Posts by Ryan Clover-Owens
Will you help us launch season one of our podcast?
The Alternatives in Action podcast has been “coming soon” for way too long. But now we have 15 completed episodes, and an introduction. What are we waiting for!!!!???? Well, turns out creating and running a podcast has quite a learning curve, but I’ve broken through and figured it out thanks to the support of wrfi.org…
Read MoreEvent Recap : Many Worlds Are Possible
Thank you so much to everyone who attended and supported the Many Worlds Are Possible event last week. There are so many amazing outcomes, so here’s a quick list full of links too for your reading pleasure. 150 people attended! We shared food, connected, enjoyed the music, and had a chance to share work of the library and Prisoner…
Read MoreHow The Alternatives Library Will Adapt in 2019
If we didn’t exist, the kinds of books we carry and topics we pursue would not be as widely available to the public as they are right now. When a student searches “US foreign policy” our books are part of the results in 33 libraries in the region. When a new homeowner wants to learn…
Read More16 Ithaca Organizations That Create Possibility
Nothing is more inspiring to me than people who give so much of themselves in service of others, in service of the land, in service of future generations — people who have figured out a way to give so much, and even create institutions and organizations that can multiply this giving. And we have the…
Read MoreDoes it matter where we buy books? (Part 2: Autumn Leaves)
This is part two of my reflection on going local with our library’s collection development. In the last episode I spoke with Lisa Swayze from the cooperatively owned book store Buffalo Street Books. In this episode I spoke with Joe Wetmore from Autumn Leaves Used Bookstore, which has been on the Ithaca Commons since 1993.…
Read MoreDoes it Matter Where We Buy Books? (part 1: Buffalo Street Books)
In this episode I spoke with Lisa Swayze, the general manager of Buffalo Street Books about the impacts of shopping local vs shopping online. Over the past couple years the library budget has been tighter than usual, despite the increase in demands on the library’s services. To better serve the community we’re inviting our supporters…
Read MoreDoes it matter where we buy books?
The obvious answer is YES! But the reality is… and I bet you can relate… we slip up on our values and shop online from ‘you know where’. This is not an email about the big tech scandals and monopolizing of commerce… It’s an honest reflect on whether we, the Durland Alternatives Library, can make…
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