The Politics of Theory and the Practice of Critical Librarianship

Editors _ Karen P. Nicholson and Maura Seale

Publisher _ Library Juice Press. 2018. 274 p. Paperback. $35.00. ISBN: 978-1-63400-030-7

Reviewer _ Stew Wilson, research librarian, Hagen Ranch Road Branch, Palm Beach County (FL) Library System

The Politics of Theory and the Practice of Critical Librarianship from Library Juice Press (http://libraryjuicepress.com) comes as part of a new generation of critical librarianship. Once the domain of a few librarian-scholars, critical conversations are becoming more prominent in librarianship as part of larger conversations of identity politics and intersectionality and through forums such as #critlib on Twitter.

Critical theory, which has its roots in Marxist critiques of capitalism, is a site of tension within librarianship. Librarians, some argue, must accept that we are part of neoliberal institutions and need to prove our worth to stakeholders through economic metrics. Critical theory, which aims to reveal the systems of dominance and oppression inherent within neoliberalism, has been criticized in LIS literature as overly philosophical and disconnected from practice. Worse, for the solitary practitioner seeking change within their institution, critical approaches are often shut down and discouraged. The question for today’s critical librarian is: How is one to connect theory with practice to bring about meaningful institutional change? This question is at the heart of this book, and is examined in the context of a critical reflection on the progress (or lack of it) made in the application of critical theory to librarianship.

The first part of the book, Librarianship and the Practicality Imperative, examines the privileging of practicality over theory in librarianship and the false dichotomy of theory and practice. Far from a new trend, Lua and Gregory describe the history of American librarianship as one of constant tension between its capitalist roots and its democratic ideals. Popowich draws on examples in library automation to describe theory and practice as part of a “dialectically unified whole,” in which theory and practice mutually inform each other. These chapters explore the tension between the neoliberal bottom-line and the democratic principles of librarianship.

Theory at Work: Rethinking Our Practice offers examples of the interaction between theory and practice and will be of interest to librarians interested in practical examples of connecting theory to practice. Hicks argues for a sociocultural perspective on information literacy. In the following chapter, Barron and Preater propose the field of “critical systems librarianship,” which examines the power of Big Software and LIS providers, and asks critical questions about the privacy, neutrality, and openness in these systems. Coysh, Denton, and Sloniowski, in “Ordering Things,” describe how an after-hours Foucault reading group inspired positive change in their professional work, while Loyer describes the indigenous idea of nehiyaw, and describes ways that this idea of self-care can benefit librarianship. What is striking about this section is the variety of critical conversations; while Barron and Preater offer a more formal description of a new field of critical study, Schomberg offers a personal narrative of her own disability through the lens of critical disability studies, and Coysh, Denton, and Sloniowski describe critical conversation in an informal setting. The value of this section is to demonstrate how critical conversations are situated in both personal reflection and formal scholarship.

The third part of the book, Theory and the iSchool, offers perspectives on critical librarianship in MLIS programs. Caswell describes a pedagogical approach to critical archive studies which encourages students to critique issues of provenance; Penny Andrews, et al., describe their experience participating in a critical LIS reading group within an iSchool (of particular interest is the comment from one student that participation in critical conversation does not presume identity as a critical theorist). In these accounts, theory within the iSchool is more aspirational than realized; Nicola Andrew’s account of working as a New Zealand Maori with indigenous collections in the United States is particularly poignant in describing the experiences of marginalized LIS students within iSchool programs slow to acknowledge non-traditional perspectives.

Critlib and the Community considers the role of community in critical librarianship. Beilin’s “Critical Librarianship as an Academic Pursuit” is a highlight. While it’s intended as a discussion of the extent to which critical librarianship is embedded within academic discourse, it is just as effective a precis of the current state of critical librarianship as the editors’ introduction. The theme of academic discourse continues with Berg, who makes a case for collaboration with “quantitative criticalists”—quantitative researchers who might provide insight to a field that often relies heavily on qualitative data. Almeida’s theory-heavy analysis of the tensions of #critlib as a space of community, activism, and contestation is the only analysis of the #critlib community in the book, despite the publisher’s description on the back cover.

While The Politics of Theory and the Practice of Critical Librarianship is a book of theory, the theory here is consistently about practice. The librarian more familiar with critical theory than critical practice will find useful examples of connecting theory to practice; for total beginners, this book will serve as a good introduction to theory in librarianship. Librarians already engaged in critical practice will find that this book captures a moment of reflection in critical librarianship in questions of how theory itself is communicated in the profession, and questions of the extent to which power, exclusion, and dominance exist within a field which aspires to transcend cultural hegemony.