Embedded Files
Wednesday, November 18th, 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Unacknowledged Labor and Precarity: Stories from student workers
3 p.m.
Program Description: In this presentation, a librarian, staff, and student worker will discuss the disproportionate impacts of emergency measures in academic libraries during times of crisis. In Arizona, student workers at academic institutions are exempt from the state’s minimum wage and paid sick time laws, leaving them particularly vulnerable in periods of high unemployment and economic crisis. Based on a survey and interviews with student workers on their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, presenters will discuss their findings and student responses to such a prolific and traumatic event. Furthermore, presenters will discuss implications of these results in relation to issues of labor, precarity, and exploitation in the library workplace, and suggest changes and solutions to create a just and equitable workplace now and into the future.
Michelle "Ashley" Gohr
Bio: Michelle Ashley Gohr is a First Year Experience Librarian with Arizona State University where she teaches critical information literacy to first year students and provides research assistance to students and faculty in women and gender studies, social justice/human rights, and other subject areas. Her research primarily focuses on radical librarianship and critical pedagogies.
Andrew Barber
Bio: Andrew Barber is a MLIS student at the University of Arizona and shift supervisor at Arizona State University’s Downtown campus where he provides information literacy instruction, supervises student workers, and serves students and faculty with reference, circulation, and course reserves. His past research focuses on the U.S. prison system, the history of economic thought, and labor theory with more recent interest in critical librarianship, prison libraries, and LGBTQIA+ information services.
Alexis Juarez
Bio: Alexis Juarez is a Student Outreach Ambassador at the Hayden Library at Arizona State University where she works with librarians and staff to develop and implement programming and outreach services for the library. She is a Senior in Urban Planning and a Barrett, the Honors College student and is set to graduate in December 2020.
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