Come hear me read on April 24!
loft.org/events/mento...

Supporting Library Workers Who Have Lost Their Jobs - ACRLog If you haven't had the experience of losing your job suddenly, of being laid off or fired, it might be difficult to imagine what it's like. The person who has lost their job is probably going through ...

New from me on ACRLog, Supporting Library Workers Who Have Lost Their Jobs. If you don't know what to say or do when your coworker or colleague gets laid off or fired, here's a list of action items. 📚 acrlog.org/2026/03/21/s...

In Brief: This study examines the concept of neutrality in Library of Congress Subject Headings and the subject approval process by analyzing proposed headings that were rejected over a nearly 20-year period. It considers the place of neutrality in libraries more generally and argues that equity, rather than neutrality, is the appropriate lens for judging subject heading proposals. Finally, it recommends several reforms that could improve the subject heading process and make it more equitable.

Seeking Approval, Confronting Objectivity: Neutrality in the Library of Congress Subject Headings Approval Process
by Allison Bailund, Deborah Tomaras, Michelle Cronquist, and Tina Gross
www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2026/seeking...

Institutional neutrality at the U of M Institutional neutrality is the idea that higher education institutions should not take official stances on social or political issues that do not affect its core mission. Read about the history of institutional neutrality and why so many institutions are adopting it now.

University of Minnesota Provost with an after 5pm, during Spring Break, newsletter reminding us that our public research university has an arbitrary limit in scope. provost.umn.edu/about-evpp/c... My thoughts as a research librarian at UMN:

Screenshot of "Voices of the Catalog Oral Histories" announcement from Hennepin County Library newsletter. Text reads: Voices of the Catalog Oral Histories – Seven audio oral history interviews with former Hennepin County Library catalogers. Under the leadership of head cataloger Sanford "Sandy" Berman, HCL was well-known in library circles for its innovative cataloging processes in the 1980s and 1990s. Voices of the Catalog was an oral history project created by library school students at St. Catherine University to document these cataloging innovations

sites.google.com/view/voiceso...
archives.hclib.org/repositories...

Did not take any photos. Much too cold to take phone out of pocket! Temperature was 18, "real feel" -3. Which means it was windy windy windy.

Still warming up since returning from the protest on Veterans Memorial Bridge between Fargo and Moorhead today. Organizer who came by counting people with a clicker told me I was number 584!

New issue of Critcatenate now available, featuring news about critical #cataloging. cataloginglab.org/2025/11/30/c... #critcat

Metadata & cataloging librarians, please consider taking the surveys shared to help your colleagues! 📚

Here's Sandy Berman's whole self-interview lowereastsidelibrarian.info/interviews/s...
He starts with "Q: Should ALA really be celebrating its 150th anniversary?"

"A: No. Instead, it should be devoting its energy and resources to atoning for its checkered history" and continues in that vein.

The surveys will close on December 5, 2025. If you have questions about the survey or the Working Group, please email working group chairs Allison Bailund abailund@sdsu.edu or Rebecca Saunders rlsaunders@email.wcu.edu.

#critlib #critcat

AND/OR
Take the survey on methods used for local headings to share what methods your institution uses or has used to make changes to subjects, genres, and other authority data in the local catalog.
wcu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Take the survey on local heading needs to share what support you think your institution would need to make changes to subjects, genres, and other authority data in the local catalog.
sdsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

This work might include changing, augmenting, or masking terms from controlled vocabularies such as Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), creating local headings, etc.

The American Library Association Core Subject Analysis Committee's Working Group on Local Headings seeks to survey libraries, archives, museums and associated institutions about their involvement in the work of revising subjects, genres, and other authority data in their local catalogs.

Omar Fateh speaking at the rally.

Wider angle of Fateh speaking.

Group shot of press conference.

Omar Fateh in a group photo.

When the right to organize is under attack at the federal level, it is more important than ever to fight for and to protect that right with every tool at our disposal. We all deserve dignity and respect in our workplace. I was proud to join @seiumn.bsky.social today.

kstp.com/kstp-news/to...

