Oddbean new post about login | logout I am at the library. It is Banned Books Week. We have two major displays. Let's contrast/compare. 1. Downstairs (kids) has covers of books, you can look inside to see why they were banned/challenged. Interactive. Encourages curiosity. 2. Upstairs (adult) creates a barrier, has you read about banned books week. You have to go around to get at the books I am often a crank about this stuff but I'm not sure creating an accessibility challenge is the way to teach people about this. But maybe it is? https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/111/184/081/718/853/403/original/ab658ec14c8aa464.jpeg https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/111/184/081/791/050/677/original/b060c148cbb9d9d9.jpeg
Only one student so far, someone with a new -to-her smartphone. She'd never had a smart phone before. Has no Apple ID, has to email address. "I had one once on my tablet but I could never figure it out" CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. We talk for 40 min or so. She's not great at tapping (who ever is at first?) and so we practice that but also had she heard the good news about speech to text, she had not! Did a few other simple things: take a picture, remove all the stupid apps she will never use... https://cdn.masto.host/glammrus/media_attachments/files/111/184/139/423/233/403/original/863f4c1b2fae572a.jpeg
@8b189dd1 Maybe recommend she look into getting a rubber-tipped stylus. I've found that's been really helpful to people that struggle some with precise tapping.
@8b189dd1 It looks like the accessibility issue may cause some books to be unreachable for some patrons, but the idea of making books look or feel a tiny bit inaccessible is SUCH a good take. In that sense, the accessibility barrier becomes REAL, perhaps even for the first time to some patrons. I’d only hope that wherever this is located is in direct view of a librarian or library aide who can jump in to help any patron who requires assistance because it’s otherwise perfect.
@038b7317 Definitely in view. I'm appreciating people's takes because it makes me all aggro but I am cranky.
@8b189dd1 Certainly. In my home state of Oklahoma book bans are not uncommon but also easily circumvented if the reader belongs to a privileged community. This installation resonates with me because it highlights how book bans impact everyone but they intensify existing societal inequalities. By that token, I appreciate the challenge it poses to able-bodied individuals, but wish it could have done so without reinforcing inequalities against differently-abled folks.
@038b7317 Oh hey Oklahoma is one of the states I've never given a talk in (and I sure would like to, my Dad lived in OKC for a time). I did hear librarians at a national conference once talking about how there wasn't so much OVERT censorship in OK libraries (maybe ten years ago) so much as some staff who would somehow ensure that certain books (usually queer topics, or one set that was purchased about sex toys) just never quite made it on to the shelf.
@8b189dd1 I'm not feeling the accessibility barrier as the way to go. Empty shelves might go better, especially with copies of the laws that have banned those shelves in other states (or the current one) feels like it could produce the same effect without requiring someone to navigate a physical barrier like that. I like the kids display, but I want to put in actual statements of why, rather than the categorization that happens when they're summarized. Real, vicious (or unintelligent) words.
