where i've been (updated)

I was planning on spending the final few weeks of my summer reading, and blogging the remainder of my notes from Marxism 2012. That all changed when the Rivera family was ordered to leave Canada by September 20.

While Kim and lawyer Alyssa Manning pursue all avenues to challenge this injustice in court, the War Resisters Support Campaign is trying to make visible the widespread support for Kim, and for allowing all US war resisters to remain in Canada. If you're in Canada, check this page for local actions you can participate in - or call a friend and organize your own.

Today begins the final year of my Master of Information degree. This year I'm taking all electives, and actually not dreading the start of school. Not-dread is the most I can muster, but that's a big improvement. This term I have "Children's Cultural Texts"* - "texts" being current academia-speak for all messaging (books, movies, games, advertising, and so on) - and "Public Library Advocacy," which is about advocating for the public library with government and in the community. Next term is Issues in Children's and Youth Services, and Graphic Novels and Comic Books in the Library.

I am also the new chair of the Children's and Youth Advocacy group at the iSchool, a student association for people interested in children's library services. I agreed to chair with extreme trepidation, as I don't exactly have spare time on my hands. I've belonged to this group for three years without being able to attend a single event! But no one else had stepped up to chair in 2012-13, and I do want the group to exist. It's a good resume hit, and I'll need everything I can to compete for a librarian job once I have my degree. I'm setting very modest goals for the group, trying to get someone to co-chair, and keeping my fingers crossed.

That's an extremely partial update of what I've been up to. Watch this space for big news, coming soon. Either that or utter dejection.

* Update. The class is actually called Children's Cultural Texts and Artifacts. It's best described as children's cultural studies and media analysis. Among the long list of what's meant by cultural artifacts: toys, dolls, candy, fairy tales, public television, advertising, food packaging, characters, series books, movies, collectibles, characters, video games... and more. It seems super interesting.