Resources:
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ALA welcomes Prison Libraries Act of 2023: The American Library Association praised the Prison Libraries Act, introduced today by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO-5th), along with co-leads Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18th) and Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH-11th), and 25 cosponsors. The bill would establish a grant program within the Department of Justice to provide library services to incarcerated individuals to advance reintegration efforts, reduce recidivism and increase educational opportunities.
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Honor Native Land Virtual Acknowledgement Pack: The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture has developed a set of digital tools, encouraging folks to find creative ways to weave in acknowledgment as they host events and staff meetings in the digital space. Included is a series of virtual backgrounds for online meetings, social media images, and their #HonorNativeLand poster series, and more.
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Learn about trauma-informed approaches in this month’s issue of Public Libraries: This month’s issue focuses on trauma-informed approaches as a way to promote safety, empowerment, and healing to patrons. See the attachment for 46 pages full of impactful and thought-provoking articles!
Continuing Education:
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ALA free-for-members webinar: Prepared for Pride Month: A Conversation, June 6, 2023, 4:30 pm In this conversation, panelists will share their expertise and provide attendees with best practices and practical strategies to advocate for and support LGBTQ+ content and programming during Pride Month and beyond.
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Rainbow Round Table Golden Anniversary Retrospective Thursday, June 8, 1 p.m. Panelists will participate in a moderated discussion about the origins of the Rainbow Round Table, its evolution over the years, and its role in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in libraries. They will also highlight some of the most helpful resources that the round table has developed, including booklists and programming ideas, and touch on some of the great queer books of the last 50 years. This webinar is a must-attend for anyone interested in the history of LGBTQIA+ advocacy in libraries and the ongoing efforts to create safe, including spaces for all patrons and staff.
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Nonprofit Learning Lab Webinar: Producing Accessible Digital Content for Your Nonprofit, Monday, June 12, 11 a.m. This presentation will provide guidelines for ensuring that information can be used by everyone, regardless of ability. The presenters will demonstrate what end users experience when interacting with accessible and inaccessible content and will highlight tips and tricks for producing content that anyone can access and use.
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Incorporating Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workplace: A Conversation ALA E-Forum, Tuesday, 6/13/2023 – Wednesday, 6/14/2023, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. There’s been a lot of difficult and performative discussions regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion in the library profession. In your institutions, have you or your colleagues intentionally applied equity, diversity, and inclusion values in practice and in behavior? What does it look like? What has worked or not worked? During this e-forum session, facilitators will prompt a series of questions to explore opportunities to foster EDI values in the workplace.
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Becoming an Active Ally June 16, 2023, 10am-3pm, L.E. Phillips Memorial Library in Eau Claire Mileage assistance is available! The training will begin with a general discussion of allyship practices within organizations and wider communities. Next moving into a specific focus of allyship practices that are supportive of BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ people. Finally, this training will highlight the role of allyship in racial and LGBTQIA2S+ justice movements. This training will give participants of all identities opportunities to reflect and learn how to enact allyship to create change personally and professionally. This is an engaging and interactive training that will incorporate contextualized examples that allow participants to see themselves professionally and personally in the materials. Participants will leave with tips and tools to more fully understand and enact allyship.
Consumables:
Diverse Holidays in June:
June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month: established to recognize the impact that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had on the world. LGBT groups celebrate this special time with pride parades, picnics, parties, memorials for those lost to hate crimes and HIV/AIDS, and other group gatherings. The last Sunday in June is Gay Pride Day.
June is Immigrant Heritage Month: established in June 2014, gives people across the United States an opportunity to annually explore their own heritage and celebrate the shared diversity that forms the unique story of America. It celebrates immigrants across the United States and their contributions to their local communities and economy.
June is Black Music Appreciation Month: On June 7, 1979, President Jimmy Carter decreed June to be Black Music Month. Since 1979, the United States has set aside the month of June to appreciate the musical contributions of its African-American musicians, composers, singers, and songwriters.
June is National PTSD Awareness Month: established by the US Senate in 2014, is designed to help raise awareness about the many different PTSD treatment options available and how you can make a difference in the lives of veterans and others who have experienced trauma. It is believed that as many as 8 percent of Americans are suffering from PTSD at any given time.
Caribbean American Heritage Month: The month is an opportunity to celebrate the heritage, history, and cultural diversity and a time to explore the traditions Caribbean-Americans carry with them. In 2006, President George W. Bush declared June as National Caribbean-American Heritage Month to recognize the significant contributions Caribbean-Americans to the United States throughout history.
June 2: Native American Citizenship Day. It was on this day in 1924 that the Indian Citizenship Act by Congress granted citizenship to all American Indians born in the U.S. The day celebrates the history, heritage, and culture of American Indian tribes across the country.
June 8: Corpus Christi or The Feast of Corpus Christi is a Christian festival that is celebrated annually. Christians gather together to honor the sacred body of Jesus Christ. The day is also known as Corpus Domini, which literally translates to ‘body and blood of Christ. Corpus Christi is celebrated uniquely in different cultures of the world. The most common way of celebrating the day is by consuming bread and wine — the symbols of the body and blood of Christ.
June 11: Race Unity Day. Also known as Race Amity Day, is observed on the second Sunday in June. The day was started by the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly in the United States in 1957, but it was known as Race Amity Day until 1965. The goal is to raise awareness of the importance of racial harmony and understanding.
June 12: Loving Day. An annual celebration that commemorates the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down the remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States.
June 14: Flag Day in the United States, observed to celebrate the history and symbolism of the American flag.
June 18: Autistic Pride Day was first celebrated in 2005 by the organization Aspies For Freedom (AFF) so that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could have one day where they could celebrate their neurodiversity and differences.
June 19: Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. This celebration honors the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas and Louisiana finally heard they were free, two months after the end of the Civil War. June 19, therefore, became the day of emancipation for thousands of African-Americans.
June 20: World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.
June 20: Ratha Yatra, is an annual Hindu chariot festival celebrated on the bright half of the lunar month of Ashadh.
June 21: National Indigenous Peoples Day or First Nations Day, a day that gives recognition to the indigenous populations affected by colonization in Canada.
June 21: Litha, or Midsummer is the summer solstice celebrated by the Wiccans and Pagans. It is the longest day of the year, representing the sun’s “annual retreat.”
June 22: Dragon Boat Festival, commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet and minister known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry.
June 27: National PTSD Awareness Day. The United States Senate established PTSD Awareness Day in 2010 following then Sen. Kent Conrad’s efforts to designate a day of awareness as a tribute to Army Staff Sgt. Joe Biel of the North Dakota National Guard. Biel suffered from PTSD and took his life in April 2007 after returning to North Dakota following his second tour of duty in the Iraq War. Biel’s birthday, June 27th, was chosen to mark PTSD Awareness Day and honor his memory.
Last Sunday in June: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride Day in the United States. It honors the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969.
June 29: Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice, The Feast of Sacrifice dates from the historic event when Prophet Abraham was commanded by God, in a form of a dream vision, to sacrifice his son, Ishmail. But while he was in the act of sacrificing his son, God sent the Angel Gabriel with a huge ram. Part of their meat is consumed by the family which offers the animal, while the rest of the meat is distributed to the poor and the needy.