My Republican Nightmare

I flipped a coin, I knocked on wood and voted for Romney
While hoping some kind millionaire would trickle down upon me

I bought into the dream that American prosperity
could be well represented by an elite minority

I waved a flag and cheered as troops were shipped out overseas
Along with corporate headquarters and jobs in factories

I knew eventually profits would be returned to me
along with family members sent abroad in the army

But  while I waited hopefully to my despair and dread
A band of golden showers roared down upon my head

College education became a privilege of the rich
To all the rest to student loans the government did hitch

For all the educated no jobs here would pay
enough to settle student loans and keep the wolves at bay

As corporations implemented new efficiencies
To pay fewer people less to work much harder, you see.

Massive debt and joblessness led to abandoned homes
and blighted neighborhoods where intrenchant poverty roams.

I realized this  economy needs a large class of the oppressed
To keep the 1% entertained, well fed, and dressed

Awakened from my nightmare, I hastened to the polls
to take our country back from these parasitic trolls!

--Desiree Goodwin 9/20/12 

Library Mission Statement Rap (with beat box syncopation)

From the boxes we unpack
To the stacks
We got your back

Managing collections that rival the grand pyramid
With knowledge and experience that is solid

Cataloging with precision (Refrain)
Shouldn’t be a tough decision

Updating databases in the blink of an eye
So you find what you’re looking for
On the first try

Should that fail we can recall
Overdue books that should be
Available to all.

Delivering the resources to your hands
Common courtesy is what the public demands

And so it should be at a respectable college
Contributing to the cornucopia of knowledge

Hunger Games and the Harvard Library Transition

I had echoes of deja vu seeing the movie The Hunger games this weekend. The movie was a brutal depiction of the struggle for limited resources imposed on the working class by the ruling class. It reminded me of the labor movement in general, and the Harvard Library Transition in particular.

In a pivotal scene, that had eerie similarities to the infamous January Town Hall Meeting, where layoffs of an unspecified number of library staff were announced, the villagers gather for the lottery selection for the Tributes, a fight to the death in a virtual world controlled by the capitol where there can be only one survivor. Effie, a garishly dressed representative of the capitol tells the populace what an honor it is to be selected to represent their district in the tributes. She, much like the Transition Leaders, seems callously oblivious to the pain she is causing in contrast to the villagers whose dread at the prospect of being selected or losing a family to the annual bloodbath is palpable. A young child, Primrose Everdeen is selected. Katniss Everdeen in a display of extreme altruism steps forward to take her sister's place. Along with her, Peeta, the baker's son who earlier tossed a loaf of bread in her direction is also selected. The lower and middle class, managers and support staff are thrown into the same pot of stew!

Granted, though what's at stake here is a loss of livelihood, not loss of life, the similarities between the Hunger Games and the the Library Transition are startling. Katniss and Peeta travel in grand style by train to the capitol. Their host Effie urges them to enjoy two weeks of living and eating in lavish splendor, much like the transition site's stress alleviating profferings of chair massage and "chair yoga for librarians." They will also undergo mandatory training in martial arts and weight lifting while preparing for the fight to the death, much like the recommended resume and skills assessment workshops in preparation for the announced staff reductions. Kind-hearted, if cynical, mentors Cinna and Haymitch, like our workshop leaders advise the participants on strategy to survive, one piece of advice being, "you must be liked." All of their sage advice could be packaged in a workshop with the same title as our transition workshop: "Charting Your Course Through Turbulent Times." The capitol is ensuring that the ruling class will be entertained by the life and death struggle of the working class. As the participants are paraded in their costumes, and interviewed by a freakish talk show host, a sense of the surreal, rivaled only by the Transition Team's poker strategy night, and the upcoming Oxford style debate on the obsolescence of libraries (followed by gin and tonics), rises within me. The battle in the Hunger Games will be monitored and controlled by the capitol and broadcasted to all 12 districts.

Early alliances are formed, even though there can be only one survivor. Katniss strikes out on her own, avoiding even Peeta from her district and tries to survive without killing anyone. Peeta has joined a group that is seeking to kill her. As the participants are killed off their images appear on the dome of the virtual world along with their district number. Rioting breaks out in the various districts as their representatives and family members die. To appease the populace and distract them from their distress, the capitol changes the rules of the game and announces there can be two survivors, but they must be from the same district. Katniss seeks out Peeta, now that it is in both of their interests to survive. Together they fight off the last participants when the capitol changes the rules again announcing there can be only one survivor.

