Liberatory Librarianship: Stories of Community, Connection, and Justice, Brian W. Keith, Laurie Taylor, and Shamin Renwick (eds.). ALA Editions, 2024. Softcover, 192p. $64.99. 9780838936610.

With the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020 and the growing outrage related to police brutality, libraries began thinking more critically about how to respond to systemic discrimination and oppression. Liberatory Librarianship proposes that libraries can support marginalized groups of people and aims to inspire librarians to work toward equality, not just through diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, but through promoting social justice in the programming and services provided to their communities (xiii). The editors, along with chapter contributors, set out to prove that liberatory librarianship “goes beyond decolonizing.” They encourage the leveraging of library resources through collaboration and utilization of library workers’ expertise to improve the circumstances of marginalized and oppressed peoples by advocating for “freedom, justice, and community” (xiv). Collectively, the authors are able to achieve this goal by providing examples of how liberatory librarianship can be applied to different settings and include marginalized populations.

Following the editor’s introduction, the book begins with biographical sketches of four librarians who, by the authors’ account, exemplify liberatory librarianship. The next section examines library programs that can be considered successful liberatory librarianship, followed next by chapters which discuss the ways in which DEIJ (diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice) work crosses over into the personal lives of professionals who engage with it. Part IV includes several case studies of successful (or not so successful) liberatory librarianship. For instance, Tavernier et al. summarizes a project they completed to amplify primary sources that reveal hidden histories of Black communities. The final chapter, by Dantus, introduces readers to the concept of empathy as a form of liberation and resistance. Lastly, the book’s appendices include a convenient list of acronyms used throughout the chapters, short biographies on the editors and authors, and an index.

Liberatory Librarianship does a fantastic job of revealing how collaboration and community building are major keys to engaging with libraries as a form of liberation. Boies discusses how their public library worked with a partner organization to plan an event to reach an ethnic group that was facing struggles in the community. Similarly, Smith reveals how student volunteers, alumni, and community members came together to complete the “KNOW Systemic Racism” project at Stanford University, and how librarians from other parts of the world were inspired by their work (34). The far reach of a project started by a single academic library is evidence of the limitlessness of librarianship inspiring other institutions and sparking comparable undertakings. Not only do many of the case studies demonstrate how libraries have successfully leveraged community assets and partnerships to contribute to or champion marginalized groups, but the book itself stands as an example of bringing together authors from different institutions across various locations who shared similar visions.

While it is certainly worthwhile to assess the progress libraries have made in response to the pandemic, the true measure of this book’s applicability will be its ability to stand the test of time. Some of the reflections provided may already have lost some of their relevancy. For example, the chapter “Unsiloed, Cross-Jurisdictional DEI,” the authors discuss how they established employee resource groups and communities of practice to work towards their institution’s DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) goals. As with other chapters of the book, a primary goal of this chapter seems to be to inspire similar initiatives at other institutions; however, libraries across North America have already made DEI a priority in the last few years (Ciszek, 2020). Furthermore, the American Library Association (ALA) has incorporated equity, diversity, and inclusion tenants in its web pages during and since 2020. For instance, in June of 2020, the ALA issued a statement on its website claiming to have perpetuated racism in the past and vowed to make the professional association more equitable (American Library Association, 2020). This is not to say that DEI itself is irrelevant. Certainly, DEI is a priority for libraries; however, inspiring others to start DEI initiatives at their institutions may not be entirely worthwhile considering that most institutions have already done so. In addition, as Ciszek (2020) suggests, DEI alone is not enough to achieve liberation, and it may be time to move on to advocating for social justice , which is another indicator why some of the chapters of this book fall short of relevancy to the current moment.

In conclusion, Liberatory Librarianship is worth the read to find inspiration and/or if there is interest in learning more about the initiatives that libraries have engaged in since the public’s call for increased diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, even though some chapters do go beyond DEI and instead use terms such as “justice” and “resistance,” there are few examples in this book of engagement with social justice beyond representation and accessibility, towards the dismantling of current systems to liberate oppressed peoples through librarianship the way the title suggests it does. — Nadya Lim-Douglas, Librarian, Ontario Tech University

References

American Library Association. (2020, June 26). ALA takes responsibility for past racism, pledges a more equitable association. https://www.ala.org/news/2012/01/ala-takes-responsibility-past-racism-pledges-more-equitable-association

Ciszek, M. P. (2020). Moving from diversity to equity and inclusion with social justice as the goal. In Christine Bombaro (ed.), Diversity, equity, and inclusion in action: Planning, leadership, and programming (pp. 1-11). ALA Editions.