this is so helpful today <3 (also, I think my partner's arrivals shirt is the one he gets the most comments on when we're out and about, so there are dozens of us! dozens!)

Hell yeah, @raforall.bsky.social !

OPINION: The Chicago Public Library budget is under threat. Let’s remember what libraries do for us • The TRiiBE Cutting less than one day of the Chicago police would cover the $4.5M needed to ensure there are no cuts to library staffing and resources.

NEW — Cutting less than one day of the Chicago police would cover the $4.5M needed to ensure there are no cuts to library staffing and resources, one resident writes.

Read this opinion submission about protecting city libraries in the 2026 budget.

thetriibe.com/2025/12/opin...

You Can’t Fight Fascism While Defunding Libraries “Libraries embody everything that we need right now to fight back against fascism," says Sara Heymann.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:

SAIC Guts Video Data Bank The School of the Art Institute of Chicago cut staff at the Video Data Bank and announced major cutbacks to the contemporary video art repository.

in recent years SAIC has shown a lot of disrespect for the unique and important work that the Video Data Bank does, but this sudden removal of some of my amazing former colleagues without warning or consulting with the artists represented by the VDB, is *enraging*

www.artforum.com/news/school-...

I don't know anyone there, but I'm curious about the items linked on this Monmouth libguide. They seem to be fairly simple records, but consistent? guides.monmouth.edu/tarot/books

screenshot of flyer from Instagram afsmc1215 "fund the library call and craft power hour"

screenshot of flyer from Instagram afsmc1215

www.instagram.com/p/DQ4R1MGkXS...

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Low ALT text due to low energy day

For my knitting friends:

Chicago History Museum cuts hinder research, exploration The timing couldn't have been worse. The Trump administration has slashed museum budgets, the Smithsonian is being reviewed to align with Donald Trump's vision of America and the school year just star...

I'm so frustrated that this is happening, both to my former colleagues and to the Chicago public who have had access to research and archives cut off. Everyone here deserves so much better. chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/...

I saw the advice somewhere to make a writeable sign to put by your bed or cabin or whatever and put some short notes on it and that has almost solved this problem for me - this save I've made it further than I ever have before (just trying to find that elusive book of mysteries)

Donate to Fobazi’s road to recovery: Kidney and liver transplant, organized by Ysabel Gerrard Hello all, my name is Ysabel and I’m fundraising for my friends … Ysabel Gerrard needs your support for Fobazi’s road to recovery: Kidney and liver transplant

Fobazi is currently in the ICU and could use your support. Apologies to those I haven’t been able to reach out to yet. You can message me for more info and I will be posting updates to GoFundMe. Please share, send healing thoughts, prayers, etc. ❤️ -Elena

gofund.me/c8485b58

I feel like the brown "cultural site" type signs might even still be up? I know they were when I worked over there a few years ago and it was always such a bummer reminder because I wanted to go but it didn't exist anymore :(

As you can imagine, AI has made finding canning recipes/instructions on the internet kind of a nightmare :/. Extension offices are usually pretty trustworthy, though!

Ball® Blue Book Guide to Preserving 38th Edition, Recipe Book | Ball The 38th Edition Ball® Blue Book Guide to Preserving is the ultimate guide for beginners and experts alike. Learn how to safely preserve food and create signature meals with over 200 pages of canning,...

You might already have done other canning, but if not and you're jazzed to do more after your class, I highly recommend the guide published by Ball - it is really clear about the safety parameters that you need to follow and it's recipes are pretty solid: www.ballmasonjars.com/products/ess...

Even though I don’t get to see this as much anymore, watching students engage with history day was one of the highlights of my career. This is horrible news.

Stop union-busting at Chicago History Museum! On April 1, Chicago History Museum employees voted to form their union. On April 2, CHM management retaliated with discipline and terminations. Send a message—let management know that union-busting is...

Workers at the Chicago History Museum have recently overwhelming voted to unionize, but leadership has unethically and illegally retaliated. Here's a letter you can send if you'd like to make your feelings on the issue known: actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...

Results

What does the IMLS mean to us and to our members? Here's one example--in 2017 member @chicagomuseum.bsky.social got an IMLS grant to hire a project cataloger to get small archival collections into the online catalog and also into the Explore Chicago Collections portal. 1/2

Because this is one of my few niche areas of expertise I wanted to share that the illustrator is John R. Neill (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R....). The illustrations in this book are some of my favorites!

I use Credit Union 1, which does have a few physical locations left in Chicago, though none are super duper convenient to me. You can use 7-11 and Walgreen ATMs without charges, which is fairly easy to do. I've been happy with them!

Building Spaces of Solidarity and Connection: A Historical, Theoretical, and Practical Lens on Libraries’ Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Justice A Virtual Summit sponsored by the Social Responsibilities Round Table Monday, April 7, 2025 This event is free and open to the public

The Social Responsibilities Round Table of the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social is hosting a day long virtual summit April 7, “Building Spaces of Solidarity and Connection." What could possibly be more important than that?

Info here! www.ala.org/srrt/buildin...

(not that I am recommending new or more ways to look at instagram/meta, but if you'll be doing it anyway, it helps)

I tend to only check ig on my browser and forgot I had an autoplay-block browser extension. I looked over my partner's shoulder while he was scrolling the app and the amount of moving image just happening at him was SO wild to me. So I highly recommend the browser extension if you don't have it!

I'm so excited to see this news!

If you are looking for a mutual aid network on the South Side of Chicago, please tap into Market Box: marketboxchi.org
If you are interested in learning more about how our food distribution works, join our email list, volunteer, and consider joining our next leadership cohort.

If you’re feeling a sense of despair and looking for a way to take action, join us this Saturday and help us build a public archive of government-conducted transit and climate studies — starting with federal studies before they disappear.

This is a great way to find community and get plugged in!

If you're in Chicago, you can use this form: www.chipublib.org/suggest-a-pu...

I've become a baked oatmeal gal and even that has sort of ruined overnight oats for me (my other make-ahead/easy solution). It's so hard to have diverse but equally delicious oat options!

I wish I could use these more easily and boost the program, but as a carless Chicagoan who doesn't live on a direct line to any of these sites, I'll keep paying for pick-up compost services.

Also I don't know what these folks' freezer situation is, but mine absolutely cannot fit a whole bag of compost. We fill up a five-gallon bucket every month, so even if I dropped off every week, I do not have 1.25 gallons of extra space in there!

Girl Scouts plan to retire 2 cookies at the end of the 2025 season: See flavors Now is your time to get Toast-Yay! and S'mores, two Girl Scout cookie flavors, before they are discontinued by the end of the 2025 season.

Sadly it looks like it :( www.usatoday.com/story/money/...