{"id":82486,"date":"2014-10-09T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T13:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=82486"},"modified":"2014-10-08T19:28:38","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T00:28:38","slug":"librarians-against-bullying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=82486","title":{"rendered":"Librarians Against Bullying!"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Whitney Zahar, Senior Assistant, INALJ Pennsylvania<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Librarians Against Bullying!<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Whitney<\/a>First, I want to open with a little personal story. During my elementary and\u00a0middle school years back in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s, I was bullied frequently by my\u00a0classmates. It was mostly emotional and psychological bullying; I was teased,\u00a0ostracized, and manipulated for nearly 7 years. I\u2019ll spare everyone the details, but\u00a0suffice it to say, bullying left its mark on me, that I still deal with to this very day.\u00a0And while I love my family, the few friends I had, the teachers, and anyone who tried\u00a0to help and support me, bullying simply wasn\u2019t viewed then the way it is today. No\u00a0one really knew what to do to help me, and many times I had to face it all alone,\u00a0while my friends stood by and let it happen.<\/p>\n

However, there was something that saved me and set me on the path I\u2019m on\u00a0today. Yep, you guessed it: it was the library and the wonderful librarians at my\u00a0middle school. During my lunch period, I would seek refuge in the school library, and\u00a0the librarians got to know me and took me under their wing. They trained me as a\u00a0library page, and they introduced me to reading more advanced material. They even\u00a0saw how much I loved theatre and took me on a field trip with like-minded students\u00a0to see a production of \u201cPippin.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, there was a branch of the public library located right across from\u00a0the middle school. I would go there as often as possible to avoid riding the school\u00a0bus, where it was really bad for me, and I would study, read, and write stories. I felt\u00a0safe there, and I don\u2019t think the public librarians had any idea how much that haven\u00a0meant to me. Plus, the labyrinth of library shelves and tables and chairs tucked into\u00a0little nooks made great places for me to hide!<\/p>\n

More than my love for books, information, and all those wonderful things we\u00a0love about libraries and information centers, the fact that such places and great\u00a0librarians were around to serve as a refuge and as a place for me to develop creative\u00a0outlets is the main reason why I have entered this field. And I know I\u2019m not the only\u00a0bullied kid, or adult, that has sought a library to be their safe place.<\/p>\n

So, when I started library school back in 2012, I decided to write my first\u00a0paper for my first core class on what librarians can do against bullying, beyond\u00a0merely providing lists of books and resources to consult. While it\u2019s a great thing to\u00a0provide that information, I know there is more we can do. These ideas may target\u00a0school and public librarians, but I think any librarian and information professional can\u00a0be touched by bullying, and can make a difference by standing up for its prevention. I\u00a0fully believe there are many things we can do.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Set up a peer mentoring program:<\/strong>\u00a0People are less likely to\u00a0be bullied when they are with other people. Open a program\u00a0for kids and teenagers to do homework, participate in activities\u00a0with like-minded individuals, and spend time with each\u00a0other. At some point, less confident individuals become more\u00a0confident and may become mentors themselves.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Have a movie or book club:<\/strong> Book and movie discussion\u00a0groups are great opportunities for young people to connect\u00a0with others with similar interests, who may not necessarily\u00a0go to their school. As a librarian, you can even provide books\u00a0that are uplifting, build self-esteem, or books about bullying.\u00a0The School Library Journal has resources<\/a>. You can also screen\u00a0movies, such as the critically-acclaimed Bully<\/a><\/em>. Students can\u00a0also create music videos, games, and book trailers dealing with\u00a0bullying, positive self-esteem, and empathy.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Provide programming for kids, parents, teachers, and the\u00a0community:<\/strong> Check out these two wonderful programs that\u00a0were set up by librarians. The first is a magic show<\/a>, and the\u00a0second is a puppet show<\/a> scripted and developed by a school\u00a0librarian. You can also use plays, such as The Laramie Project<\/a>\u00a0based on the death of Matthew Shephard. The Ottawa Public\u00a0Library<\/a> is part of a coalition that provides resources and\u00a0programming for parents and preschoolers against bullying.\u00a0Another program is to invite students, teachers, and other\u00a0speakers to perform presentations about bullying and standing\u00a0up for others.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Promote and implement guidelines dealing with\u00a0cyberbullying and Internet safety:<\/strong> As librarians and\u00a0information professionals, we can empower patrons and\u00a0users to behave responsibly on the Internet. Implement clear\u00a0guidelines regarding internet use and safety, and make sure\u00a0parents, kids, and teachers know the guidelines well. Check\u00a0out Cyberbullying.org<\/a> and this article<\/a> from YALSA for more\u00a0information.<\/p>\n

While these ideas are geared more towards public and school librarians, it is\u00a0everyone\u2019s responsibility to take a stand and help others, whether they are victims of\u00a0bullying, the bullies, or bystanders who don\u2019t know what to do. Also, don\u2019t forget that\u00a0bullying doesn\u2019t always stop at childhood. Adults can be bullied in the workplace, as\u00a0you can see in this article from the blog Librarian By Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

October is National Bullying Prevention Month<\/a>. As librarians and information\u00a0professionals, how do you plan to take a stand year-round?<\/p>\n

Whitney Zahar is the Senior Assistant for Pennsylvania and an MLIS student\u00a0at San Jose State University. Originally from Virginia, Whitney\u2019s life has spanned\u00a0Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., South Korea, and now Taiwan. Currently, she is an\u00a0editor and writer for an ESL educational materials publishing house in Taipei, and she\u00a0writes for GoOverseas.com. She\u2019s also co-editor of her Student Chapter of the SLA\u2019s\u00a0newsletter. When she has spare time, she read, studies Chinese, does yoga, and raises\u00a0a beautiful, bilingual son. Connect with her on LinkedIn<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Whitney Zahar, Senior Assistant, INALJ Pennsylvania Librarians Against Bullying! First, I want to open with a little personal story. During my elementary and\u00a0middle school years back in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s, I was bullied frequently by my\u00a0classmates. It was mostly emotional and psychological bullying; I was teased,\u00a0ostracized, and manipulated for nearly 7 years. I\u2019ll…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":82487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[146,69,3592,6590,6300,3654,6591,111,6589],"class_list":["post-82486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-bullying","tag-children","tag-inalj-pennsylvania","tag-librarians-against-bullying","tag-tips","tag-whitney-zahar"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Whitney-Zahar-Photo-800x599.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-lsq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/82487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}