As long-time teen services library person as well as being someone who has participated in a number social movements protesting injustice over the years, I am in awe of the students on college grounds across the US standing up to protest the cruelty being meted out against a captive population of predominantly women and children in Gaza.
Armored police officers being unleashed on students that are participating in their constitutionally protected right to protest is bringing up memories of the actions of the police set loose on protesting students by the apartheid government in my home country of South Africa.
The “youth of today” get a lot of grief from people my age and older about how they have no oomph or are unwilling to stand up for anything or get involved in making the world a better place. Well after this current time of protest is over then I think anyone who says shit like that should shut up!
I have worked as a youth services and teen librarian for over 20 years now and the level of engagement and involvement young adults have shown in standing up for what they believe in over the years has always inspired me! The student newspapers are covering the protests on their campuses better than many of their national press colleagues – have a read below.
Links to US Student run College Newspaper articles about the Protests:
Inspired by the Hanover County School Board’s decision to ban 19 books from the libraries in the schools they oversee; on June 2023 Kate Lindley started Free to Read, her project for the Girl Scout Gold Award.
She created a Free to Read app with information on each book, including why it was banned and how to access copies of the books. After the board banned a further 75 books in November of 2023 Kate went a step further and set up book nooks in two local businesses.
Screenshots of the Free to Read app
I think that everyone who has observed the national mania for book-banning that has been emerging over the past few years agrees that it is positively Orwellian; but this is where things start taking a turn for the Kafkaesque. On April 10, the Hanover County supervisors met to approve language honoring the Girl Scouts that had completed their Gold Award projects. During the meeting the supervisor for the Cold Harbor District Michael Herzberg pulled Lindley’s proclamation and submitted a motion for amending it, removing language that identified locations where the books were available as well as any mentions of censorship or banned books.
The Board of Supervisors has bestowed upon me the greatest honor anyone fighting censorship and banning could receive by censoring me and my project ~ Kate Lindley
When the young adults of our society act with more maturity and decorum than the actual adults that are running things, I get a hankering for generational change in leadership. Then I feel guilty for wanting to dump the problems created by my generation and the ones that have come before us onto the next generation that are still growing and learning.
We need to address these issues and let our kids be kids. Looking at them, and the work they are already shouldering to make the world they are on the cusp of inheriting a better place I know that they are going to be alright!
The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), a national charity which exists to raise standards in library provision has sounded the alarm over a potential ‘fire sale’ of library buildings following the Government announcement of ‘exceptional financial support’ to 19 Councils[1].
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced that 19 councils in England will benefit from an ‘Exceptional Financial Support (EFS)’ framework for the fiscal year 2024-25, totalling around £1.5 billion.
Rather than representing new investment or capital support, the framework allows the Councils involved to use capital receipts from the sale of assets or borrowing to cover their day-to-day costs up to this amount. Additionally, there is further support for capitalisation requests from previous years amounting to £976 million.
Commenting on the announcement, CILIP interim CEO Jo Cornish said,
This ‘exceptional financial support’ announced by Government is in reality nothing of the sort. Instead, central Government is suggesting that cash-strapped Councils should do the equivalent of using their savings (long-term investment budgets) and selling property to cover day-to-day running costs.
This framework creates a material risk that Councils will sell off parts of their property portfolio, including libraries, to address the funding shortfall caused by the withdrawal of central Government grants. We know from our experience supporting library services across the UK, this is a one-way trip – once a library building is sold off, it permanently impairs the life chances and property values of local residents. It’s a one-way deal and very much like using the credit card to pay the mortgage.
We urgently call on central Government to work with Councils to provide long-term sustainable investment to protect local services and halt their decline, including statutory public library provision.
In response to increasing concerns over proposals to reduce or close library services, CILIP has launched the ‘Libraries at Risk Monitor’ – a regularly-updated map of proposed changes to libraries across the UK with an indication of where CILIP and their partner organisation, CILIP in Scotland are intervening to seek better outcomes for local taxpayers (www.cilip.org.uk/libraries-at-risk).
London, Thursday 1 February 2024.Bookshop.org is today launching the charitable initiative Read It Forward, in partnership with BookTrust, where 10% of every sale of a children’s book made in February will be donated to the charity, while also supporting independent bookshops as per the platform’s ongoing mission.
