Loud Librarians Lead - Vlog Episode 3!

The latest episode of Loud Librarians Lead vlog is an interview with Amanda Bremmon and Jamie Buswell from the Siouxland Libraries. These two librarians team up to create virtual programming for their patrons to interact with during the pandemic. Acquire tips and tricks to help you bring alternative programming to your library!

Amanda K Bremmon and Jamie Buswell are Library Associates at Siouxland Libraries’ Downtown Branch.

Jamie has an undergraduate degree in chemistry with a focus in secondary education. Her educational philosophy derives from discovery based learning which allows the student or child to learn through hands-on exploration and inquiry. Before joining Siouxland Libraries, Jamie was previously the Program Manager and Interim Director of the Kirby Science Discovery Center at the Washington Pavilion. She strives to bring a fun, unique, STEM based approach to afterschool age programming.

Amanda has an undergraduate degree in music industry and a Master of Library Science. Her work is focused on creating innovative ways for the public library to be an active part of the community. She can often be found with her guitar at storytimes, designing science programming, or selecting children’s non-fiction and the library’s music collection. She previously worked as an account manager for a major science kit company.

“Jamie’s passion and empathy creates an incredible environment for our patrons as well as her coworkers. She is wonderful at reminding me to have fun while learning.” – Amanda

“Amanda’s curiosity and desire for learning pushes me to explore new concepts and helps me grow as an educator.” - Jamie

Enjoy the video above, and for more links and information, visit Loud Librarians Lead at library.sd.gov.

Achievement culture and slow librarianship

At the recent North American Virtual Reference Online Conference, American Libraries columnist and community college librarian Meredith Farkas presented a keynote address titled Resisting Achievement Culture with Slow Librarianship. 

Working from home during the pandemic has increased the practice of people working more hours than what their regular work day normally encompasses, answering emails late at night, and working on weekends when that might not have been part of their "in-house" schedule. But these practices have been happening for years, outside of a pandemic.

From the program description: "achievement culture turns organizations toxic, encourages overwork, and keeps people chasing external validation. Slow librarianship presents an approach that rejects achievement culture and focuses on values-driven work, process over product, and gratitude-focused reflective practice."

Farkas talks about how libraries sometimes chase the next hot, shiny thing instead of doing what is best for the community. Libraries often keep adding new services without letting go of others. How many libraries keep offering the same services, same hours, same programs even after the budget has been cut?

Check out Farkas' keynote and other presentations from the conference website.

Slides from the presentation are available at bit.ly/slowfarkas

Federal Publication of the Month: A Profile of Fire in the United States

In 2007, over one million fire calls occurred, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, with property loss running into the billions. A fire call occurs every 24 seconds. In comparison to other countries, the fire problem in the U.S. is alarming. The map shown below lists states and fire death rate. Compared to the national average, South Dakota is listed as 14 - 24.9 deaths per one million. Unless the 2020 census bumps South Dakota into the one million population, deaths are very real.

Fire Death Rate by State, page 2
A Profile of Fire in the United States
HS 5.219:2003-2007 OCLC#48928893
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS122543

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), two main causes of fire in residential homes are cooking and accidental. With non-residential, cooking and intentional fires are the main causes. Fortunately, the rate of injury and death have declined due to stronger fire codes, better building materials, public education, installation of sprinklers and smoke alarms.

The fatality statistics of fire fighters responding to and returning from fires from 2003-2007 ranged from 15 to 36 deaths. With 47 being the approximate median age, causes range from heart attacks, crashes while responding, training and activities at a fire. These statistics and more can be found through US Fire Administration and the NFPA.

The SD State Library is a federal depository library and provides access to print and electronic federal government publications. Print publications are available via interlibrary loan. Electronic publications are linking from the state library online catalog.

--Edited March 12, 2021. Corrected punctuation in first paragraph. 

The original South Dakota State Constitution

Every year during the South Dakota legislative session, there are bills and resolutions that mention the South Dakota State Constitution.

The constitution has changed over the years as revisions are approved, and the SD State Library has many copies of our state constitution.

Prior to the 2021 legislative session, the State Library received many requests for the original South Dakota State Constitution from citizens, attorneys, and state agencies.

The digitization team at SDSL decided to digitize the original version. It can now be found online at the South Dakota State Library: Digital Collections.

The document was extracted from the Journal of the Constitutional Convention of South Dakota, July 1889.

Check out more SD state agency publications, current and historical, at South Dakota State Library: Digital Collections.

Webinar recap: Resources for Wellbeing for Rural & Small Libraries

In early February, WebJunction offered a webinar titled Resources for Wellbeing – Toolkit Tour for Rural & Small Libraries. Four rural library directors highlighted popular tools for helping libraries improve social wellbeing in their communities.

From the https://rurallibraries.org/ website,

"Public libraries located in rural locations have unique capabilities to generate social well-being outcomes in their communities. Through conversations with over 200 people in eight remote towns across the US, we heard rural residents describe the "good life" in their own terms and the ways in which their local public libraries enriched that life."

The toolkit covers five areas: Belonging, Capacity, Discovery, Self-Determination, and Wellness. Each area then includes topics for study, including a PDF document along with an online option where you can hear from the primary author of the tool.

Check out these resources at https://rurallibraries.org/toolkits/