SJSU Research Guides: Examining Racism in the Library: Examining Institutional Racism in Libraries

Examining Institutional Racism in Libraries

The resources on this list were offered in the LJA Continuing Education course "Examining Institutional Racism in Libraries" with instructors CJ Ivory and Angela Pashia in October, 2020.

LJA Profile: CJ Ivory is Assistant Professor and Instruction Librarian at the University of West Georgia where she teaches a credit-bearing course on Information Literacy & Research. In this semester-long course she connects social justices issues to information literacy concepts. Prior to this position, CJ served as Business Librarian at the University of Central Florida and Reference Librarian at Valencia College. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Central Florida and Master of Library & Information Science from Florida State University. Her research interests include open pedagogy, critical information literacy, and social justice education.

LJA Profile: Angela Pashia is an Associate Professor / Librarian at the University of West Georgia. Angela has a Masters in Information Science & Learning Technologies, with an emphasis in library science, from the University of Missouri, and a Masters in Anthropology from the University of Virginia. Angela is currently focusing on practicing critical pedagogies and incorporating social justice issues into the credit bearing information literacy course offered at UWG. Angela is co-editor (with Jessica Critten) of the book Critical Approaches to Credit-bearing Information Literacy Courses (ACRL Press, 2018). Website.

Race Is a social construct, scientists argue
Gannon, M. (2016, February 6). Race Is a social construct, scientists argue. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/
White fragility. C-Span BookTV presentation
Video: DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility. C-Span BookTV presentation. Available at: https://www.c-span.org/video/?447421-2/robin-diangelo-white-fragility.

White fragility: why it's so hard for White people to talk about racism by DiAngelo, Robin J.
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9780807047422
Publication Date: 2020
"Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo explores how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively."--Provided by publisher.

Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), Article 8. Available at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
Trippin' over the color line: The invisibility of race in Library and Information Studies
Honma, T. (2005). Trippin' over the color line: The invisibility of race in Library and Information Studies. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies 1(2): 1-26. Available at: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4nj0w1mp
On "diversity" as anti-racism in Library and Information Studies: A critique
Hudson, D.J. (2017). On "diversity" as anti-racism in Library and Information Studies: A critique. Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, 1: 1-36. Available at: https://doi.org/10.24242/jclis.v1i1.6
In pursuit of antiracist social justice: Denaturalizing whiteness in the academic library
Brook, F., Ellenwood, D., & Lazzaro, A.E. (2015). In pursuit of antiracist social justice: Denaturalizing whiteness in the academic library. Library Trends 64(2): 246-284. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/34983.
White librarianship in blackface: Diversity initiatives in LIS
Hathcock, A. (2015). White librarianship in blackface: Diversity initiatives in LIS. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Available at: http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/lis-diversity/
The instructors recommend reading the comments section of this blog post.
Racial microaggressions in academic libraries: Results of a survey of minority and non-minority librarians
Alabi, J. (2015). Racial microaggressions in academic libraries: Results of a survey of minority and non-minority librarians. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(1), 47-53. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2014.10.008.
Locating the Library in Institutional Oppression
De jesus, N. (2014). Locating the Library in Institutional Oppression. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Retrieved from http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/locating-the-library-in-institutional-oppression/
Soliciting performance, hiding bias: Whiteness and librarianship
Galvan, A. (2015). Soliciting performance, hiding bias: Whiteness and librarianship. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Available at: http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/soliciting-performance-hiding-bias-whiteness-and-librarianship.
Mapping whiteness at the reference desk
Hathcock, A. & Sendaula, S. (2017). Mapping whiteness at the reference desk. In G. Schlesselman-Tarango (Ed.), Topographies of whiteness: Mapping whiteness in Library and Information Science (pp. 203-234). Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2451/40072.
The Whiteness of Practicality
Hudson, D.J. (2017). The Whiteness of Practicality. In G. Schlesselman-Tarango (Ed.), Topographies of whiteness: Mapping whiteness in Library and Information Science (pp. 203-234). Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10214/11619.
Examining structural oppression as a component of information literacy: A call for librarians to support #BlackLivesMatter through our teaching
Pashia, A. (2017). Examining structural oppression as a component of information literacy: A call for librarians to support #BlackLivesMatter through our teaching. Journal of Information Literacy, 11(2), 86-104. Available at: https://doi.org/10.11645/11.2.2245.
That Which Cannot Be Named: The Absence of Race in the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Educatio
Rapchak, M. (2019). That Which Cannot Be Named: The Absence of Race in the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Journal of Radical Librarianship 5, 173-96. Available at: https://journal.radicallibrarianship.org/index.php/journal/article/view/33.
The legacy of Lady Bountiful: White women in the library
Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (2016). The legacy of Lady Bountiful: White women in the library. Library Trends 64(4), 667-686. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/library-publications/34/.
A revisionist history of Andrew Carnegie's library grants to Black colleges
Walker, S. (2017). A revisionist history of Andrew Carnegie's library grants to Black colleges. In G. Schlesselman-Tarango (Ed.), Topographies of whiteness: Mapping whiteness in Library and Information Science (pp. 33-53). Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press. Available at: https://kb.gcsu.edu/lib/3.
Getting Called Out: How to Apologize
Chescaleigh. (2013, September 06). Getting Called Out: How to Apologize. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xJXKYL8pU
You're Gonna Screw Up by April Hathcock
Hathcock, A. (2013, April 13). You’re Gonna Screw Up [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://aprilhathcock.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/youre-gonna-screw-up/