In Our Own Voices, Redux: The Faces of Librarianship Today: Camila A. Alire: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

In Our Own Voices, Redux

The Faces of Librarianship Today

In Our Own Voices, Redux

The Faces of Librarianship Today

Description

In the 20-year reboot of Neely and Abif’s 1996 In Our Own Voices, fifteen of the original contributors revisit their stories alongside the fifteen new voices that have been added. This Collective represents a wide range of life and library experiences, gender fluidities, sexualities, races, and other visible, and invisible identities.

In addition to reflections on lives and experiences since the 1996 volume, chapters cover the representation of librarians of color in the profession at large, and more specifically, those among them who are still the “only one”; the specter of “us serving them—still;” and migrations from libraries to other information providing professions. These authors reflect on their careers and lives in libraries and other school and workplace settings, as activists, administrators, archivists, library students and information professionals. They share stories of personal and professional abuse, attempts to find and secure gainful employment, navigating the profession, and how they overcame decades of normalized discrimination to complete their educational and career pursuits. They write about the need for support systems, work-life balance, self-care, communities of support, and the importance of mentoring and being mentored. And above all, they persist, and continue to disrupt systems.

These essays are from contributors from a variety of libraries and library related environments, and provide answers to questions professionals new to LIS haven’t even asked yet. The inclusion of a new group of librarian his-, her-, and their-stories provides a voice for those currently finding their way through this profession. These essays bring honesty, vulnerability, authenticity, and impactfulness to the “diversity” conversation in libraries and beyond. And more importantly, these voices, from a variety of races, ethnicities, genders and sexualities, matter.

Foreword by Camila A. Alire
Part I: Back in the Day
Introduction: The Struggle Renewed by Teresa Y. Neely and Jorge R. López-McKnight
Chapter 1: Still Ambiguous After All These Years: Reflections on Diversity in Academic Libraries by Deborah Hollis
Part II: They Have Magic
Chapter 2: Malore the Explorer: Becoming Global with a Library Touch by Malore I. Brown
Chapter 3: The Less Than 1%: Native Librarians in Conversation by Sarah Kostelecky and Lori Townsend
Chapter 4: Moving on an Upward: Keeping the Doors of Possibilities Open by Dexter R. Evans
Chapter 5: Boundaries of the Body: Finding My(whole)self by Jennifer Brown
Chapter 6: Do it For the Culture: My Life as an Archivist by Rachel E. Winston
Part III: Strength
Chapter 7: You are Not Alone by Joanna Chen Cham
Chapter 8: How I Got Over by Evangela Q. Oates
Chapter 9: The Jackie Robinson of Library Science: 20 Years Later by Teresa Y. Neely
Chapter 10: “The Shoe is Too Small, and Not Made for You!”: Racial ‘Covering’ and the Illusion of Fit by Silvia Lin Hanick
Part IV: Leading by Reflection
Chapter 11: “While I Have the Floor….” by Mark D. Winston
Chapter 12: What Have I Learned From the Past, Present, and Future? by Jose A. Aguiñaga
Part V: Family
Chapter 13: Like Our Lives Depended on It: Reflections on Embodied Librarianship, Counter-Chapter 14: Spaces, and Throwing Down by Nicholae Cline, Jorge López-McKnight, and Madelyn Shackelford Washington
Part VI: Disrupting the System
Chapter 15: Uno de Solamente Cuatro: Overcoming Barriers to Minority Recruitment in Appalachia by Monica Garcia Brooks
Chapter 16: How Does It Feel to be a Problem? The School-to-Prison Pipeline by Sheree D. White
Chapter 17: “...I Shall Become a Collector of Me. And Put Meat on My Soul” by Kimberly Black
Part VII: They Persisted
Chapter 18: Serving the Sons and Daughters of Mechanics and Farmers in the Crossroads of America by Madelyn Shackelford Washington
Chapter 19: Grief in Five Stages: Post Librarian Degree by Leni Matthews
Chapter 20: Confessions of a Retired Librarian by Lisa Burwell
Chapter 21: Being a Super Token at the American Heritage Center–University of Wyoming by Irlanda E. Jacinto
Part VIII: Warrior Women
Chapter 22: Shi Shei Iiná Naaltsoos Bá Hooghan: "My Library Life" by Monica Etsitty Dorame
Chapter 23: The Skirt Revolution: Speaking Out as a Mexicana Librarian by Jimena Bretón
Chapter 24: Reflections of a Long Journey by Mee-Len Hom
Chapter 25: What Do I Have to Be? by Tanya Elder
Part IX: Bringing Us Home
Chapter 26: My America by Ngoc-My Guidarelli
Chapter 27: I’m Still Here: An Addendum to A Personal Perspective of Academic Librarianship by Lisa Pillow
Chapter 28: How Never to be a Librarian by Zora J. Sampson
Chapter 29: Letter to a New Librarian of Color by Sofia Leung
Epilogue
Chapter 29: Letter to a New Librarian of Color by Sofia Leung

Product details

Published	Jun 11 2018
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	328
ISBN	9781538115367
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations	10 b/w illustrations; 4 b/w photos; 1 table
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

In Our Own Voices, Redux: The Faces of Librarianship Today is a work that demands to be heard while encouraging those for whom it is specifically written to make themselves heard. It should be read by librarians, library school students, support staff, and administrators. "We See You" is an important phrase in these times, and it is always worth making this message clear.

Technical Services Quarterly
In Our Own Voices, Redux features fearless, heroic contributors share their diverse journeys through powerful voices and thoughtful reflection. Shame on us if in the next twenty years there is not a more positive narrative. Required reading for all, but especially library leaders.

Irene M. H. Herold, author and editor of Creating Leaders: An Examination of Academic and Research Library Leadership Institutes, past ACRL President (2016-2017), and librarian of the College, The College of Wooster.
An honest, and courageous collection of writing illustrating the significant accomplishments by People of Color in librarianship in the face of structural racism and oppression. The everyday experiences chronicled are a clear indication that despite diversity initiatives and programs, our profession need to better support marginalized workers.

What you'll read here are stories most of us can identify with. It is refreshing to see People of Color taking up space in this field, speaking our universal truth to power. Writing our canon.

Jennifer A. Ferretti, digital initiatives librarian, Maryland Institute College of Art
Neely and López-McKnight re-route the historical narrative of our profession, making it broader, deeper, and inclusive. Racism abounds in our profession. Microagressions can not be denied. Put down the “diversity” plan, listen to these voices, and take note of the moments described with an “open access” heart and mind. Our colleagues, with their commitment, passion and skill - survive and thrive, in spite of. Their presence is critical to the vitality and relevancy of librarianship and information management. Up from the mineshaft of authenticity, in their own voices! We must listen, learn, dismantle, and recreate!

Sandra Ríos Balderrama, former director, Office for Diversity, American Library Association and National President, REFORMA