aspiring-weird-old-man:

Hey, USAmericans? Wanna save your country? Run For Something!

If you don’t run, VOTE. (Vote if you do run, for that matter.) There is a lot at stake locally and in your state, and the ability for one person to make a difference in these elections is very high.

I know it feels like we just did this, but voting is like doing the dishes or laundry – you have to keep at it. Unlike housework, you don’t want to designate one person in your community to handle the chore for everyone else. (Let’s be honest, they would probably fold your shirts wrong, too.)

(via awfulhorrid)

labelleizzy:

themythicalcodfish:

public reminder in this election year that your spouse/SO/parent/partner cannot tell you whom you may or may not vote for

it is illegal for them or your employer to force you to disclose your voting record

it is illegal for them or anyone else to follow you into the voting booth or to view your ballot

it is illegal for them to obstruct your free and open access to your polling place

and if anyone tries to do any of these to you it is your responsibility as a citizen to raise ungodly unholy hell in response

CLARIFICATION: If, however, you will put yourself in any danger by raising ungodly unholy hell, or if that kind of confrontation is not something you want to do for ANY REASON?

Lie.

Just lie to them. Laugh and say, of course I’m voting for who you’re voting for, don’t be silly!

If they demand proof and you’re not able to or comfortable with push back, or if you feel threatened or in danger for NOT providing proof? Hm. Some states/counties will allow a “ballot selfie” (my county does, but not all counties in my state). Check the laws where you are registered, because taking a photo with or of your ballot is illegal in some jurisdictions.

Then after you “provide proof”, you go back to the pollworker, say, “I’m sorry, I made a mistake on my ballot 🗳️, may I have another one?” You surrender that ballot you marked. The pollworker should get you a fresh ballot 🗳️ and you mark THAT ballot 🗳️ how YOU want to vote.

(and after voting I recommend picking a better quality of boss or partner or friends, if that is even remotely possible)

Signed, your Internet auntie, a five-election pollworker.

Even if you mailed in your ballot, contact your city clerk or talk with a poll worker. You may be able to get a replacement for the ballot where you made a mistake.

Stay safe this election!!

(via ladypoetess)

ladythmpr:

Is your library unknowingly buying AI written and/or narrated books?

OK, I know it sounds like clickbait. But smartbitchestrashybooks.com makes a pretty compelling case in their recent article,

AI Audiobook Narrators in OverDrive and the Issue of Library AI Circulation Policy

It’s a long article, but worth the read. I wonder if it started before or after KKR bought Overdrive.

Any thoughts, @bibliofran ?

Well, that’s massively creepy! My library (and our OverDrive consortium) don’t have any eAudiobooks with “synthesized voice” narrators. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t have AI narrators that aren’t identified that way. We do have books by Blake Pierce, Molly Black, Fiona Grace, Rylie Dark, and some of the other authors listed in the article though.

Our Collection Development Policy doesn’t specifically mention AI; we’ll have to keep that in mind for the next review. I would recommend against purchasing AI-generated materials based on our criteria of artistic and literary quality, and reputation of the author, artist, or publisher. (Not to mention the damage that it does to the literary industry and the people in it!) However, that depends on us knowing that something is AI-generated. We don’t have the time to do a deep dive into every author and narrator like Robin Bradford and SB Sarah did for this article.

Personally, I’m disgusted by AI-generated material being used in place of human-created works. Machine “learning” should be taking over repetitive, boring, and/or dangerous work to give humans more time for creativity! Using AI for creative work and leaving people to do more drudgery, is sickening. The fact that most of the bases that AIs are using come from people who are neither credited nor compensated for their work just makes it worse.

(This is my personal opinion and not the opinion of my employer.)

stevelieber:

From @stopproject2025comic, here’s one about what Project 2025 means for libraries. Full alt text at the site.

Seriously, this thing is terrifying if you like having, well, rights. Please protect the US from Project 2025 and vote Republicans out of office!

(via scifigrl47)

your-catfish-friend:

mariacallous:

ALT

ALT

The presidential election is incredibly important but please please vote in state elections too. These are the people who pass laws that you will immediately see the impact of. Literally ONE seat in ONE legislative body can have impact for years to come.

This is why it is important to vote your entire ballot in every election! Your state governor and legislature make a big difference in your life. Even your town’s mayor and city council (or local equivalent), your school board and library board, your local and state referendums – they all matter.

I get that sometimes it feels like you aren’t making an impact. My district has elected some truly appalling people. However, the more local the election, the more difference a single vote makes, and even in a presidential election, a small number of votes can make a big difference.

(via neolithicsheep)

neolithicsheep:

spale-vosver:

“Don’t vote to teach the Democrats a lesson!” Great thanks my Jewish disabled queer ass will just die then

This right here. Like ok yes I am an anarchist but what that tells you is a lot about how I would like things to be organized ideally. Unfortunately we don’t live in that world.

Meanwhile here in the real world I had to pick up move 2600 miles with 21 sheep and goats, 3 cats, and a dog because the North Carolina GOP pulled off some Manchurian Candidate shit and nowhere in the south was safe for my transgender ass. I left everyone and everything I knew. I left all my family, living and dead.

And now people are like “Biden needs to earn my vote” and sure I get it but also if Trump gets reelected the entire country is going to become the worst southern state in terms of civil rights for anyone who is not a white, abled, cis het dude and I am so tired.

