When librarians speak up: justifications for and legitimacy implications of librarians' engagement in social movements

Abstract

PurposeThis article presents a discussion of how librarians' engagement in certain social movements manifests itself in public libraries, how librarians justify their engagement with specifically the LGBT + movement and the climate movement and what it might entail in terms of legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachBesides an extensive international literature on libraries and climate/LGBT + issues, the article draws on data from an interview study with librarians from Denmark and Sweden. Theoretically, the article utilizes the orders of worth framework by French sociologists Boltanski and Thévenot. The framework is used to analyse librarians' justifications for engaging in certain agendas in society.FindingsActive engagement in social and green agendas takes place through strategies of education, efforts to make the cause more visible in the library and by setting an example. Justifications for active engagement in social movement agendas draw on inspirational, civic, projective and green orders of worth (OoW).Originality/valueMuch of the existing research on librarians who engage themselves in either climate issues or in agendas concerning minorities has a normative character. However, this study shows that there is no causal (positive or negative) relation between active engagement in social movements' causes and legitimacy of libraries, but that the justifications for doing so might have an impact on legitimacy.

Revisiting the notion of the public library as a meeting place: challenges to the mission of promoting democracy in times of political turmoil

“…Social-liberal democracy, on the other hand, is a perspective that is commonly represented in the interviewees' accounts. This is hardly surprising given its strong influence on the Nordic welfare models and Scandinavian cultural policy, focusing on overcoming socioeconomical barriers and the promotion of equal access to information, culture and knowledge (Kann-Rasmussen, 2023). Social-liberal democracy also entails an educational element where libraries are seen as exemplifications of democracy, where people in general, and children in particular, can learn to live as citizens in a democratic society (cf.…”

“…Garc ıa L opez et al, 2012). The compensatory role of public libraries is emphasized in all the group interviews, illustrated by how the librarians understand inclusion and representation of minorities as important parts of the democratic mission, which is a long-lasting focus in Swedish cultural policy (Kann-Rasmussen, 2023).…”

“…Sundeen and Blomgren, 2020). While Sundeen and Blomgren (2020) characterize some librarians as activists, as opposed to their idealized view of librarians as neutral civil servants, Kann-Rasmussen (2023) problematizes the term activism. Firstly, librarians who are professionally involved in promoting diversity or social movements do not consider themselves as activists (Kann-Rasmussen, 2023).…”

Bibliotekarer som aktivister i Danmark og Sverige

“…Denne artikel er skrevet med udgangspunkt i en undren over den forskel vi mødte, når vi talte om aktivisme med svenske og danske bibliotekarer, udviklere og biblioteksledere i forbindelse med tidligere undersøgelser (Kann-Rasmussen, 2022;Bollerup, 2021). Blandt de danske informanter anses aktivisme som en passende betegnelse for ønsker om positiv forandring og bestraebelser på, at det ikke er tilstraekkeligt blot at stille materiale til rådighed, men at biblioteket også skal gøre noget mere.…”

Managing Norwegian public libraries as civil public spheres: recent controversies

“…This especially holds true in an American context, where many library scholars have more or less abandoned this value for a more activist stand or a viewpoint on public librarians as radical positive change agents (Lankes, 2016; Mathiasson and Jochumsen, 2021; Wenzler, 2019). In a Nordic context, the notion of activist librarianship has recently emerged as a topic (Bollerup, 2021; Kann-Rasmussen, 2023; Kann-Rasmussen et al. , 2023; Nissen and Kann-Rasmussen, 2022; Sundeen and Blomgren, 2020) and as such a contested one (Aghed, 2022; Sundeen and Blomgren, 2022).…”