You will have to see the movie to find out the end of the Hunger Games story! We will have to wait much longer to find out what's really in store for the Harvard Library and its workers.

Historic Research on Three New GSD Houses 40 & 42 Kirkland St., and 20 Sumner Rd.

One of the things that drew me to the city of Boston, and ultimately to my profession as a librarian was my deep love of history and historical architecture. The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University recently purchased three lovely old homes on the corner of Kirkland St. and Sumner Rd. to expand space for their programs. Staff were offered a tour of these new properties while they were under the process of renovation. On the tour our guide, the head of Building Services said they had researched the properties, and they were not able to find the original owners of the properties, but that they had most recently been purchased from a seminary.

I asked our guide why he didn't come to the library. He said they had already consulted the Cambridge Historical Commission and they were unable to find the information. I was intrigued and inspired to do the research myself. I first checked an invaluable resource for information on any Cambridge building or structure:

Hail, Christopher. Cambridge buildings and architects / by Christopher Hail.

Published: Cambridge, Mass. : [C. Hail], 2001.

Online version: http://hul.harvard.edu/huarc/refshelf/cba/

Link to HOLLIS record for the online version of this book

http://hollis.harvard.edu/?itemid=|library/m/aleph|008837681


SUMNER ROAD through street 1838
.....1838 laid out 1717 Cambridge St -- 40 Kirkland St & named
Sumner Street; named for Sumner Wm Hyslop
.....1906 changed to Sumner Road
•20 house 2�-st 1923
.....1923 house permit 24072 20 (o) McClane W D rev (b) Cormier [D T]
.....1930 Bromley atlas

•40 house 2�-st 1887
.....1887 house : foundation permit 853 c sumner (o) Brewster Wm A
(a) Rand & Taylor
.....1888 house tax new w1 kirkland c sumner (o) Brewster Wm A
.....1894 Bromley atlas

•42 house 4-st 1892
.....1892 house flat roof 3-st permit 3375 (o) Brewster Wm A (b)
Crowley John
..........house [mansard] tax cellar w1 (o) Brewster Wm A
.....1894 Bromley atlas
.....1928 •garage permit 30302 42 (o) Cronin Agnes B (b) Priggen
steel garage

Life dates and proximity to Harvard suggest William Brewster is most
likely the ornithologist who worked at Harvard as the curator to birds
and mammals at the Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1885 until his death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_%28ornithologist%29
William Brewster (ornithologist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Brewster (July 5, 1851 – July 11, 1919) was an American
ornithologist.[1] He was the curator of birds at the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard University from 1885 until his
death.[1] He was the co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph
Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883.[2] He wrote
Birds of the Cape Regions of Lower California (1902) and Birds of the
Cambridge Region of Massachusetts (1906).
[edit] References
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
William Brewster

Authors: Henshaw, Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee), 1850-1930.
Title: In memoriam: William Brewster. Born July 5, 1851 - Died
July 11, 1919.
In: Auk. 1920. 37. 1-32. pl. 1-2.

^ a b Emmet, Alan (November–December 2007). "William Brewster,
Brief life of a bird-lover: 1851-1919". Harvard Magazine 110 (2).
^ Orr, Oliver H (1992). Saving American birds: T. Gilbert Pearson
and the founding of the Audubon movement. University Press of Florida.
p. 22. ISBN 9780813011295.


There are several works listed in HOLLIS by and about the owner of the two Kirkland properties, William Brewster. I didn't find any information on W.D. McClane, owner of the Sumner Rd.
property, but it could probably be found in the archives of one of the
local churches.

The Legacy of My Father

My father, Archibald T. Goodwin, is still with us on Earth, by the grace of God. He has passed through many trials, as an African American man, and an amputee from the age of 14, who married 3 white women in succession, and fathered 13 children. He grew up during the Civil Rights era, and during my childhood avoided any talk of racism, though the scars of it on him were plain to see. As an adult I learned to embrace all of my heritage, and felt inspired to help make the world a better place for all people.

