Disability, Identity, and Professionalism: Precarity in Librarianship

Abstract

Although the field of disability studies has examined disability across many contexts, the experience of library workers remains largely unexamined. Library literature tends to focus on the experiences of library users, rather than address the structural inequities in the profession itself. In the United States, current conversations within higher education and academic librarianship around resilience and professionalism create additional barriers to inclusion and exclude the lived experiences of those with disabilities. Additionally, existing processes designed to address disability treat its existence as a problem in need of a solution, and in doing so, further contribute to the workplace precarity experienced by library workers. Instead of maintaining existing systemic barriers and perpetuating an ableist professional ideal that places responsibility on the individual to be resilient, libraries and library workers need to redefine professionalism, minimize the stigma associated with any type of disability, and reduce precarity for disabled library employees. Only then can libraries and library workers focus on equity and inclusion for all.1. OED Online, s.v. "precarious (adj.

Embracing theories of precarity for the study of information practices

“…Processes of normalization seen above and elsewhere (e.g. Moeller, 2019) in some sense echo those from the wider literature around precarity. For example, illusions of certainty and the seeking and influence of ideals of normality are seen as enabling abilities to cope, affect change and resist while also perpetuating precarious situations (Ettlinger, 2007).…”

“…Lloyd, 2020); desires for normality (e.g. Genuis and Bronstein, 2017; Moeller, 2019) and affective attributes of stress, uncertainty and general well-being (e.g. Henninger et al , 2019) all become part of this picture.…”

Brick Walls and Tick Boxes

“…al, 2018;Neal, 1996;Schlesselman-Tarango, 2016 andRamirez, 2015;Galvan, 2015;Connolly, 2016;Lewis, 2018;Brook et al, 2015). Experiences of disabled library workers have been explored through a predominantly autoethnographic approach (Hollich, 2020;Oud, 2018 andSchomberg, 2018;Pionke, 2019;Moeller, 2019;Brown & Sheidlower, 2019;Kumbier & Starkey, 2016). Gender oppression in the archive sector is under-explored within existing literature.…”

“…These ideals often left people feeling inadequate compared to peers even whilst feeling as if their experiences contributed towards the facilitation of more inclusive information spaces for users (Oud, 2019). In this absence of support, as Christine M. Moeller (2019) writes, "disabled library workers experience precarity in a workplace, and a profession that does not acknowledge their lived experiences or their needs" (p. 456).…”

Voices of Strength: A Survey of Librarians Working with Chronic Illnesses or Conditions

“…Academic libraries can be exceedingly unwelcoming. Moeller (2019) suggests that "academia positions disabled people as 'less than' the ideal norm and places undue burdens upon them to conform to an imagined ideal that fails to acknowledge differences in minds and bodies (p. 458)."…”