Ok, Ok. The meme has inhaled me. I can hold off no longer. I’ve been tagged on Facebook too many times and even on Twitter, some of my favorite tweeps insist I cannot escape.

So, you probably know the drill by now:

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your home page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

Of course, like my friend the fabulous Colleen, I chose to break the rules and just post it in my blog so I can share it around to Friendfeed (oh yeah, I should check that site once in a while, shouldn’t I?) and other digital places I once had time to visit. (Remember me, teh Internet? Oh hai!)

1. I am the Brewin’ Librarian…. but I rarely have time to brew any more. I hate to confess this, but in the last two years I’ve probably only made about four batches of beer (and one didn’t turn out well– first time in 10 years!). Also, I drink more red wine than beer these days, and except for at conferences, I don’t actually drink very often at all.

2. From the time my daughter was 2 until she was 7 I was a single dad. I didn’t really know that much about parenting or children, but I worked hard and asked a *lot* of questions and she seems to have turned out alright. =)

3. During that same time I returned to school as a “non-traditional student” and received my undergrad in political science. I did this mostly to live off of student loans so that I could keep my parenting schedule open and flexible. I was fairly unfocused at the time but was tired of sales and restaurant management and needed a change.

4. When I first went into library school, I knew I loved libraries but I wasn’t entirely sure it was the right field for me. I primarily did so to avoid paying off my massive undergrad debt (see above). However, I have since found that librarianship has brought happiness and a fulfillment to my life that is only rivaled by being a dad (although libraries are still distant second to that).

5. I am a certified ballet Dad. When my daughter was younger, she was very interested in ballet and I did everything I could to support it. I swallowed my pride and asked for scholarships, I moved my own school/work schedule around hers, and I learned more than I thought I’d ever know about an art form previously bewildering to me. On the day before her first recital, she accidentally tore off some of the sequins from the bottom of her tutu. Although I can’t sew for the life of me, I sat in a restaurant that day, sewing up a child’s lavender tutu and did a pretty damn good job of it. I consider this one of my greatest accomplishments.

6. I got my first computer at age 12, it was one of those old TRS-80s with 4k RAM that you had to program in BASIC, and run off of a cassette drive. Later, I took it apart and upgraded it to a whopping 16K RAM.

7. For years I was part of the “Elite” BBS hacker scene. I ran a series of BBS boards, founded and ran a network of BBSes that spanned 7 countries. However, I was never a “black hat” type hacker, I was only ever interested in learning what cool things I could do with a computer or network– I’ve never caused any harm. This was WAY before the Internet.

8. However, once I heard of the Internet, like every good little hacker, I promptly managed to “borrow” an unused Washington University student’s account to gain access. This was before you could purchase an account. As soon as I could purchase Internet access, I did so, mostly because I had drifted away from the hacking and BBS scene by then anyway.

9. Like most computer geeks, my diet growing up was terrible. I could probably eat pizza three times a day. Sadly, although I struggle with this, my diet still has not improved as much as I’d like it to.

10. I have memorized the lyrics to probably hundreds of songs. I seem to have a knack for it. People used to joke that I could pull out a song for any occasion. I know the lyrics because when I’m alone in my car, or with my daughter, I sing constantly. However, I *highly* doubt you’ll ever hear me singing in public. Last year at Internet Librarian, I was positively mortified at the thought of doing karaoke. Well… until I saw Stephen Abram’s video.

11. If I had my way, all schools, offices, government buildings, etc. would start their business day at 10am, not at 8. Starting the day at 8am is just uncivilized.

12. I am addicted to coffee. And no, I don’t see it as a problem. I have done the research and as far as I can tell the one Mocha I have to start each day is having very little negative effect on my health. I keep it pretty strictly at one Mocha a day. If you see me drinking a latte in the afternoon or evening, look out– I’m getting ready to party!

13. I am gaming librarian partially because I feel it is a professional obligation. In truth, while I enjoy games, I really don’t feel like I have enough time to be gaming a lot. However, I do enjoy Civilization IV to the point where I have to watch myself from being sucked in for 2 days straight.

14. I love technology, but I don’t think it’s nearly as important as being nice to each other, having clean air, providing affordable health care, etc. Perspective, people, perspective!

