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BCALA
N e w
s l e
t t e
r
Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc.
January/February 2009
Volume 37, Number 1
President-Elect Barack Obama
On Reading and Libraries
Barack Obama, then U.S. Senator, keynoted the Opening
General Session at the 2005 ALA Annual Conference in
Chicago. His support of libraries was noted in his speech,
included in American Libraries’ August 2005 issue, excerpted
below:
“…Since ancient antiquity, whenever those who seek power would want to control the
human spirit, they have gone after libraries and books. Whether it’s the ransacking of the
great library at Alexandria, controlling information during the Middle Ages, book burnings,
or the imprisonment of writers in former communist bloc countries, the idea has been that if
we can control the word, if we can control what people hear and what they read and what
they comprehend, then we can control and imprison them, or at least imprison their minds.”
Before the presidential campaign started, then U.S. Senator
Barack Obama, D-IL, posed for the Skokie Public Library’s
series of READ posters. He is pictured above reading Team of
Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns
Goodwin. Skokie, Illinois is a northwest suburb of Chicago.
“As countries like China and India continue to modernize their economies and educate their
children longer and better, the competition American workers face will grow more intense,
the necessary skills more demanding. These new jobs are no simply about working hard,
they’re about what you know and how fast you can learn what you don’t know. They require
innovative thinking, detailed comprehension and superior communication…We have to
change our whole mindset as a nation. We’re living in the 21st-century knowledge economy;
but our schools, our homes, and our culture are still based around 20th-century and in some
cases 19th-century expectations. The government has a critical role to play in this endeavor
of upgrading our children’s skills. This is not the place for me to lay out a long educationreform agenda; but I can say that it doesn’t make sense if we have a school system designed
for agrarian America and its transition into the industrial age…”
“…we have to find the time and the energy to step in and help our children love reading.
We can read to them, talk to them about what they’re reading, and make time for this by
turning off the television set ourselves.”
“Libraries are a critical tool to help parents do this….”
(Joe Wrinn/ Harvard University News/ File)
Obama poses in Harvard’s Law Library. In 1990, he was
the first African American elected Harvard Law Review
president. He was elected over 18 others.
Kristin Murphy, ALA–Washington, D.C. Office’s Government Relations Specialist, in a letter to the Federal Library Legislative and Advocacy Network, writes that due to the economic crisis and subsequent bailouts, President-elect Obama has
indicated that he plans to pay for the economic stimulus packages by cutting programs that he does not think are working.
We know library use goes up when the economy slows down
and the American Library Association has requested $100 million as part of the economic stimulus package. Murphy asks
that we urge our elected officials and President-elect Obama to
remember libraries during these trying economic times. See
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/woissues/washfunding/fedfund/Background%20-%20Stimulu.pdf
and http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/gettinginvolved/fllan/fllan.cfm for
more information.
President’s Message
Karolyn Thompson,
BCALA President 2008 - 2010
President-Elect Barack Obama:
The Dream Fulfilled
The United States is a nation built on the visions of freedom, justice, and
equality. It is also a nation that was built on the energizing promises of hope
and unity. For centuries ... decades … years ... so many Americans have,
awakened each morning and accepted the commitment of yet another day to try to achieve the "American
Dream." Many others, however, may have asked and continue to ask themselves, on those same morning
awakenings, the soul wrenching question: " What exactly is that dream?"
As Black Americans, we were always considered by those with whom we built this country as second class
citizens, not "quite good enough," until in the 1950's a great Black man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
awakened the nation with a dream of equality – a dream that we would one day live in a nation where we
would not be judged by the color of our skin but by the “content” of our character. There were countless
others before him—Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and W.E.B. DuBois to name a few—on whose
shoulders he stood , enabling him, with his faith in God, to believe that his dream would inspire the millions
of Americans—Blacks, Whites, Mexicans, Latinos, American Indians, and Asians—that reflected the diverse
foundation for that dream. Maybe, just maybe, could Dr. King's dream qualify as the "American Dream"
that seemed so elusive to many Americans?
Many strides were made by Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement and we have encountered both
victories and setbacks since his assassination in 1968. Forty years later, however, on November 4, 2008,
America decidedly selected change when the country elected Barack Obama as President of these United
States. Today, we are witnessing what many thought would never become a reality. We are witnessing what
moments of courage and faith, though not without a little fear, dared to promise that the demands of civil
and human rights would be heard regardless of race, creed or color. In other words, November 4, 2008
became a confirmation for Americans of all colors that finally we can be who we say we can be , have what
we say we can have and do what we say we can do. Yes, we can!
For every mother who dreams that her child can be President of the United States one day, there is now the
possibility that the dream can become a reality. For every father who tells his sons or daughters to reach
for the stars, there is now celebration in the possibility that the impossible can happen. For all persons who
saw their futures as a canvas with nothing on it, there is now encouragement beyond belief that something
of value can be added to that blank space. According to a recent anonymous quote, “Rosa Parks sat so
Martin Luther King could walk; Martin Luther King walked so that Jesse Jackson could stand; Jesse Jackson
stood so that Barack Obama could run; Barack Obama ran so that our children could fly.” We can now say
to our children, “Fly, Children, fly!”
I conclude with this inspiring passage for hope and vision from 1 Peter 2:9 (King James Version): "But ye
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; …."
Karolyn S. Thompson,
President, BCALA
_____________________________________________________________________________________
BCALA Newsletter • January/February 2009
2
Colorado Convention Center – 700 14th Street
ALA Midwinter Schedule of Meetings
Denver, Colorado - January 23 – 25, 2009
Date
Meeting
Time
Location
1-23-09
BCALA Retreat/Executive Board Meeting
8:30a.m.- 3:30p.m. Colorado Convention Center-Korbel Ballroom 4B
1-23-09
BCALA Literary Awards
8:00p.m.-11:00p.m. Crowne Plaza City Center-Capitol Boardroom
1-24-09
BCALA Executive Board Meeting II
10:30a.n.-12:30p.m. Colorado Convention Center Room 406
1-24-09
BCALA Literary Awards
1:30 p.m.-5:30p.m.
1-25-09
BCALA Membership Meeting
8:00p.m.-10:30p.m. Hilton-Element Ballroom
Crowne Plaza City Center-Capitol Boardroom
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3
ESSENCE - January 2009
EBONY – January 2009
The Economist – Annual Edition
0307460452 PB
0307237699 HC
0822534177 HC
1400082773 PB
0312586396 PB
1600781632 HC
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4
Inauguration Ball 2009
Guests began arriving early. There are no place cards and no name
tags. Everyone knows everyone else here. Now, there's a grand
foursome - Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz sharing laughs with
Martin and Coretta Scott King. Looks like Hosea Williams refused
the limo again, keeping it real.
