Libraries and Librarians As Sponsors of Literacy

librarians and libraries as sponsors of literacy
buffy j. hamiltonalabama library association preconference april 2010
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sponsors of literacy
transliteracy
participatory librarianship

let’s think about literacy for a moment via two text polls
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how do you define literacy?
Don’t forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll.

how did you acquire literacy?
Don’t forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll.

“literacy is the energy supply of the information age.”
deborah brandt

a sponsor of literacy includes any agent who enables, supports, teaches, and models, as well as recruits, regulates, suppresses, or withholds literacy—and gains advantage by it in some way

sponsors of literacy are delivery systems for the economies of literacy

Brandt views literacy as a “valuable—and volatile property” that can potentially help individuals gain “…power or pleasure, [accrue] information, civil rights, education, spirituality, status, [and] money.”

an examination of a person’s literacy sponsors, “… exposes the deeply textured history that lies within the literacy practices of institutions and within any individuals’ literacy experiences. Accumulated layers of sponsoring influences---in families, workplaces, schools, memory----carry forms of literacy that have been shaped out of ideological and economic struggles of the past.”
deborah brandt
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all literacy sponsors, past, present, and future, shape
a person’s literacy learning,
literacy development, and
literacy
opportunities

churches

schools

celebrity
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retailers

book clubs
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family
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technology

reading incentive programs/software

testing and assessment

libraries

“the more that the school organizes literacy teaching and learning to serve the needs of the economic system, the more it betrays its democratic possibilities” deborah brandt

“this means that our democratic institutions (schools and libraries particularly) have to
work hard and thoughtfully to
mitigatethese forces.”
Deborah Brandt

knight foundation recommendation 6: integrate digital and media literacy as critical elements for education at all levels through collaboration among federal, state, and local education officials

knight foundation recommendation 7: fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults

“we have to make sure schools and libraries invite critical and active uses of media that strengthen our democratic potential.” Deborah Brandt

“as new and powerful forms of literacy emerge, they diminish the reach and possibilities of receding ones”deborah brandt

the idea that literacy is only about print materials is slowly disappearing

helping patrons and stakeholders understand the expanding definition of literacy is a muddy but playful endeavor
cc licensed flickr photo by harold.lloyd (won't somebody think of the bokeh?): http://flickr.com/photos/safetylast/4068790874/

we're on the cusp of profound changes in what counts as a “text” and literacy

transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks
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as sponsors of transliteracy, libraries can close the participation gap

how can libraries function as sponsors of transliteracy?
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how do we disrupt limited perceptions of literacy and open up conversations about the possibilities of transliteracy?
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how do we position literacy as a means for equity and democracy rather than a commodity shaped by extrinsic motivation?

how do we invite and facilitate conversations about transliteracy with our patrons?

a participatory climate is conducive to a library program acting as a powerful and positive sponsor of transliteracy

participatory librarianship is about inviting and creating spaces for …
cc licensed flickr photo by Suttonhoo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/suttonhoo22/2512983749/

inviting and engaging participation
cc licensed flickr photo by domesticat: http://flickr.com/photos/domesticat/2538309841/

sparking conversations
cc licensed flickr photo by Laenulfean: http://flickr.com/photos/laenulfean/2913482048/

knowledge construction and creation
cc licensed flickr photo by Ian Muttoo: http://flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/2631466945/

libraries are in the change business

what does transliteracy look like in a library?

