LISProchat Reads the #LISprochat #BookClub - NEW FEATURE ALERT! - Starting January 2018!

book image via Dave Dugdale

As mentioned at the end of last night's chat, Leigh and I will be introducing a new feature starting with a trial run in January. We're hosting a book club! And you're all welcome to join us!

WHAT?

A book club! On Twitter! Where we read and discuss books to help us with our professional development in library land!

WHERE?

On Twitter, using the same hashtag we use for our chats! #LISprochat.

WHEN?

We'll announce the upcoming book in the last chat of the previous month and then have the discussion on the last Monday of the month regardless of whether it's a normal #LISprochat day or not.

WHY?

For a few reasons, Leigh and I thought it would be fun to have a book club. I mentioned that I was giving myself a new reading goal to try and read 1 professional book a month, and this is a good way for me to motivate myself to meet that goal through accountability!

January 2018 Book Selection

This will be our inaugural book and discussion, the chat will take place on Monday, January 29, 2018, at 8:30 pm.

Title: Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians
Editor/Author: Tracy Nectoux (Editor)

Publisher: Litwin Books, LLC

Date Published: 2010/1
No. of Pages: 294

WorldCat link: http://www.worldcat.org/title/out-behind-the-desk-workplace-issues-for-lgbtq-librarians/oclc/957634734?loc=

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians is an anthology of personal accounts by librarians and library workers relating experiences of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer at work. A broad spectrum of orientations and gender identities are represented, highlighting a range of experiences of being and/or coming out at work.

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Dec 11 2017 - 8:30pm ET

via Jukka Pennanen

TOPIC

Library advocacy - what does that mean and what does it do?

I'm two weeks into a new volunteer role that I took on in the evenings when I get home from work. I volunteered to become the new Library Advocacy Researcher for the Harry Potter Alliance. So this topic is definitely informed by that new gig. I've been doing a lot of thinking about what library advocacy actually is, what library advocates do, and where to find any resources that exist for them. Especially outside of America, most of the advocacy efforts I see and hear about relate to American libraries and/or the ALA - EveryLibrary comes to mind immediately when I think of library advocacy for example. There's a great primer article from June of this year by Shannon Maughan on Publishers Weekly called Library Advocacy Efforts Gain Steam.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 What does library advocacy mean to you? What are some areas of library land we need to specifically advocate for?

Q2 What are your go-to resources for finding out information about library advocacy issues and activities?

Q3 Have you ever been directly involved in library advocacy? How? Where? What did you do?

Q4 What library advocacy communities if any are you a part of?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, DECEMBER 11 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG.