‘Commentary’ Archives
Library Patrons are in Crisis. Frontline Library Workers are in Crisis.
Public Libraries are in Crisis.
By the Executive Board of AFSCME Local 2822, representing 347 frontline Hennepin County Library workers Our hearts hurt for the library patron who was reportedly arrested at East Lake Library in February. According to library workers who were there that day, this was a deeply traumatic incident. Frontline library workers have little to no control over decisions to call the police. Having police involved in library incidents is not the norm, but having a person in crisis at our public libraries HAS become the norm. Many of your local library workers are struggling to support community members in acute crisis every single day. Libraries are one the few remaining open, public spaces. In a perfect world, libraries would be safe spaces glowing with information and democracy and community. In our imperfect world, it often means that libraries are places of last refuge for people who have fallen through the cracks of a broken system. And with all of the ongoing crises, library [...]
Raise Your Voice: Trending Hot
By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar It was a bearing on car 32 which was “trending hot” beneath its load of ethanol (boom?!) Nonetheless, the crew of the two mile long train was ordered to proceed, even as they approached a heavily populated area. Why? Moreover, for some folks, our entire economy had become “too hot to handle.” As it happened, a delegation of ruling-class types was deployed to tinker with the Federal Reserve (Oops!). In the process they managed to kill a few lesser banks, although their intent was merely to trigger a degree of recession (i.e., stymie wage growth) by raising interest rates. Remember the “Volker Schock” of 1979? I sure do. At the time, I was living in East Phillips and had just begun my employment at Smith Foundry. However, a period of mass layoffs would soon ensue, along with plant closings and anti-union campaigns all across the land. “The standard of living has to decline.” So said the chairman of the Federal [...]
PCH: The Simple Life
Rose Tillemans and the Peace House Community in an undated photo found in the Peace House Community photo albums. By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby Rose Tillemans, the founder of Peace House Community, would have celebrated her 100th birthday on February 11. In honor of the event, I went through some of PHC’s old photo albums to put together a small memorial for our website.Although the photos were taken before I joined PHC and showed many people I never met, I felt a connection to the faces in the photos. That connection was not just based on having PHC in common. The photos showed simple, everyday activities that we all participate in, like sharing a cup of coffee, or singing together, or playing a board game. I’m not sure how to explain the connection I felt, but I think it could be best summed up with the phrase, “That looks like fun. I wish I could do that.”Of course, I can do that. It doesn’t take much to call a friend, go for a walk, chat with a neighbor, or say [...]
