Transforming

our Image through

a Compass of

Critical Librarianship

WAAL 2015 Opening Keynote

Nicole Pagowsky, MLIS, MS

4.22.2015

#WAAL2015

Q: How many

academic

librarians does it

take to change a

lightbulb?

A:

CHANGE

?!?!?!?!From Steiner & Jones, “Academic librarian

self-image in lore: How shared stories

convey professional identity” (p.56) in The

Librarian Stereotype, ACRL Press, 2014

Q: How many

academic

librarians does it

take to change a

lightbulb?

Be

Fearless

lisafrankfurtschool.tumblr.com

Outline1. Our stereotypes

2. Campus perceptions

3. Critical librarianship

4. Onward

Outline1. Our stereotypes

2. Campus perceptions

3. Critical librarianship

4. Onward

Our

Stereotypes:

Image of the

Librarian

It is important that librarians assess

the basic meaning of feminization

and give precise attention to their

early history, for the dominance of

women is surely the prevailing

factor in library education, the

image of librarianship and the

professionalization of the field.

--Dee Garrison, 1972, p. 143

There is a clear

relationship between the

representation and

treatment of women and

the low status of the

library profession.

--Gary & Marie Radford, 1997, p.262

Outline1. Our stereotypes

2. Campus perceptions

3. Critical librarianship

4. Onward

Campus

Perceptions:

Faculty &

Students

A Harvard English faculty member’s view

of librarians in Leigh and Sewny, 1960:

“A librarian too often

resembles a headwaiter

showing one to a table in a

large restaurant and too little

resembles an artist having

profound and passionate

views of life, death and

immortality.”

Faculty descriptions of

librarians

● Orderly, meticulous

● Conforming, conservative

● Submissive

● Non-social attitudes and

behavior

● Anxious, lack of self-confidence

--Holbrook, 1968 (cited in Church, 2002)

Doctor /

nurse

relationship

Ithaka

S+R

Survey

2013

Within the academy, librarians

generally feel second-class,

even librarians with faculty

status, even librarians with

Ph.Ds. What I really want from

faculty is advocacy and

solidarity, more than kisses.

--Jenna Freedman, 2014

Outline1. Our stereotypes

2. Campus perceptions

3. Critical librarianship

4. Onward

Critical

Librarianship

Shared humanity,

equity, & social

justice... should be

motivating the work of

librarians now more

than ever.--Chris Bourg, 2014

savedbythe-bellhooks.tumblr.com

--Keesing-Styles, 2003, p. 2

Critical

theory or practice (praxis):

Collective action where

individual effort is intimately

linked to the social; focus on

power structures

Critical

thinking:

Aimed at the individual only,

tends to ignore power

structures and influence of

hegemony

Critical...

Critical

librarianship

Privilege

Representation

Language

Who creates

the acceptable

norm?

#critlib

Scientists firmly believe

that as long as they are

not conscious of any bias

or political agenda, they

are neutral and objective,

when in fact they are only

unconscious.

--Marion Namenwirth, 1986 (cited in Schroeder, 2014)

The Donut: 3 Spheres

1. The donut hole

2. The donut

3. The air around the

donut

Daniel Hallin on the journalist’s world, 1986

The Donut: 3 Spheres

1. The donut hole:

“Sphere of Consensus”● Unquestionable values

● Inherent

Daniel Hallin on the journalist’s world, 1986

The Donut: 3 Spheres

2. The donut:

“Zone of legitimate

controversy”● Issues up for debate

● “Objective” journalism

● “Reasonable” people’s topics

Daniel Hallin on the journalist’s world, 1986

The Donut: 3 Spheres

3. The air around the

donut:

“Sphere of deviance”● Marginalized topics, voices

● Press as gatekeeper

Daniel Hallin on the journalist’s world, 1986

The press does not permit

itself to think politically, but it

does engage in political acts.

Ergo, it is an unthinking

actor, which is not good.

When it is criticized for this it

will reject the criticism out of

hand, which is also not good.--Jay Rosen, 2009

Katy Perry

#LeftistShark

meme, Noam

Chomsky

quotes

Outline1. Our stereotypes

2. Campus perceptions

3. Critical librarianship

4. Onward

Onward

Technical

services &

collections

“Why are

Black people

so…”

Safiya Noble presenting

her research on biased

Google search results

Public

services

ACRL

Information

Literacy

Framework for

Higher

Education

In the simplest terms, we are critical

educators when we compel ourselves

and others to think about power and

privilege, and we are feminist

educators when we dig beneath the

status quo of our content and identify

justice-focused approaches to

engaging learners in a process of safe

/radical-self & system-examination.

--Char Booth, 2014

Hiring,

recruitment,

& retention

School Library

Journal, 2014

lismicroaggressions.tumblr.com

Rebranding

from “McDonalds seeks its

fast food soul,”

The New York Times

Librarians need to

develop a critical

consciousness about

libraries, by learning to

‘problematize’ the

library.--James Elmborg, 2006, p. 198

Be

Fearless

Thank you! Questions?

Nicole Pagowsky

Research & Learning Librarian

University of Arizona

Email - nfp@email.arizona.edu

Twitter - @pumpedlibrarian (see #critlib, tinyurl.com/critlibx)

WAAL 2015 Conference