A Critical Phenomenology of Whiteness in Academic Libraries

Crist, Emily; Clark/Keefe, Kelly

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102557

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…(2015) employ critical discourse analysis and critical race theory to uncover how “racism operates on the spaces, people, and public services practices of academic libraries” (p. 249). Crist and Clark/Keefe (2022) use semi-structured interviews of academic librarians to explore tensions between librarians' racial identities and “desire for the field to improve” while confronting “the reflexive ambiguity and emotional discomfort that can accompany racial consciousness” (p. 10). Fiedler et al .…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the archive, reckoning with the past: inclusive approaches to institutional history

Maksin,

Bucher

2023

RSR

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PurposeIn describing these projects, the authors hope to encourage academic librarians and archivists to participate in, and even facilitate, similar work at their own institutions. Although both of these projects began in the library and included readings and discussions related to library and archival practices, the most generative conversations rapidly shifted from “how should the library handle these materials?” to “what might this institution do to reckon with its history?” When traditional library practices were de-centered and community perspectives were sought on the college archive, the authors were able to have more inclusive, authentic conversations about the college's history and future.Design/methodology/approachThis case study explores two projects undertaken at a liberal arts college: a working group and a credit-bearing course intended to reckon with racist, xenophobic or otherwise harmful materials in the college archive. Both projects were informed by the authors' engagement with Tema Okun's White Supremacy Culture and guided by inclusive pedagogies and practices that participants had explored in workshops and within the context of the college's Engaged Pluralism Initiative.FindingsThe working group and the course underscore the centrality of relationships, trust-building and time to the work of addressing difficult histories. The “campus-wide conversations” the authors had hoped to have about the college archive evolved into smaller spaces developed with intention and care. The diverse perspectives of working group members and students in the course demonstrate the value of bringing together viewpoints from outside the library and beyond institutional or disciplinary silos, to consider far-reaching systemic issues.Practical implicationsMany US colleges and universities have begun, or will begin, to investigate the myriad ways in which racism, racial exclusion, or racial violence have marked their institutions and how these troubled legacies persist in the present day. This case study proposes possible approaches that academic libraries and librarians may take to contribute to this essential work.Originality/valueThese two projects propose that work that typically happens solely within libraries and archives (cataloging and description of potentially harmful materials) or within institutional or disciplinary silos (reckoning with legacies of racism and bias) can be discussed, debated, and shared among the campus community. All of the participants in the working group and the course, regardless of their title, role, or academic credentials, bring necessary expertise and experience to these projects. Inclusive practices, when paired with grassroots energy, suggest ways in which a college archive can be used as a site of evidence, reflection, interrogation, and repair.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the archive, reckoning with the past: inclusive approaches to institutional history

Maksin,

Bucher

2023

RSR

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“…Librarian professional practice has long been enacted as an imbalanced and inequitable power dynamic between the patron ("they don't know") and the librarian ("the librarian knows it all") that perpetuates the elitist privilege code of mainstream American society (Dunbar, 2021). Chiu, Ettarh and Ferrati (2021) posit that this LIS power dynamic is an assumption birthed from the bed of white supremacy that perpetuates a fiction of neutrality and vocational awe that presents a fiction of virtuous librarianship rather than an honest and critical examination of LIS's antiquated educational paradigm that inculcates all librarians (regardless of heritage and identity) with an ethos based on the mainstream American paradigm of white supremacy (Gibson et al, 2018;Chancellor, 2019;Dunbar, 2021;Crist & Clark/Keefe, 2022;Overbey & Folk, 2022).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Questions learned: Considering geocultural context within public librarian professional development

Irvin¹

2022

EFI

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LINQ: The Librarians’ Inquiry Forum is a practitioner inquiry model for public librarian professional development whose theoretical foundations are based in New Literacy Studies, Critical Race Theory and social epistemology. This research explains the development of the LINQ methodology and design across four public librarian communities of practices situated in geoculturally-specific locations. Data from the librarian inquiry groups collaboratively researching their professional practice is illustrated to convey how the LINQ model’s critical race theory lens is applied to expose geocultural barriers endemic in the library and information science (LIS) field. One dataset is analyzed and discussed to substantiate a common thread through the four inquiry groups over time: that when public librarians work collectively to ask critical questions about their practice, such questions learned, serve to center local cultural values that are geographically specific and unique, redefining what it means to be a public librarian in geoculturally specific contexts.

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Applications of diversity language to descriptions of collection development activities at academic libraries: An exploratory analysis of strategic plans and diversity information webpages

Macaulay

2023

The Journal of Academic Librarianship

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A Critical Phenomenology of Whiteness in Academic Libraries

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

Revealing the archive, reckoning with the past: inclusive approaches to institutional history

Revealing the archive, reckoning with the past: inclusive approaches to institutional history

Questions learned: Considering geocultural context within public librarian professional development

Applications of diversity language to descriptions of collection development activities at academic libraries: An exploratory analysis of strategic plans and diversity information webpages

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