Posted on behalf of Dr. Jennifer Dean, Director of the Thompson Library.
This January, as we collectively remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and work, I am reflecting on the words Dr. King wrote from his Birmingham, AL, jail cell: “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Dr. King's teachings challenge us to be catalysts for positive change, even if issues do not seem to affect us directly. Just as he pursued justice and equality throughout his life, our library team must continue the work to create an inclusive and equitable community, inside and outside the library. Our commitment to service through providing access to information includes addressing barriers to access and remaining vigilant for biases, disinformation, and misinformation. Getting uncomfortable is an essential aspect of this journey. It requires us to confront our own biases, acknowledge our privileges, and actively seek out perspectives that challenge our preconceptions. It means curating diverse collections that amplify marginalized voices and acknowledge our shared humanity. It means fostering an environment where everyone feels seen and heard, and where people of diverse backgrounds feel safe to ask difficult questions and to sit with discomfort. Dr. King's vision was not one of complacency but of transformative action. Similarly, the library should be a space where discomfort leads to growth. As a library team, we seek opportunities to engage with our entire community in meaningful ways, stepping outside our comfort zone. In embracing discomfort, and making space for others to feel safe as they too embrace discomfort, we cultivate an environment for learning and collective progress. In honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, we recommit ourselves to service, challenge, growth, and positive change in our community.
In this spirit, I want to end by saying I'm proud to work in a library where our team seeks opportunities to be in partnership and make a positive difference. On January 5th, Senior Associate Librarian Matt Wolverton organized our first “Lunch and Litter,” planning the logistics and providing all the tools needed to take time over lunch to make a difference on our campus. Focusing on Willson Park and high traffic areas on Kearsley and Harrison to amplify the efforts of UM-Flint’s stellar Grounds Crew, Senior Associate Librarians Paul Streby and Liz Svoboda and library staff Laura Peet, Anh Thach, Jordan Tiffany, and me joined Matt in picking up litter and delivering it safely to the trash. We enjoyed the fresh air and exercise and time to talk with one another. You can read more and see the results of our efforts on the Frances Willson Thompson Library’s Facebook page and Instagram. You can follow us too while you’re there!
Author’s Note: I have written about generative AI and ChatGPT in earlier editions of our newsletter. For this issue, I did give ChatGPT a try on the first iteration of this reflection. The result was polished, full of strong words, and perfectly adequate, but not me! I ended up rewriting it myself, but some of the words and phrases suggested by ChatGPT remain. I challenge you to use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools in your own work and see what you think! If you do use it to write something that you will present as your own work, it’s a best practice to acknowledge it in some way, as I did here.
University of Michigan-Flint
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