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Book cover for Antiracist Library and Information Science, a book by Kimberly  Black, Bharat Mehra Book cover for Antiracist Library and Information Science, a book by Kimberly  Black, Bharat Mehra

Antiracist Library and Information Science

Racial Justice and Community
2023 ᛫


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Summary


Antiracist Library and Information Science: Racial Justice and Community presents the scholarship and insights of seasoned academic researchers and experienced practitioners as well as emerging scholars, graduate students, new professionals and activists in the field of LIS on the topic of antiracism. The chapters represent a combination of critical, scholarly and reflective perspectives on the theory, practice and progress made towards the actualization of antiracism in LIS and the creation of racially just communities.


This volume has been divided into three main sections. The first section, ‘Theoretical Groundings,’ addresses the philosophical, ontological, axiological, theoretical and epistemological perspectives on race-based oppression, racial justice and anti-racist values and ethics. The second section, ‘Dimensions of the Problem of Race in LIS and Community,’ presents explorations of the specific problems of racism in LIS practice – racism embedded in the tools and technologies of the profession and its services, in social relations and in the practices of LIS workplaces. The final section, ‘Developing Antiracist LIS and Creating the Beloved Community’ presents practical solutions for realizing the vision of an antiracist LIS and the creation of racially justice communities.


The contributors have provided a response and initial solutions for how the LIS professions can meet their espoused ideals for providing the best services for their communities. This work provides scholarship, food for thought, frameworks, and proposals for discussions for achieving the end of racism in LIS and the creation of just world.

Table of contents

  • Introduction; Kimberly Black and Bharat Mehra

  • PART I – THEORETICAL GROUNDINGS
  • Chapter 1. Epistemicide and Anti-Blackness in Libraries, Archives, and Museums: Working Towards Equity through Epistemic Justice Practices; Beth J.H. Patin, Melissa Smith, Tyler Youngman, Jieun Yeon, and Jeanne Kambara
  • Chapter 2. Antiracism and Spiritual Practice: An Exegesis of Race and LIS; Kimberly Black
  • Chapter 3. {Reflection Essay} Unearthing Racism in the Soil: Developing Collective Anti-Racist Consciousness in a Library and Information Science; Classroom LaVerne Gray
  • Chapter 4. {Reflection Essay} Dismantling the Myths: Evidence Based Antiracist School Librarianship; Janice Moore Newsum
  • PART II – DIMENSIONS OF THE PROBLEM OF RACE IN LIS AND COMMUNITY
  • Chapter 5. Beyond the Diversity Audit: Uncovering Whiteness in Our Collections Amanda; Rybin Koob, Alexander Watkins, Frederick C. Carey, Xiang Li, Arthur Aguilera, and Natalia Tingle
  • Chapter 6. Shutting Down the Tent Revival: The Call for Inclusive Leadership in LIS; Nicole Cooke and Lucy Santos Green
  • Chapter 7. Slave Cases & Ingrained Racism in Legal Information Infrastructures; Jennifer Elisa Chapman
  • Chapter 8. Collegiality as a Weapon to Maintain Status Quo in a White-Privileged and Entrenched LIS; Academy Bharat Mehra, Laurie Bonnici, and Steven L. MacCall
  • Chapter 9. {Reflection Essay} Bad Things Keep Happening in Our Town; Ferial Pearson, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo, and Gabriel Gutierrez
  • Chapter 10. {Reflection Essay} Cultural Humility and Black Males in the Library; Conrad Pegues
  • Chapter 11. {Reflection Essay} With Head & Heart -Exploring Autoethnographic Antiracist Research in Pediatric Cancer Communities; Shalonda Capers
  • Chapter 12. {Reflection Essay} Publishing while Latina: My Journey as an LIS Scholar in Search of the Academic Stool’s Third Leg; Mónica Colón-Aguirre
  • PART III – DEVELOPING ANTIRACIST LIS AND CREATING THE ‘BELOVED COMMUNITY’
  • Chapter 13. Black Librarians and Racial and Informational Justice for the Brazilian Black Population; Franciéle Carneiro Garcês da Silva, Dirnele Carneiro Garcez and Leyde Klebia Rodrigues da Silva
  • Chapter 14. Immigrants in Alabama: Community-Engaged Scholarship as a Lens for Racial Justice; Baheya Jaber
  • Chapter 15. White Pricks to Decenter Shades of White Privilege in Professional Association's Leadership Networks of LIS Education towards Antiracist Praxis; Bharat Mehra
  • Chapter 16. {Reflection Essay} Engaging Conversations: Foregrounding Twitter Feeds in Library Guides to Center Traditionally Marginalized Voices and Engage in Critical Discourse; Anders Tobiason
  • Chapter 17. {Reflection Essay} We the People……An Essay on the Survival of America; Robert Johnson
  • Chapter 18. {Reflection Essay} The Charlottesville Virginia Tragedy & Historical Artifacts: An Essay Reviewing Public Culture & Libraries’ Responsibility in Changing the Narrative; Briana Christensen

About the authors



Kimberly Black is an Associate Professor in Department of Computing, Information, and Mathematical Sciences and Technologies at Chicago State University (CSU). She is the author of What Books by African American Women Were Acquired by American Academic Libraries?: A Study of Institutional Legitimization, Exclusion, and Implicit Censorship (2009).

Bharat Mehra is EBSCO Endowed Chair in Social Justice, and Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama. His research promotes diversity and social justice through information and communication technologies to empower minority and underserved populations to make meaningful changes in their everyday lives.