And my goodness; is that Rosa Parks out there on the dance
floor with A. Phillip Randolph? Seated at a nearby table,
Frederick Douglass has a captive audience in W.E.B. DuBois
and Fannie Lou Hamer, Harold Washington and Medgar Evers
has just joined them.
Marian Anderson was asked to sing tonight, but she only agreed
to do it if accompanied by Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Jimi
Hendrix.
Look, there's Harriet Tubman. No one knows how she arrived,
but there she is. And my guess is that, when the time comes, no
one will see her leave.
There's Jackie Robinson swiftly making his way through the hall
as the crowd parts like the Red Sea to the unmistakable sound of
applause. "Run, Jackie, run!" Along the way he is embraced by
Jesse Owens.
Three beautiful young women arrive with their escorts Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney. Ms. Viola Liuzzo flew in
from Michigan, exclaiming, "I could not miss this." Richard
Pryor promised to be on his best behavior. "But I can't make
any guarantees for Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley," he chuckled.
Joe Louis just faked a quick jab to the chin of Jack Johnson, who
smiled broadly while slipping it. We saw Billy Eckstine and Nat
King Cole greet Luther Vandross. James Brown and Josh
Gibson stopped at Walter Payton's table to say hello.
I spotted Congressman Adam Clayton Powell of Harlem having
a lively political discussion with Eldridge Cleaver. Pearl Harbor
WWII hero Dorey Miller shared a few thoughts with Crispus
Attucks, a hero of the Revolutionary War. And there is Madam
C.J. Walker talking with Marcus Garvey about exporting goods
to Africa. General Benjamin O. Davis flew into Washington
safely with an escort from the 99th Fighter Squadron - better
known as The Tuskegee Airmen. At the table on the left are three
formidable women - Shirley Chisholm, Sojourner Truth, and
Barbara Jordan - gathered for a little girl-talk...about world politics.
As usual, all the science nerds seem to have gathered off in a
corner, talking shop. There's Granville T. Woods and Lewis
Latimer needling each other about whose inventions are better.
Someone jokingly asked Benjamin Banneker if he had needed
directions to Washington. And George Washington Carver was
overheard asking, "What, no peanuts?"
Dueling bands? Anytime Duke Ellington and Count Basie get
together, you know the place will be jumping. Tonight is special,
of course, so we have Miles, Dizzy, and Satchmo sitting in on
trumpet, with Coltrane, Cannonball, and Bird on sax.
Everyone's attention is directed to the dance floor where
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson is tap dancing. Right beside him
is Sammy Davis Jr., doing his Bojangles routine. And
behind his back, Gregory Hines is imitating them both.
Applause and laughter abound!
The Hollywood contingent has just arrived from the Coast.
Led by filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, Paul Robeson, Canada
Lee, and Hattie McDaniel, they find their way to their
tables. Dorothy Dandridge, looking exquisite in gold lamá,
is seen signaling to her husband, Harold Nicholas, who is
standing on the floor with brother Fayard watching Gregory
Hines dance. "Hold me back," quips Harold, "before I show
that youngster how it's done." Much laughter!
Then a sudden hush comes over the room. The guests of
honor have arrived. The President and Mrs. Obama looked
out across the enormous ballroom at all the historic faces.
Very many smiles, precious few dry eyes. Someone shouted
out, "You did it! You did it!" And President Obama replied,
"No sir, you did it; you all - each and every one of you - did
it. Your guidance and encouragement; your hard work and
perseverance..." Obama paused, perhaps holding back a
tear. "I look at your faces - your beautiful faces - and I am
reminded that The White House was built by faces that
looked just like yours.
On October 3, 1792, the cornerstone of the White House
was laid, and the foundations and main residence of The
White House were built mostly by both enslaved and free
African Americans and paid Europeans. In fact, most of
the other construction work was performed by immigrants,
many of whom had not yet become citizens. Much of the
brick and plaster work was performed by Irish and Italian
immigrants. The sandstone walls were built by Scottish
immigrants.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that The White House
is, ultimately, The People's House, with each President
serving as its steward. Since 1792 The People have trimmed
its hedges, mowed its lawn, stood guard at the gate, cooked
meals in the kitchen, and scrubbed its toilet bowls. But 216
years later, The People are taking it back!
"Today, Michelle and I usher in a new era. But while we and
our family look toward the future with so much hope, we
know that we must also acknowledge fully this milestone in
our journey. We want to thank each and every one of you
for all you have done to make this day possible. I stand here
before you, humbled and in awe of your accomplishments
and sacrifice, and I will dedicate my Presidency, in your
honor, to the principles of peace, liberty and freedom. If it
ever appears that I'm forgetting that, I know I can count on
you to remind me."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5
Dean Emma Bradford Perry
Strikes a First for Librarians
by
Gerald Holmes
Just as President-Elect Barack Obama was the first African American elected as
President of the United States in 2008, Emma Bradford Perry, Professor and Dean of
Libraries at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, was the first librarian to be
selected for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Visiting Scholars Program held in
Princeton, NJ in June 2008. Dean Perry joined 24 other scholars to study fairness and
issues related to test design and development while learning to write and review test
questions and materials for a variety of testing programs. The scholars worked on the
following: 1) educational measurements, 2) policy issues related to equity, 3) fairness
in testing from a different perspective, and 3) assisting ETS with increasing the equity
of products and with attracting staff from underrepresented groups. Dr. Bradford
Perry was assigned a mentor for the Scholars Program, and she spent some quality
time in the ETS Corporate Library.
GERALD HOLMES: Congratulations on your
appointment as the First Librarian to ever be selected
for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Visiting
Scholars. Can you explain to us what this means to us
as an African American librarians?
DEAN PERRY: My selection was a tremendous boost
for libraries and especially for African American librarians. The Scholars and the ETS staff gained a greater appreciation for Librarians in the testing process. One of
the Scholars said, “After meeting you, I have a much greater respect and appreciation for librarians and what you all
do as you have brought so much to the scholars program.”
GERALD HOLMES: How did the scholars react to
the challenges?
DEAN PERRY: The other scholars welcomed me as
an integral part of the group. Of the 25 scholars, we
had scholars from different academic institutions, such
as the University of California, the University of
Arizona, the University of New Mexico, Tufts
University, John Jay College, CUNY, and several
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. There were
also scholars from Indonesia, Amsterdam, and Jordan.
GERALD HOLMES: If this appointment had
occurred earlier in your career, is there anything you
would have done differently? Would you have different
advice for colleagues?
