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In Fall 2024, I took LIS 5350, Culturally Competent Librarianship. This class gave me a solid foundation in serving diverse populations. This subject was particularly important to me as a member of marginalized communities. I am autistic and non-binary, which gives me a vested interest in more inclusive library services: as well as more inclusive approaches to hiring.
I really leaned heavily into an autistic lens when approaching my assignments, because it has been through being autistic that I have experienced the greatest challenges with how autistic people are perceived within a library workplace. We aren’t necessarily on a library’s radar when it comes to inclusive hiring, and I’ve tried to document some of our unique challenges with my systemic biography.
Public perceptions are further hindered through stereotypical portrayals of autistic characters. As a reader, I’ve taken issue with dehumanizing portrayals in past winners of the Schneider Family Book Award. (This award’s objective is to honor quality portrayals of the disability experience, and a disabled person can either be a primary or supporting character.) So when I was tasked with advocating improvement for an aspect of library services, I suggested that books being considered for this award should only tell stories from the perspective of a disabled protagonist.
Selected works:
Nov. 17, 2024: Advocacy position: Schneider Family Book Award improvements
Nov. 14, 2024: Systematic bibliography: Autistic librarians on the job
Oct. 26, 2024: Burden of ‘approachability’ in librarianship
Sept. 22, 2024: Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture
Sept. 3, 2024: Constructing a ‘maker’ identity
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