Good morning! It's Zine Librarians unConference day (one)! www.zinelibraries.info/wiki/zluc2025/

Cornell agreed to pay $30m, hand over admissions data with demographic breakdowns, produce annual "campus climate" surveys to check on antisemitism and changes "since October of 2023," and—here's the dumbest part they agreed to—that the govt can open new investigations whenever it wants. Appeasers.

SERIOUSLY?

this week in "AI Skeptics Reading Group" we're reading chapter 4 (if it quacks like a doc: ai hype and social services), future former mayor Eric Adams showed up, how nice! how candidates feel about AI in the context of social services should be a litmus test for appropriateness to serve the public

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...

Librarians told 404 Media they are being inundated with new pitches for AI library tech and catalogs are being flooded with AI slop books that they need to wade through. AI maximalism across society is supercharging the ideological war on libraries, schools, academics www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this video. I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children. But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.

New survey researching how recent policy shifts within the U.S. in higher education are impacting DEI reparative metadata/cataloging efforts in academic libraries & archives in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. 📚 #critcat uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

average bluesky poster

Having a unique ORCID identifier is one way for academics to distinguish themselves from other researchers with the same name, but a far simpler solution would be for the bigger one to consume the smaller one.

today in #metadata #librarian land: repping our achievements in cataloging @ in the Discovery Description & Metadata dept @ Equity Diversity Inclusion Decolonization & Accessibility showcase: reparative language, adding alt-vocabs, Indigenous syllabics & Nations' names, blocking fascist LCSH + more!

We officially unveiled Lena Smith Boulevard! We are no longer honoring Edmund Walton, whose racial covenants fueled redlining and segregation. We honor Lena Olive Smith — Minnesota’s first Black woman attorney, a fearless civil rights leader who fought housing discrimination.

What if libraries provided 1-page info sheets for job candidates? For a cataloger position, this might look like: we've been using [x] ILS for [x] many years, we're part of [x] consortia, our departmental strengths are [x, y, z], the projects on our horizon are [a, b, c]. 📚

If you're a zine fan who likes to send snail mail, we've got a treat for you—5 zine-themed postcards! We're raising funds for the BIPOC Travel Fund for future Zine Librarians unConferences @zineluc and you can help by ordering a set of 5 zines for just $15 (shipping within the U.S. included).

Applications for the 2026 Twin Cities Zine Fest are now open! If you'd like to join us as a tabler on Saturday February 7th at the Minneapolis Central Library @hclib.bsky.social, submit your application by Saturday November 15th. Find the application form at tczinefest.org. #zines

Applications for the 2026 Twin Cities Zine Fest are now open! If you'd like to join us as a tabler on Saturday February 7th at the Minneapolis Central Library @hclib.bsky.social, submit your application by Saturday November 15th. Find the application form at tczinefest.org. #zines

Help my friends raise money for the BIPOC Zine Librarians!!! You can get a postcard with my Peas Louise basking in the presence of zines and the creative spirit!!

If we put half as much resources into metadata and cataloging as we do into dumb AI stuff, we’d way better off in terms of the info/data ecosystem

Turns out those jaffa cake cookies I was buying from Aldi every week were emotional-load-bearing cookies, because they're no longer in stock and I'm weeping over it.

Extremely cool new screenprint from Justseeds artist Nicolas Lampert! Go birds, fuck ICE, Free Palestine! justseeds.org/product/go-b...

If you're looking for a group of library workers who understand the power of labor organizing, social justice, & anti-racism, consider applying for the Library Freedom Institute. It's a 15-week program in privacy, intellectual freedom, & critical technology. libraryfreedom.org/institute/

Episode 02 of The We Reads Podcast is now available! 🎧 This episode is all about genres- join hosts as they try to define genre (is that possible??), discuss their favorite genre + genre writers, and much more! Listen now: www.wehere.space/we-reads-pod... #WeReadsthePodcast

In my Chicago neighborhood this weekend: candy drive for kids who can't safely go out to trick or treat because of ICE; big visible letter-writing campaign at an outdoor block party; low-flying Blackhawk helicopter over a children's baseball game; whistle brigades everywhere. #chicagostrong

Do you love the Chicago Public Library? Do you not want to wait weeks for books? Do you still want to be able to go to programs? Send a letter to electeds ! In the budget, Brandon Johnson is proposing 89 cuts to positions, and cutting our book budget in half. actionnetwork.org/letters/no-l...

