OWS Library Press Conference-Wednesday, November 23, at 12:00 noon

[Huey P. Long]

Library Press Conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: [e-mail]

For this event: William Scott, 412-390-6510

Occupy Wall Street Librarians Address Bloomberg for Destroying Books
Over 4k Books, Documents, Were Trashed by NYPD & Dept. of Sanitation in Raid

OWS Library Staff Recovers Books and Supplies, Less Than One-Fifth is Usable

What: Press conference to address the destruction of the OWS People’s Library by Mayor Michael Bloomberg during the 11/15 raid.
*Photo Opportunity* All of the recovered, destroyed books will be at the press conference.

Where: 260 Madison Ave, 20th Floor, between 38th and 39th St

When: Wednesday, November 23, at 12:00 noon

Who: Norman Siegel will host and moderate. Speakers: Gideon Oliver of the National Lawyers Guild, Hawa Allan a Fellow at Columbia Law School, and Occupy Wall Street Librarians from the People’s Library. Law professors from Columbia, members of the American Library Association, various writers and others have been invited.


So far, the People’s Library has received 1,099 books back from the Dept. of Sanitation after last week’s raid (some of which were not library books to begin with), and out of these, about 800 are still usable. About 2,900 books are still unaccounted for, and less than one-fifth of the original collection is still usable. These numbers may change slightly when the People’s Library gets an exact count of the recent (and final) retrievals from Sanitation, but not considerably.

“The People’s Library was destroyed by NYPD acting on the authority of Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the night of the raid. In addition to all our supplies, laptops, and tent, they threw roughly 4,000 books into garbage trucks and dumpsters that were adjacent to the park, as well as assorted rare documents that were associated with OWS,” says William Scott, an Occupy Wall Street Librarian.

Watch video of the NYPD and Dept. of Sanitation destroying the OWS People’s Library tent and throwing away all the books. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTkUjQwHf4I

Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to more than 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. For more visit www.occupywallst.org

http://peopleslibrary.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/library-press-conference/

[PETRUS]

1. K&R

[patrice]

2. Wow! "Hammer" them, verbally, on this sisters and brothers!!! nt

[Huey P. Long]

3. NOW

[Huey P. Long]

4. quote-

RDevro Ryan Devereaux
Property from #OWS eviction filled 26 sanitation trucks. Over 4000 books taken, 79% destroyed or never returned-attorney Norman Seigel

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. K&R!

Not safely stored as the NYPD claimed but rather treated like trash. SHAME!

[Huey P. Long]

6. More-

theDivaLea Lea A Hernandez
RT @TheOther99 RT @GregMitch: Watch live coverage of important People's Library press conf in NY, my pet cause: http://bit.ly/tZVuMP #OWS

===

11:50 Watch livestream of the OWS People's Library press conference (and see items below). Even the dogs were killed in raid? And besides books, much else missing. Trucks went straight to barge? And @newyorkist tweeting it. So far at presser: 79% of books missing or wrecked. Attorney demands: NYC must replace "every single" missing or destroyed book from catalog of 5000. Also: Bloomberg wrecked even his own book.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/164778/occupyusa-blog-wednesday-nov-23-frequent-updates

[Huey P. Long]

7. PHOTO-

&xsize=640&ysize=640


===

TheOther99 TheOther99
LIVE PIC: #OWS Library Press Conf. More than a dozen volunteer librarians catalogued each book.. http://TheOther99.tv http://yfrog.com/nu5xiqfj
6 minutes ago

[Huey P. Long]

8. Recent Tweets

Recent Tweets
»
TheOther99 TheOther99
Male speaker on Police action: "This was a raid to destroy our conversation. Our right to come out here and engage one another.." #OWS
1 minute ago »
TheOther99 TheOther99

FLASHBACK: @NYCMayorsOffice "... #OWS library, safely stored @ 57th St Sanit Garage; can be picked up Weds" http://yfrog.com/nzdr7ndj
4 minutes ago » TheOther99 TheOther99

LIVE PIC: #OWS Library Press Conf. More than a dozen volunteer librarians catalogued each book.. http://TheOther99.tv http://yfrog.com/nu5xiqfj
7 minutes ago

[Huey P. Long]

9. Photos / statements...

melissagira Melissa Gira Grant
Siegal: Every single book must be replaced, must guarantee this can never happen again in this great city. #OWS http://twitter.com/melissagira/status/139391679009538048/photo/1

==


OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Many of the books destroyed at contained handwritten notes from authors and visitors to @OWSLibrary http://bambuser.com/channel/OccupyJustin #ows
24 seconds ago

[Huey P. Long]

10. U of Pittsburgh English prof William Scott, an #ows librarian, just spoke.

_waterman Bryan Waterman
U of Pittsburgh English prof William Scott, an #ows librarian, just spoke. Here's a piece he wrote about @OWSLibrary:

http://www.thenation.com/article/164766/peoples-library-occupy-wall-street-lives

[Huey P. Long]

11. "The heart of this movement is ideas, art, history, sharing."