University Library Workers Protest Layoffs

By DAN DOU, RADHIKA JAIN, and SAMUEL Y. WEINSTOCK, CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Published: Thursday, January 26, 2012

Since Harvard University Library announced last week that its upcoming reorganization would include downsizing staff, workers have circulated several petitions against the layoffs and picketed on Wednesday outside of a regularly scheduled meeting for library staff members.

Roughly 20 people participated in Wednesday’s protest, which took place during a meeting that was meant to allow library workers to express their concerns, according to a University spokesperson.

“Today’s conversation provided an opportunity to address some misconceptions, and it was made clear that staff members are not being asked to reapply for their jobs,” the spokesperson said in an email, referring to a rumor that circulated among workers last week. “The remainder of the meeting focused on how Library staff can prepare to play a role in the new organization.”

Last Thursday, officials told library staff at three town hall meetings that the library’s planned restructuring may include voluntary and involuntary reductions in staff size. The library board met on Tuesday to consider a formal plan for the reorganization, but, despite requests, the University has not released details on whether any plan was approved. If the library board passed a proposal, it would be reviewed by University President Drew G. Faust in February.

Geoffrey “Geoff” Carens, a library employee and member of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers, said that the timetable for the impending decisions demands a stronger response in addition to the union’s negotiations.

“We may not have a ton of time,” Carens said. “The cuts are supposed to come in July. We want to strike while the iron is hot.”

Aryt Alasti, a security guard who is a member of Service Employees International Union, said the library workers’ union was not doing enough to fight potential layoffs.

While SEIU represents security guards and custodians, HUCTW represents clerical and technical workers, including library staff.

“Unfortunately, the HUCTW leadership does not support such actions as this [protest], historically and philosophically,” Alasti said. “They prefer to, from my standpoint, negotiate until failure, and that’s the end of that.”

Desiree Goodwin, a library assistant at the Frances Loeb Library in Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, has spearheaded the circulation of two petitions: one that urges general support for academic librarians and a second that demands an immediate firm stance by Bill Jaeger, the director of HUCTW, against layoffs. More than 120 people had signed the two petitions as of Wednesday evening.

Occupy Harvard members are currently drafting a third petition, targeting the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.

Goodwin, who has been employed by the University for 16 years, said the news of potential downsizing was “dropped on us like a bombshell.”

Goodwin said that despite regular meetings before the transition plan was announced, neither union leadership nor library supervisors had advance warning of the potential downsizing.

“We were all invited to these discussions as if we were part of the process,” she said. “It’s not that we object to modernization, streamlining procedure. It’s the structure being imposed on us—and the pace.”

The University spokesperson said that Harvard will work with HUCTW, in compliance with the union’s contract. She declined to specify when such a meeting would take place.

In Goodwin’s view, the purpose of the layoffs is “maximizing Harvard’s profit margin.”

“This is not about creating the best library system in the country,” she said.

—Staff writer Dan Dou can be reached at ddou@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Radhika Jain can be reached at radhikajain@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Samuel Y. Weinstock can be reached at sweinstock@college.harvard.edu.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/26/library-layoffs-protests/

“Booker” The story of a laid–off horse, as told, mostly, by himself

Now Big Red and me were young colts together and even though we pull on
different teams, I will always stop by his stall if he has something to say.
"Booker” he snickered (my dad was “Print” and my mother, “Type”), the Masters
are taking us out next week for “The Choice”. ”The Choice?” I asked.
“Well, they are leading us to the little hill where you can see the new glue
factory (my nostrils flared because for weeks the smell of glue had hung over
Harvard Farm). And the Masters will say ‘OK, be a good horse and walk on to
the factory and you will be given a small bag of oats. But if you balk and
don’t walk, we will whip you to the factory anyway and you won’t get any
oats. Now The Choice is yours.’ And Big Red hung his head and wouldn’t say
anymore.
I was pretty confused.
I loved Harvard Farm and I loved work, because I’m a working horse. True,
I’m not as young as I was but I still pull a good load; I know the pace and
turns of the road. I teach the younger horses. But now they say there are too
many of us. And I don’t understand because every horse is working and the
Farm is more prosperous than ever. But they are getting rid of the older
horses and soon a lot of the young ones too. Sure, there will always be some
horses, Farm needs them. So in the time I have left I am telling every horse
what I know. Don’t love the Farm too much and never trust the Masters. They
will break your back but first they will break your heart.