Launching on the first day of the month, just in time for half-term, and lasting until the end of February, Read It Forward encourages all parents, teachers, guardians and educators to consider purchasing books from Bookshop.org, with a portion of the profit of each kids’ book donated to the UK’s largest children’s reading charity.
The aim of the initiative is to inspire a love of reading in the next generation, with the money raised by the Bookshop.org drive going towards BookTrust’s work of getting children reading – especially those from low-income families or vulnerable backgrounds.
Each year BookTrust reaches millions of children with books, resources and support for families to get every child reading regularly and by choice. A research-led charity, their specially designed programmes and products help children from all backgrounds experience the many benefits of shared reading. In addition, every sale on Bookshop.org supports independent bookshops across the UK, giving them an additional stream of income and keeping them thriving.
Lizzie Catford, Director of Children’s Books at BookTrust, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Bookshop.org on the Read it Forward initiative, a wonderful opportunity for readers to make a meaningful impact. This collaboration not only supports independent bookshops, vital pillars of our literary community, but also contributes directly to our mission of fostering a love of reading among children, particularly those facing challenges. At BookTrust, we believe in the transformative power of shared reading, and the funds raised through this initiative will support our vital work across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This wonderful partnership emphasisesthe collective strength of readers, booksellers, and charities in building a brighter reading future for all children.”
Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director ofBookshop.org UK, said: “This February, you can feel even better about buying books online. We are incredibly excited to launch a charitable book drive with BookTrust, marking our first collaboration with them. This month, we are giving parents and educators one more reason to buy books from Bookshop.org. In addition to supporting independent booksellers across the UK, this month we will be donating 10% of each children’s book sale to BookTrust, contributing to their mission to develop a love of reading.”
Doaa al-Masri and her family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on December 7th 2023.
Doaa receives a group of schoolgirls at the Edward Said Library in Gaza
Why have I focused on Doaa you may ask. Well, we shared a profession and belief in public service, and it is hard to get one’s head around the scale of the tragedy and loss of life that has been unfolding in the Middle East; from the 1,139 Israeli lives lost in the Hamas attacks on October 7th to the sheer brutality of their response across Gaza.
To paraphrase a statement allegedly made by Stalin: 20,000 deaths is a statistic, one death is a tragedy.
It is not easier to acknowledge a single death that 20,000 but it is less numbing. Each of the thousands of lives lost to this violence will have a ripple effect on thousands more, but their faces blur and get lost in the scale of this tragedy and they become numbers, rather than individuals.
In their tribute to her memory, the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) captured in part her spirit and dedication to her community:
…Doaa Al-Masri was killed with her family on Thursday night. Doaa was the librarian at the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza. She was a kind and energetic young woman who organized many activities for children and youth at the library including reading groups, classes, and field trips for schools.
Doaa was also a volunteer in many other projects. During each Israeli attack on Gaza, she joined her colleagues at MECA partner Youth Vision Society in procuring, packing, and delivering emergency aid to children and families. Just last week, in the midst of intense Israeli attacks, she joined two other volunteers to provide warm clothes to children in northern Gaza.
We mourn the loss of Doaa, a loss for MECA, for the many children whose lives she touched, and for Palestine. We will miss her smile and her radiant energy. Doaa is one of tens of thousands of people killed in Gaza over the last 64 days. Each one is a terrible loss to those who knew and loved them.
Let’s be honest, when one thinks of Gaza and the West Bank, Libraries are not the first thing that pop into your mind. No matter who they are or where they live people enjoy reading and need to find information – and those are two of the core functions of public libraries.
The Gaza Municipal Library and the Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center that was the home of the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Library that contained more than 100.000 books and was founded by Haseeb Sabbagh in the memory of his wife Diana Tamari, have both been razed by Israeli forces. There is currently no news on the current condition of the Edward Said Public Library in North Gaza.
The remains of the Gaza Municipal Library
The Gaza Municipality has alleged that the destruction of libraries by Israeli forces during the conflict has been a deliberate act and has called on the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to intervene and protect cultural centers and condemn the occupation’s targeting of these humanitarian facilities protected under international humanitarian law.
