Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/mary-treacy/page/8/)
Please check out my blog at:http://marytreacy.wordpress.com One time librarian and former executive director of the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information I am currently a very happy independent consultant exploring untold options. My passion is to contribute the bit I am able to an informed and engaged community in which everyone's story can be told - and heard. This means using a dynamic array of media - newspapers, websites, television, radio, social media and whatever comes on line tomorrow. It means being willing to plumb the depths of a story - and it means having the courtesy, if not the intellectual curiosity, to learn from others. My sons are both enmeshed in the information maze. Rick Birmingham is the Manager of IT Services at MAP for Nonprofits. Steve Birmingham works his magic on the public access terminals in Hennepin County Library. Grandson Will Birmingham, 19 months, loves food, slides, puddles and books - in that order. A graduate of what was then the College of St. Catherine I went on to get a MS in Library Science. Truth to tell, I didn't work in real libraries that much, but I did work 18 years as Director of Metronet, a collaboration of nearly 600 public, academic, corporate, medical, school and other libraries and information services in the TC's. In recent years I've worked in a number of consulting positions, most notably the Sisters of St. Joseph Ministries Foundation. As a hapless volunteer I've worked with a host of nonprofits including the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, Learning in Style, the DFL Education Foundation, the Village Farmers Market among others. I've also written several pieces for TCDP. In recent weeks I've been joined the throngs of scribe wannabes by launching my own little blog called Poking Around With Mary - because poking around is what I do a good deal of the time.
It’s National Ice Cream Month! That momentous fact might have slipped my addled mind had I not been an interloper at the Hennessy-Beech Families’ Fourth of July 2013 picnic in Lewiston, Minnesota yesterday. The legendary piece de resistance of that grand occasion is overflowing bowls of HOMEMADE ice cream topped with fresh picked strawberries. Words fail… Continue Reading
During the coming weeks Minnesotans will be hearing the name “Grace Hopper” with unaccustomed frequency. The reason – The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center October 2-5. Continue Reading
“Less than 48 hours after the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, six of the nine states that had been covered in their entirety under the law’s “preclearance” Continue Reading
Decades ago Lady Bird Johnson transformed the highways of the nation with her intrepid support of wildflowers, the perky blooms that continue to beautify the terrain and eliminate costly grooming of the land. The spirit of Lady Bird lives on in Northeast Minneapolis. Continue Reading
Like most Americans I’m totally befuddled by the Snowden affair. A confirmed supporter of open government my allegiance to the people’s right to know is in the DNA. At the same time, I hear the concerns of data privacy advocates. And in the end, it seems to me that this bifurcation of the issue is a false premise at its core. Continue Reading
Like many American citizens, I am saddened by the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling re. the Voting Rights Act. I haven’t had time to hear the critics who have not had time to think about their response – unless, of course, there’s a leak at the Supreme Court. My response is that of a concerned citizen who has shuddered from the cold wind of incursion as I have observed the insidious maneuverings with voter rights in recent elections. The ax fell today when five Justices, led by Chief Justice Roberts, gutted the iconic center of the Voting Rights Act. Continue Reading
Big Joy is coming to the Twin Cities — seriously, Big Joy, the documentary. And the August 22 screening of Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton at the Walker is a joyous event. Continue Reading
“You can’t understand a city without using its public transportation system.” ― Erol Ozan, author, professor, information technologist Continue Reading
The Neighborhoods USA conference which I’ve been attending for the past two days was a delight and a disappointment – the first being the responsibility of the planners who get great credit, the latter the responsibility of local organizatons and neighborhoods who missed the boat. Continue Reading
Do you want to apply for retirement benefits? Check your bank balance? Talk back to the TV? Look for a job? Help your kid with her homework? Keep up with the news? Continue Reading