Revolting librarians > Introduction
Revolting librarians > Introduction
It is a riproaring satisfaction to publish outright and upfront what some of us really feel about the library world: how it relates to our personal being - our hopes, conflicts, growth. Every profession is being radicalized [L. radix=root: searching for the root of the matter] as its practitioners refuse to draw any "conflict of interest" line between their lives and their work. Naturally, this displeases the hierarchs and sachems. Librarians with personal commitment, a "code," do not play follow the leader. They do not take orders as hacks, apologists, or nitpickers. Their responsibility is not to any power structure at all, but to the patron and to the profession. True professionalism implies evolution, if not revolution; those who "profess" a calling have certain goals and standards for improving existence, which necessarily means moving, shaking, transforming it.
Our specific skill is making information accessible to the common∞wealth - of which we are members. Thus, objectivity is no more than a useful abstraction - like the line of the equator. Do "balance" your collection with pro-racist, sexist, violence material (on ultramicro-fiche?), but as the ombudsmen of the mediascape, push the other, the human-hearted. Do anti-war bibliographies, whole*earth how-to lists, community survival information, stoned soul programs. The Good News is Advocacy! Participation! Librarians can generate information. Why watch it congeal on a 3x5 world?
We did a book (and therefore planted a tree) because librarians into changing things need a forum: to talk about what should be totally trashed and what feels good; to wink at sacred old cows and explore our newer dogmas; to find each other. A lovely thing about freedom of expression is that it's contageous. More and more librarians realise they too can defy the CREEPING MEATBALL. (I think this is a Merry Prankster expression, akin to cartoonist Dan O'Neill's POPPADOODLE: a mocking refusal to dignify the big bumtripping forces of evil, which flourish of reeespect.) You'll see the library world's CREEPING MEATBALL manifestations exposed throughout this book: sometimes compulsive about power and convention, sometimes passive with irresponsibility, fear, lack of commitment. §Flash! Giant Hamburger: status quo larded, hierarchically layered, creeping backwards in time, and at last happily from vision....
We didn't exorcise it, but maybe we alerted a library school student, or reinforced some lone librarian red taped by a superstructure insensitive to gathering, and making visible, needed information. A lot of us are tired of working in Book of the Month Club Libraries run for the leisure of Mr. and Mrs. Mid-Cult and the profit of the publishing plutocracy.
We didn't realize just how many of us there were until we put out the call in Synergy and the SRRT Newsletter for contributors to a book about "revolting" librarians. We were somewhat apprehensive about getting any takers, because activists aren't necessarily into writing. Personal solicitation proved that. But our circle was small; we contacted only people we knew about. It was the friends we didn't know we had who contributed most to make this book possible.
I happened to be reading Cat's Cradle when articles were coming in. In his novel, Vonnegut plays with a sort of Emersonian over-soul concept he calls a "karass," or mind pool of sympathetic energy which synergizes (2+2→5) when combined. Hearing from all these wild, far away librarians was like discovering members of a karass. The "design" of this book is based on the lovely coincidence some of us found out about each other. We regret not getting viewpoints from people on every different action front. Send us your trip for our "Fellow Traveler" sequel.
This book is brought to you by a grant from your friendly cottage-industry media activists. That is, we typed, designed, and illustrated one copy in my dining room, then paid a printer $1650 earned as librarie keepers to make 4000 more. (This is a long run for "library literature," but we ultimately market researched by the I Ching, hexagram #43 - Resolution.) Perfect freedom of the press meant forgoing the services of an established publisher. So we simply transformed ourselves into BOOKLEGGER PRESS, "Raggedy Margins, Straight Shootin' Lines." Actually, to gamble with some publisher's money would be nice, but one does have to play by his rules and be satisfied with 10% of the take. We wanted to make our own "rules" (non-capitalist, total freedom of expression) and participate in the whole production.
Enter, wonder of modern technology! Photo-offset reproduction takes printing out of the expensive, elitist bracket. The underground press survives by this non-set "cool" type. It is simple to prepare copy yourself. You type/letter/illustrate a page exactly the way you want it to look. The page is photographed and its image burned into a plate from which copies are printed. It is a prole medium in the same way videotape is; individuals can get the communication access corporate interests usually monopolize. The real "information explosion" is going to happen when all media are more democratised this way. As Sadie says in the play AC/DC, "When my revolution comes, everybody's gonna be on television all the time....When my revolution comes, there's gonna be Total Access." What will library life be like then?
But back to today's adventure. The only mystique involved in doing this book is that it is now in your hands. "Seizing the means of production" is incredibly fun, but still rather barren if one can't liberate channels of publicity and distribution. These are still undisputed territory of the Media Baron. Book distributors, besides being choosey about what they move, take a 40-50% cut of the retail price. So we bought mailing supplies (10% of our retail) and eliminated another middle man. The advertisers were easiest of all to dismiss. It costs $720/b-w page in LJ, $500 in Wilson to create a demand. But the demand for a book about shaking the shackles of our profession is already there. "The establishment library media will announce the book as a news item in the freebee columns, and a little grassroots promotion will do the rest," said the Old Booklegger....
We decided to hang copyright because many of our ideas came from other people who in turn had been sparked by folks who had ideas shared with them which...well, it all became a terrible First Cause problem. Besides, we believe no one has a monopoly on ideas or expression; that we are guests of existence, not proprietors. We're still ownership junkies in lots of ways, but since we're into this book mainly for message and not for food, wine, and shelter as well, © is an empty legal hang-up, like paying one's marijuana stamp tax. Six of our contributors have very good karmic reasons to ©. And we registered our press name to avoid identity crisis.
The audio portions, introducing some articles, were recorded live, around a jug of red mountain. The unexpurgated cassette will soon be available to serious students of bibliobacity. OM-MEDIA-SEE and bless you All....