Main Page/Regional hubs/PNW/Portland

LFP regional hub events: Portland

Intro

• A space for LFP members and our invited community to meet, learn organizing skills, share about library work, and be in community together.
• Friday, July 28th, 5-8 pm and Saturday, July 29th, 10 am to 6 pm, Portland.

Please read and abide by our community documents

Community Agreements

• W.A.I.T. – Why Am I Talking?
• Recognize Power & Privilege
• E.L.M.O. - Enough Let's Move On
• Make Space, Take Space
• Confidentiality
• Be Open to Someone Else Speaking Your Truth
• Provide Grace and Be Forgiving
• Yes/and; Both/and
• Self Care and Community Care
• Oops/Ouch Accountability
• Jargon Giraffe/Say Your Acronyms
• Write Bigger/Speak Up/Deaf Applause
• One Mic, One Speaker
• Content Warning Etiquette
• Noise Level Etiquette

Venue

Taborspace - 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215. The venue space is accessible for many different mobility needs, and we will update this space soon with more specific details.

We will have three rooms - one large space for when we need to gather all at once, one small space for using during breakout discussions or quiet space, and one small space that we are reserving for childcare. If no childcare is needed, we will use that second small space for breakout discussions or quiet space.

Accommodations

Local recommendations TBD

We will also be asking local attendees if they can host participants coming in from out of town; we have asked attendees to indicate on their RSVP form if they will need accommodation. Please reach out with any accommodation questions or needs.

Food

We will have water, coffee, and snacks at the venue all day. We recommend bringing a reusable water bottle. Lunch will be up to participants. Local recommendations TBD.

What to bring

Wear comfortable, casual clothing. Bring proof of a negative covid test, a mask, and additional covid tests if you wish. Bring something to take notes. The venue has wifi. Bring any swag that you want to share with other attendees - eg zines, union buttons, fun stuff from your library.

Transit and parking

Local information TBD

Covid protocols

We are requiring negative tests from all participants upon arrival, and will have some extra tests available. We will open windows in the venue, weather permitting. We will not be requiring masks, but will have masks available. At our most recent meeting in April 2023, about 25% of attendees wore masks, though some opted to take them off because of how hard it was to hear conversation, even when using a microphone. Also at our previous meeting, we built a Corsi-Rosenthal box for additional air filtration, and we will be asking locals to help assemble one for this meeting. Our meeting space does not make much physical distancing possible. If you are not comfortable in this type of space, we'd love to welcome you to one of our many virtual trainings - contact info@libraryfreedom.org for more information.

Agenda draft

Most of the time together will be fairly open-ended with ample time for discussion. We may do a couple of lecture-style presentations on Friday evening, and we may also do an agenda setting activity where we prompt people to share what they want to discuss. The basic framework of the agenda will come together soon and we'll share with all RSVPs; in the meantime, you can take a look at the agenda from our previous meeting in Philly: https://libraryfreedom.wiki/html/public_html/index.php/Main_Page/Regional_hubs/Mid_Atlantic/Philly

Self-organized session ideas

• lots of community connection time

• supporting privacy and user rights in academic libraries

• teaching privacy to students

• navigating relationships at work while pushing for change

• group convos with diff types of libraries (public, academic, etc) to compare contracts, policies, procedures

• new WA law criminalizing drug use - strategies against

• proactive community building work to ensure high level relationships with diverse groups

• rural libraries convo

• local success stories

• a conversation or training around the best strategies for countering right-wing mobilization against libraries in different ways e.g. events, materials, and library board takeover attempts

• how to better advocate to change IT/College/institutional policies that compromise patron privacy and also how to advocate with vendors who are collecting/using our students' data.

• a section for academic librarians to talk about: 1) how to support public libraries/library workers in our area in regards to white supremacist attacks against libraries, and 2) how to prepare for this eventual evolution into our institutions (if it's not already happened).

• labor organizing in libraries

• privacy programs in academic libraries

• intellectual freedom talking points

how libraries manage privacy and surveillance in contract term negotiation with vendors and publishers

strategies for keeping privacy issues around technology on the radar of instructors who assign these "free" tools and the students who use them

how libraries are engaging with their communities and lawmakers about challenges and legislation. What resources are you using? What has been most/least helpful in making convincing arguments? Are you raising funds to support your work, and if so, how? What can we do together to help all of us, even in our individual communities/states? How can we partner to generate widespread support?

chatgpt and ai with regard to privacy/surveillance

how Intellectual Freedom and neutrality practices can harm historically excluded groups, and how we can help change the way IF is interpreted and implemented.

Day	Time	Agenda item	Facilitator
Friday	5-7 (BYO dinner if you wish)	Strategies for dealing with our current environment: hostility against libraries, right-wing aggression, attacks on our communities and more	Alison
Friday	7-8:30 (BYO dinner if you wish)	Agenda building for Saturday and open group discussion	Alison and Tess
Saturday	9-10 am	Arrivals, coffee, low-key community connection
Saturday	10-11:15 am	LFP introduction, group introductions and icebreaker	Alison and Tess
Saturday	11:15-11:45	Finish agenda building and review	Alison and Tess
Saturday	11:45 - 1	Self-organized discussions based on agenda
Saturday	1 - 2	Lunch - see local options on wiki
Saturday	2-5	Self-organized discussions based on agenda
Saturday	5-6	Closing share out - takeaways, action items, next steps, and space clean up
Saturday	7 pm?	Social activity TBD