DEAN PERRY: If this opportunity had occurred at a
different time in my career, I don’t think my advice
would be that different. With over 30 years in the
library profession, I was able to provide a wide
perspective on the value of libraries and librarians in the
testing and educational process. My input was valued and
some seemed surprised by some of the points I made in
the many discussions we had. They were not familiar
with the HBCU Library Alliance (www.hbculibraries.org)
or BCALA and were amazed about what these
organizations do.
GERALD HOLMES: Consider the whole experience,
from the first challenge, to the multiple revisions of the
test questions, to policy issues relative to equity and
fairness in the testing, to the present. What lessons have
you learned?
DEAN PERRY: My life lessons have always been that I
can do anything anyone else can do as my self esteem,
confidence, and ability stay intact. Also, despite what we
have heard about ETS and fairness, I now know that ETS
has a commitment to fairness beginning from the top of
the organization. Progress is being made in various ETS
venues and the Visiting Scholars Program is one of the
main programs which is focused on diversity and fairness.
GERALD HOLMES: What was the mentor – mentee
experience like?
DEAN PERRY: My mentor was the Director of the
ETS Corporate Library and we developed a wonderful
working relationship. I met all of the library staff and
worked especially close with the archivist in documenting
the history of the Scholars Program. My mentor arranged
for one of her librarians to take me to the Princeton
Public Library where I had a lovely visit and tour con-
_____________________________________________________________________________________
6
ducted by the Director, Leslie Burger (former ALA
President). I was also able to visit a university library
in the area. One weekend I visited Philadelphia and
had the opportunity to have a personal tour of the
Temple University Library/ Campus and the city
conducted by my close friend Larry Alford, the Dean
of Libraries at Temple University. It is good to
visit other libraries as I always learn something
different.
GERALD HOLMES: How would you describe the
ETS Library?
DEAN PERRY: The ETS Library is typical of corporate/special libraries. It is somewhat small as compared to academic and public libraries as it only serves
the ETS staff. The librarians provide a lot of personal service, both on-line and in person, by delivering information to the ETS staff in their offices. Very few
staff members actually come to the library but they
speak highly of the ETS Library and the librarians.
GERALD HOLMES: What did you bring to your
role as a Scholar, that wasn’t normally in the Scholars
Program?
DEAN PERRY: In the past, most of the scholars
have worked on just test items related to ETS testing.
The Visiting Scholars Program Staff had given very
little thought to the value of documenting the
Scholars Program and having information available in
the Library. With my being there, we were able to
bring more clarity as to how and why the program was
started by adding photographs and other items related
to the Visiting Scholars Program. The ETS Library
Director had not been directly involved in the
program and now she is.
GERALD HOLMES: Do you have any advice for
BCALA Members about how to get appointed and
how to handle this very important appointment?
DEAN PERRY: When I first inquired about the
program, I was told that the program is for teaching
faculty (scholars) and that they had never had a
librarian in the program. I asked if I could apply and
was told I could but they were not certain about a
librarian being in the program. They received over
100 applications and I was one of the 25 scholars
selected for the program. I was told that I had one of
the best applications and that my essay on why I
should be selected really caught their attention and
stood out from the other essays.
GERALD HOLMES: What is your favorite
memory?
DEAN PERRY: My favorite memory is the
wonderful relationships I developed with the other
scholars and learning so much about testing,
fairness and ETS in general. I was especially
surprised about the size and location of the ETS
campus. The place seems like a small college or
university – but without students! One other
memory is the high level of security they have at
ETS to maintain the integrity of the tests and
everything they do there.
GERALD HOLMES: Any final thoughts that
you would like to share with African American
librarians?
DEAN PERRY: We can accomplish anything we
desire if we just put forth the effort and believe! I
want to especially encourage young African
American librarians to always do your best, stay
professionally involved, continue your education,
find a great mentor, eliminate negative influences in
your life and keep your “eye on the prize” – a
successful and rewarding career!
GERALD HOLMES: What haven’t I asked that I
should have?
DEAN PERRY: Did you meet the President and
CEO of ETS? I had the opportunity to not only
meet him but I was able to do a video interview
about the Visiting Scholars Program with Mr. Kurt
Landgraff, the CEO and President of ETS. I also
interviewed the Director of the Visiting Scholars
Program and compiled a “Directory and
Information” booklet which was distributed to the
President, Visiting Scholars Staff, Visiting Scholars,
and the ETS Library. The video, booklets and other
information are now a part of the ETS library
collection.
GERALD HOLMES: Thank you for sharing your
time and insights with the BCALA members.
_______________________________________
Gerald Holmes works in the Reference Dept. at University Libraries,
UNCG, Greensboro, NC. He is a BCALA Executive Board member
and Chair of BCALA’s Constitution & Bylaws Committee.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
7
From Urban Lit to Classic Hit:
Re-introducing Our Young Patrons to Great Works
by
Ronald Gauthier
I watched the inconspicuous arrival of urban literature in our bookstores long before it was categorized as a new genre. As it
became more apparent that this new style of literature would have the same longevity as its music counterpart, gansta rap,
the controversy surrounding its existence erupted. When the New York Times published author Nick “Chile’s Their Eyes
Were Reading Smut” in 2006, there was much discussion, debate, and even outrage about urban literature in the national
media. Not only bookstore owners, but librarians were struggling with how this phenomenally popular genre should be
classified on the shelves. Should it be integrated into a general collection of African American literature, with titles like Thug
Matrimony next to Their Eyes Were Watching God? Acutely aware of the negative, stereotypical characterizations and glorification of crime and criminals oftentimes found in this new genre, how do librarians separate their own moral convictions from
the chief duty of making these titles available to a public that wants them? I found a way to do both. It’s all about variety.
For a second time, the American Library Association’s
Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) conducted a
seminar on urban literature, as this relatively new style
of writing has infiltrated libraries over the last few
years. The first session was conducted at the ALA
Conference in Chicago in 2005, and the more recent
one was held at the ALA Conference in Washington
D.C. in 2007 on a humid, steamy Sunday afternoon.
Urban authors T.N. Baker, Darren Coleman – who
was one of the panelists at the Chicago seminar – and
Terri Woods, presented to an overflowing room of
captivated librarians. These information specialists
had come from varying library settings throughout the
country to learn more about this literary phenomenon,
to better understand why so many of their patrons
were flocking to their libraries for titles like True to the
Game, A Taste of Honey, and Dice.
I was not surprised by his hesitancy because he
could have been a first-time user and not confident
visiting a library. Even with the mellow shards of
sunlight webbed into our sparkling glass doors and
windows, rendering them beautiful and beckoning;
and even with a large impeccably polished Help
Desk staffed with smiling workers like welcoming
characters at Disney World, a library can still be an
imposing, intimidating place. Many people find the
endless columns of books and rows of ubiquitously
blinking computers both fascinating and terrifying
or alarming.
