I’d originally planned a different post for today, but now it seems like that can wait. The election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States has come as a surprise to many. I’m still wrapping my head around it, both personally and professionally, as a librarian at a public college in one of the largest and most diverse cities in the world.
What’s the role of our college and university libraries after this election? I’m focused on continuing to support our students — young and old, immigrants and US-born, of all races, religions, and sexual orientations — in the academic work they are committed to this semester, and to making the library as safe a space as possible for them. I’m also keeping my colleagues in mind, both in the library and at the college. It’s an amazing community we have at City Tech and the entire City University of New York, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.
Thanks for this, Maura. In addition to continuing to work to make our libraries safe spaces, I’d suggest that we provide our campus communities with resources on self-care (which is a political act!), direct them to contact information for all our elected officials, and share information about wonderful, inclusive organizations that are working to support POC, LGBTQ folks, immigrants, and women.
Thanks Veronica, those are great ideas. At the library where I work we get lots of non-library questions at our reference desk, as I’m sure others do too, and having this information ready to share with students is an important way to support them.