[Three days later, they led Booker to the little hill, for The Choice. He
could see and understand the glue factory but not its bright new sign that
read “Transitions Rendering , a subsidiary of Harvard Corp.”]

by Page Nelson, Cataloger

My Speech at the Rally Against Layoffs Feb. 9, 2012

Thank you for joining us and helping us shape the world you will inherit: A world where the workers who have helped make Harvard great will be treated as valued partners and collaborators
instead of as a financial burden to be discarded in the new world order.

The library reorganization as it has been announced has set up competing goals for the staff: where we must continue to work toward forwarding the university's goals while struggling for our own survival under the threat of layoff. We are strongly advised to take 3 hour workshops for
skills assessment and resume writing, and at the same time keep up with our workloads, which have increased substantially since the last layoff in 2009. We continue helping researchers in the library, preparing for Open House, and helping plan the reorganization not knowing whether or not we individually will be part of the new vision.

This announcement has pushed us way down on Maslow's hierarchy of needs from self-actualization for many of us to safety. The question has changed from "will I ever achieve my full potential?" to "will I be able to pay the mortgage next month? my medical bills?
send my children to college, pay my student loans? Will I be able to take care of my parents, put food on the table, or have a moment of peace free from worry?

The wealthiest university in the Ivy leagues should not be cutting corners at the expense of its hard working dedicated employees to create a modern library. We have the skill, knowledge and ability and vision to help create a new and better library that works for everyone: The students, the faculty, and the workers.

As Martin Luther King said,

"I dream of a land where men will not take necessities away from the many to give luxuries to the few."

Thank you.

Petition to Support Academic Librarians

Harvard Librarians are undergoing a staff reorganization to create "the flagship library of the 21st." Librarians and library workers were asked to participate in the process by contributing new innovative ideas in the course of talks over the past year. We were then informed in the most recent Town Meeting, that a smaller workforce was required, this would be achieved within the current fiscal year, our jobs would no longer exist, and we would be required to apply for the new jobs that would be created. If Harvard is leading the way for all academic libraries, it is a dire prediction indeed.

College and university librarians and library workers, contribute to the advancement of scholarship of the academic community. We assist students, faculty and scholars in locating the resources they need without evaluating or critiquing them.

We support innovation and change in the academic libraries, but ask to achieve it in a way that respects our contributions to the profession and to the academic community. We would like to establish guidelines at the American Library Association Level for library reorganizations in academic libraries that govern the pace, participation, procedures, and information sharing, so that excellence, institutional memory, and experience are preserved along with innovation, streamlined procedures and technological advances.

Link to Petition

Remember the Children

As the oldest of 13 children who grew up in the family that made less than $13,000 a year I managed to survive and break the cycle of poverty because of a free public education, food stamps, welfare, and social security disability. Only 5 of us as adults no longer depend on these programs. With poverty children are more vulnerable to abuse, drug addiction, and criminal activity.

This will be even more true in the current economic climate. With globalization, outsourcing, and layoffs, more and more families will fall below the poverty line. At the same a Republican controlled Congress seeks to eliminate the safety net programs. While most of America would like to believe in the protestant work ethic, secure jobs with benefits, are becoming more and more scarce.

As the cost of living rises, wages continue to fall, lowering the standard of living for the average family. Student loan debt for students who come from poor families ensures that the cycle of poverty will continue. It becomes a vicious circle: you must have an education to get higher paying jobs, but many jobs that require college degrees do not pay enough to keep up with the cost of living and pay off student loan debt. The middle class continues to shrink, as the gap between the rich and the poor widens.

Politicians like Newt Gingrich tend to demonize the poor. Gingrich even suggests programs that would enforce social stratification, such as eliminating child labor laws, and having poor children work as janitors at public schools to learn the value of money. In reality the link between poverty and intelligence is largely environmental and closely tied to access to basic resources, such as food, shelter, and safety. Most of us would not like to see a return to the Dickensian world of David Copperfield or Oliver Twist.

Poverty is not an intrinsic character flaw, it is imposed on families by a society with decreasing opportunities for employment. I did not choose the family I was born into, and I did not survive by hard work alone. I survived by charity, luck, and the grace of God.