Four paragraphs of text (part 1 of 2). This document is much better than other documents relating to the adoption of AI that I've read. I appreciate that ethical aspects are included, but most are relegated to the end, and not incorporated within the other principles. What I see lacking is consideration about when AI should be used, and when librarians should NOT use it. Ok, so AI should "improve access and discovery," yes, but how do we weigh that against pollution necessitated by AI-processing data centers? That's happening RIGHT NOW, in communities around the U.S. & the world, not in some theoretical place/time. Why make a list of what catalogers are useful for, when you could instead focus on the limited aspects that AI is useful for? What about labor concerns? Where is the principle that says that increased efficiency is not an excuse for laying off workers? It is absolutely impossible to ensure that "a record labelled as PCC does not vary in quality depending on whether AI was used." There will ALWAYS be a tradeoff in quality. We may judge that that tradeoff is worthwhile, based on limited resources and the capacity for machine learning to do more work in a shorter amount of time, but you CAN NOT ensure the same quality from AI that you can from an experienced cataloger. It's irresponsible to say that within these principles.

Another four paragraphs of text (2 of 2). As a PCC member, I absolutely DO NOT believe that catalogers have a role in "testing, training, and providing feedback for AI features and tools." Vendors should be paying their employees to do that!! How is that our job to do that work for free?? Why have we accepted that our students and faculty are the guinea pigs to role out inferior products?? I take issue with the idea that AI "may be incorrect, biased, or incomplete." It, by design, is always limited! This stuff was trained on Reddit, folks. It WILL be incomplete, and it WILL have errors, and it WILL be biased. I understand that this short document can't list all the harms, and that your deliverables are limited in scope to result in this rather anodyne document. But we have to take these harms seriously, and incorporate them into all parts of the document, not shunt them into an "oh, yeah, by the way, this stuff's 100% toxic for all living things, too bad!" end section. I appreciate your efforts and look forward to a future draft. Thanks for your consideration.

I left some rambling comments on the Draft PCC Guiding Principles for Use of AI and Machine Learning Technologies in Cataloging and Metadata Work. (Find the link in the "what's new" section wiki.lyrasis.org/display/PFCC...)

Encourage other #cataloging folks to give feedback; deadline: August 8th.

This is why it’s ok to compare you to nazis btw

AI Refusal in Libraries: A Starter Guide - ACRLog This week I was on a panel at the Generative AI in Libraries (GAIL) virtual conference. Along with my fellow panelists Andrea Baer and Emily Zerrenner, I joined moderator Sarah Appedu to discuss the c...

New blog post on ACRLog, "AI Refusal in Libraries: A Starter Guide." Got a lot of comments during a recent presentation that people hadn't heard of the concept of AI refusal, so here's some places to start. 📚 acrlog.org/2025/06/11/a...

text of poem "I am Not Famous Anymore" (go to link to read it!)

cover art for Meridian no.49

text of "At the Polarity Hotel" (go to link to read it!)

I am quite psyched to have two poems in the new issue (#49) of Meridian. (I don't think they are on BlueSky or I'd tag them...)

www.readmeridian.org/view/49/#pag....

Not to pile on, but every 'c' in 'Pacific Ocean' is pronounced differently.

Sign the Petition Reinstate Fired Meteorologist Sam Kuffel to CBS Channel 58 (Milwaukee)

A petition you should sign! chng.it/Lffr4rjXsb

I've had this happen I think three times now? Will it ever end? lol

Reposting to bring this to the attention to various library friends who I think would appreciate it-- a great summary of the dilemma, and the list of "green flags" is awesome!

Cover image of Winter 2024 of Exacting Clam

page 1 of poem (I can't put in the whole text here, but message me if you'd like to receive it by email)

page 2 of poem (I can't put in the whole text here, but message me if you'd like to receive it by email)

I'm psyched to have three poems in the latest (No. 15, Winter 2024) issue of Exacting Clam (@exactingclam.bsky.social), including one I wrote about my niece (growing up and) learning to drive. **sniff**

Cover of the zine "A Librarian Against AI; or, I Think AI Should Leave", featuring a design of bold color blocks inspired by the opening titles of the TV show "I Think You Should Leave"

📣 New zine!! "A Librarian Against AI; or, I Think AI Should Leave" is a 40-page zine about why we should think twice about using & supporting generative AI. violetbfox.info/against-ai/ #noAI #zines

Please! Thanks!!

I submitted my request form on July 1st and received my birth certificate on Saturday. Less than a week! I did pay extra for expedited shipping, but still, so much faster than I expected.

I'm thrilled that my poem "Ways to Gauge How Windy It Is" appears in the new issue (#26) of @JetFuelReview. Whee!
www.jetfuelreview.com/tina-gross-f...

Oops, link to video didn't paste correctly. www.youtube.com/live/Y9z6SdK...