Like my counterparts, I used to marvel at the appeal
of these books. My learning experience happened not
long ago and I will share it as a depiction of a librarian
learning the intricacies of a new genre. I am sure my
experiences mirror those of so many other librarians.
On an incongruously lukewarm day in December, a
young man strolled into the library where I worked
and moved awkwardly toward the Help Desk, his
intense eyes searching the terrain and then falling fully
on me. His dark face was quizzical, questions
spinning inside his head, his mouth moving nervously
as he uttered a request.
He brandished a copy of Hoodlum by Kwan, a lightbrown paperback copy with the title drawn in crudely
curved lettering on the surface. His young eyes
searched me carefully for expertise. I looked deep
into his eyes and nodded with understanding, instantly building trust. His eyes now were full and
expectant. He was searching for books about
“strong brothers” in urban fiction titles like Hoodlum.
There is an astonishingly wide array of urban fiction
titles out there and that was what brought this
young man on probably his first trip to the library.
This was an incredible opportunity for both of us -for this newly avowed reader and a proud librarian.
“Yo, Man; Uhm, Sir, can you help me find
something?” he asked, his voice low, guttural, almost
secretive. “I jus’ got out of jail and I need to find
some books to read to keep me out of trouble.”
Urban literature titles have skyrocketed in popularity
over the years, especially after Simon & Schuster’s
Atria division sold one-million copies of Sister
Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever in April of 1999.
“I want to see if you have other books like these,”
he continued, slowly pulling a paperback copy out
of his jacket. “I want to read books with strong
brothers like these.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8
This book is considered the impetus for other urban
fiction titles that are now omnipresent. David Wright
(LJ “Collection Development/Urban Fiction,” July,
2006) described urban literature as crime stories that
generally revolve around the often tragic choices and
journeys of young women and men drawn by the lure
of easy money into drugs, prostitution, and the “thug”
life. So this was my opportunity as a librarian to
ensure that this young man learned that the library has
more than the gritty street literature by authors like
Kwan, Vickie Stringer, and Travis Hunter. We have
so much more to offer, an absolute plethora of
literature to satisfy his literary appetite, to cultivate his
mind like an untapped reservoir that will flow with
ideas like mighty waters once he gravitates further to
great books. I marvel at what the powerful, poignant
stories can do for him, how his life on the edge can
suddenly become centered and meaningful. I totally
support his request for urban literature titles, but I
would leave his choices woefully inadequate if I did
not introduce him to the works of Langston Hughes,
Claude Brown, James Baldwin and contemporaries
like Nathan McCall -- authors with critical stories
about “strong black men” that he wants to read
about. I would be committing library malpractice if I
didn’t help him by attempting to balance his selections, introducing him to more than he knows exists.
So, I gave him Kwan’s Eve and Stringer’s Let That Be
the Reason and I inserted between them Richard
Wright’s Black Boy. I told him to let me know what he
thought. He came back for more in a few weeks and
told me he liked my choices, that he had never known
much about racism in 1920’s Mississippi. He was
amazed at the young boy and all he had endured and
conquered. I was completely brimming with pride
that he had found a “strong black man” in literary
fiction. I gave him more, this time Dark by Kenji
Jasper, Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown,
and A Hip Hop Story by Heru Ptah. I even slid in
Walter Dean Myer’s Monster as an extra; the cover’s
colorful portrait of a young male that looked like
him immediately attracted his attention. I had
gotten so excited at his fascination with past life in
rural Mississippi that I also threw in The Land by
Mildred Taylor as another extra.
Authors Kwan and Stringer are effective recruiters
of library readers; they bring to us that reluctant
reader and non-user population, young people that
allow us the chance to introduce or reintroduce
them to the classics and more. The street lit authors
may write with gritty realism, stories with harsh
language and brutal experiences of life in the street
subculture, but these harrowing stories are unswervingly appealing to some readers. They lure to
us some of the most “at risk” populations, people
who likely never expected to find so much at our
libraries. I appreciate the hip-hop writers because
they inadvertently have created a recruiting
technique for our libraries that is oftentimes elusive
and undefined. They brought this young man to us
and he will be richer because of his trek to the
library.
“Thank you, sir, for your help,” he said weeks later,
shaking my hand profusely, his eyes now animated,
totally energized by the discovery.
“You are welcome, young man,” I said, equally
jubilant but with a more sedate exterior. “Bring
your friends next time. Tell them about the library.”
Ronald Gauthier, author of Prey for Me: A New Orleans
Mystery and Hard Time on the Bayou, was a Branch Manager
for the New Orleans Public Library System. He is now a
Branch Manager for the Gwinnett County Library System in
Georgia.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
9
The Civil Rights Movement’s Effect on Libraries
An Interview with Mary Braun,
Information Technology Librarian, Brown County Library System, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Mary Braun was a student in the Library and Information Studies master’s program at the University of Alberta in Canada in
2003 when she wrote about the Civil Rights Movement’s effect on libraries as a final paper. Mary was kind enough to grant
BCALA, Inc. an interview on the basis that the views expressed in the interview are hers and do not reflect the opinions of the
Brown County Library System. The interview below continues on page 19 and the back cover. Mary’s paper can be found on
BCALA, Inc.’s website: http://www.bcala.org/files/MBs-Final-Paper-2003-Civil-Rights-Movement-Effect-on-Libraries.pdf .
S.D. HARRIS: Thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Are you from Canada or the U.S.?
MARY BRAUN: I am a U.S. citizen. I decided to get my
master's degree from Canada because I have always been
interested in Canada and decided the best way to learn about
the country was to live there.
S.D. HARRIS: From what library school did you graduate?
.
MARY BRAUN: I graduated in 2004 from the Library and
Information Studies master's program at the University of
Alberta. I wrote the paper for a course I believe was titled,
"Globalization, Diversity, and Information." We had to
choose a topic dealing with any issue that would fit under
those three words.
S.D. HARRIS: What made you choose your topic?
MARY BRAUN: I honestly cannot remember why I
exactly chose the topic. I went to talk with my professor
about the paper because I was unsure what to write about
and through the course of our conversation the Civil Rights
Movement came up and I decided that would be a topic I
could write about. I obtained a bachelor's in History so
anything historical always piques my interest.
S.D. HARRIS: Where did you receive your undergraduate
degree?
and went straight on to my master's from there.
SH: Where are you presently working?
