[Libs-Or] OLA Quarterly Author Showcase | Jen Ferro, Lane Community College | Our House is on Fire: How Librarians can Help Young Climate Activists

[OLA Communications Committee]

Jen Ferro is a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Lane Community
College Library. Please download and read her latest article, “Our House is
on Fire: How Librarians can Help Young Climate Activists,” here:
http://journals3.library.oregonstate.edu/olaq/article/view/vol25_iss4_10



>From Jen’s article: “Of course, libraries have long been considered
bastions of democracy, and librarians the staunch defenders of civil
liberties, the Bill of Rights, the freedom to read, the right to privacy,
and intellectual freedom. Nancy Kranichin focused on the function of
libraries in democracies during her tenure as ALA President from 2000 to
2001. She advocated that libraries play an active role in civic education,
including acting as “civic information centers,” gathering
difficult-to-locate materials, but also that they serve as active
educators, teaching “youth to participate in community problem solving”
(2012, p. 81). In the well-known radical collection of essays *Revolting
Librarians*, Celeste West contended that “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” (1972, p. [i]). It is not all that
revolutionary to call for librarians to begin providing young activists
with the information they need to preserve their own freedom and safety as
they attempt to save the very civilization that makes our profession
possible.”



Jen Ferro has been a professional librarian for 20 years. Her current
research interests include sustainability, information literacy curriculum
design, media manipulation and disinformation, artificial intelligence,
mass surveillance, and civil liberties. Jen grew up on an Arizona cattle
ranch and is also an actor, vocalist, and playwright. She is co-founder of
the Lane Climate Action Team at Lane Community College. You can find them
at www.lanecat.org.



This article was written before the events that began this spring. The OLA
Quarterly Coordinator takes full responsibility for the lateness of this
issue.

Thank you,
Charles Wood
OLA Quarterly Coordinator
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