Shel

@shel

The Transsexual Chofetz Chaim

she/her
shelraphen.com/

Mutant, librarian, poet, union rabble rouser, dog, Ashkenazi Jewish. Neuroweird, bodyweird, mostly sleepy.

I write about transformative justice, community, love, Judaism, Neurodivergence, mental health, Disability, geography, rivers, labor, and libraries; through poetry, opinionated essays, and short fiction.

I review Schoolhouse Rock! songs at @PropagandaRock

Website (RSS + Newsletter)

shelraphen.com/

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soc.lizard.tools/@shel

Shel @shel1/2/2023, 5:10 PM

I haven't been tracking what books I've been reading and I kinda wish I have been. I tried to go on storygraph and enter what I could remember and piece together from various apps but here's the thing: libraries don't keep records of your borrowing history for privacy reasons as a response to the PATRIOT Act. So I can't actually go back and see what print books I've read that I didn't purchase myself.

I agree with not keeping the records but also gosh I have no memory. I read a lot of books and they are gone now because I didn't write them down.

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in reply to @shel's post:

@tungol1/2/2023, 7:34 PM

I manage this (and other list keeping) with a note taking application on my laptop that's always one key combination away, and then just some plain text lists with the years (or months, sometimes) marked down alongside the media consumed.

I started keeping movies first, which means that I have that going back to 2008. In 2014 I started also noting who I saw each movie with, and where we watched it, which I think is a nice addition.

D @pinstripeowl1/3/2023, 11:05 AM

it's so frustrating to realise things have just been memory-holed out of existence - I know that feeling so well. Does your library do electronic emails of like, renew/return dates, or would there be a place you've neglected to get rid of paper slips/your request lists at all?

Shel @shel1/3/2023, 1:45 PM

It's not frustrating at all. It's an intentional and important thing that we no don't track your borrow history because that's how we protect you from government surveillance. When the US government passed a law mandating we share this information with the FBI to identify political dissidents, we responded by not keeping the records jn the first place. This way no fsscist administration can force us to out all the trans people, antifa, Muslims, etc. as libraries would be a very powerful tool for creating lists of undesirable minority groups.

Checking for "your materials are due soon" emails is smart though ty

D @pinstripeowl1/3/2023, 2:53 PM

oh yes, absolutely agree on institutional records! What I was referring to more was the personal memory failures: as someone with ADHD and bad habits, I find it frustrating when I have forgotten things that I know that I have done; they loom as a sort of known unknown within what I realise are gaps in my own notes/thoughts.

Shel @shel1/3/2023, 5:09 PM

I think my inability to just recall every book over an entire year as a librarian who reads a lot is maybe pretty normal even if I was NT haha. But yet I getcha

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