15. I grew up in an extremely backwards Pentecostal church that not only believed that the world was going to end in 1989 (it didn’t) but hated homosexuals, people of color, etc. To this day, I am pretty suspicious of religions.

16. Because I didn’t fit into my surroundings as a child, I spent hours and hours and hours in the library. Eventually my reading habits caused me to be kicked out of the house. I left home at age 17 and slept under the bleachers of my high school football stadium. I went to school every day and work every night because I knew education was my future. I graduated from high school with honors.

17. Although I’m an old school punk rocker from the 80s, somehow I ended up going to about 8 or 9 Grateful Dead shows before Jerry died, and I’ve been to more Phish shows than I can count. I don’t like to just be stuck in one box—musically, or otherwise.

18. I spent about 10 years of my life essentially “homeless”. During this time I was neither destitute and most of the time I was not miserable. I was exploring the possibilities of alternative lifestyles and gathering material for writing. I’ve slept in abandoned buildings, tents, caves, in trees, vacant lots, you name it. I met an amazing array of people and traveled almost all of the country during this time. I took temporary jobs in whatever town I landed in– often day labor positions– and learned about a side of America few understand.

19. Despite my amount of traveling, I have never been to “the South” other than (grudgingly) Texas and Florida.

20. I grew up during the height of the great 80s punk rock scene. I saw Black Flag, Naked Raygun, Big Black, the Circle Jerks, MDC, Operation Ivy, and a slew of other bands in tiny little clubs. I used to party with the Smashing Pumpkins when they were nobody. Still to this day I can’t resist getting into the mosh pit when a good band comes around– I just do it wearing a black suit instead of a spiked leather jacket.

21. I rode a skateboard daily from age 9 until age 25. I used to be pretty good– just on the edge of competition quality until the 90s broke open a whole new class of tricks. A couple of years ago, I pretty much gave it up. It hurts a lot when I hit the concrete now and between that and my bad knees and ankle it’s just not as much fun anymore.

22. To make up for my loss of skateboarding, when I moved to Colorado about 9 years ago I took a job at the local ski resort for the first winter before I went back to a “real” job. I learned to snowboard and in one season progressed from a total novice to a back-country junkie. I still love it, although I’ve slowed down a bit and stick mostly to ski resorts and the blue and black runs.

23. When I was 18, my Grandma (who was not a part of our crazy church and did her best to expose me to other things) took me to what is now the former Yugoslavia for my high school graduation present. Her parents had come to the U.S. in the early 1900s from there and spoke Serbo-Croatian in the home. We both wanted to see the place our family came from. It was lovely, and the people were kind. But when I spoke to the young punks and anarchists over there, they warned me that trouble was brewing. Two years later, the country was torn apart by civil war.

24. One of the most profound experiences of my life was getting off the plane in communist Yugoslavia and realizing that the people, and their way of life, were really no different. To this day, I remain stubbornly unconvinced that capitalism is always “good” and that communism is always “bad”.

25. Although I always expected to be a writer. I found that the truth is…. I hate to write. I feel like my vocabulary is poor and my ideas predictable, and I just hate making myself sit down and slogging it all out. That’s why my blog is lonely and this list took forever. =)

Tag! You’re it!

Yesterday, my LIS school, Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Management, hosted a leadership institute for the students benefiting from their Emporia Diversity Initiative scholarship program. Some of the students in this program are the coolest cats I know, including my friend Paul Mascaranes from Adams State College and the well-known Max Macias up in Portland.

For those who are unfamiliar with the EDI program, it’s an IMLS funded program that pairs students with a mentor, provides money for their MLS, and provides for further professional development throughout the program and beyond (such as this weekend’s leadership institute).

So, what was I doing there? Aren’t I one of the OVER-represented populations? Yes… it’s true. SLIM was kind enough to open up the institute to all Colorado students since it was being held here, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Speakers included my own Dean of Libraries, James Williams; Dr. Mark Winston of the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers; and a panel of local library folks.

One of my favorite talks of the day was from a school librarian, Janet Damon. She was one of the most forward-thinking professionals I’d heard speak at any library event I’ve been to. She stressed the need for the profession to adopt ways of handling decisions in a much more responsive way or we will lose Millennials (not only in recruiting them to the workplace but as users of our services). She talked about applying techniques from software development, including RAD, to speed library’s response to changing user needs and expectations.