Public Libraries form one of the cornerstones of a society that nurtures and cares for the people that comprise its individual parts. Apart from educating and entertaining their users, libraries function as repositories of history and cultural knowledge. To destroy a society first you wipe out the commonalities that bind them together, their shared history, their art, anything that ties them together and the fastest way to do that is to start with destroying their libraries and those that care for them.
When Libraries in Sarajevo were bombed people stood up and protested, when al Qaeda attacked the library in Timbuktu there was eventually a book celebrating those who stood up to save priceless, ancient manuscripts, when Russia invaded Ukraine there was a massive outpouring of support for Ukrainian Libraries and Library workers. In Gaza there is proof of libraries being destroyed and one confirmed report of a Librarian (& her family) being killed in an aerial attack and nothing – where is the outrage?
Understand me when I write that I unequivocally condemn Hamas for their bloodthirsty action on October 7th, but the heavy-handed response by the Israeli War Cabinet and the IDF is just as reprehensible!
Articles 6, 7 & 8 of The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court specifically outlaw Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes.
Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention specifically outlaws collective penalties, pillage & reprisals:
No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons* and their property are prohibited.
* The term “protected person” means any person entitled to protection under one or more of the Geneva Conventions, including civilians not taking an active part in hostilities, military personnel placed out of combat by sickness, wounds, or detention, and military medical or religious personnel.
Do the actions of Hamas and the IDF rise to these levels of criminal wrong-doing? I think they do, but untrained as I am in international jurisprudence I may be wrong; I do however know that the murder unarmed civilians is wrong, no matter who does it!
Ahead of the upcoming CILIP AGM, creators of the petition to return Kate Greenaway’s name to the award Dr. Rose Roberto & Tamsin Rosewell issued a statement urging members of the organization to speak up about the removal of the Kate Greenaway name from what is now the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration.
We’re delighted that this petition has attracted so much attention, interest and, above all, support. We’re disappointed with what we feel is a brush-off response from CILIP, which we feel is unnecessarily dismissive to more than 3200 people who signed a petition that was constructively worded, and behind which was genuine industry knowledge.
If any CILIP Members reading this are interested in attending and raising this issue, you should have an opportunity to do so during the any other business section of the meeting.
You can find information about the upcoming AGM here.
NP alerted the Board to a petition that had been launched by people dissatisfied with the change of name from ‘Greenaway Award’ to ‘Carnegie Award for Illustration’. This change happened in 2022 and we do not intend to change it further.
However, if enough members make their voices hard then it may give them pause.
World Book Day 2024 has appeared on the horizon and with it the list of £1/€1.50 books that will be available. To whet your appetite you can watch the video and scroll down to see what titles you can spend your World Book Day £1/€1.50 book token on between 15 February and 31 March 2024.!
Having added Overdrive (creator of the Libby app) to their portfolio in 2020, KKR a private equity group best known for its role in the buyout and subsequent collapse of Toys R Us (the last stores closed in 2021) has signed a deal with Paramount to acquire 99 year old publisher Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion.
Find out more about this deal here:
Paramount Agrees to Sell Simon and Schuster to KKR, a Private Equity Firm
In February of last year the news broke that Yoto had become the primary sponsor for the Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals and they would henceforth be known as the Yoto Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals.
In September of the same year there came an announcement that there was a wholesale rebranding, and that the Kate Greenaway Medal had become the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. I was surprised that the reaction to this was pretty muted, but there has been a lot going on and the majority of people outside of the awards circle had other things going on to take their attention.
More people noticed when the medal winners were announced in June. People’s heads popped up online and suddenly more folk were shocked that Kate Greenaway’s name had disappeared from the award was founded using her name. Interest and anger has been building steadily & quietly since then and on Monday a friend messaged me on social media with a link to a petition to return Kate Greenaway’s name to the award that had been set up by Rose Roberto, a Librarian and Historian, and Tamsin Rosewell, an Illustrator and bookseller.
You can access the petition & join the over 1600 people who have already added their names to it if you have an interest in celebrating illustrated works for children & recognizing one of the greatest British illustrators here:
