Earlier this year I organized a training for library staff throughout our county from the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and a stellar local senior non-profit named Senior Access dedicated to serving residents with memory loss issues. This training was inspired by two things: in my year in the San Rafael Leadership Institute our class project was raising funds for Senior Access -and- a demographic study from the Association of Bay Area Governments that highlighted Marin County’s median age compared to regional, state, and national norms. In 2013, the median age was:

  • 37.5 in the United States
  • 35.7 in California
  • 45.5 in Marin County

Basically, where I live and work to provide library services, our population is ten years ahead in terms of age. As a result, library services here are slightly different to meet the needs of this older population. A significant part of serving this older population is seeing an increase in various memory disorders (Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, Lewy body disease, Frontotemporal dementia) among our neighbors and library users. Thus, the training.

Libraries are uniquely positioned to see changes in our regular users. We have people who come in all the time, and we can see changes in their behavior, mood, and appearance that others who see them less often would never recognize. Likewise, libraries and librarians are trusted entities–you may have people being more open and letting their guard down with you in a way that lets you observe what’s happening to them more directly. Finally, people who work in libraries generally really care a lot about other people–and that in-built sensitivity and care can help when seeing a change in someone’s mental health and abilities.

I’m going to do my best to sum up what I learned at the training as well as what we’ve seen here in our Library serving older adults with memory issues. I hope some of this can help you at your library too.

How do memory disorders usually make themselves visible?

As each of us ages, our memories get less and less reliable. Typical changes can include forgetting an occasional appointment or bill due date, forgetting words, and losing things. Changes that indicate something more progressed is happening in someone’s mind include disruptions to daily life, changes in personality, withdrawal from work or friends, poor judgment, misplacing things frequently, difficulty solving problems, confusion  about when and where you are, and trouble with spatial relationships or speaking and writing.

How might these memory disorders present in a library environment?

People will think they are in another library, another city, or another time period. They may confuse library staff for a relative of theirs. They may become upset, not remembering how they got to the library. They may repeatedly come to the library on the wrong day for an event. They may tell staff that their library card must have been stolen because they don’t remember checking out the items on their account. They may become angry and frustrated when you present them with the “correct” information. They may need to be shown the same basic procedures repeatedly, always as if for the first time. They may become uncharacteristically verbally abusive to staff or other library users when frustrated. They may pace or wander seemingly at random. They may repeatedly ask the same questions during the same short window of time. They may look and behave completely normal. One never knows for sure.

What are people with memory disorders experiencing?

Overall, in any stage of memory decline, people experience confusion, and then a resulting discomfort or uneasiness, which usually leads to an uncharacteristic behavior. Some people withdraw while others lash out. Most people experience severe fear during the latter stages of their memory loss, which makes sense if you think about it. How scary would it be to wake up with a functionally blank slate and try to “appear normal” to everyone as you go through your day? Showing up at a job that you haven’t had for 10 years, looking for a car that you don’t have any more, expecting to see a 22 year old friend who’s somehow now looking like she’s 62. How people with memory disorders behave has a lot to do with their personalities, as well as how the disease has progressed.

What is the most important thing to do when working with someone with a memory disorder?

Focus on communication. Be a good listener by expressing interest, being patient, and not interrupting. Use body language effectively by making eye contact, using a calm voice, and using gestures. Be mindful of the environment by moving to a quiet place, reducing distractions, and moving away from potential onlookers. Aim for simplicity by giving simple instructions one at a time, asking simple questions one at a time, and being mindful of the pace of your speech.

Communicating with someone with an impacted memory can be very frustrating. What should I do and not do?

Do: allow plenty of time for comprehension, repeat instructions using exactly the same words, agree with them even if what they’re saying is false, accept the blame when they feel something is wrong, be patient and cheerful, and forgive.

Don’t: reason, argue, remind them that they keep forgetting things, question their memory, or take it personally.

What should I do if I repeatedly see an adult alone in the library who seems to have some kind of memory disorder and who cannot take care of himself or herself?

If you can contact a family member or caregiver, do that first. Oftentimes our integrated library system databases have the capacity to add a second name to someone’s account or a note in the record to call a caregiver if there’s a problem. If you cannot find a family member or caregiver, call Adult Protective Services (here’s California’s APS website) or whatever the local agency equivalent is for you. It may feel like tattling or ratting someone out, but just as we would contact Child Protective Services if we feared for a child’s safety and well-being, so we should do for adults who have a diminished capacity to take care of themselves. It’s never fun, but these folks handle cases like this all day and approach their work with sensitivity, care, and kindness. Let them do their jobs.

What can I do in my library to support a community of people with memory issues?

Offer free and conveniently timed classes on memory retention, communication strategies, living with dementia, signs of memory loss. Local non-profits can definitely provide the expert trainers for these classes. Offer to be a site for a support group. Keep a handy resource list of local non-profits and governmental resources for people with memory disorders: adult day cares, advocacy groups, residentiail facilities, caregiver support, diagnosis programs, in-home care, legal and financial information, meal programs, and transportation options. Train your staff on the warning signs to look for and how to effectively communicate with people with memory issues. Collaborate with local non-profits on art programs, day field trips, and other activities to keep people with memory disorders active and engaged in their communities.


For more information, check out the Alzheimer’s Association website: look for a local chapter, resources for family care, caregiver support groups, classes, day programs, and training. And in a pinch you can definitely call the Alzheimer’s Association National Hotline: 1-800-272-3900.


Who We Are: Lessons from ALA Annual Conference 2016

June 27, 2016 | Comments Off on Who We Are: Lessons from ALA Annual Conference 2016

I’m on my last day of conference here in Orlando at the American Library Association Annual Conference. I’ve been going to multiple conferences every year for the last decade and a half. Local, state, national, international, specialized, general, you name it. I have the conference packing down, the “airplane survival pack” perfected, and have a master plan for maximizing my schedule. I still stink at finding healthy, sustaining food in other cities. Meh, there’s always something new to learn, right?

This conference was a very different one for me. Sure–I came here to present and to help people get hired for jobs they want. But (this last bit is selfish) I also came to see if I could recapture the excitement and belief in libraries that got me into this profession in the first place.

I’ve had a hard few years professionally. I was looking for this conference to make me believe again–in what I do every day and in what I’ve dedicated my life to. Spoiler alert: It worked.

So…what did I learn?

Lesson 1: A sincere passion for service permeates everything librarians do.

Conversation after conversation over the last few days drove this point home. Presenters talking about projects–successful and not. Friends and colleagues discussed their current efforts, all user-focused and stimulating in them an exuberance usually reserved for Comic-Con or a Depeche Mode concert. I’ve been surrounded by people smiling, laughing, and fist pumping about the work they do every day. How do you beat that?

Lesson 2: Librarians are a powerful tribe.

Even with conference attendance significantly down this year, I was once again amazed at walking through the hallways and realizing every darn person I was seeing worked in or with libraries. There are so many of us and we’re all, in our own way, working our butts off to make our communities a better place. We talk a lot about feeling disenfranchised, unimportant to our parent institutions, or unrecognized. But there are *a lot* of us. With the efforts of groups like EveryLibrary and the ALA Committee on Legislation we can continue to leverage our numbers, our passion, and our ethics to effect positive change on local and national levels.

Lesson 3: Smart people do smart things every day and it doesn’t win them awards.

Of every 1,000 library staff doing amazing things at their job–innovative, caring, above-and-beyond types of things–maybe 1 gets recognition. Awards are nice, but they don’t catch all, or even necessarily the best, of the people kicking ass in libraries. Please remember to say thank you to the people you work with. Say thank you to the random people elsewhere you see doing astounding things. There aren’t enough certificates, trophies, or medals in the world to recognize the good and necessary work we all do.

Lesson 4: Librarians’ lives are often difficult due to factors out of our control.

No library job, budget, boss, institutional political structure, decision-making structure, population, support, or facility is going to be perfect for anyone. There is a lot that has the potential to cause immense amounts of stress. The reality is that these elements are part of the job, part of public service. There are jobs that will fit a person better or worse and communities that will fit a person better or worse. It’s our job to figure out where we can fit so we can keep doing good work.

Lesson 5: Librarians’ lives are often difficult due to factors completely within our control.

There are some things that we can control. We can choose not to work insane hours and give up our time for free. We can take care of ourselves by actually taking our breaks (*gasp*) and walking out of the library for lunch.  We can prioritize professional development. We can choose not to allow the little dramas (and let’s be honest, they are little dramas) of the workplace become full blown crises that spin us into oblivion. We can choose to spend our time and energy on the team members we work with who share our goals and ethics and who are pleasant to be around, thereby minimizing the impact and influence of the few bad apples that can exist in any organization.

