Chelsea Heinbach, Rosan Mitola, and Erin Rinto. Dismantling Deficit Thinking in Academic Libraries: Theory, Reflection, and Action. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2021. 160p. Paper, $28.00 (ISBN 978-1634000956).

Abstract

Dismantling Deficit Thinking in Academic Libraries is designed to—in a brief 160 pages—give the reader an introduction to how pedagogical literature that critiques or challenges deficit thinking and its racist consequences can be applied to teaching in academic libraries. More practical than exhaustive, the book is broken into three main sections. Each section includes “reflections from the field” (short quotations from library workers who are applying these concepts to their work) and reflection questions for the reader. The first of these sections reviews the literature on the detriments of deficit thinking in higher education and academic libraries; the second details five pedagogical approaches that the authors identify as addressing issues of deficit thinking; and the third outlines strategies that academic librarians can use in their own teaching to dismantle deficit thinking.