Tag: politics

273: Chicago Teachers Union Negotiations, with Nora Wiltse

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Guest host Troy Swanson chats with Nora Wiltse, school librarian at Chicago Public Schools, about the current state of librarians in Chicago Public Schools, the impactful role that librarians play in education, her involvement with the Chicago Teachers Union’s efforts in advocating for better resources and support for schools, including through collective bargaining, and CTU’s broader social justice initiatives.

Read the transcript!

Nora Wiltse has been a school librarian with Chicago Public Schools since 2003. After 20 years in K to 8th grade elementary schools, she now works at King College Prep High School in the Kenwood neighborhood. Since 2012, Nora has advocated against the rapid loss of librarians in the Chicago Public Schools district. She is the chair of the Chicago Teachers Union Librarian Committee and a member of the 2024 contract bargaining team. Nora hopes to gain more job security for all librarians, as well as more librarian positions, in the next union contract.  You can email her at norawiltse@gmail.com. You can follow CTU’s Librarian Committee on Instagram or X @ctulibrarians. 

Troy A. Swanson is Teaching & Learning Librarian and Library Department Chair at Moraine Valley Community College. Troy is the author or editor of several books and articles including his book Knowledge as a Feeling: How Neuroscience and Psychology Impact Human Information Behavior was published by Rowman & Littlefield. His Ph.D. research focused on the management of technology policy in higher education. He served on ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Task Force which issued the Framework for Information Literacy in 2016.  Over his tenure as a librarian and educator, Troy has won his campus’ Master Teacher and Innovation of the Year awards, as well as the Proquest Innovation in College Librarianship award from ACRL. Additionally, he serves as Legislative Chair for Cook County College Teachers Union which serves 5,000 community college employees.

SHOW NOTES:

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155: Ann Ewbank

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Steve chats with Ann Ewbank, and author of Political Advocacy for School Librarians: Leveraging Your Influence, about her path to librarianship, why political advocacy is essential for school librarians, the importance of building relationships with stakeholders, and her time as an inaugural member of the ALA Policy Corps.

Ann Dutton Ewbank, PhD, is associate professor at Montana State University, Bozeman. She researches school library advocacy and is a member-leader in the American Library Association (ALA). A tireless advocate, Ewbank has direct experience working with elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels to enact positive policy for school library programs.

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49: John Chrastka

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Guest host David Lankes chats with John Chrastka, Executive Director of EveryLibrary.

Read the transcript.

John Chrastka

John Chrastka is executive director of EveryLibrary, the first nationwide political action committee for libraries.  A long-time library trustee, supporter and advocate, Mr. Chrastka is a member and former president of the Board of Trustees for the Berwyn (IL) Public Library (2006 – present) and is a former president of the Reaching Across Illinois Libraries System (RAILS) multi-type library system. Prior to his work on EveryLibrary, he was a partner in AssociaDirect, a Chicago-based consultancy focused on supporting associations in membership recruitment, conference, and governance activities, and was Director for Membership Development at the American Library Association (ALA).  He is a current member of ALA, the Illinois Library Association (ILA), and the American Political Sciences Association (APSA). He was named a 2014 Mover & Shaker by Library Journal for his work with EveryLibrary.  He tweets at @mrchrastka.

Give to the Rapid Response Fund now!

The Rapid Response Fund is a project of EveryLibrary to build the financial resources that libraries need for crisis communications. Every month, we see stories about libraries faced with an unexpected funding crisis that comes from ‘outside’. City Councils, County Governments, State Legislatures control the purse strings for many of our libraries. But when grassroots support for the library needs to kick-in, the hardest part for libraries and advocates is to reach their constituents in a fast and actionable way. Our Rapid Response Fund will be there to deliver paid advertising and outreach support for local library advocacy “calls to action” when an unexpected crisis hits. Your donation will go to work buying targeted, smart, and effective public engagement through Facebook, Google AdWords, and local media sites. The Rapid Response Fund will put money to work to get the advocacy message in front of the right people and “bring them out” for the library. Donate today. The funds we collect here are earmarked and designated for this project. Visit http://everylibrary.org/rapid-response-fund/ for more about the project.

SHOW NOTES

John Chrastka’s previous appearance on Circulating Ideas

David Lankes’s previous appearances on Circulating Ideas: Episode 7 | Expect More | State of the MLS (part one) | State of the MLS (part two)