meet the anarchist librarians

My friend Chuck0, perhaps the best known anarchist librarian has posted the notes from a post-ALA talk he gave in June: Meet the Anarchist Librarians. Chuck is a very good writer and he’s thought about these topics a lot. Even if you’re not into the whole radical politics thing, I think you’ll enjoy his article.

Speaking truth to power is something that anarchists are good at. We are excellent gadflys, iconoclasts, critics, curmudgeons, activists. We criticize, we challenge the powerful, be it the state, the rich, or the guys who speak too much in a meeting. We are also good at criticizing our comrades, which often gets us into trouble with leftists who discourage dissent amongst comrades. Being able to speak your mind freely is important. Self-censorship among library colleagues exists and it is a problem. [lisnews]