Meredith Farkas

B, but I probably get there 10-15 minutes early (just in case there's traffic) and sit in my car. I live in Oregon, but grew up all over the East Coast.

Ugh, not just the tone, but I really question that discussions should ever be recorded and widely shared. Can you really create a safe space for an authentic conversation under those conditions?

Manager at Associated Press Tells Journalists That Resistance to AI Is Futile A senior manager at the Associated Press enthused about AI to rank and file journalists, who were not amused.

Sounds like someone has a bad case of the Borg Complex.

100,000 Homes: Housing the homeless saves money? Giving apartments to the chronically homeless can save taxpayer dollars, advocates say

Anderson Cooper: “So it's more expensive to have a chronically homeless person living on the streets than it is to actually subsidize an apartment for them?”

Answer: “Yes, we’re paying more as taxpayers to walk past that person on the street and do nothing.” #HousingFirst #UrbanTruth

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

"The most effective consumer boycotts in history share two qualities: they are narrow and they are easy," writes @rutgerbregman.com

FDA’s controversial vaccine chief will exit agency next month | CNN The US Food and Drug Administration’s head of vaccines and biologic medicines will leave the agency at the end of April, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Friday.

Vinay Prasad has been an a noxious influence on public health and drug regulation. Good riddance. UCSF should not take him back. He should wander in the wilderness forever. www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/h...

a man wearing a top hat says stop don 't come back . Alt: a white man wearing a top hat sarcastically says stop don't come back .

Vinay Prasad resigned?

Ooof, that's rough. We haven't had any who doubted our humanness once we responded, but I'm sure it'll come!

YES! Like a good 1/3 of chat reference queries that come in now are phrased in such a way as to make clear that they are definitely not expecting to interact with a human.

As someone who contributes to a 24/7 reference coop and has to often look at libraries' FAQs for answers to student questions (which rarely include the answers), the local knowledge of library staff is irreplaceable.

Agree 100%. Just to be clear, my colleague was suggesting not that we replace our after hours chat reference service with AI, they were suggesting that we replace our chat service at ALL HOURS with AI. No no no no no no no no.

This! I'd also say, at least in a community college environment other goals are to 1) hear the question behind the question (as the student doesn't always fully understand the breadth of what they could use in research) and 2) help students feel more welcome and supported at the college.

Seriously!!!!!!

Most the visioning document feels like a list of things some colleagues don't like doing so we should either outsource the work (staffing the refdesk and chat) or (in the case of collection development) make 1-2 other librarians do all of it. I hate all of it.

We're doing visioning for the future of our reference services and one of my colleagues actually suggested that we replace our chat service with AI. The very nicest thing I could write in response was "this is completely anathema to my professional values."

Portland-Area Lab Workers Win First Labor Deal The tentative contract comes after doctors, patients and staff raises concerns over North Carolina-based Labcorp’s acquisition of several area labs.

Congratulations to nearly 500 lab workers represented by @ofnhp.bsky.social for winning a first contract with Labcorp! When healthcare workers stand together, they win better pay, protections and respect. www.wweek.com/news/health/...

Thanks to you all for writing such a lovely tribute to Fobazi.

Tribute Post for Fobazi Ettarh - ACRLog With immense sadness, the writers of ACRLog acknowledge the passing of Fobazi Ettarh, library worker and influential LIS scholar. If you are able to contribute, there is a GoFundMe established for Fob...

My colleagues at ACRLog wrote short tributes to the life and work of Fobazi Ettarh @fobettarh.bsky.social. I wrote about her work on disability, which I think deserves more recognition. acrlog.org/2026/03/04/t...

Thanks @ezerrenner.bsky.social for coordinating. #CripLib #VocationalAwe

💥📢Stand with Strike-ready PCC workers this Saturday!

🪧And sign up for a picket shift! Bring your friends and family! forms.gle/BPb1GNbRFqW9...

Unbelievable that we have to watch for things like this now.

really tired of conversations about how we need to get people to spend more time offline that don't acknowledge that one of the reasons people ARE online is their access needs aren't being met in physical spaces. This is especially true for queer people and disabled people.

Impending Strikes at PCC Might Be the Testing Ground for a Controversial Piece of Legislation If the strikes drag on, PCC could be a case study for whether unemployment benefits strengthen the determination of employees to hold out for a better deal.

Thanks @wweek.com and @joannah11.bsky.social for covering my union's potentially history-making strike. We do not wish to be a test case for SB 916, but it's nice to know that our members will have access to unemployment benefits if this drags on a few weeks

Thanks! I hope your negotiations go more smoothly than last time.

So true! Thanks Shannon!

I just really wonder about their endgame. Like, do they want to break us (while also harming students) or is their plan to make us do all this strike planning just to offer us something better in the 11th hour? No matter what, they have irreparably destroyed any possible trust or good will.

and tax documents and administration really isn't taking ownership of these issues at all (in fact, arguing that the Workday transition isn't a disaster). It's amazing that they are still resorting to gaslighting and intimidation (and trying to convince us that a 0.35% COLA is great) at this point.

We are one week away from an historic strike of both our faculty/academic professional and staff unions at my job. Management hasn't budged in mediation and has sent out some really shady emails to students and faculty/staff. Meanwhile, the new Workday system has f'ed sup o many people's paychecks

But since we are there, having some uses for accessibility does not make it accessibility tech because accessibility includes thoughtful, transparent affordances for safety, wellbeing, privacy, and autonomy.

Neoliberal Time and the Promise of Slow Librarianship. Chapter from the book Slow Librarianship: Reflections and Practices that describes how neoliberal time has operated to intensify and center work time, encouraging overwork, constant growth, and indivi...

Hiya! Just circling back to share the first slow librarianship piece (the other may take a while as I need an update from the editors). Thanks again for the knowledge commons rec. It's perfect! works.hcommons.org/records/ejb0...