Uncaged Library Arts & Information lifts up stories that sustain the hearts and minds of social change workers in the Bay Area and beyond. In particular, ULP produces collaborative music, theater, film, and data that highlights the struggles and victories of LGBTQ people, people living with HIV, and people of color in our ongoing fights for dignity, existence, and liberation.

UL was founded in 2016 by Anand Jay Kalra, who saw a disconnect between activist organizations and the communities they serve. As a professionally trained librarian with experience conducting qualitative and quantitative social research, Anand has a passion for connecting people with the information they need to be healthy, happy, and successful. Disappointed by seeing amazing social change agents fail to reach wide audiences with reports and blog posts, Anand began working with organizations to make their stories more accessible through video and song.

Film

Since 2015, we have produced and mentored the creation of more than 60 short films. The image above comes from a PSA commissioned by the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2018. You can see a selection of ULP films on vimeo.

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Theater

From 2016-2018, we created and produced a documusical based on the life of afrofuturist luminary Octavia E. Butler. The musical, Octavia of Earth, was a collaboration among a group of artists and featured film and dance in addition to lyrics and music. 

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Music

Musical styles vary from traditional choral to electronic, jazz, pop, ballads, and musical theater. For Octavia of Earth, the biographical musical about Octavia E. Butler, we created and recorded nine original songs between 2017 and 2019. The soundtrack album is available on CD, mp3, and streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services. 

Listen on Spotify

Teaching, Training & Speaking

As a librarian by training, I have a keen interest in breaking down complex ideas into understandable language. I am an experienced and enthusiastic speaker, trainer, and teacher on a wide range of topics. The image above links to a presentation I gave recently about information in social justice organizations, and here is one that provides a comprehensive introduction to  gender justice, with emphasis on transgender people in the HIV movement.

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Community Based Research

While much of my video work is a result of community interviews, sometimes you just need some solid quantitative research to support your advocacy. In 2015 and 2016, while I worked at Transgender Law Center, I co-designed a survey instrument based on a community focus group, supervised data collection, analyzed the data, and wrote up the results in 2 of the 3 reports (“Some Kind of Strength” and “See Us as People“). For these reports, I did the data analysis in R.

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Facilitation & Conflict Mediation

I went through my first conflict mediation training in 1994 and have grown my facilitation and mediation skills through thousands of hours of practice since then. You can read more about my approach here.

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