socialjustice – librarian.net

contradictions for white people in racial justice work diagram — [diagram from hannah baer @malefragility]

Question from a soon-to-be library school student: as a white person, how can I go about this in a way that promotes inclusivity and justice for all people? I really want to help people with this profession by helping create and facilitate a space of accessible education but I also want to make sure I’m doing it in the right way.

I think it’s tricky, I sometimes refer to this diagram about white people in social justice work generally (above). That is, there are a lot of contradictions to the work of being a good ally and otherwise trying to support justice for everyone. I see it as having two main directions

1. Tearing down white privilege and the patriarchy and other things that really inhibit us from a more equitable society
2. Building up new and alternative forms of interaction which are more inclusive of everyone Continue reading “Ask A Librarian: Working Towards Racial Justice in Libraries”

Email from a library worker, paraphrased: I am deeply committed to social justice and anti-oppression principles. I am radical in my politics. I am interested in literacy as a feminist issue. I am also interested in knowledge, access, critical thinking, community impact, etc. I worry there isn’t room to work at the intersections of these interests in library spaces…. Is there room for me in librarianship, and if so, where?

I feel like librarianship is a “big tent” sort of profession, especially public librarianship, so I often feel that there is space for people, but some of it depends not only on politics but on temperament. Continue reading “Ask a Librarian: the relationship of library work to social justice”