TheOther99 TheOther99
Mandy Pink, Professional librarian: "The heart of this movement is ideas, art, history, sharing." http://TheOther99.tv #OWS
3 minutes ago

[Huey P. Long]

12. The American Library Association expresses alarm

The American Library Association expresses alarm at the fate of the #ows people's library. #ala http://pic.twitter.com/zXgXxMIQ
1 minute ago

[csziggy]

23. Here is the ALA press release text

NEWS
For Immediate Release
November 17, 2011

Contact: Macey Morales
ALA alarmed at seizure of Occupy Wall Street library, loss of irreplaceable material

CHICAGO -The People’s Library, a library constructed by the New York Occupy Wall Street movement, was seized in the early morning hours of Nov. 15, by the New York Police Department during a planned raid to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park. The library held a collection of more than 5,000 items and provided free access to books, magazines, newspapers and other materials. According to ALA members who visited the site, the library reflected many of ALA’s core intellectual freedom values and best practices—a balanced, cataloged collection, representing diverse points of view, that included children’s books and reference service often provided by professional librarians.

City officials assured library staff that library materials would be safely transported to a sanitation depot, but the majority of the collection is still missing and returned items were damaged, including laptops and other equipment. The likelihood of recovering all library materials is bleak, as witnesses reported that library materials were thrown into dumpsters by police and city sanitation workers.

Longstanding ALA policy states:

“The American Library Association deplores the destruction of libraries, library collections and property, and the disruption of the educational purpose by that act, whether it be done by individuals or groups of individuals and whether it be in the name of honest dissent, the desire to control or limit thought or ideas, or for any other purpose.”

American Library Association (ALA) President Molly Raphael released the following statement regarding the destruction of the People’s Library:

“The dissolution of a library is unacceptable. Libraries serve as the cornerstone of our democracy and must be safeguarded. An informed public constitutes the very foundation of a democracy, and libraries ensure that everyone has free access to information.

“The very existence of the People’s Library demonstrates that libraries are an organic part of all communities. Libraries serve the needs of community members and preserve the record of community history. In the case of the People’s Library, this included irreplaceable records and material related to the occupation movement and the temporary community that it represented.

“We support the librarians and volunteers of the Library Working Group as they re-establish the People’s Library.”

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 60,000 members. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information.

http://ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pr.cfm?id=8568

And here is their resolution supporting the re-establishment of the OWS People's Library and deploring the destruction:

Occupy Wall Street Library - Resolution
Last modified by Bobbi Newman on Tue, 11/22/2011 - 6:43am
Tags:

2011

Whereas; Libraries serve as a cornerstone of our democracy and must be safeguarded. An informed public constitutes the very foundation of a democracy, and public, academic, government, special, and particularly unofficially constituted or "guerilla" libraries ensure that every citizen has free access to a wide range of information.

Whereas; The very existence of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement People’s Library in New York City's Zuccotti Park demonstrates that libraries are an organic part of all communities.

Whereas; Libraries serve the needs of community members and preserve the record of community history.

Whereas; In the case of the People’s Library, this includes irreplaceable records and archival material related to the OWS movement and the temporary community that it represents. Every library collection is entitled to exist and be protected regardless of supporters or detractors.

Whereas; “We support the librarians and volunteers of the OWS movement Library Working Group as they re-establish the People’s Library.”

Be it resolved; “The American Library Association deplores the destruction of the OWS movement People's Library, all libraries, all library collections and property, and the disruption of the educational purpose by that act, whether it be done by governments or governmental agencies, individuals or groups of individuals and whether it be in the name of honest dissent, the desire to control or limit thought or ideas, or for any other purpose.”

Mover: Patrick Sweeney

Seconder: Aaron Dobbs, Stephanie Braunstein, Bobbi Newman, Charles Kratz, Mike Marlin, Et Al. (feel free to add your name to the list of co-sponsors ;)

http://connect.ala.org/node/160826

[Huey P. Long]

13. "the fact that working journalists are asking what happened is telling"

blogdiva Liza Sabater
RT @OccupyWallStNYC: "the fact that working journalists are asking what happened is telling" @owslibrary press conference #OWS
2 minutes ago

[Huey P. Long]

14. Picture of the remaining destroyed People's Library. so sad.

Jonna_Rae Jonna Rae
Picture of the remaining destroyed People's Library. so sad. #books RT @Timcast #OWS Books http://twitpic.com/7ifhjd
1 minute ago

[myrna minx]

15. K&R n/t

[Huey P. Long]

16. "provided literacy to articulate our criticism"

SangyeH Ani Sangye
RT @OccupyWallStNYC: @OWSLibrary "provided literacy to articulate our criticism" #ows http://bambuser.com/channel/OccupyJustin
4 minutes ago

===

melissagira Melissa Gira Grant
Michelle from @OWSLibrary: all computers recovered not just broken, but destroyed. #OWS
8 minutes ago

[Huey P. Long]

17. this is the 1st outright destruction

OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
@MikeBloomberg has slashed library budgets & closed 'em in the past, but this is the 1st outright destruction: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889415-264/bloomberg_proposes_22_percent_less.html.csp #ows
10 minutes ago

[Luminous Animal]

18. Meanwhile, Toronto is trying to protect their library NOW...

Toronto has been raided and is being dismantled. People have chained themselves to trees and others are in the library refusing to leave.

http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23OccupyToronto

[Fire Walk With Me]

19. The NYPD throwing away the occupation is quite symbolic, is quite literal.

[Huey P. Long]

20. I am bumping this as it includes timely info. -eom

[Wilms]

21. ^

[ohheckyeah]

22. I wish they would put out a list of the books they need

replaced.

[Fire Walk With Me]

24. Video recording of retrieved books.

http://www.ustream.tv/theother99