Chris and Bob were asked back to the Long Island Library Resources Council’s conference on Libraries and the Future (this year held virtually). This is the 4th year the podcast was asked to podcast from the event, and the guest speakers this year were amazing.
First we spoke to Nancy Kranich, Special Projects Research Librarian at Rutger’s University. She spoke with the boys about libraries listening instead of constantly promoting when out in the community and how the profession needs to actively recruit more people of color into our ranks.
Next was V. Elaine Gross President of Erase Racism, a Long Island based organization that is committed to building a diverse coalition advancing the goal of racial equity on Long Island and beyond. Elaine spoke about implicit bias, institutional racism, micro aggressions and how we can all work together to recognize and combat these ways of thinking.
Chris and Bob also spoke with Ryan Dowd from www.homelesslibrary.com. Ryan has a series of trainings and programs to assist organizations including libraries on effective and kind ways of working with the homeless. Ryan discusses empathy, understanding the perspective of the homeless person, discusses brain chemistry and how that effects how we all respond to both pleasurable experiences and stressful situations.
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