HKS Library Newsletter October @ HKS Library Ah, fall. When the green leaves turn orange, the t-shirts turn into sweaters, and the course readings turn into assignments. Or maybe assignments just turn into more assignments. In any case, we hope you'll take advantage of the many events and resources coming up with the HKS Library! In this newsletter you'll find... Explore the Libraries & Democracy Initiative, with an event & display on book bans. Join Data + Donuts, on direct participation in democratic governance & teaching the policy implications of generative AI. Celebrate LGBTQ History Month, and enter a book raffle. Get a free stamp for your absentee ballot, from now through Election Day. Recommend your favorite books on identity & belonging, to add to our collection. Explore our 40+ Research Guides, for expertly curated resources in HKS subject areas. Thank you for participating in National Library Card Signup Month! Led by HKS Library & Research Services, the Libraries & Democracy Initiative is built on the recognition that libraries are critical to a thriving democracy. Libraries enable the free exchange of ideas among all members of a community, coupling universal access to lifelong learning with space for gathering and genuine interaction. They serve as key nodes of civic engagement, doubling as polling places, connecting patrons with government services, and hosting community forums on polarizing topics. In an information-driven society grappling with questions of trust, inequity, and polarization, libraries offer the tools for exploration and connection. The Libraries & Democracy initiative gives HKS community members opportunities to meaningfully engage with these ideas and practices through events, collaborations, visual media, and beyond. A History of Censorship, Book Bans, & the First Amendment Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 4:45-6:15PM ET | Wexner G-02 or Zoom Censorship is on the rise within the United States and in Massachusetts. There is a surge of individual challenges to books held by school and public libraries, and a proliferation of legislative action across the country to shape and limit the content of school libraries and course curriculum. Join Jocelyn Kennedy, a lawyer and librarian, to explore the history of government censorship within the United States, discuss the legal limits of censorship, and develop an understanding of the role the First Amendment plays in protecting the freedom to read. Register Banned Books Week Explore the book display throughout October, in the HKS Library and online. Organized annually by the American Library Association (ALA) for the past 40 years, Banned Books Week "celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools." Banned Books Week 2024 is particularly urgent because libraries across the U.S. are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. In 2023, the ALA documented 1,247 demands to censor library books and resources, targeting 4,240 unique titles. This is the highest number of book challenges since the ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. These challenges overwhelmingly targeted books featuring LGBTQ+ themes or characters, characters of color, and themes of race and racism. 93% of these challenges targeted public and school libraries. Banned Books Week 2024 took place from September 22-28, but the HKS Library's display will be up for the entire month of October. Explore the digital book display Event series Data + Donuts Learn from researchers and practitioners about how they use data in their work and think about issues of data and society. Direct Participation in Democratic Governance Friday, October 11, 2024 | 10:30-11:30AM ET | Wexner 434 or Zoom Bailey Flanigan is a 2024 Wojcicki Troper HDSI Postdoctoral Fellow, hosted by Archon Fung at HKS’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Bailey studies democratic processes that facilitate direct public participation and representation in policymaking. Using methods from algorithms, social choice, and political science, her work contributes deployable tools for supporting existing processes, as well as computational, empirical, and theoretical frameworks for analyzing their impacts. Register Teaching the Science & Implications of Generative AI Friday, November 1, 2024 | 10:30-11:30AM ET | Taubman 510 or Zoom Teddy Svoronos is a Senior Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, where he teaches courses in using statistical methods to improve public policy. In Spring 2024, Teddy and two fellow HKS faculty members launched the course The Science and Implications of Generative AI. Teddy will speak about how he and his co-teachers developed the course curriculum given how rapidly the field of generative AI is developing, the insights they gained from their first semester offering the course, and why the topic is critical to public policy today. Register Table & Raffle Celebrate LGBTQ History Month Tuesday, October 15, 2024 | 11:30AM-1:30PM ET | Sunshine Lobby Enter a Book Raffle! October is LGBTQ History Month. First celebrated in 1994, the month is a time to observe the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people and communities. Join the HKS Office of Diversity, Inclusion, & Belonging (ODIB) and the HKS Library to celebrate LGBTQ History Month! We'll have rainbow snacks, a button maker with designs from the Political Buttons Collection, and a raffle for a mystery book that explores LGBTQ history. Learn more about LGBTQ History Month Harvard Votes Challenge Free Stamps for Absentee Ballots Voting with an absentee ballot? Mail it with a free stamp from the HKS Library! Available from now through Election Day on November 5. And, register to vote! Harvard Votes Challenge (HVC) is a nonpartisan initiative that strives to build a civic culture at Harvard by increasing voter registration and participation among students, staff, and faculty. This year, HVC is partnering with the HKS Library to offer free stamps for mailing absentee ballots. If you plan to vote absentee and don't live in one of the 19 states that provides postage, you can get a free stamp from the HKS Library. Between now and Election Day on November 5, stop by the HKS Library whenever the Service Desk is open to get your absentee ballot stamp. Any HKS community member can get a stamp for themselves and an immediate family member. Below are additional resources to ensure you're ready to vote this November: CanIVote.org: Register to vote, check your registration status, find your polling place, and more. Vote.org: Review your state's absentee ballot deadline. Harvard Notary: Several states including Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island require a notary for absentee ballots. Book an on-campus appointment. Join the Harvard votes challenge Recommend your favorite book on identity & belonging Managed by the HKS Library and curated by HKS community members like you, the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB) Collection features books and films that foster dialogue around diversity, inclusion, and belonging at HKS while representing the many identities and backgrounds in our vibrant HKS community. The DIB Collection is driven by HKS community recommendations. If you have a favorite book on identity or belonging and want to see it in our collection, let us know! Unless the book is already in our collection, we're very likely to add it. Recommend your favorite book Explore library research guides Starting a research project, policy memo, or other assignment? The HKS Library's 40+ Research Guides are an excellent place to start. Expertly curated with recommendations on the best research resources in HKS's subject areas, our Research Guides will save you time and energy finding what you need. Explore our most popular subject guides on... Campaigns & Elections Leadership Studies International Relations Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Resources Transportation Policy No matter what topic you're working on, make sure you know the basics of doing research at HKS with our Start Your Research guide. Thank you for participating in National Library Card Signup Month! Thank you so much to everyone who participated in National Library Card Signup Month with the HKS Library! With your help, over 150 Harvard community members signed up for public library cards, and we sent over a dozen postcards of appreciation to public libraries around the world. We couldn't have done it without our partners at Boston Public Library, Cambridge Public Library, and Somerville Public Library. If you couldn't make it to one of our library card signup events, you can still get an eCard for immediate access to digital library resources like audiobooks, e-books, and research databases. Get a Boston Public Library eCard. Get a Cambridge/Somerville Public Library eCard. Acknowledgment of Land and People Harvard University is located on the traditional and ancestral land of the Massachusett, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston and Cambridge. We pay respect to the people of the Massachusett Tribe, past and present, and honor the land itself which remains sacred to the Massachusett People. From the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP). HKS librarians can support your research and academic work. Email us or schedule a meeting. Contact the hks library