privilege and support multiple containers and pathways to information
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ebooks and mobile readers

mobile computing

ereaders
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research pathfinders that reflect the changing nature of social scholarship with tools such as rss, social networks, videos, mashups, and other information feeds

teach students multiple and dynamic ways of connecting with real world experts to help answer their questions

blogging

teach students collaborative tools for creating and sharing knowledge

web authoring skills

Teach students social bookmarking tools for tagging and organizing favorite web resources as well as a research tool in one’s personal learning network
Image Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dav/104349246/sizes/l/

evernote

scaffold alternate ways of representing learning and knowledge

glogster

scanning, posting, and licensing artwork

multigenre elements

presentation zen and digital citizenship

teach students how to harness the power of cloud computing and social media tools to create personal learning environments and information dashboards

student created netvibes portal
http://www.netvibes.com/samonte94#General

http://www.netvibes.com/alex7586#Home

http://www.netvibes.com/euralayus#Home_Page

help support patrons’ real world “right here, right now” needs

darien library 21 things for the 21st century parent

charlotte mecklenburg library - job help center at main library

rethinking what “collection” means
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gaming
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manga and anime

graphic novels

virtual reference

digital equipment
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our information portals and digital information streams

the possibilities are challenging but exciting
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re-envision
literacy from
alternate
and
multiple
perspectives
cc licensed photo
by http://www.flickr.com/photos/laprimadonna/3559930813/sizes/m//

libraries’ efforts as sponsors of transliteracy can create ripple effects in the lives of our patrons

works cited
Brandt, Deborah. “In Their Own Words: Students Provide a Video Tour of Their Netvibes Learning
Portals .” Interview by Buffy Hamilton. The Unquiet Librarian. N.p., 25 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr.
2010. <http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/‌2010/‌03/‌25/‌sponsors-of-literacy-in-
contemporary-culture-an-e-interview-with-dr-deborah-brandt/>.
Brandt, D. (2001). Literacy in American Lives. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hamilton, Buffy. “In Their Own Words: Students Provide a Video Tour of Their Netvibes Learning
Portals .” The Unquiet Librarian. N.p., 26 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010.
<http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/‌2010/‌03/‌26/‌in-their-own-words-students-provide-
a-video-tour-of-their-netvibes-learning-portals/>.
The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy.
“Recommendation 7.” The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a
Democracy. Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 8 Apr.
2010. <http://www.knightcomm.org/‌recommendation7/>.
- -. “Recommendation 6.” The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a
Democracy. Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 8 Apr.
2010. <http://www.knightcomm.org/‌recommendation6/>.
Lankes, R. David. “Introduction.” The Participatory Librarianship Starter Kit. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr.
2010. <http://ptbed.org/‌intro.php>.

suggested readings
Knight Foundation Recommendation 6
Knight Foundation Recommendation 7
My E-Interview with Dr. Deborah Brandt
Students Discuss Their Netivbes Learning Portals (features student video interviews on YouTube)
A Student Discusses Interacting with an Expert on His Blog (features student video interview on YouTube)
The Unquiet Librarian Blog
Libraries and Transliteracy Blog
The Unquiet Library's Research Pathfinders at LibGuides
The Media 21 Project (please see this resource page 1 as well as resource page 2 )
Supporting Transliteracy with Evernote: Evernote for Every Literacy
The Participatory Librarianship Starter Kit

contact information
buffy.hamilton@gmail.com
http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com
http://theunquietlibrarian.wikispaces.com
https://sites.google.com/site/theunquietlibrary/
http://bit.ly/8YbOC0 (resource page for today’s presentation)

http://blog.rgub.ru	280
http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com	96
http://skerricks.blogspot.com	91
http://librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com	41
http://learni.st	35
http://skerricks.blogspot.com.au	24
http://www.slideshare.net	13
http://msdesladvisory.pbworks.com	9
http://theunquietlibrarian.wikispaces.com	5
http://intranett.bergenbibliotek.no	3
http://buffyjhamilton.wordpress.com	3
http://elenalibrary.blogspot.com	2
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com	1
http://mail.hope-elem.org:8383	1
http://lockerz.com	1
http://skerricks.blogspot.jp	1
http://skerricks.blogspot.com.es	1
http://newtrierlibrary.blogspot.com	1

Libraries and Librarians As Sponsors of Literacy

by Buffy Hamilton

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