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QUESTION: Libraries and Political Instability

Submitted by Anonymooose on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 2:35pm
question / pregunta: 

Can you tell me of any sources you know of that address the relationship between radical social movements and libraries, particularly in times of politically unstable or revolutionary times?

Answers

Answer posted by: Alycia

You might want to take a look at "Questioning Library Neutrality," edited by Alison Lewis. Of potential interest is a bibliography titled "Activist Librarianship: Heritage or Heresy? One Librarian's Two-Part List of Relevant and Thoughtful Reading for the Engaged Librarian and the Involved Citizen" by Ann Sparanese.

I'm not sure that this would address your idea of "unstable or revolutionary times," but it definitely lists many great sources for the study of radical librarianship.

Some other sources of information along the same lines: Revolting Librarians and Revolting Librarians Redux, and Alternative Library Literature.

Answer posted by: SLE

Hello! You mentioned that you heard about RR through an LIS program. Your university might have access to The Reference Librarian (journal), in which case you can read Lia Friedman and Melissa Morrone's article "Radical Reference: Socially Responsible Librarianship Collaborating With Community." The article isn't free, but you can see if your university has access by clicking on the link below. If it doesn't work, you might want to check with your university library or try searching for the journal "Reference Librarian" in the library catalog.

Link: Radical reference article

You might also want to look at the Radical Reference page for "Alternative Libraries and Infoshops." This page has links to progressive library collections and (at the very bottom of the page) a list of articles related to radical librarianship.

Link: RR Alternative Libraries Page

I hope these help!

take care,
Sarah