Give me a few free hours and I’ll write a #zine about some weird or obscure thing and not regret a minute spent

Portland resists with whimsical improv theater, Chicago resists by screaming at weird jagoffs that don’t belong in the neighborhood. Every city brings its own strengths to the fight

(from the inbox) Less than an hour later this morning, just before 10:30 at Roscoe and Harding, feds again released gas as they were driving away, unobstructed, from a relatively small number of neighbors.

ICE has been cracking down hard across the vast expanse of the greater Chicago area, and I wrote a little bit about what you need to understand about what it’s like here now. Plus, I compiled some resources for locals to get alerts and whistles. dansinker.com/posts/202…

Another bummer of a post from me, about how expensive it is to be laid off. 📚 acrlog.org/2025/10/24/t... I'm sorry to keep existing and keep being miserable so publicly. I wish I were not doing either of those.

If you would like to support some of the families of people who have been abducted by ICE in my area during the recent federal attacks on our community that I've written about, local organizers have put together this trusted list of crowd funds.

Here is the Ravelry link for my free #AbolishICE beanie. Extensive notes cover all aspects of #knitting and refer to video tutorials; versions in cotton/wool fingering/sport. I appreciate any favorites there/here to boost the pattern! #knitsky #AbolishICE #NoKings 🧶 www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...

Oak Park resident Scott Sakiyama reports feds pointed weapons at him across from an elementary school today. They then arrested him and took him to Broadview. While in custody, he saw agents texting in a group chat called "Chiraq Team 2." Full testimony: www.facebook.com/share/p/1GqB...

Wrote some things about what it was actually like inside an inflatable frog costume at the #NoKings protest, and how we might remember this someday.

For Prison Banned Books Week, I want to say: it is worse than maybe it ever has been regarding censorship in prisons. It is worse than five years ago. It is worse than 50 years ago.

Considering that OCLC just laid off so many people, including the archives experts, this does not surprise me. I’m sure that the survivors are doing the best they can but this blog post is less than useless.

Are you considering seeking appointment or running for a seat on your local library board? Are you on the Left(s)? Apply to join FTP's Library Board Candidate cohort which will launch in Feb 2026: forms.gle/RuTxVLjvnX8K...

"Mail art was part of the nascent boom in zine culture," local mail artist Musicmaster says. "It predates punk."

Chicagoans: Attend this virtual Rapid Response training on Wed 10/14 at 4pm to learn how to help protect our neighbors during this occupation. zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Here are 10 practical tips, based on Retana’s advice, for talking to kids about ICE raids and helping them cope with fear and uncertainty. Each point is presented in english y español. The full guide: lataco.com/kids-ice-tal... By Erick Galindo

George was just trying to get to work. ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process. This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.

New print from Nicolas Lampert in the shop! "Workers deserve respect, dignity and safety, not ICE terror. An injury to one is an injury to all." justseeds.org/product/bloc...

I can hear the roar of the crowd from my apartment every time the Cubs score.

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

So much tear gas that people who aren't even protesting are getting sick when they leave their homes to run errands: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Congratulations to artists Identity 2.0, selected as the first guest zine to be included in the @dairinstitute.bsky.social Zine Library. 'Conversations about resistance and generative AI' can be downloaded here: zines.dair-institute.org/ai-z Image courtesy of the DAIR website.

Thinking about what it will be like to wear a mask while doing a full-day academic interview with presentation and dinner.

This is amazing work. Added to my Zotero library on the topic. Many thanks to the folks who have put in so much effort for this group and to the shoulders of giants in info retrieval research upon which we demonstrate utility for searchers.

*thousand-yard stare*

An important discussion on MLIS debt by @violetbfox.bsky.social 📜 📚

The rumors are true: Boneshaker is headed to a new location! We need your help to dig up our bones and move on over to 26th and Lyndale. We're hoping to raise $15,000 total, $6k of that by 10/17. Learn more at bit.ly/boneshakermove and thank you for helping Boneshaker thrive!