However, I don’t want to neglect the topics of the day– leadership and diversity. Dr. Winston stated clearly some of the problems with both of these subjects, and offered up real solutions for handling them.

Leadership– there are hundreds of definitions of leadership. He pointed out that this means that while many people aren’t clear on what it means, they are talking about it. It’s important. One of the best things he mentioned was the need for leaders to have PATIENCE. This is something I needed to hear. I have been learning patience since entering the library world, and the confirmation from someone who has been very successful was nice to hear. As he described it, (I’m paraphrasing) “you’ve already made the change– you’re past the scary part. But your ideas, your presence, represents a threat to the structures that people have built for their comfort. We have to have patience to allow for that.”

He also stressed that leaders lead– in any conditions, from whatever their position, and how those of us who are young or low on the organization chart can affect change through building spheres of influence, support networks, becoming experts, doing the research, and most of all– having patience.

He also described what we can do about diversity and why it is important. He first discussed the usual arguments such as “the demographics are changing” or “we must address past or current inequities”. He explained that these are emotional appeals that produce resistance, and are therefore ineffective. As someone who has put together a panel on Affirmative Action– I can attest to this. When the conversation centers around arguments like this, it just produces entrenchment and defensiveness that can also turn ugly far too quickly.

The real argument to make for diversity is that it increases the effectiveness of your organization. It makes you smarter, wiser, more efficient. That’s an argument that can be backed up with data. That’s why commercial entities encourage diversity– it helps their bottom line. That’s not to say that one can’t feel that it’s important for reasons of fairness and representation, it’s just not the basis of an effective argument for support.

So, what can we do to support diversity in our organizations?

1. First– listen. Ask people about themselves, their experience, their background, what’s important to them. This helps anyone realize that you actually have a real interest in them.

2. Don’t just listen–act. If a person from an under-represented group (or anyone new, of course) has joined your organization and has new ideas, new perspectives, new questions, new requests–then actually do something about it. For example, when I learn that one of my students has an interest in a particular subject, I will invite them to develop an exhibit on that subject. That’s a small example, but it can be applied more substantially throughout the organization.

I remember once being asked for some of the basic pages to be available in Spanish on our website because many of our students are international students and learning English while starting an academic career. This idea was rejected because “learning English is considered an important part of becoming an academic researcher.” Whether you agree with this or not, why maintain an additional hurdle for some students instead of providing tools to make that transition easier? The students who took the time to share their needs with our organization were happy that we cared enough to listen, but left more frustrated because they felt it was an empty gesture.

3. Recognize that when someone from an underrepresented group becomes part of your organization they are likely to be asked to handle a “hidden workload”. Everyone wants to be “inclusive” and so they will invite the one African-American on staff to join every committee. This is not fair. If you’re in a position to be a supervisor or manager, check in with the diverse members of your staff. Ask them if they really want the opportunities given (and the responsibility that comes with it). Make sure that in the quest to mean well, you don’t unfairly pile work on. Don’t necessarily put all the responsibility on them to have to say no.

4. Be available. Another part of being “the only one” means that they probably end up having some stupid things said to them. In fact, inadvertently I am probably saying some stupid things in this post. That’s the point, no matter how well-meaning people are, you can’t truly understand someone else’s experience or perspective, and this is that much more difficult when you add cultural differences. Sometimes people will say or do things that are hurtful, offensive, patronizing, whatever. Try to be the kind of person that your friend can come and talk to about this. Be willing to hear it when you’re guilty as well.

I can’t pretend to have any authority on this subject, but I’m glad to have attended this institute and to have had the chance to meet Dr. Winston and hear him speak. I’m also willing to step up inside and outside of my organization to try and do something about it. I hope more of us will, too.

If any of my 17 readers (you know who you are) see this and know of ways to contribute to the diversity of our profession or know of other resources, please leave a comment!

Some opportunities within the profession are:

ARL Diversity Initiatives

Spectrum Scholarships from ALA

Emporia Diversity Initiative

LEADers II Library School Scholarship Program (scholarship administered through Denver Public Library)

Diversity Web sources in higher education: Looking at our rich heritage (From: C&RL News, September 2000)