Intended to be an accessible guide to transformational information work, the book collects approximately thirty brief case studies of information related organizations, initiatives, and/or projects that focus on social justice related activities. Each case is a short narrative account of its particular subject's history, objectives, accomplishments, and challenges faced. It also describes the material realities involved in the subjects' day-to-day operation. Furthermore, cases include pertinent excerpts from interviews conducted with individuals directly involved with the information organization and will conclude with three-to-five bulleted takeaway points for information workers to consider when developing their own praxis - Present useful guidance on transformative library and information science - Gathers real-world case studies of library and information practice relating to social justice - Gives takeaway points for readers to quickly apply in their own situation - Provides inspiration for the development of progressive library and information practice - Considers radical library and information science at a high level, offering recommendations for the future

Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color--reimagine library and information science through the lens of critical race theory. In Knowledge Justice, Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color scholars use critical race theory (CRT) to challenge the foundational principles, values, and assumptions of Library and Information Science and Studies (LIS) in the United States. They propel CRT to center stage in LIS, to push the profession to understand and reckon with how white supremacy affects practices, services, curriculum, spaces, and policies.

This work provides a comprehensive examination of the life and professional career of E.J Josey within the broader historical and political landscape of the civil rights movement. In the era of Jim Crow, Josey rose to prominence in the library profession by challenging the American Library Association (ALA) to live up to its creed of equality for all. This was not easy during the 1950s and 1960s, during segregation. Using interviews with Josey and his contemporaries, as well as several archival sources, library educator Renate Chancellor analyzes Josey’s leadership, particularly within modern day racial currents. During his professional career, spanning over fifty years (1952-2002), Josey worked as a librarian (1953-1966), an administrator of library services (1966-1986), and as a professor of library science (1986-1995). He also served as President of the American Library Association and perhaps his most notable achievement, he successfully drafted a resolution that prevented state library associations from discriminating against African American librarians. This essentially ended segregation in the ALA. Josey’s transformative leadership provides a model to tackle today’s civil rights challenges both in and outside the library profession. This authoritative work copublished by the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) documents for the historical record a significant period of history that is underexplored in the scholarly literature. The target audience for this book are researchers, historians, LIS educators and students interested in understanding the complex struggle for civil and human rights in professional organizations.

Although they may not have always been explicitly stated, library work has always had normative goals. Until recently, such goals have largely been abstract; they are things like knowledge creation, education, forwarding science, preserving history, supporting democracy, and safeguarding civilization. The modern spirit of social and cultural critique, however, has focused our attention on the concrete, material relationships that determine human potentiality and opportunity, and library workers are increasingly seeing the institution of the library, as well as library work, as embedded in a web of relations that extends beyond the library's traditional sphere of influence. In light of this critical consciousness, more and more library and information science professionals are coming to see themselves as change agents and front-line advocates of social justice issues. This book will serve as a guide for those library workers and related information professionals that disregard traditional ideas of "library neutrality" and static, idealized conceptions of Western culture. The book will work as an entry point for those just forming a consciousness oriented towards social justice work and will be also be of value to more experienced "transformative library workers" as an up-to-date supplement to their praxis. - Justifies the use of a variety of theoretical and practical resources for effecting positive change - Explores the role of the librarian as change agents

"Provides a snapshot of the current state of critical information literacy as it is enacted and understood by academic librarians"--

Practicing Social Justice in Libraries provides practical strategies, tools, and resources to library and information workers and students who wish to drive change in their classrooms, institutions, and communities and incorporate social justice into their everyday practice. With contributions from a diverse group of librarians, who have experience working in different types of institutions and roles, the book showcases the actions information professionals, largely from historically marginalized groups, are taking to create a more socially responsible environment for themselves and their communities. The chapters reflect on personal experiences, best practices for programming, professional development, effective collaboration, building inclusive community partnerships, anti-racist practices in the classroom, and organizational culture. Exploring how and why library workers are incorporating anti-racist and anti-oppressive work within their everyday roles, the book demonstrates that library workers are increasingly sending messages of protest and advocating for equity, justice, and social change. Highlighting their experiences of marginalization and exclusion, contributors also reflect upon the impact social justice work has on their mental health, careers, and personal lives. Practicing Social Justice in Libraries is essential reading for library and information workers and students who are searching for practical ways to implement more inclusive practices into their work

This accessible and compelling Special Report introduces cultural humility, a lifelong practice that can guide library workers in their day-to-day interactions by helping them recognize and address structural inequities in library services. Cultural humility is emerging as a preferred approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within librarianship. At a time when library workers are critically examining their professional practices, cultural humility offers a potentially transformative framework of compassionate accountability; it asks us to recognize the limits to our knowledge, reckon with our ongoing fallibility, educate ourselves about the power imbalances in our organizations, and commit to making change. This Special Report introduces the concept and outlines its core tenets. As relevant to those currently studying librarianship as it is to long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings including archives and museums, from this book readers will learn why cultural humility offers an ideal approach for navigating the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or amongst staff members themselves; understand how it intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory; see the ways in which cultural humility’s awareness of and commitment to challenging inequitable structures of power can act as a powerful catalyst for community engagement; come to recognize how a culturally humble approach supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness in day-to-day interactions; reflect upon cultural humility’s limitations and the criticisms that some have leveled against it; and take away concrete tools for undertaking and continuing such work with patience and hope.