Got $?

Right, so I know librarians — or leftists, for that matter (and leftist librarians especially) — are not the most flush of demographics, but I also know that some of us have at least a little bit of change kicking around. And being the helpful people we are, some of us like to occasionally throw some money at organizations and projects that could use the funds. Here, then, are a few suggestions for what to do with all the change under your couch cushions. Or, perhaps you might want to avail yourself of these funds yourself at some point; mutual aid, y’all.

LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund This fund “ is devoted to the support, maintenance, medical care, and welfare of librarians who, in the Trustees’ opinion, are:
- Denied employment rights or discriminated against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, age, disability, or place of national origin; or
- Denied employment rights because of defense of intellectual freedom; that is, threatened with loss of employment or discharged because of their stand for the cause of intellectual freedom, including promotion of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, the freedom of librarians to select items for their collections from all the world’s written and recorded information, and defense of privacy rights.”
My dear comrade Amelia alerted me to the Librarians and Archivists to Palestine delegation, which will be heading out this summer. Maybe you should join them! But that shit’s expensive! They are fundraising on Indiegogo.
Ok, friends, this one, the Rebecca Samay Rosenthal ’07 Memorial Scholarship Fund at Smith College, is a little personal. As an undergrad I transferred to Smith College in January 2004. I showed up on campus not knowing a single person. Becca and her constant companion, Meg, were the very first people I met. They were out on the porch of Lawrence House, my new home, and immediately jumped to help me unload my station wagon as a light snow fell. Becca died a few months ago; she’d been working on her MLS at Simmons College, which is where I also went to library school. Her parents and friends are establishing a fellowship fund at Smith in her honor to assist other Smithies in Smith’s fledgling archives & special collections concentration.
Our colleagues in Chicago are making sure that the NATO5 & other comrades have plenty to read while they’re locked up; funds pay for purchase of books & shipping.