Politics of Libraries (PoL) is an ongoing conference series organized by an interested group of librarians, information professionals, students, and academics. We aim to generate and support discussions on anything affecting the world of librarianship - from gender, race, sexuality, and intersectionality, to labour and vocational awe (check out our past series pages for more).
Are you passionate about issues facing libraries (and other GLAM fields)? Join the Politics of Libraries Committee!
Email politicsoflibraries@gmail.com to express your interest!
The first conference was held in 2018 in Edmonton, Alberta, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the global 1968 social protests. The goal of the first conference was to provide a place for critical discussions on the politics of libraries that are too often excluded from workplaces and classrooms.
In 2019, the Politics of Libraries II: Labour of Libraries conference was again held in Edmonton, extending discussions from the initial conference and also reflecting on the centennial anniversary of the labour unrest following World War I and the Winnipeg General Strike.
In early 2020, planning had been underway for Politics of Libraries III, to be held in Edmonton, but those plans were put on hold with the emergence of the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, PoL III was hosted as a multi week remote speaker series on the theme of Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Intersectionality in LIS. Reflecting on the events of the past few years, from the # MeToo movement to the Black Lives Matter protests, and the growing critical discussions both in within and outside of library and information studies, PoL III was held with the intention of providing a forum for critical discussions in LIS, albeit with a revised format.
PoL IV continued the speaker series format with a focus on Vocational Awe in 2022. While previous PoL's had eschewed a keynote speaker, given Fobazi Ettarh's foundational work on the subject, she was approached and agreed to be the first PoL keynote.
PoL V, held in the spring of 2023, took on the theme of intellectual freedom and democracy. As with PoL IV a keynote was chosen - this time Sam Popowich, who was instrumental in founding PoL and a leading scholar in the area - gave the keynote.