Lyrasis Learning is excited to host Jain Orr offering three webinars throughout September and October. Jain will be presenting:
How to Allow Murals in the School Library on Thursday, Sept. 4, from 12 - 1 p.m. EDT
Build a (Free) Makerspace on Thursday, Sept. 11, from 12 - 1 p.m. EDT
Gender-Supportive School Library Services on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 12 - 1 p.m. EDT
Jain Orr spent 5 years as a high school librarian in the Austin Independent School District (ISD) and has a background in grassroots activism, community development and ethnographic research. Currently, she is a doctoral student at the University of Texas interested in the impact of school librarianship, particularly at the secondary level. We recently spoke to Jain as part of our Spotlight Series.
Can you let attendees know a little bit about what to expect from these sessions?
Jain Orr: All three sessions describe different projects rooted in my experience as a high school librarian in the Austin ISD — so it will be a lot of storytelling about how all of these ideas unfolded and were shaped by the unique limitations and opportunities afforded by my circumstances. I'll end with my reflections on the lessons learned and hopefully time to brainstorm together with attendees who will undoubtedly have different limitations and opportunities. That will be the general format! I'm so excited!
Are there any experiences or moments that led you to focus on the physical space of the library, specifically murals and makerspaces?
Jain Orr: In the case of the makerspace it came from a chain of unrelated events. For the first three years at my high school we did not have air conditioning in the library (in Texas, y’all!) which led to a large mold outbreak on the literature books. This, along with a deep and overdue weeding, created swaths of empty shelves that looked bad. At the same time I was organizing other spaces around the school and noticed we had random caches of unused school and office supplies — so putting all the supplies in one place and where students could access (1) reduced waste, (2) improved access, and (3) filled my empty shelves. Similarly, the first library mural was solving a problem with "looks" in that the outside of the library just looked like two boring ugly doors and it was easy to walk right by and never notice it. The first mural was for library awareness, and subsequent murals were more opportunistic and had less friction since so many supplies and so much know-how was acquired in the first mural.
Could you share a bit about the challenges of supporting gender-non-conforming students and student creative expression in a state like Texas?
Jain Orr: Sure. I think this story illustrates what it is like navigating these issues, which I have learned through age and experience growing up in Texas. About two years ago my library clerk at the time who is non-binary was coming to work exhausted and depressed. When I asked what was going on they told me they were spending their evenings at the Texas capitol protesting the latest anti-trans laws. Having done this type of activism before (back in 2013 over abortion rights), I told them that I too had spent hours and days and months watching from the gallery as farm boys played games on their phones, ignored heartfelt testimonies, and only looked up to cavalierly vote about what I can do with my body. It's deeply abusive, demoralizing, and unfortunately, there's not much we can do about that sort of thing most of the time. I do not mean to imply AT ALL that protests of this sort are not valuable or that there is nothing we can do to fight back; but if certain modes of activism are tearing you apart then it’s worth considering if this method of activism is right for you. There are other ways to further the causes you believe in that can bring joy and connection rather than suffering and withdrawal. So I told them, what we're doing here, in the school library, matters to our kids and does make a difference — in this library, in this school, we get to make the rules. I think it is easy to get so focused on national or state-level politics that we miss opportunities to act locally or even in our own workplaces where we already spend 9+ hours of our day. The story of the three little pigs came to mind: are you trying to blow down brick houses or straw houses? There are many ways to bring the world we'd like to live in into being rather than waiting around for someone to come save you. Anarchists call this idea prefiguration. As the late great David Graeber points out: the most enduring revolutions are often silent, and to echo a chant from the Occupy movement: "we are the ones we've been waiting for." I'm happy to report that this clerk went on to create a very successful and popular queer craft club that met on Fridays in the makerspace. It was so beautiful to see them all shine and laugh and help each other, I get teary-eyed just thinking about it! 🥹🙏
Many of your initiatives have centered around encouraging students creatively, and allowing them autonomy. Could you share a little about that approach?
Jain Orr: Absolutely! This is a great question! I will go into more detail on this topic a little in Build a (Free) Makerspace, but addressing this is the primary focus of How to Allow Murals. I’d say that the overarching theme is to put process over product. This is basically the opposite message we get from our culture which says that we must always produce and be efficient and finish what we start. This way of thinking frames an unfinished mural as a failure or sunk cost. But when it comes to doing art (or life, for that matter), this is never the case. One of the most powerful effects of doing art is developing a resilience to risk-taking. Another thing I’ll talk about is what not to do: micromanage. I think this happens when the librarian gets attached to their idea of an outcome and this can lead to controlling behavior that is toxic to artists, and especially teen artists. I’ll talk about the psychology of that too. Focus on making murals rather than having murals.
Finally, what are you reading, listening to, or watching?
Jain Orr: My son and I are watching Dan da Dan which is an anime on Netflix and we just started the manga together. I’m also reading a lot by S.R. Ranganathan — beginning with his canonical book The Five Laws of Library Science which was published in 1931. I know most librarians have probably heard of the 5 laws, but if you haven’t read the original text I would highly recommend you do. It’s mind-blowingly good and I’m left thinking not only how far ahead of his time he was, but also how far as a profession we need to go to live up to this vision. I am of the opinion that this text should be required reading in all library programs. I've also gotten mildly obsessed with solar punk, a new literary genre and foil of cyberpunk that asks and answers the question: what if the capitalists don't win and we create environmentally harmonious cities where people thrive? If the doom scroll has got you down, I suggest looking up solar punk and hopecore. If you're like me it will fill you with excitement for the possibilities.