Lesson 6: Money, type of library, and type of position greatly affect a librarian’s reality.

A good number of comments I heard, both in formal sessions and informal conversations, reflected a personal bias and limited experience of the speaker. Not everyone has a smart phone. Maybe in your community but not mine. Not every library can have a maker space. Not every librarian can afford a fancy hotel. Not every library user can read. Not every library user feels safe in the library. Not every librarian has support to publish or pursue professional development. Not every school has a librarian in it. Remember that your own situation is just that–your own. Listen to the stories of others and broaden your understanding of the wide continuum of our jobs, libraries, and communities we serve.

Lesson 7: There is a whole new crew of newer librarians who are doing us mid-career folks proud.

I realized yesterday in one of those *zing* moments of clarity that I am not one of the new kids on the block anymore. I’ve been a librarian for 15 years and working in libraries for 19. All these new library staff, and definitely not just the librarians, are doing some truly astounding things. The energy, innovation, and perspective they bring to bear on their jobs brings me hope that our libraries have a bright future indeed!

Lesson 8: Social justice issues matter a lot to librarians.

I have seen humbling examples of people coming together to learn about, show solidarity for, and promote various social justice issues. The location of this conference in Orlando has lent a lot to awareness about gun violence, racism, and of course GLBTQ issues. Social inequity, racism, sexism, income disparity, bigotry, and hatred of all forms are not tolerated in libraries or by libraries. The ALA Resolution that just passed, the Resolution Calling Upon Libraries to Build More Inclusive Communities, is a fantastic example of this work. I pledge to do more in my own library and career going forward to uphold these essential values. It’s far too easy to be afraid of taking a political stance and putting your organization or your job at potential risk for community blow-back. I have certainly failed in this regard myself more than once. It’s much easier to be afraid and follow policies and procedures and toe the line of your institution while forgetting who you are and what your professional ethics are. I am thankful to my peers for reminding us all of this important element of our work.

Lesson 9: Our stories are more powerful than our statistics.

You can count your books, your program attendance, and your web visits. Or you can tell stories, you can impact lives, and share those stories with the people making budgetary and political decisions about your library. Everything I heard at this conference supports the latter.

Lesson 10: Helping people still brings me more joy than anything else.

This last point may seem self-evident, but going into this conference it wasn’t–at least not to me. The moments at this conference that made me smile, that energized and excited me, all had to do with either observing someone helping someone else or me helping someone. I am so jazzed by seeing a positive impact from the exchange of knowledge, a helping hand, a simple tip, or a shared experience.

So you all are stuck with me for a while longer. This whole “being a librarian” thing seems to be embedded deeply enough in my being to lead me to continue down this path. I promise to do my best and I know you will promise to do yours. Thank you all for being my tribe.

Annual Ehlers-Danlos Awareness Month obligatory post

May 18, 2016 | Comments Off on Annual Ehlers-Danlos Awareness Month obligatory post

It’s May, so I’m going to do what I do every May–remind you of a rare disorder that I suffer from–Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month. May is also, incidentally, National Blood Pressure Month, National Hamburger Month, and National Salad Month (just ruminate on that for a moment until your head explodes).

You can read my posts from previous years (20092011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) for details on what EDS is and how it has affected my life.



Like most EDS patients, I hurt every day but I personally made the choice years ago to not take any pain medication beyond the occasional ibuprofen.



Library Ethics in the 21st Century











Go forth and protect.


May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month.

























Team Harpy and the continuing aftermath





Laundry and Skeletons












Assault and Harassment are Real




What I’ve Learned



The Lasting Impact of Assault and Harassment




Team Harpy FAQ

October 1, 2014 | Comments (14)



What is Team Harpy all about?


nina and Lisa stand by the fairness and truthfulness of their comments. More about the lawsuit can be found at http://teamharpy.wordpress.com

Who is Team Harpy?

Why are they called Team Harpy? 




What happens next with the lawsuit?


What can I do to lend my support?
Donate to the Team Harpy legal defense fund.


What can I do to learn more?
Stay tuned on the Team Harpy website at http://teamharpy.wordpress.com. Stay tuned on Twitter, following the #teamharpy hashtag.

Where did the $1.25 million lawsuit figure come from?

Why are nina and Lisa being sued together in one case?
Again, you would have to ask Mr. Murphy.

Why is this case being tried in Canada?
