14/09  − Progressive Librarians Guild opposes the actions of the Hyatt Company. Read the resolution on the boycott.

9/26/09  −  See Progressive Librarian Editorial Board member John Buschman's critique of intelletual freedom for librarians in his Who defends intellectual freedom for librarians? (AAUP's Academe September-October 2009).

7/2/09  − Information regarding PLG at ALA Chicago, here.

6/21/09  −  Progressive Librarians Guild supports the Right to Read Campaign in Gaza. The right to read is realized in Article 19 to include access to information, intellectual freedom, and right to communicate.  Endorsing the Right to Read Campaign is in line with the 1997 Resolution on IFLA, Human Rights and Freedom of Expression.

6/1/09  −  2009 Braverman Award winner announced.

5/12/09 − Progressive Librarians Guild calls for Elsevier to End Corrupt Publishing Practices and for Library Associations to Take Advocacy Role on Behalf of Scientific Integrity.

4/26/09 − PLG member Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher publish AGITATE! EDUCATE!  ORGANIZE!: American Labor Posters.

2/20/09 − Listen to Dr. Kathleen de la Peña McCook's "Human Rights: A New Model for Librarianship" podcast recorded February 11, 2009 as part of the University Libraries/LIS Lecture Series, Jackson Library, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.


1/24/09 − Call for submissions for the 2009 Braverman contest.


1/24/09 − PLG member Rory Litwin gives the keynote address March 7at the Fourth Annual SIRLS Graduate Student Symposium at the University of Arizona.

1/22/09 − Gloria J. Leckie and PLG member John Buschman edit Information Technology in Librarianship: New Critical Approaches (Libraries Unlimited/Greenwood, 2008).

1/14/09 − PLG members publish the following research:

2008

12/20/08 −  PLG business meeting and dinner @ ALA Midwinter 2009 information here!

9/9/08
−  PLG, an Open the Government.org partner, is pleased to annouce the release of the 2008 Secrecy Report Card, an annual review of U.S. government information policy.

8/2/08 −  Susan Maret and Jan Goldman co-edit Government Secrecy: Classic and Contemporary Readings, Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

6/22/08 − PLG activities in Anaheim, CA.

6/22/08 −  Read Peter McDonald's  "ALA´s Stand on Cuba´s  Independent Libraries," American Libraries 39 no. 6 (June/July 2008):100-2.

6/20/08 −  Progressive Librarians Guild Statement on WiFi in Libraries and the Precautionary Principle.

5/29/08 −  PLG is a now a coalition partner with openthegovernment.org, a coalition of "journalists, consumer and good government groups, environmentalists, library groups, labor, and others."

5/12/08 −  PLG welcomes Dalhousie University PLG Chapter, the first PLG student chapter in Canada at the School of Information Management (SIM), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

5/7/08 -  Braverman Award Winner Announced.

4/20/08 -  Read Elaine Harger's article from American Libraries "Global Warming and Us: Assessing Our Environmental and Professional Liability," April 1, 2008.

4/14/08 -  John Buschman at the annual British Columbia Library Conference April 17-19, 2008, "Slip Sliding Away: Libraries 'Cool' Rebranding, and Public Purposes."

4/14/08 − New book from Library Juice Press edited by Alison Lewis Ph.D.  Questioning Library Neutrality: Essays from Progressive Librarian.

3/4/2008 − PLG Welcomes its newest student chapter at the University of Arizona.

1/9/2008 − Interview with PLG Member and Progressive Librarian editorial board member Lincoln Cushing about Cuban posters in the current issue of PLAZM magazine.

2007
4/1/2007 − Visions of Peace & Justice. Edited by Progressive Librarian editorial board member, Lincoln Cushing as part of a long project to document and disseminate this genre honoring the activist and cultural community.

4/13/2007 − Kathleen de la Pena McCook receives the Florida Library Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

3/23/2007 − PLG Member Jenna Freedman named Futas winner. The American Library Association (ALA) has awarded the Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award to Jenna Freedman, coordinator of Reference Services at Barnard College Library in New York, founder Radical Reference, and proponent for a National Library Workers' Day.

3/22/2007 − The story behind the story of the CPUSA archive donation to NYU. Reading the recent New York Times article about the grand donation of the significant political archive of the Communist Party - USA to the Tamiment Library at NYU one would never know that for many years these materials were managed at the Reference Center for Marxist Studies. Under the able archival leadership of Progressive Librarians Guild member Mark Rosenzweig these materials were protected for public access, but eventually succumbed to a slow death from lack of support. This is the fate of many social movement special collections in this country, and the recent chapter of "salvation" by NYU is but one of a long series of transitions endured by these remarkable cultural materials.

3/22/2007 − 2007 Braverman Award submission criteria. Submit papers concerned with an aspect of the social responsibilities of librarians, libraries, or librarianship.