Also, Vote Your Whole Ballot in every election! The president has a huge impact on the country, but so does Congress. Your senators and representatives can support or block a president and influence the long-term effects of the president’s actions. And as @neolithicsheep shows, your governor and state legislature can make a big difference on your life.

Your city’s mayor, council, and other administrators have a narrower impact, but it can literally hit you where you live. Even school and library boards affect what children in your community are taught and whether books are banned. They are either elected or appointed by the mayor and/or city council.

Learn the dog whistles that hide people’s agendas. Look at who is sharing advertising space. Check out the groups that support different candidates. And vote like your life depends on it, because it does for many of us.

ladythmpr:

magess:

I wonder…

The media cannot get over the Biden Old thing, and of course the more they talk about it, the worse that is for everyone.

There are Dems in power that are calling for Harris to be the nominee.

What if…

Biden and Harris gave a simultaneous speech. Like they’re both on stage. They both have their own lines throughout the speech, trading off to make different points. I wonder if you could remind everyone that Kamala Harris is already on the ticket.

If Biden really is too old and really can’t do the job, surprise! That’s what we have a VP for! He can step aside when that time comes and Kamala can take over, a process that we already have rules in place for. (And hey, Black female president, everyone!)

And you drive that point home by having them tag team a speech, which I’m pretty sure has never been done before, and acting like a team. Like a well-oiled speechifying machine. Maybe people would feel better if they weren’t thinking that it’s just one old man, alone?

THIS!

Agreed – this is a very good time to remind voters that US presidents come with a built-in backup.

podddcasttt:

Friendly reminder that if you talk about how representation is important and how there’s not enough diverse media, I implore you to seek out the media that already exists. And if you live in an area with a public library, go to see if they’re available at your public library. And then go check them out.

As a librarian, it is demoralizing to see how low the circulation statistics are on lgbt+ books and books by BIPOC authors. I include them in displays and readers advisory, but people still don’t check them out as much. Libraries only have a finite amount of resources, including space. We don’t get a book then keep it forever. If not enough people check it out, we have to get rid of it to make room for more books. And when James Patterson Book #69 gets checked out 30 times in one year and cool, subversive Sci fi novel with a Black trans woman main character has never been checked out once, the librarian (me) has to make a hard decision.

If you’re looking for something tangible and easy to do this pride month, look for lgbt+ books (there are millions of lists online that you can find. It’s easier than it’s ever been to find diverse books) and check them out from your library.

No time to read? Look for a short story or poetry anthology and just read as much as you have time for. Or just check out a book cus it looks interesting and read as much as you can. We have movies too.

As cool as it would be for me to just keep the books I want and get rid of the ones I don’t, I have to listen to the community on matters of collection development. And the community tells me what books they want by checking them out and leaving the ones they don’t want on the shelf.

If you think this doesn’t apply to you because you live in a progressive area and obviously the books are being checked out, you’re wrong. I once worked in a community with a large lgbt population. Those books were not getting checked out. If you want to tell me you live in a conservative area and your library doesn’t have any diverse books, you are legally obligated to check the catalog before replying to this post. I currently work in a conservative community and we have lgbt+ and bipoc books. And if you still cannot find any, you are legally obligated to see if your library has a collection request form that patrons can fill out before replying to this post.

If your library doesn’t have the diverse books you want and you’re comfortable talking with (usually very friendly and helpful) people, you can also talk with someone on staff. In addition to the purchase recommendation form, they may have an agreement with other libraries to borrow the books from them for you. This helps two libraries! Your local library learns that more people want diverse books, so they are more likely to buy them in the future. The other library gets check-outs, so they know people are reading their diverse books.

If you don’t have time to read, look for diverse audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs! If it’s hard for you to get to the library, look at their website or call/email them. They may have pickup lockers in different areas of town or even a delivery service. They probably have eBooks, eAudiobooks, and/or streaming music and movies that you can check out from home.

(via scifigrl47)

grumpy-cardigan:

nonimaginaryfriend:

heedra:

unsung benefit i think a lot of ppl are sleeping on with using the public library is that i think its a great replacement for the dopamine hit some ppl get from online shopping. it kind of fills that niche of reserving something that you then get to anticipate the arrival of and enjoy when it arrives, but without like, the waste and the money.

bonus it ALSO fills that dopamine hit of in-person shopping. “oh I didn’t go in looking for this but hmm, I’m tempted… I can’t resist… oh ho ho I have made some irresponsible decisions at the library today [carrying my stack of ten random books]” and then it doesn’t even matter if you don’t like them because a) free b) you’re gonna give them back anyway

Librarian here! Please please please please PLEASE do this! We don’t have any way to know if you read them, and we don’t care! We’re happy to see those books go out because that helps our stats. And that affects how much money we can get.

So grab that silly paperback romance, and maybe this new YA fantasy, oh and check for the new movies too! And don’t forget to check Libby and hoopla for music and ebooks and e-audio.

Another librarian who would love to see more people doing this! We have displays of shiny new books and movies, as well as some on various topics to tempt you. However, you can also go into the stacks and search for forgotten treasures! You could find books about salt or pockets or seahorses or doorways to other worlds or forbidden romance.

You can also try that book or movie or music CD that everyone is recommending but you don’t think you’ll enjoy! If you don’t like it, bring it back and check out something else guilt-free – it didn’t cost anything, and it won’t keep taking up space on your shelves.

litsy-kalyptica:

ALT

(via scifigrl47)