Gavin Downing
Librarian
Kentridge High School
ALA Law Librarian Trainer, ALA Councilor for Washington State
Chair Emeritus, WLA Intellectual Freedom Section
Robin Bradford
Collection Management Librarian
Pierce County Library System
Partner, Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers
Alex Byrne
Youth Services Librarian
Pierce County Library System
Mastodon: @TheyofHIShirts @ glammr.us
for
Washington Library Association Conference
10 April 2025
#wla2025
[Alex:] A note before we get started: this program was recorded on the 14th of March, 2025. If there is some content in this presentation that you believe we should have covered, or some world event that has happened in the interim between our recording and your viewing, please remember: it hasn't happened for us yet, and therefore, we don't know that we needed to talk about it.
[Second Note: This transcript has been lightly edited for style and to remove the verbal flubs that inevitably happen when you are talking live with other people, so that it reads smoother in text, and has hyperlinks inserted where relevant for context, citation, or for further reading.]
I have two presenters here with me who will be doing the bulk of the talking while I just sit back and lob questions at them. First, Gavin Downing is the librarian at Kentridge High School. He was recognized with WLA's Candace Morgan Intellectual Freedom Award in 2022 and the Washington Education Association's Student Involvement Award in 2023. He is an ALA Law for Librarians trainer, and the current ALA Councilor for Washington State. Gavin was also the most recent chair of the Intellectual Freedom Section of WLA. Hello, Gavin.
[Gavin:] Hello!
[Alex:] Also with us is Robin Bradford. Robin Bradford is a Collection Management Librarian for the Pierce County Library System, and, with Becky Spratford, helps librarians improve their Reader's Advisory skills through Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers programming. Hello, Robin!
[Robin:] Hi there!