Last week, I gave a talk pushing back against claims that AI will democratize education, and I included this slide meant to trouble narratives - and self-serving programs like OpenAI's new "free" ChatGPT for teachers - that focus narrowly on access to technology as some kind of transformative force.

do AI adopters in libraries understand that refusing/protesting a system is diff. than blaming individuals affected by a system? when they claim refusal of AI is “not helpful,” what i hear is that they aren’t making a connection between their labor as information workers to data workers in Kenya

New paper! Let’s not overemphasize AI “upskilling” as a response to CEOs saying AI is gonna replace us.

Learn how to keep your library makerspace legally sound and open to all! @schutton.bsky.social, @kslater.bsky.social, and Tomas A. Lipinski will offer insights and answer questions on all things maker. Read more and register --> nyu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

In a time of economic difficulty, "some of these townships are saying, ‘Well, why not?’” when it comes to data centers, D&S researcher @livgar.bsky.social says. Others are wary of the major changes data centers have brought to communities like their own. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/data...

People need to reckon with the hypocrisies of governments prepared to suport products that algorithmically fabricate history while stripping funding from the archives and repositories that hold actual historical artifacts. This is far more expansive than the cyberattack on the British Library.

disappointing news from my alma mater. SAIC president: “structural changes are necessary to ensure the long-term health of SAIC…SAIC is facing a significant financial shortfall due to a decline in enrollment—particularly among international students” www.artforum.com/news/school-...

desperately hoping (praying) that pauses in PhD admits are not longer than a year, acceptance rates will not get smaller, and that i will be able to study in the state where i live and work. amen

As Langdon Winner put so well 40 years ago, don't fall into the trap of accepting "RISK" as a good framework for these conversations. Business interests love framing their violence in terms of "risks & rewards" bc as a society, we love to heroize & reward risk-takers. Talk instead about "HAZARD."

oh my god… NETWORK (1976) box set coming to Criterion with an essay by @jamellebouie.net!!! www.criterion.com/films/34869-...

Ryan Coogler said part of his influence for making Sinners was a childhood love for the Disney movie “Luck of the Irish” and let me tell you…he is so real for that.

How will librarians be able to plan programming, do outreach, and get to know regulars while bouncing around from branch to branch? Your guess is as good as mine. Call your alder and leave a message this weekend. We need all of our staff restored. Find your alder at bit.ly/callmyward

i have been patronizing a suburban public library & had items marked lost. even tho i have worked in public libraries for the last 5 years, & that i knew i wouldn’t actually have to pay the bill upon returning them—the RUSH i felt when the worker confirmed i did not, in fact, owe the library $100!

Excellent short piece contesting the "technological revolution" narrative around the printing press, and how the metaphor of the tech "democracizing knowledge" is deeply flawed.

this cover is bananas

so many kids who come into the makerspace don’t know how to use a mouse :(

new blog post: transcript from my talk on “Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library” @ Library Trends on 11/12 online-roleplay.ghost.io/against-ai-l...

“AI is a backlash. AI is anti-worker. I always feel the need to remind people that neither robots nor AI are coming for our jobs. But management probably is.” 2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/ai-grief-obs...

listening to techno & drum ‘n’ bass very loudly on my commutes has been extremely beneficial to my mental health

A siege-breaking snowstorm followed by the strongest aurora in living memory is proof that Chicago has the Mandate of Heaven and its enemies will die by her sword

AI assistants in webinars are so invasive 😖 immediately makes me feel uncomfortable and not want to contribute comments or questions

very exciting addition to the personal library

Amelia Acker: "Each chapter introduces data archiving processes that relate to the evolution of data sovereignty...: from magnetic tape + timesharing computer models from the 1950s,... to file structures + virtual containers in cloud-based information services over the past 40 yrs" — open access!

“For the next three Wednesdays, November 12, 19, and 26, Wash Smart will provide a $10 laundry card to community members who show a valid SNAP card at any of our 17 laundromat locations across Chicago and the suburbs.”

Ketan Joshi on the environmental toll of Meta’s genAI advertising product newrepublic.com/article/2028...

today!

early career scholar and their first publication

oh, so we have $5 million for ShotSpotter, but the public library’s collections budget is suddenly facing a $5 million cut?

read this! a companion: @librarypunk.bsky.social (Justin’s quoted in this article)’s recent episode on AI refusal with yours truly 😎 www.librarypunk.gay/e/155-ai-ref...

city is claiming they need $5 million to keep CPL’s collections budget in tact, not enough $ to fill vacant positions for context: city paid $266 million this year in CPD misconduct settlements, proposed that CPD will get $17 million more in funding next year blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/05/l...

Teaching about AI? Here's a new zine from the AI + Planetary Justice Alliance "meant to help readers move from thinking about AI as a purely digital, cloud-based technology to understanding it as something rooted in physical elements."

congratulations New York!

good news for Physical Media!

hey! friendly reminder that your local public library is funded by taxes that you pay. access to books, resources, & technology thru a library is contingent on an ecosystem of labor—it’s not “free.” bc of collectively distributed wealth & organization of labor, that access is just w/ less friction.

i just signed up—you should, too!

i cannot remember a time that the Bears scored this much in one game

This is a great resource in precarious times. Tried it for my city and it pulled up all the things I know about + more I didn’t. It finds food pantries, but also stuff like legal help and housing assistance. For those of us more fortunate, great way to find volunteer and donation opportunities.

RIP Alison Knowles. Damn. hyperallergic.com/1054017/alis...

"The AI Con reminds us that the fight over AI is not only about technology. It’s also about language, labor, and the stories we choose to tell about the future, which we can humanize rather than surrender to the myriad ways mass automation dehumanizes." lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

happy halloween. appreciating everyone in chicago maintaining their whimsy and love in spite of our city being terrorized!

Interested in data centers? In critical data center studies? Here's an open biblio -- anyone can add or borrow from it. Please do add anything that's missing. Enjoy! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

registration ends tomorrow — sign up! bit.ly/snapmganz

"create “public media centers”—publicly-owned hubs in every community federally guaranteed but locally governed+democratically operated. establish new anchor institutions universally available to everyone—not unlike the ideal version of public schools+libraries." publici.ucimc.org/2025/10/the-...

honored to be on this stacked lineup of panelists for Library Trends. i’ll be presenting on “Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library” & developing research on media / information infrastructures! join us!

I wrote about public libraries as spaces of civic solidarity, common knowledge, and public infrastructure — all endangered by commercial and federal saboteurs

horrible that i have to suspect that a weird smell & eyes burning on my drive into work today could be tear gas

the kiddos get it!!! (they think AI is weird) www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvKx...