“Libraries Must Stop Pretending They Can Be Neutral About Human Rights”

Dracula, Flórián

Main Topic: Equity, Learning Commons

APA Citation: Brown, A. (2022). Libraries must stop pretending they can be neutral about human rights. Prism. https://prismreports.org/2022/07/21/libraries-cannot-be-neutral-human-rights/

Summary: Adopting “neutral” positions regarding curation and library policies ends up harming our most marginalized patrons, as well as allowing bigotry and misinformation to go unchecked. This article details some of the ways in which the idea of “neutrality” has been weaponized to justify the removal of identity-based programming, materials, and displays (such as those related to Black History Month or Pride Month), as well as allowing violent hate groups to congregate in libraries. However, as Brown writes, “we cannot ‘both sides’ human rights”; as library workers and educators, we need to keep the needs and safety of our most vulnerable and marginalized students and patrons centered in our minds, stay informed about ongoing threats to equity and justice in our libraries and schools, and advocate actively for diverse and engaging collections and libraries for all.

Evaluation: As an openly queer educator of diverse students, the news about school and library censorship over the past several years has hit very close to home. This article does a great job of explaining something that I have had a hard time expressing to colleagues when advocating for marginalized students; namely, that “neutrality inevitably prioritizes the majority over the minority.” While I don’t condone censorship, I do believe in curation, especially since, as Brown points out, the reality is that libraries do operate with finite budgets. “[T]he actions many libraries take in the name of neutrality are anything but, especially when library workers are being asked to financially support and dedicate valuable shelf space to books and authors promoting anti-LGBTQ+, transphobic, racist, misogynist, abelist, xenophobic ideologies, and intentionally provide misinformation to our patrons.” When we devote money, shelf-space, and time to housing and lending out materials that harm our marginalized patrons and communities, that is time, space, and money that is not being spent on texts that uplift those communities. As more and more libraries and public schools come under fire, it’s crucial that we continue to commit to creating spaces that are designed with our diverse students in mind.

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT)

Name: Mason, Hilary

Topic: Pedagogy & Curricula

Citation: Hammond, Z., & Jackson, Y. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain:

Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse

students. Corwin, a SAGE Company.

WorldCat link to resource

Summary: This book addresses the topic of culturally responsive teaching and gives scientific explanations of how to do it. Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) has become a buzz phrase and while this is helpful to bring awareness to the topic, it is also detrimental to its definition. Hammond proposes that CRT is happening when students are learning, engaged in rigorous content, and achieving academic success. Basically, CRT is what we think of when we think of what should happen at school. When those outcomes are not being met, CRT may not be happening in the classroom. CRT is not celebrating various cultural differences like holidays and festivals but of course honoring those things can be a part of CRT. Hammond’s book is a wonderful read for educators interested in brain science and how it relates to learning.

Evaluation: 10/10

Categories: Best Practices, Classroom Management, Communication, Critical Pedagogy, Education Intervention, Educational Practices, Instruction, Social Justice, Student Learning, Student-Centered, Teacher Education, Teaching Practices

Tags: CRT, Culturally Responsive Teaching, Brain, Brain Science, Culturally Diverse

Move Over, Melvil! Momentum Grows to Eliminate Bias and Racism in the 145-year-old Dewey Decimal System

Name: Kim, Jessica

Topic: Educational Theory and Practice

Citation: Joseph, C. (2021, August 18). Move over, Melvil! Momentum grows to eliminate bias and racism in the 145-year-old Dewey Decimal System. School Library Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2021, from http://www.slj.com https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=move-over-melvil-momentum-grows-to-eliminate-bias-and-racism-in-the-145-year-old-dewey-decimal-system

Summary: There are a growing number of school librarians who have noticed the bias built into the Dewey Decimal System and are taking various measures to try to make functional changes to the classification system within their own libraries. For example, according to the traditional Dewey classification, Black history is shelved separately from American history, anything considered “women’s work” is shelved separately from jobs, and the only holidays shelved in the holidays section are Christian holidays, with the holidays of other religions shelved under mythology and religion. School librarians who have noticed this bias, and noticed the ways that Melvil Dewey’s beliefs of 145 years ago are keeping their students of today from finding information they are looking for, are making changes to their own classification systems in an effort to undo this bias and make their library more accessible for their students.

Evaluation: This situation is such a great example of the ways that white supremacy is built into the basic structures of our lives and we don’t even realize it. Just because something has always been done, or everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean that it continues to serve us and doesn’t need to be changed or updated. And we certainly don’t need to continue using the opinions of someone who has a known history of racism, antisemitism, and misogyny to guide our modern library classification. It would be nice if, as some of the article’s comments suggest, a group of expert librarians could convene to update Dewey based on more equitable ideas. As school librarians, we might not have the ability to dismantle white supremacy, misogyny, and other biases from the world at large, but, until broad changes are made to Dewey, we do have the power to make those changes on our own, within in the walls of our own libraries.

For Radical Educators and Librarians

Name: Roa, Molly.

Topic: E.T.

Citation: Keer, G. (2016). “Barriers to critical pedagogy in information literacy teaching.” In N. Pagowsky & K. McElroy (Eds.), Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook  (pp. 65–74). Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries.  Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gr_Keer/publication/319945161_Barriers_to_Critical_Pedagogy_in_Information_Literacy_Teaching/links/59ee28c6a6fdcc32187daeff/Barriers-to-Critical-Pedagogy-in-Information-Literacy-Teaching.pdf

Summary: This entire book was featured previously on this blog, but I wanted to highlight this chapter in particular. Keer reflects all the ways in which librarians must confront our limits as critical pedagogues and how we can work to rethink our roles in the air or neutrality demanded by librarians. While Keer doesn’t come to any firm conclusions, his work challenges the reader to assess critical pedagogy as a theory in contrast with our roles in the library, ways in which we can work effectively and our limitations. This chapter is essential for radical anti-neoliberal educators and librarians to better assess our roles in the classroom, library, and library profession.

Opinion: As a queer woman, I found this work very helpful. I have been interested in critical pedagogy since undergrad, and have struggled to find a way to combine my library profession with my ethics of anti-authoritarianism and liberation for marginalized communities. In fact, this ethical issue can at time be a persistent issue for me in my day-to-day at work in a public library. Keer acknowledges this difficulty and also the overall lack of research and resources that are librarian specific on critical pedagogy.

The Power of Diversity

 

Arnold, Ronnie

Education Theory and Practice (ET)

Juvonen, J., Kogachi, K., & Graham, S. (2017). When and how do students benefit from ethnic diversity in middle school? Child Development (0)0, 1-15. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jaana_Juvonen/publication/317775761_When_and_How_Do_Students_Benefit_From_Ethnic_Diversity_in_Middle_School/links/5a1c7631a6fdcc0af3265229/When-and-How-Do-Students-Benefit-From-Ethnic-Diversity-in-Middle-School.pdf

Key points from the article I shared.

1. More than half of the school aged youth are part of the ethnic minority
   1. Latinos are the largest
   2. Asians are the fastest growing
2. Schools should expect to have greater diversity in the upcoming years due to the new ethnic composition of the environments
3. Believes that if K-12 classrooms demographics do not match the ethnic diversity of neighborhoods, then increased segregation in schools that serve ethnic minorities can occur, students cannot receive the benefits of growing in an ethically diverse society, and schools composed of the ethnic minorities can be underserved due to unequal educational opportunities.

What I loved about this research is that social-emotional outcomes were the focus. I think educators can sometimes get swept away with following standards, teaching subject matter, and devoting the majority of the lessons to the subject matter. Of course, the time we get to design curriuclum and carryout lessons can sometimes not be enough, but we also need to consider the social-emotional well-being of the students while conducting lessons as well. What better way to bond with students, appreciate cultural differences, and learn real-world applications of a skill in the classroom teaching your favorite subject.

In the study, the researchers focused on social-emotional outcomes(safety, emotions, peer pressue, and lonliness) rather than academic outcomes. From the data analyzed, it was determined:

1. Girls felt less safe but believed they received fair and equal treatment from teachers by the sixth grade.
2. African American and Latino students felt safer but more victimized amongst peers at school.
3. High parent education levels were associated less peer victimization of students.
4. Believed teachers were less fair and equitable to all ethnic groups.
5. Exposure to ethnic diversity in lessons displayed a positive relationship between positive perceptions of teachers and fair treatment.
6. Teachers fair and equal treatment increased as the school became more diverse unless the class demographics were less diverse than the school’s demographics.

Potential Effects of Teaching Strategies on Students’ Academic Performance under a Trump Administration

Lopez, Carrie

CA

Guirguis, R. & Pankowski, J. Potential Effects of Teaching Strategies on Students’ Academic Performance under a Trump Administration Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1133888.pdf


Article examines the potential effects of the Trump Administration on teaching in NY state, examines possible effects on ELLs and low socio-economic status students as privatization could possible affect access to programs such as Head Start, etc. Though this article focuses on New York State, the implications certainly extend to other areas, food for thought for anyone teaching in an economically disadvantaged school or area.

Action Item: Liberation Library by Leila Roy

Alicia Morales

ET

 

Roy, L. (2016). Action Item: Liberation Library. Book Riot. Retrieved on December 1, 2016 from http://bookriot.com/2016/12/02/action-item-liberation-library/

 

Summary: This article/ video is about a project called Liberation Library, its a program that collects and donates books to juveniles in various detention centers in the Chicago area. In addition to books, the volunteers that serve Liberation Library also make bookmarks and handwritten notes to the recipients of the books. The mission of Liberation Library is “to encourage imagination, self-determination and connection to the outside worlds of their choosing”.

 

Evaluation: I picked this article because to me it highlighted the various possibilities of a library program. Like Liberation Library I too feel that having access to books is a “right and not a privilege”. I think empowering any student to see the relationship between themselves and books/ideas is essential to changing the direction of any person. I think a school library could help promote a program that helps the less advantaged, it was a very moving story.