[Flyingbrickvolunteers] Hey everyone!

Wed Mar 31 12:39:32 UTC 2010

Friends,

I feel that this message has been sent out of concern for the organization
and I understand the frustration that it comes out of. However, I personally
feel like the best way to deal with these issues is in person. We've already
established that the tone of emails can most often be very uninviting.

This message makes me feel attacked and that work that I do for the Flying
Brick is irrelevant or unwanted. For every one person who doesn't show up to
a volunteer meeting or for an open hours shift there are three or four
people working on an event, building a newsletter, or checking and answering
emails for the group.

I also feel like this message reiterates that an informal hierarchy exists.
I do work with this organization, because I don't want to feel like big
brother is watching. If policies aren't working then we need to address and
change them *together*. The Flying Brick is not going to come together in
the magic of months. This work takes *commitment *and *time*. That means
folks will come and go as they please and as they are able. This
*doesn't*mean that the work that
*anyone* does is any less valuable than anybody elses'. Changes need to be
made in group settings based on consensus.

Beyond that we are all very active members of our community and have
personal lives that can sometimes get hectic beyond belief. It's a busy time
of year for most of us. In my opinion, and it's just that, legitimacy is not
the *main *concern for some of the not so large issues that have come up
(not saying that it's not a concern at all).

*Our inability to perceive one another with compassion rather than as
efficiency bots is exactly why we're doing the work that we do to begin
with.* If our answer to people not showing up for stuff is anger and
consternation why would people show up to begin with? Rather, we should be *
concerned* about the well being of our fellow community members.

My heart and my brain are tired from the preachings of revolutionary change
that get lost in the wind.
Let's mobilize our compassion and figure out these problems together rather
than attacking one another for a job poorly done.

Hermelinda

On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 6:54 PM, Alison <beautyofsilence at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey yall. I just wanted to send out an email while I am back in town for a
> few days. I am flying out of Richmond at 6am on the 31st for Portland
> Oregon! I am super super excited and terrified at the same time!
>
> I first of all want to thank everyone who has been helping with the library
> because without yall the library couldn't really function! so thank you for
> all that you do, no matter how big or small you feel your contribution is!
>
> I secondly just want to bring up some ideas about TFB, before I take off
> for a good 6 months. I won't be able to make it to meetings and probably
> won't have much internet access (but folks are always welcome to call me!!)
> so this is just a way for me to express this stuff before I take off.
> Included are a few proposals, that maybe someone could bring up at future
> meetings, since I don't expect or think that we should vote on it through
> email.
>
> Sorry if any of this comes off as negative, I don't mean it to, but there
> are a few things that I feel really need to get addressed, and that we need
> to make sure we are not overlooking, etc.
>
> xo
> <3
> **
>
> *
> 1. Open hours/checking stuff out*
> I propose that:
> - the list of folks doing open hours every month be visibly posted
> somewhere in the library, and have 2 folks (and cell phone numbers if they
> have them) signed up for each set of open hours. It would be each persons
> responsibility to know who they are doing open hours with and to call them
> if they don't show up and find out why. If someone can't do open hours, I
> feel it should be *their* responsibility to actively find someone else to
> take their place, in addition to sending out an email with a kind of call
> out for someone to do open hours last minute if they can.
> *
> reasoning:* the buddy system rules, and that would give new folks and good
> opportunity to "shadow" someone who may be more experienced doing open
> hours.
> Also, that way, when folks can't show up, someone can easily get in touch
> with them.
>
> Also, when checking people out, its really important that who ever is
> volunteering write down the stuff for them. there have been several "check
> out" entries that don't have phone numbers and email addresses, or is
> missing other things. and while the person checking stuff out may be a well
> known volunteer/friend to whoever is doing the checking out, someone else
> who may be contacting folks about over due books might not just have their
> phone number on hand. so please completely fill out the check out form
> legibly, it makes stuff a lot easier, in the long run, I think.
>
> I also propose that we start using a check out sheet for the chairs and the
> projector, so that we don't forget who has it, or who knows who has it. We
> should also count the number of chairs and make sure that amount leaves and
> returns to TFB.
>
>
> *2. Folks not showing up to meetings/open hours, etc.
> *There were two meetings today that pretty much no one, with the exception
> of like 2 folks, showed up for, and I have been told that folks have also
> not been showing up to do open hours. (I haven't been around so if this
> isn't true feel free to correct me! )
>
> What this says to me is that maybe folks really need to think about their
> capacity and energy level for doing things they agree to do. I understand we
> are all really busy and sometimes stuff just comes up ,which is totally
> fine! it just sucks that folks aren't showing up for stuff for whatever
> reasons, and maybe that means things need to slow down or things need to be
> done differently. I am not really sure.
>
> this is not something I have an answer for, so it's kind of up to the group
> to talk about this and come up with some concrete solutions. But I just
> wanted to put it out there for discussion I guess, because I feel like its
> stressful for people to be dealing with this stuff and that is no good.
>
> Also, Nathan and I have been talking about how it's also an issue of
> legitimacy. We don't have that many open hours to begin with, so if someone
> is taking the time out of their schedule to come by the library and no one
> is here, then that can be extremely inconvenient and it makes us seem less
> committed/serious. If we want other folks to take our group and it's
> endeavors seriously then it's important that we be consistent and committed
> as well. Otherwise we just look like a shoddy group of anarchists/activists
> who don't "know what they're doing".
>
> One of the major criticisms I have heard of lots of radical spaces/projects
> is that the people involved don't take it seriously as they want other
> people to take it.
>
>
> *3. Donations to the library
> *I got to the house last night and there were wet magazines all over the
> front porch, that I assume someone had dropped off? anyone know where they
> came from?
> people randomly dropping off stuff is not a good way to recieve donations,
> and from the beginning I have been really adamant about letting people who
> want to donate know that they can't just come and leave random boxes of
> books on the porch or in the library. What happens is that people do that,
> and no one knows where they came from, so they sit on the front porch and
> get rained on, or boxes of random stuff just sits in the corner for months.
>
> I think it'd be a good idea for everyone to come to some kind of agreement
> about the process for donating books and how to handle the inevitable box of
> random books that is bound to show up every once in a while. it sucks
> because often the folks living at TFB get stuck dealing with it. So just
> another thing to think about. Nathan, upon reading this email before I sent
> it out, decided to make a sign to put on the front porch as a kind of
> temporary solution.
>
>
>
>
> I understand that some of the stuff I am proposing/bringing up may seem
> really unimportant or really tedious or weird, but I really feel like a lot
> of processes that Hermelinda and I hashed out in the beginning are getting
> over looked or forgotten about. Which I understand because It takes practice
> to remember every little thing that you should do, but I think that these
> things are really important in order to keep the library flowing smoothly,
> and in a way that is the most non-authoritarian as possible.
> Also, if people feel like these processes need to be rewritten or re-hashed
> out and changed, you guys totally have the power to do that. Hermelinda and
> I came up with the policies/processes for stuff as a starting point and i
> think we both anticipated them eventually being changed or expanded upon
> anyway...
>
>
> if anyone wants to chat about this stuff the best thing would be for you to
> call me, because I don't really have a lot of internet access
> 804 586 4853
>
> Thanks for reading all of this! I appreciate you guys so so much and I know
> that I am leaving the library in good, capable, amazing hands!!
>
> keep loving, keep fighting, in solidarity
> Alison Self
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Flyingbrickvolunteers at lists.aktivix.org
> https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/flyingbrickvolunteers
>
>

-- 
Hermelinda Cortes
Richmond, VA
804-386-7798
hermelindacortes at gmail.com
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