2/13/2007 − Progressive Librarians Guild Endorses the Petition to the U.N. General Assembly. to Try President of the United States George Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

1/16/2007 − Progressive Librarians Guild Endorses AHA Resolution on United States Government Practices Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession. On January 11, 2007, the Progressive Librarians Guild Coordinating Committee approved endorsement of the American Historical Association's(AHA) Resolution, presented by Historians Against the War and approved by the AHA at its 2007 convention.

1/16/2007 − PLG Co-founder and Coordinating Committee member Mark Rosenzweig's Essay on the War on Terror.

1/13/2007 − New from Library Juice Press − Library Daylight: Tracings of Modern Librarianship, 1874 to 1922. New Book edited by Progressive Librarian editorial board member, Rory Litwin, with introduction by Suzanne Stauffer, Ph.D. Library Daylight is an eclectic collection of thirty-six articles about libraries and librarianship published between 1874 and 1922. These items, most of which will be new even to those most well-versed in American library history, cover topics that are hotly discussed today: library education, women's issues, library technology, the image of librarians, copyright, the tension between libraries as educational institutions and libraries as popular centers, the nature of library service, the public sphere, library PR, librarians and political activism, and visions of the future.

1/12/2007 − New from Library Juice Press − Library Juice Concentrate. New Book edited by Progressive Librarian editorial board member, Rory Litwin, with preface by editorial board member Kathleen de la Peña McCook. Library Juice Concentrate is a compilation of the best of Library Juice, an e-zine published by Rory Litwin between 1998 and 2005 that dealt with foundational questions of librarianship during a period of rapid change.

1/11/2007 − Progressive Librarians Guild Endorses AHA Resolution on United States Government Practices Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession. On January 11, 2007, the Progressive Librarians Guild Coordinating Committee approved endorsement of the American Historical Association's (AHA) Resolution, presented by Historians Against the War and approved by the AHA at its 2007 convention.

1/9/2007 − Red All Over: The Visual Language of Dissent. Article written for Voice − the on-line magazine of the American Institute of Graphic Arts by Progressive Librarian editorial board member, Lincoln Cushing. What are some of the transnational influences among political graphic artists and activists in China, Cuba, and the United States? Cushing draws links in revolutionary poster art from the 1960s to today.

1/7/2007 − PLG Co-founder and Coordinating Committee member Mark Rosenzweig's Essay on the War on Terror.


2006
12/30/2006 − The Library as Place: History, Community, and Culture. New Book co-written by Progressive Librarian editorial board member, John Buschman. Libraries, as a component of cultural space, have been ubiquitous to almost every society during almost every time period. However, as places of cultural, symbolic, and intellectual meaning, they have varied greatly. To capture both aspects, this collection of 14 original papers covers library spaces old and new, real and imagined, large and small, public and private. Contributions range from a consideration of the Garrison library in the British Empire, to the Carnegie library as a social institution, to the imagined library in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The result is a fascinating look at the library as a physical, social, and intellectual place within the hearts and minds of its clientele and the public at large.

12/20/2006 − PLG re-affirms its support for the Declaration of Cultural Human Rights. Sparked by lively discussion and debate on its discussion email list, PLG Coordinating Committee wishes re-emphasize and reaffirm its commitment to cultural human rights, as originally reported in the Winter 1991-92 issue of Progressive Librarian Journal.

12/7/2006 − Left, out? Are progressive organizations ignoring the voices of librarians of color? Isabel Espinal recently spoke at the Boston PLG chapter meeting and her presentation is available via this podcast.

11/27/2006 − PLG Condemns Violent Treatment of Mostafa Tabatabainejad at Powell Library, UCLA. PLG believes there are no circumstances under which such police behavior can be sanctioned or rationalized given eyewitness accounts, video documentation, and the statements of parties to the event. No university security policy can legitimately sanction or condone this type of police assault with a potentially deadly weapon.

11/22/2006 − Tarnel Abbot Receives California Library Association's Zoia Horn Intellectual Freedom Award. Cited for her Banned Book displays, the Civil Liberties Film Series with Speakers organized at the Richmond Library, her work with Richmond's sister city, Regla, Cuba, and her role in founding Librarians for Intellectual Freedom, Abbot has been recognized by the CLA for her outstanding work for the cause of intellectual freedom

11/15/2006 − Progressive Librarians Guild supports the bookmobile project of Libros para Cuba (Books for Cuba).

10/20/2006 − The Progressive Librarian's Guild stands with Amnesty International. Amnesty International Vows to Push for Clarification on Detainee Legislation. PLG coordinating committee votes to support action.

10/17/2006 − PLG/SRRT Report from Joint Conference of Librarians of Color. Papers presented by PLG members Isabel Espinal, Elaine Harger and Kathleen de la Pena McCook.

5/1/2006 − 2006 Miriam Braverman Memorial Award Winner Announced. The Progressive Librarians Guild is pleased to announce the winner of the 2006 Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize. Joseph Deodato has been awarded the prize for his essay entitled "Becoming Responsible Mediators: The Application of Postmodern Perspectives to Archival Arrangement and Description." Mr. Deodato is currently enrolled as a graduate student in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland.