This work presents the history and impact of the seven most important progressive library organizations worldwide--in Austria, Germany, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom, and two in the United States. Each organization is considered within its national context, and in fact, the English word "organization" does not quite fit the nature of all of the groups. The South African organization, LIWO, was transitional in that it helped bring South African librarianship from apartheid to majority rule and then disbanded. The other organizations or their successors are still working in one form or another. Some of the organizations have had or continue to have vibrant local chapters, though many of the original activists have recently retired or died. The author has interviewed many of them at a time when they were assessing their life work, and handing off to new generations.

Questioning Library Neutrality: Essays from Progressive Librarian presents essays that relate to neutrality in librarianship in a philosophical or practical sense, and sometimes both. They are a selection of essays originally published in Progressive Librarian, the journal of the Progressive Librarians Guild, presented in the chronological order of their appearance there. These essays, some by academics and some by passionate practitioners, offer a set of critiques of the notion of neutrality as it governs professional activity, focusing on the importance of meaningful engagement in the social sphere.

"An alternative proposal for the education of librarians, emphasizing general knowledge and intellectual rigor and discouraging careerism"--Provided by publisher.

This book offers a timely mix of thought-provoking chapters bringing together national and global studies on critical librarianship, and conveying the kind of research which current library managers and researchers need, mixing theory with a good dose of pragmatism.

Long before e-mail, Internet, talking computers and jolly jargon, Sandy Berman was out there doing his best to link the world with old-fashioned letters to more friends than the Library of Congress has headings. His hard-hitting polemics, whether they be for political, racial, sexual or ethnic causes, have enforced the idea of librarian as activist. It all adds up to an exhilarating intellectual who has profoundly shaken our ideas of what libraries and librarians are all about--From Bill Katz's Foreword. For nearly four decades Sandy Berman has been the embodiment of the activist librarian, championing the causes of intellectual and personal freedom with a seemingly boundless supply of energy. His work to rid the Library of Congress subject headings of bias is legendary, but it is perhaps his encouragement and prodding of fellow librarians to broaden their vision of the profession that most counts. Here many of his friends and associates (Fay M. Blake, Martha Cornog, Elaine Harger, Zoia Horn, E.J. Josey, Will Manley, Noel Peattie, Norman Stevens and 24 others) reflect on what Sandy has meant to them and the profession.

Social justice in library and information science (LIS) seeks to achieve action-oriented, socially relevant impacts through information work. This edited volume includes papers that explore intersections between critical theory and social justice in LIS while focusing on social relevance and community involvement to promote progressive community-wide changes. Contributors include LIS researchers, practitioners, educators, social justice advocates, and community leaders who identify theories, methods, approaches, strategies, and case studies that apply these intersections in mobilizing community action to deliver tangible community building and development outcomes. The frame of study is inclusive of (though not limited to) academic, public, school, and special libraries, museums, archives, and other information-related settings. An international context of analysis is included along with a focus on social impact and community involvement in LIS practice and research, education, policy development, service design, and program implementation.

Libraries as Dysfunctional Organizations and Workplaces expands the "dysfunctional" concept in the professional and academic LIS discourse by exposing the internal problematics of libraries, especially at the social and organizational levels. Including contributions written by LIS professionals and scholars, the book demonstrates that although many libraries do well at attending to users and managing external information they often fail at taking care of their own employees and addressing internal workplace issues. Acadia and the contributing authors explore the problem of dysfunctional libraries so that the LIS profession can come to terms with the systemic dysfunction in their institutions and begin solution-oriented progress toward new and sustainable functionality. The book analyzes the dysfunctional nature of modern libraries, while simultaneously proposing solutions to reduce and alleviate dysfunction. Through theory and application, it takes an explicit practice-based approach with the intent to inform and explain dysfunction as experienced in the library workplace at individual and structural levels and perspectives. Libraries as Dysfunctional Organizations and Workplaces brings the dysfunction discourse to the attention of LIS academics and scholars so that further theoretical and empirical research can proceed from and subsequently be addressed in library and information schools. The book will also be essential reading for librarians and LIS students currently working or preparing to work in public, college, and university libraries.