RA for All Virtual Roadshow Visits Wisconsin Valley Library Service [w/ bonus content]

Today I am presenting my signature training for a system in Wisconsin: RA for All Flip the Script and Think Like a Reader. 

I give this talk often, and I always post the slides because they change slightly each time. For example, I have now added to my slide where I explain why I call my company RA for All. 

Here is the slide in question:

Back in 2007, when I named my blog, although I didn't realize it then, I was challenging the status quo in terms of equity and inclusion. 

I began advocating for AND teaching library workers that anyone can help with RA Service, even as I taught the course on RA at an accredited MLIS program. I was very public and vocal, and not surprisingly, I was called out for "deprofessionalizing" a core library service.

[Please see page 37 of this 2014 issue of Public Libraries. Although I am not called out by name, the person who wrote this article was a colleague and he was not kind to Joyce Saricks and myself [unnamed] as we taught the RA course at his institution for 8 years prior to this article.]

As time has shown, I am right and he is wrong. But this is not the only time I have taken a controversial position and publicly called out the "old way of thinking." It's actually become my signature.

In this specific presentation, I do spend a few moments discussing how RA Service has changed from when I was taught it [by the author of that article, at the end of the last century]. The slide captures a few key points. 

1. Since books are our brand, all staff, from the facilities staff and pages up to the director, can and should be engaged in delivering the services around it.
2. Audio books, graphic novels, and ebooks are all "books." And if you disagree, you are wrong and there is no room for argument.
3. Despite our recent trend to de-emphasize books and promote our spaces, 2020 taught us that it is the collection that still matters the most.

I am not using this post or slide as an "I told you so" moment however. It is a way to have a conversation about how things change and evolve, and this evolution was centered on inclusivity. I wanted to include all staff to be a part of the library's conversation about books-- RA for All-- both all staff but also all patrons. 

I didn't realize how important this decision I made in 2007, to be as inclusive as possible, would be to my overall learning about the larger components to EDI, but it has. And it has reminded me that any change, but especially change that opens access to more perspectives, makes people very angry [especially those who held all the power and privilege before]. 

I know that my decision to begin fighting as white woman in librarianship and before I had as large a platform, made a difference. I know because many of you have reached out to me to tell me it has. But I also know that it was upsetting and lonely at times. The way I was made to feel about my professional decisions sucked. I questioned if I was in the right, even though I knew I was. Thankfully, a different white man with power in the profession [he has a quote above] stood up for me in a very public way. 

And that is what I try to do with all of my rant posts, my EDI training, and even my work reviewing horror. I make an effort to support and stand up for those who are advocating for the right kind of change, even when the status quo seems to be against them because I have the megaphone, now and I am going to amplify the inclusion of more voices in every conversation.

I am often given backhanded compliments about "my unique brand of RA," or told, "this list is so 'diverse.'" I know those are coded comments. I am not dumb, although I pretend like I do not notice the implications and just keep doing it.

My point here is that being a voice for change is not easy. I know that and I see all of you who are working hard, feeling overwhelmed, and are just tired. Especially those of you from marginalized communities who are constantly asked to speak for those "like you." 

Many of you reach out to me already, but please, you don't have to work for a library who hired me to contact me. Anyone can. Let me know how I can help you. Let me take the argument to your supervisors for you. Let me showcase your work when no one wants to listen to you.

I am here and I will continue to be loud and confrontational. I always think my arguments through, even when I sound a little exaggerated. Know it is for effect and on purpose because sometimes, for example, telling a teacher or YS librarian who won't let a kid count a graphic novel as "reading," just needs to be told they are wrong. End of sentence. You are wrong. Stop with your nonsense. And then I just walk away and let them think about what I said. 

This slide unapologetically does that. Stop with your nonsense and allow ALL staff to help you create conversations abound leisure items. It is your brand. It will only make them more connected to your mission, happier with their jobs, and lead to more satisfied patrons-- all things you want.

More about this in the signature program; slides available here.

Now I have a system of library worker to indoctrinate, I mean train.