Change the Subject: A Documentary About Labels, Libraries, and Activism
View the BPL broadcast premiere and virtual screening of Change the Subject (2019. 55 min. Dir. Jill Baron & Sawyer Broadley). A panel with Jill Baron, Óscar R. Cornejo Cásares, Tina Gross, Jelicia Jimenez, and Steven Pisani, all experts, educators, activists, and/or librarians, will take place during the second hour, immediately after the screening. View the broadcast premiere from the Brooklyn Public Library Facebook page.
Change the Subject follows a group of Dartmouth College students and librarians who worked to change the Library of Congress Subject Headings containing the term "illegal aliens." They sought support from the American Library Association and the Library of Congress to replace them with terms that remove bias and promote inclusion within library catalog records. The plan brought forth by the Library of Congress was struck down by the United States House of Representatives in 2016 when, in an unprecedented move, they required the subject heading “alien” be retained as part of a funding bill. Watch the trailer.
Despite the setback in Congress, this grassroots effort has garnered support from libraries across the country and there is a growing number of libraries embracing the "Change the Subject Project." At least 40 individual libraries, including NYPL and BPL, have changed the "illegal alien" subject headings in their local records. These include academic, public, special, and school libraries from across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These libraries range from small, local church and school collections to large universities and county library systems.
View the BPL broadcast premiere and virtual screening of Change the Subject (2019. 55 min. Dir. Jill Baron & Sawyer Broadley). A panel with Jill Baron, Óscar R. Cornejo Cásares, Tina Gross, Jelicia Jimenez, and Steven Pisani, all experts, educators, activists, and/or librarians, will take place during the second hour, immediately after the screening. View the broadcast premiere from the Brooklyn Public Library Facebook page.
Change the Subject follows a group of Dartmouth College students and librarians who worked to change the Library of Congress Subject Headings containing the term "illegal aliens." They sought support from the American Library Association and the Library of Congress to replace them with terms that remove bias and promote inclusion within library catalog records. The plan brought forth by the Library of Congress was struck down by the United States House of Representatives in 2016 when, in an unprecedented move, they required the subject heading “alien” be retained as part of a funding bill. Watch the trailer.
Despite the setback in Congress, this grassroots effort has garnered support from libraries across the country and there is a growing number of libraries embracing the "Change the Subject Project." At least 40 individual libraries, including NYPL and BPL, have changed the "illegal alien" subject headings in their local records. These include academic, public, special, and school libraries from across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These libraries range from small, local church and school collections to large universities and county library systems.