MARY BRAUN: I am working for the Brown County
Library in Green Bay, WI. It is a public library system
with a central library and eight branches scattered
throughout Green Bay and Brown County.
SH: What is your position?
MARY BRAUN: I am the Information Technology
Librarian. Basically I keep the website up-to-date, answer
staff computer questions, liaison with the county IT
department and provide training on the use of technology.
S.D. HARRIS: Are you Black American?
MARY BRAUN: No, I am Caucasian.
S.D. HARRIS: Where did you grow up in the U.S.?
MARY BRAUN: I grew up in rural Wisconsin near
the city of Fond du Lac. It is located on the southern
tip of Lake Winnebago.
S.D. HARRIS: Did you grow up around Black folk?
S.D. HARRIS: Is librarianship a first or second career for
you?
MARY BRAUN: There were no black people where
I grew up. There may have been some families in Fond
du Lac, but the only time we came to Fond du Lac was
to shop and I rarely went. I did have a Black student in
one of my classes in my junior or senior year of high school,
but I don't think her family stayed in the area. It wasn't until
college that I actually saw Black people on a regular basis.
MARY BRAUN: Librarianship is a first career for me. I
worked in the library while obtaining my undergrad degree
S.D. HARRIS: What are the similarities in Canada
and the U.S.?
MARY BRAUN: I received my undergraduate degree in
history from the University of Wisconsin --Green Bay.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
10
The 7th
National Conference of
African American Librarians
*****************************************************
Are you interested in playing a key role in the planning and design of a national conference?
Are you impatiently waiting to utilize your leadership skills to contribute to the continued success of
The Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc.
If you answered YES to any of the previous questions, please read on and consider responding right away.
*****************************************************
Co-Chairs Roberta Webb of the Chicago Public Library and Wanda Brown of Wake Forest University, are
looking for volunteers to make this conference happen. They want to build a team of enthusiastic, dedicated,
talented, and detail oriented individuals to plan, coordinate, and pull off our next conference. Sponsored by
BCALA, Inc. and set in Birmingham, Alabama in August of 2010, hundreds of people interested in the issues
associated with Black librarianship will gather for continued education, professional development, naturally
occurring networking, and of course loads of fun. It will take a great team to accomplish this monumental task
and the conference co-chairs are meticulously building that team.
Roberta and Wanda invite interested individuals to:
 Join them for a meeting on Saturday morning, January 24th in Denver at the midwinter meeting of ALA.
 Locate them on Sunday night, January 25th in Denver at the BCALA annual membership meeting of BCALA.
 Contact them anytime directly via email at the addresses below to indicate your interest.
 Suggest names of individuals you know that could contribute positively to the development of the conference.
Please consider leading or joining the following conference committees:
Awards and Honors
Evaluation
Exhibits
Public relations
Fund Raising
Job Placement
Local Arrangement
Programs
Public relations
Registrations
Conference proceedings
Our intent will be to involve as many people as possible as they put together the team.
Hopefully, you are interested in being involved and will respond to this invitation to participate.
Please contact Wanda and Roberta
to let them know you are willing and able to work for BCALA, Inc. and its 7th National Conference.
Roberta V. Webb
South District Chief
Chicago Public Library
[email protected]
(312) 747-0171 (voice)
(312) 745-4974 (fax)
Wanda K. Brown
Wake Forest University
Winston Salem, NC 27109-7777
[email protected]
(336) 758.5094 (voice)
(336) 758.3694 (fax)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
11
WHO IS
T
O
N
Y
A
B
O
L
D
E
N
Tonya Bolden, author, coauthor, and editor of nearly 30 books and many published articles and book reviews,
is a blessing to those wanting well-researched books about the Black experience. History is her passion and
she has captured the lives of many known and some unknown historical Black Americans and presented their
lives up close and personally on paper for us and future generations. The award-winning author has teamed
up with celebrities such as Eartha Kitt and Chaka Khan to tell their life stories. She has also introduced us to
Papa Dallas, whose story about having his eyes burned for trying to read is told in Tell All the Children Our
Story and to the free Black New Yorker, Maritcha, whose pre- and post-Civil War life appears in the book of
the same name. Maritcha won the 2006 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award and the 2006 James
Madison Book Award. Additionally, Bolden’s work has appeared in magazines and newspapers including
Black Enterprise, Essence, The Amsterdam News, and the New York Times Book Review. BCALA, Inc. was fortunate
to have an opportunity to talk with this writer between her travels.
S.D. HARRIS: I appreciate so much that you take the
time to write for our children so that our history is not
lost? What prompted you to write for children?
TONYA BOLDEN: Opportunity. When I left my job
as an administrative assistant to writer James Goldman I
did so with the goal of making a living as a writer. To
that end, I did all kinds of short work, from articles for
magazines and newspapers to study guides for a cultural
organization. I took on any work I could find. I said,
YES to anything offered. My agent at the time, Marie
Brown, was the conduit for 99.9% of the offers. When
she contacted me about working with Vy Higginsen on
turning her gospel musical Mama, I Want to Sing into a
YA novel, I said, Yes, to that too, although I had never
thought of writing for the young.
S.D. HARRIS: Why did you decide to write nonfiction?
TONYA BOLDEN: After And Not Afraid to Dare I
was hooked on history. It really hit home that the
reason I groaned over history in my youth was
because the history I was fed was dry, soulless.
S.D. HARRIS: Please elaborate on how magazine
writing played a part in your writing career?
TONYA BOLDEN: My professional writing life
began with book reviews for Black Enterprise (BE)
magazine in the early 1980s. That’s thanks to a friend
with whom I went to college, Connie Green. She was
a BE editor. One day she asked if I was interested in
_____________________________________________________________________________________
12
doing some book reviewing. She said she remembered that
I liked writing and that I was disciplined. Those BE
assignments gave me courage to pursue a career as a writer.
S.D. HARRIS: Do you currently write for magazines or
journals? What were your latest two publications?
TONYA BOLDEN: Sporadically. Whenever I get an
invite. Most recently I’ve written for ASALH’s [Association for the Study of African American Life and History]
The Woodson Review.
S.D. HARRIS: What was the title of your first published
book? Tell us about that experience and why you chose
your book's subject?
TONYA BOLDEN: The Family Heirloom Cookbook (1990).
It was more like a guide to assembling your own cookbook.
I don’t remember much about the experience other than
drawing on my mother’s love of cooking and cookbooks.
I didn’t choose the subject. It was a project in search of a
writer-for-hire. That was me.
S.D. HARRIS: What were the titles of your other books?
TONYA BOLDEN:
Mama, I Want to Sing (co-author for Vy Higginsen, 1992).
Starting a Business from Your Home (1993).
