Jared Mitchell is a librarian, passionate about empowering hyperlocal communities to communicate, compromise, and collaborate towards the design, development, and governance of their urban environments.

Mitchell has created and manages a network of free libraries in Oakland, CA to support the community engagement component of placemaking projects for the City of Oakland’s Department of Transportation and business improvement districts. Additionally, Mitchell works for the CODEX Foundation, using Islandora to create a digital catalog that will enable access to the foundation’s evolving library of artist and reference books for the foundation’s international audience.

Building on his undergraduate education in Political Science and decade of experience across education policy, Congressional staffing, and the financial services industry, Mitchell is currently earning a Master of Management in Library and Information Science (MMLIS) from the University of Southern California (USC).

As Mitchell completes his graduate school journey, please feel invited and encouraged to send him an email about what’s happening and what should.

That would mean a lot to him. He’s working on his capstone project and might need your message to inform his understanding of what actually matters in this vast, complex, and complicating world.

In friendship! With love.

Akoma Ntoaso. Nea Onnim. Kokuromotie.

For the past few years, I've been developing a website as a digital library with a hyperlocal focus. And I think it's off to a great start. If you ever want to say hi, feel free to swing by. We're 24/7 live at: TopsoilProject.org
Please utilize critical thinking for pattern recognition. Please utilize critical thinking for pattern recognition. Please utilize critical thinking for pattern recognition. So much for the 2-week ceasefire. I hate it here.
Jare Bear, the care bear. Photographed in 2026, outside of an old and unused office space.
Sharing for educational purposes only. I interpret this poem, written by Langston Hughes, entitled "Hero - International Brigade to be about Oliver Law, who served in the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) and is credited as being the first Afric
Over the past few days, I've been compiling my papers from graduate school into three (3) volumes with the assignments from three (3) courses in each volume. The book on top is a sketchbook that I made for storyboarding. But about those three (3) v
Never perfect. Always purposeful. This little group of humans.
This graphic is the handwritten outline for my final assessment in a class about leading values-based organizations. I titled this paper, "Nea Onnim. Akoma Ntoaso."
I'm just trying to get better at not knowing.
Yesterday, I restored a 1969 copy of Crusade of the Left by Robert A. Rosenstone which was my first time ever restoring a book. Crusade of the Left is a well-researched history book about the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War (1936
2026-01-27: General strike on Friday, January 30.
As a librarian and information scientist, I struggle with finding sufficient language to describe and discuss the variety of phenomena that we are experiencing. Everything is both more and less complicated than what it may seem. And I just wish for
Okay, so here's the play. I'm expected to graduate in May, and well, I can't complain. It's been a great ride so far, and I look forward to completing graduate school. Thank you to the University of Southern California (USC) for offering me an incr
As-salamu alaykum. Free Syria. Photo credit: Bakr Al Kassem/AFP via Getty Images NPR Staff. (2024, December 8). Photos: See the fall of Damascus after Syrian rebels topple Assad’s regime. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/20
May I offer a few thoughts about the universal value of ball being life? I hope that, no matter anybody's race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or age; we can all agree that ballers deserve crispy corners when they're ballin'. So, what's it
Some people pour concrete. Other people paint it.
Ball is Life. I recently began repainting the basketball court in Wilma Chan Park. It's a labor of love. And I've got paint and paint markers for anyone who wants to volunteer to help. DM me for details.
Prayers up for all of us.
Happy birthday to one of the most imaginative, diligent, and efficient visual artists in Northern California, @bamr_theartist ! In August, I had the privilege of photographing Bamr as he completed this mural over the course of 3 days. All of his