Unframing the Visual: Visual Literacy Pedagogy in Academic Libraries and Information Spaces, Maggie Murphy, Stephanie Beene, Katie Greer, Sara Schumacher, and Dana Statton Thompson (eds.), ACRL, 2024. 452p. Softcover, $108.00. 9780838939918

Visual information is everywhere. Not only that, but visuals are multidisciplinary, making it imperative to be able to analyze, examine, modify, read, and question them both as a part of everyday life, as well as in higher education. While for years librarians have been steeped in the concept of teaching information literacy, Unframing the Visual encourages us to consider the importance of visual literacy education to students, faculty, and the overall campus community.

This extensive anthology was inspired by the 2022 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Visual Literacy in Higher Education: Companion Document to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, also known as “the VL Framework.” That title is a mouthful, and the size of this book is likewise expansive; it includes an abundant collection of research and experience related to visual literacy pedagogy.

The book’s five editors were members of the task force that authored the VL Framework. Chapter authors are just as diverse as the visual literacy tools they describe, coming from a variety of library types, locations, and backgrounds. Many different areas of librarianship are represented, including instruction, museums, special collections, DEIA, and more, making it an ideal addition to any academic library’s shelf.

The book is divided into four sections that echo the VL Framework’s themes: “Participating in a Changing Visual Information Landscape,” “Perceiving Visuals as Communicating Information,” “Practicing Visual Discernment and Criticality,” and “Pursuing Social Justice through Visual Practice.” Each section includes an introduction written by an editor and VL Framework author, plus six peer-reviewed chapters that relate to the theme. Multiple chapters make the connection between visual literacy and information literacy, noting that one does not exclude the other. As stated in Chapter 4, “to be information literate is to be visually literate” (p. 54).

Chapter topics include case studies to enhance understanding of the what, how, and why of using visual literacy in the academic library profession. While the book is lengthy at over 450 pages, it includes valuable takeaways and, of course, appealing visual examples throughout the text. All chapters include copious references and bibliographies for further reading, allowing serious researchers to delve deeper. Some chapters also include supplementary materials—such as lesson plans, worksheets, classroom discussion questions, and survey instruments—that will prove helpful to those wanting to recreate these authors’ successes.

As an outreach librarian who coordinates my academic library’s social media accounts, I found the first three chapters, which focus on “remix media” and online trends, especially relevant to my mission to reach and engage my users online. In Chapter 3, the writers take this concept a step further by encouraging libraries to use social media to not only reach their audiences, but also to educate them. Visual copyright, plagiarism, appropriation, and attribution are also mentioned throughout the book, which are topics most all library marketing professionals struggled with.

Part 2 of the book focuses on literary instruction and inclusivity, and includes topics such as data visualization and visual rhetoric. Authors assert that visual literacy can be used to teach students about academic honesty and integrity, skills that will help them throughout their college career and into the professional environment. Subject librarians will be happy to know that a wide variety of disciplines are used as examples throughout the book’s numerous case studies, including the humanities, social sciences, health sciences, and interdisciplinary studies.

The book wisely extends the definition of “visuals” to include more than just images; discussions on a variety graphic formats—including infographics, comics, memes, diagrams, videos, and more—augment the book. One of the more eye-opening chapters was Chapter 11, “Collaborative Approaches to Teaching and Building Visual Literacies,” written by librarians from UCLA who used visual modalities to “frame library instruction and create instructional objects” to better engage learners. This chapter will be especially helpful for librarians who may not have the skills, nor time, to create new visual resources, and who may instead wish to “reframe” existing resources through collaboration.

The importance of evaluating visuals is a prominent theme, especially in Part 3, which is dedicated to the VL Framework theme “learners practice visual discernment and criticality” (p. 151). Just as librarians used to champion the CRAAP test to evaluate text resources, several chapters in this section promote the need for incorporating critical visual literacy into library instruction. Visuals are not without their issues, however, and several chapters focus on accessibility concerns. In Chapter 19, “What We Aren’t Seeing: Exclusionary Practices in Visual Media,” authors Smith and Malinowski point to the need for visual media inclusivity via critical design, as well as the role of information professionals in addressing exclusionary practices. “Learning and unlearning are necessary,” they state, “and we as a profession should continue to position ourselves to evolve accordingly” (p. 339).

Unframing the Visual contains a vast amount of information and numerous case studies on the importance of libraries teaching, using, learning, and evaluating visual literacy. While a casual reader may balk at the book’s sheer size, any librarian—particularly those who work in user engagement or instruction—will be sure to find a chapter that resonates with them. If nothing else, librarians will have their eyes opened to the sheer number of visuals that surround us daily, and, hopefully, will reconsider how academic libraries can better utilize visual to inform and connect with learners. — Maria Atilano, Student Engagement Librarian, University of North Florida