Conversations: Straight Talk With America's Sister President
(collaborator for Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, 1993).
Mail-Order and Direct Response (1994).
Rites of Passage: Stories About Growing Up by Black Writers
From Around the World (1994).
Strong Men Keep Coming: The Book of African-American
Men (1999).
Forgive or Forget: Never Underestimate the Power of
Forgiveness (co-author for Mother Love, 1999).
Rejuvenate! (co-author for Eartha Kitt, 2001).
Rock of Ages: A Tribute to the Black Church. Illustrated
by R. Gregory Christie (2001).
Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories & Mementos of
Being Young and Black in America (2002).
33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women’s
History (2002).
Young Readers’ edition of American Patriots: The Story
of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert
Storm (co-author for Gail Buckley, 2003).
Chaka! Through the Fire (co-author for Chaka Khan,
2003).
Portraits of African-American Heroes. Paintings by
Ansel Pitcairn (2003).
Wake Up Our Souls: A Celebration of Black American
Artists (2004).
The Champ: The Story of Muhammad Ali. Illustrated by
R. Gregory Christie (2004).
Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl (2005).
Cause: Reconstruction America, 1863-1877 (2005).
Weddings Valentine Style (co-author for Diann
Valentine, 2006).
The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators,
and Uplifters (1996).
Half the Mother, Twice the Love: My journey to Better
Health with Diabetes (co-author for Mother Love,
2006).
Just Family (1996).
MLK: Journey of a King (2007).
Through Loona's Door: A Tammy and Owen Adventure with
Carter G. Woodson. Illustrated by Luther Knox (1997).
And Not Afraid to Dare: The Stories of Ten African-American
Women (1998).
33 Things Every Girl Should Know: Stories, Songs, Poems, and
Smart Talk by 33 Extraordinary Women (1998).
Take-Off: America All-Girl Bands During WWII (2007).
George Washington Carver (2008).
Say A Little Prayer (co-author for Dionne Warwick
and David Freeman Wooley, 2008).
S.D. HARRIS: What do you hope children and
their parents will get from your books?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
13
TONYA BOLDEN: I hope that children and all the
caring adults in their lives will find, as I have, that
there is power in the past. As I often say, “History
makes me whole.” Also, in most of my books I am
essentially saying to young people, “This is kind of
person I want you to be like!” My favorite “kind of
person” is someone who does not live for him- or
herself alone.
S.D. HARRIS: Did you always want to be a writer?
TONYA BOLDEN: I think so. I loved writing
poems and short stories as a child and as a teen, I
wrote mucho poetry. I daydreamed of being a writer
for years before I got up the gumption to give it a fulltime shot.
S.D. HARRIS: How did libraries fit into your
childhood and how do they presently fit into your
adult life?
TONYA BOLDEN: I only have one vivid memory
of the library. It is of a seventh-heaven feeling. I was
at a library in Harlem—I don’t remember which
one—and my mother was by my side. I was checking
out a bunch of books. It may have been when I first
got my library card.
S.D. HARRIS: What book had a major impact on
you during your young childhood and why?
TONYA BOLDEN: All the Dr. Seuss books I
read. The Borrowers. The Yearling. As for the why of
the impact, I’m having trouble reconstructing that.
S.D. HARRIS: What book had a major impact on
you during your high school years and why?
TONYA BOLDEN: Sister Carrie [by Theodore
Dreiser] comes to mind. Once again, I am clueless
as to the why of its impact.
S.D. HARRIS: Where did you grow up and what
schools did you attend?
TONYA BOLDEN: I grew up in East Harlem and
the Bronx. I attended MES 146 (East Harlem) and
The Chapin School (Manhattan’s Upper East Side).
S.D. HARRIS: How did growing up in New York
City shape your view of our country?
S.D. HARRIS: Did you know any Black librarians
while growing up?
TONYA BOLDEN: I don’t know that it did. My
view of the country was shaped more by movies and
television shows, most of which specialized in
myths about the country and its history-makers.
TONYA BOLDEN: If I did, I don’t remember
them.
S.D. HARRIS: Please share your thoughts on the
recent presidential campaign and election results.
S.D. HARRIS: Do you have a favorite author or
two?
TONYA BOLDEN: What Du Bois said of the
Brown decision: “I have seen the Impossible.”
TONYA BOLDEN: How about hundreds. The list
starts with James Baldwin, Toni Cade Bambara,
Anton Chekhov, Charles Johnson, and Flannery
O’Connor.
S.D. Harris: What books have you read that was
published within the last 20 or so years that have had
a major impact on you and why?
TONYA BOLDEN: C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity
and The Screwtape Letters. Having “left the church,” I
was seeking faith for myself.
S.D. HARRIS: Do you think you might write a
book about Barack Obama or maybe even Michelle
Obama?
TONYA BOLDEN: Anything’s possible.
S.D. HARRIS: There are plenty of books
written about Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer,
Dr. King, Malcolm X, et al. Tell me what is like to
try to get publishers to agree to publish books about
lesser known African Americans and why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
14
TONYA BOLDEN: That depends on the person’s
story and the editor to whom you pitch. If the story is
compelling, it’s not hard. If the editor is interested in
the person, it’s not that hard. Bear in mind that
“lesser-known” is relative. I recall pitching a book on
someone I regard as huge. The response I got was
something like, “Can you tell me a little about him?”
Bottom line: Both writer and editor have to think
about the facts of life: If published, will sales and
marketing really get behind the book? Will the book
sell in decent numbers? Like other writers, I’ve had
people urge me to write about this or that lesserknown person, but I don’t recall any of these people
pledging to buy a few thousand copies of the book
they so hotly urge me to write.
S.D. HARRIS: What do you do when you are not
writing?
TONYA BOLDEN: Think about writing. I might
also catch up with friends and family face-to-face or
by phone and email. Now that I’ve become wild
about gardening (inspired in part by the work that
went into the making of George Washington Carver),
come spring I’ll be spending a lot of time in the
backyard.
S.D. HARRIS: What do you want Black librarians
to know?
TONYA BOLDEN: That I love all righteous,
visionary librarians, librarians who know our young
people don’t deserve—don’t need—a steady diet of
pap, who recognize that so many of our young
people are quite curious and intelligent—and
longing to be challenged.
The Lubuto Library Project provides library services to street kids, orphans, and other vulnerable children
and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Lubuto is currently looking for an applicant for a Fulbright
Scholar interested in a one-year appointment to develop literacy and other library programming for
Lubuto Libraries and to develop library education courses to be taught as a guest faculty member at the
University of Zambia. The preferred candidate will have a Ph.D. in a library-related field and expertise in
teaching library and information science. As Fulbright award #9109, the position will include a salary and
living stipend for the candidate and his/her family for one year.
