Politics of Libraries III: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Intersectionality in LIS

When: March - May 2021

Where: Online

Recorded sessions are available on the ERA Website 

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, Politics of Libraries III: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Intersectionality in LIS aims to continue to provide a forum for critical discussions in LIS, albeit with a revised format. 

Politics of Libraries III seeks to generate thoughtful and much needed conversation about LIS politics and labour, and their complicated and contested relationship with gender, race, sexuality, and intersectionality. The in-person conference format aimed to provide a space for critical discussions while also being as inclusive as possible. Unfortunately, the move to an online environment makes achieving these goals more challenging. As such, Politics of Libraries III will take the form of a pre-recorded speaker series entailing  a combination of reviewed public contributions as well as invited presentations on topics related to the theme, with live Q&A discussions to follow. The current organizers acknowledge that the spirit of invited talks goes against the original Politics of Libraries format, which eschewed even inviting a keynote speaker. However, through much discussion, it was determined that this approach best balances continuing these necessary critical conversations and providing speakers with a forum to have such conversations.

We would like to invite those who are interested in the themes of this year's conference, especially as they pertain to libraries and information professionals, to submit a 500-word abstract to politicsoflibraries@gmail.com by February 23rd, 2021. Given the sensitive nature of this conference theme, we will be carefully evaluating all submissions to ensure inclusivity and respect are reflected. If your submission is accepted, we will get in touch to determine an air date for your presentation.  We will be using ZOOM to broadcast one presentation followed by a live Q&A, bi-weekly between March and May 2021. 

Potential topics include:

·         Experiences of racialized librarians

·         Feminization/gendering of labour in libraries

·         White supremacy, heteronormative patriarchy, and ableism in LIS

·         Feminism and Intersectionality in LIS

·         Emotional and affective labour in LIS

·         Gender identity/sexuality and libraries

·         Professional and Paraprofessional relationships and tensions

·         Resistance in library services and work

Presenters:

Joel Blechinger. “Indicators of Truly Epic Post-ness.” April 23, 2021

Dr. Farha Shariff. “The Intersectionality of Racism.” April 30, 2021

Paul Cordozo, Emma Scott, and Mary Greenshields. “Canadian Academic Librarians & Job Offer Negotiations.” May 7, 2021.

Dr. Danielle Allard, Dr. Tami Oliphant, and Angela Lieu. “Patron-perpetrated Sexual Harassment in Libraries: Early Findings from a National Survey.” May 14, 2023

Dr. Joanne Rodger, and Dr. Norene Erickson. “’The Entire Day Is an Act of Restraint’: The Devaluing of Emotional Labour in Library Work.” May 28, 2021.

Organizers: 

Michelle Albrecht

Michelle De Agostini

Ratna Dhaliwal 

Mary Greenshields

Michelle Falk

Michael McNally

Belinda Ongaro