Additional background and details for this position are located on the Lubuto website at:
http://www.lubuto.org/fulbright.html. Anyone interested in applying should take the following steps:
1. Read the background and details of the posting on the Lubuto website.
2. Review eligibility requirements for the Fulbright Scholar program at:
http://www.cies.org/us_scholars/us_awards/Eligibility.htm
3. Contact Dr. A. Ng'and, Registrar, at the University of Zambia's
Registrar's office ([email protected]) to request a letter of
invitation in application for the position.
Note: The opening is for the 2010-2011 academic year. Applications will
not be accepted until early March 2009.
While this position is with the University of Zambia, via the Fulbright Program, the candidate is expected
to be working cooperatively with and in support of the Lubuto Library Project. Qualified candidates who
are interested in the position are encouraged to discuss their application with Jane Meyers, President of the
Lubuto Project ([email protected]).
_____________________________________________________________________________________
15
The Column of the International Relations Committee
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
Turns 50
by
Eboni M. Stokes
Chair, International Relations Committee
For many, Chinua Achebe’s classic novel
serves as an introduction to Africa. Things Fall
Apart, which turns 50 this year, was a landmark of
African literature. It was written by Achebe while
in his mid-20s and was meant as an angry fist in
the face of Western literature. The publication of
Things Fall Apart is often cited as the birth of
modern African literature, and since its
publication the book has sold some 11 million
copies in 50 countries. It was set in a village in
what is now Nigeria, just as the Ibo people there
had their first encounters with European
Christian missionaries. The novel depicts the
disintegration of traditional African society as a
result of the coming of the white man, a situation
faced by many African societies at on time or
another as a result of their exposure to the
western world. No book by an African has been
so deeply discussed or so widely influential.
The story is set around the turn of the 20th
century and Okonkwo is a character as old as a
result of their exposure to the western world.
No book by an African has been so deeply
discussed or so widely influential. The story is set
around the turn of the 20th century and Okonkwo
is a character as old as storytelling itself –a man
who embodies a culture in decline, the virtues
and the limitations that this culture has given
him. He is so wedded to the codes of battle
and confrontation, the feats that led to his
greatness, that he is tragically helpless before
the modern power and persuasion of the
missionaries.
In mockery of all the Western books about
Africa, Achebe ends with a colonial official
observing Okonkwo's fate and imagining the
book he will write: The Pacification of the
Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. Achebe's
novel was the opening of a decades-long
argument on his country's behalf, in fictional
works such as A Man of the People and No
Longer at Ease, and in essays dissecting the
canon of the West.
This is a timely and worthy celebration for a
writer who, as a trailblazer in the African
Writers Series, placed African literature on the
world’s literary canon.
_____________________________________
Eboni M. Stokes is Senior Librarian, Martin Luther
King Jr. Memorial Library Community Youth
Services, District of Columbia Public Library
(DCPL).
_____________________________________________________________________________________
16
BCALA’s United Stateline News
GEORGIA
Atlanta – Dr. Mustafa Abdelwahid, Collection Development Librarian for the Auburn Avenue Research
Library on African American Culture and History, has written his first book The Rise of the Islamic
Movement in Sudan (1945-1989).
ISBN10: 0-7734-5031-9 ISBN13: 978-0-7734-5031-8 Pages: 244 Year: 2008 Imprint: Edwin Mellen Press
USA List Price: $109.95 UK List Price: £ 69.95
Description
This work applies Social Movement Theory (SMT) to the study of the Islamic Movement of Sudan, paying
particular attention to understudied mechanisms of contention and successful expansion, and the factors
which facilitated the Movement's rise in influence.
Reviews
"[This work] examines a topic on which very little is written in English, on its own terms, from the inside
out, giving us a nuanced understanding of both the intellectual bases and the internal workings of the
movement." – Prof. Jill Crystal, Auburn University
". . . fills a gap in the existing literature by carefully detailing the conditions that gave rise to a powerful
Islamic movement in Sudan . . ." - Prof. William Crowther, University of North Carolina
Table of Contents
Foreword by Prof. Jill Crystal
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction to Political Islam and Literature Review
2. Methodology
3. Sudan: Historical Background
4. The Leading Ideologues of Contemporary Political Islam
5. The Islamic
Atlanta – Ronald Gauthier, author of Prey for Me: A New Orleans Mystery
and Hard Time on the Bayou, and Branch Manager for the Gwinnett County
Library System in Georgia will be a guest author for the Southern Voices
Conference of the Hoover Public Library, located in the Birmingham
suburb of Hoover, Alabama, from February 19 to February 22.
For more information call the Library Theatre Box Office at (205) 4447888 or visit their website at http://www.hooverlibrary.org/sv .
Ronald Gauthier
_____________________________________________________________________________________
17
ILLINOIS
MARYLAND
Chicago – The Chicago-based Johnson Publishing
Company has partnered with Google to digitize the
archives of Ebony and Jet magazines, making the
magazines searchable on Google’s growing database
of books.
College Park – Sharon K. Epps, Head of Access
Services , University of Maryland Libraries and
2006-2008 BCALA Executive Board member, has
recently published an article “African American
Women Leaders in Academic Research Libraries.”
portal: Libraries and the Academy 8, no. 3 (2008): 255272.
For more information please see the Chicago Tribune
article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-ebonyjet-archives-dec10,0,1140910.story .
Link:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_
the_academy/v008/8.3.epps.pdf
Lorna Peterson, ALISE President 2009-2010
KENTUCKY
and
MICHIGAN
Lexington and Flint – Reinette F. Jones, Diversity and
Multicultural Activities Librarian, University of Kentucky
Young Library and Alonso W. Hill, Library Assistant/
Branch Manager, Flint Public Library, spearheaded the
compilation of African American Library Directors.
For the past few months, the University of Kentucky
has captured statistics on user visits to the African
American Library Directors Database. Please visit
http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/NKAA/directors.php
or www.bcala.org for a list of the African American
Library Directors.
The University of Kentucky’s database is being viewed
mostly by persons from throughout the U.S., followed
by persons in African countries, and persons from
England.
NEW YORK
Buffalo – Lorna Peterson, Associate Professor,
Department of Library and Information Studies,
Graduate School of Education, University at
Buffalo, State University of New York where she
has been on the faculty since August 1990, was
recently elected president of ALISE for the 20092010 term. ALISE, or the Association for Library
and Information Science Education) is a non-profit
organization that serves as the intellectual home of
university faculty in graduate programs in library
and information science in North America.
As a member of ALISE since 1992, Ms. Peterson
has chaired the Recruitment Committee in 2004 and
has presented juried papers, invited papers, and
been a respondent for several papers. An ALA
member since 1979, she has chaired the Committee
on Education-2001-04 and has served on the
Committee on Accreditation.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
18
MARY BRAUN: The most obvious similarity is language. Canada has two languages, but the only people
who really speak French are in Quebec. Everybody else
speaks English. Their money has more color, but they
have the same denominations as in the U.S., except they
have a two-dollar coin as well as a one-dollar coin instead
of a bill. It's hard to really say what is the same and what
is different. While I was there I knew I wasn't in the U.S.,
but it was hard to say how it felt dif-ferent. Plus Canada
is just like the U.S. in that there are regional differences.
Canada has an East-West divide whereas the U.S. has a
North-South divide. I lived in the West so I would hear
complaints about the East and Ottawa (the capital of
Canada which is in the Ontario province) and yet I knew
that the people in Ottawa were complaining about Alberta
and the West. People from different regions viewed
other regions as being odd just like people from the Midwest think the East coast is strange with its fashions, etc.
S.D.HARRIS: What are the vast differences in Canada
and the U.S.?
MARY BRAUN: Well, I think the most obvious difference is that Canadians really are nice. They really want
people to feel welcome. That doesn't always show through
with government policies, but for the most part Canada
is really open. They do everything in their power to make
sure everybody understands everybody and differences
are addressed. Canada does have problems of race, but
not with Blacks, but with the indigenous population.
Canada had boarding schools for American Indians just
like we did in the 1800s and they had a program of assimilation. I don't think there were the same land issues, but
Canada is much more sparsely populated than the U.S.
so there is still a lot of land available. I never really had a
chance to learn Canadian history, but I know their past
has black moments. Plus I lived in Alberta, which
seemed to me to be at odds with the rest of Canada.
Alberta is known as the Texas of Canada, which is a reference to the oil business as well as I think to its attitude.
Alberta is very conservative, religious and closed to the
rest of the world; they would be Republicans. The rest
of Canada always seemed to be at complete odds with
Alberta. My classmates who had studied Canadian history as undergrads told me Alberta was just like the rest
of Canada until oil was discovered. Now it is the rich
province and it doesn't want to be part of a socially
responsible society. My classmates think that when the oil
is gone, Alberta will come running back to Canada because
it will need the government services since the money will
have run out.
I realize I rambled on those last two questions, but they
are just so hard to answer. I only spent time in one part of
Canada so I only have a limited idea of what Canada is
like. I do have to say that Canadians have an amazing
sense of humor and I think it helps them get through the
trying times. They aren't afraid to laugh at themselves and
I think that will only help them when it comes to dealing
with their neighbor to the south. Americans take
themselves too seriously and it causes problems when
dealing with other people. Canada tries to be good to the
people and while it doesn't always work I think they are
doing a good job over all. I would have no qualms moving
back to Canada though I would think twice before moving
back to Alberta.
S.D. HARRIS: As you know our out-going first-lady was
a librarian? What do you think she brought to libraries?
MARY BRAUN: Honestly, I don't know how much
First Lady Bush brought to libraries. I know she spoke
often on the importance of libraries and clearly was a huge
proponent of libraries, but I don't think she has much
influence on the President when it comes to policy
decisions and therefore could not help libraries in ways
that they really needed.
S.D. HARRIS: What do you think of the historic election
of Barack Obama, the first Black man elected as President
of the United States?
MARY BRAUN: I think it is fantastic. I've been able to
vote since 1996 and my first presidential election was
between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. I cannot remember
which one I voted for and to be honest I was not that
politically aware in high school. I liked Al Gore, but he
did not necessarily inspire me and John Kerry inspired
me even less. Barack Obama is the first candidate where I
felt that it was possible for government to make a
difference. I view him as my as my FDR. As to him being
black, that did not even faze me. I understand how
historic his win is, but I come from a generation where
who you are is more important than what you look like.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
19
About BCALA
In the 1960s, Black people across America, including Black librarians, were seriously concerned
about the state of the country and its survival as a
beacon of democracy. The roots of the Black
Caucus extend from that tumultuous period.
Founded in 1970, the Black Caucus of the
American Library Association serves as an advocate for the development, promotion and improvement of library services and resources to the
nation's Black American community; and provides
leadership for the recruitment and professional development of Black American librarians. BCALA
holds business and membership meetings in conjunction with ALA, though BCALA sponsors its
own national conferences. The heading “Black
Caucus” was first indexed in Library Literature in
1970. Listed under that heading were six articles:
two on segregation, three on the caucus, and an
article about the concern for Black librarians.
Today, about one hundred articles can be found
within electronic databases and references.
Call for Submissions
The BCALA Newsletter seeks news from the 2009
Midwinter conference and news about noteworthy
female librarians. We also seek news from BCALA
State Representatives. The deadline for the
March/April 2009 issue is February 2, 2009.
Call (203) 299-1226 with questions regarding the
Newsletter. Please send electronic submissions and
photos to [email protected]. Visit our website at http://bcala.org/newsletter.htm for guidelines.
ISSN 87559277
Continued from page 19
This does not mean I do not have prejudices or make
assumptions, but I try to work past those to find the person
underneath the exterior. Sometimes I'm successful and
sometimes I'm not. When it comes to Barack Obama I see an
educated, well spoken politician (politician being a keyword!)
who looks at the entire problem and attempts to make the best
decision. I'm not always going to agree with his choices and at
times I may feel he has betrayed his progressive roots, but as
long as he shows that he is making an effort to do the best for
as many people as possible, then I'll still support him in his role
as President of the United States of America.
S.D. HARRIS: Did you attend ALA's annual conference in
2005 when then Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama keynoted
the Opening General Session?
MARY BRAUN: No, I did not, though now I wish I had!
S.D. HARRIS: Stemming from the civic things he spoke of
during his campaign, do you think he will be supportive of
libraries?
MARY BRAUN: I think he is going to be a very strong
supporter of libraries since I think he views them as essential to
a healthy community. I view him as a proponent of education
and how can libraries not be a part of that? I am hoping he will
relax some of the restrictions on federal funding to libraries and
hopefully will do everything he can to increase funding to
libraries and other civic services. I know we are in tough
economic times, but I think he is going to do what he can to
improve civic institutions such as libraries while figuring out
how to get the economy out of this recession.
S.D. HARRIS: Thank you for your time.
BLACK CAUCUS
OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, INC.
Postmaster Please Return to:
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University Libraries
University of Southern Mississippi
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HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI

bcala - ALA Connect - American Library Association

Transcription

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