ALA 2019 Poster: The Intersection of Academic Librarianship, Collaboration, and Social Justice: Black Lives Matter Teach-in and LibGuide

Black Lives Matter LibGuide at Salem State University

Adler, M. & Harper, L. M. (2018). Race and ethnicity in classification systems: Teaching knowledge organization from a social justice perspective. Library Trends 67(1), 52-73. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2018.0025

Bonnet, J. L., & McAlexander, B. (2012). Structural diversity in academic libraries: A study of librarian approachability. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(5), 227-286. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2012.06.002

Bowers, J., Crowe, K., & Keeran, P. (2017). If you want the history of a white man, you go to the library: Critiquing our legacy, addressing our library collections gaps. Collection Management, 42(3-4), 159-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2017.1329104

Espinal, I. (2017). A holistic approach for inclusive librarianship: Decentering whiteness in our profession. Library Trends, 67(1), 147-162. doi:10.1353/lib.2018.0030

Everett, S.  (2018). Visualizing the silent dialogue about race: Diversity outreach in an academic library. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 44(4), 518-526. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2018.04.002

Mabbott, C. (2017). The We Need Diverse Books campaign and critical race theory: Charlemae Rollins and the call for diverse children's books. Library Trends, 65(2), 508-552. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2017.0015

Stewart, B., Ju, B., & Kendrick, K. D. (2019). Racial climate and inclusiveness in academic libraries: Perceptions of welcomeness among black college students. The Library Quarterly, 89(1), 16-33.

In February 2016, SSU faculty held a Black Lives Matter Teach-In, in conjunction with sister schools in the Massachusetts State University system. This state-wide teach-in encouraged faculty to form connections with their disciplines to the #blacklivesmatter movement. During the week of February 22-26, 2016, participating faculty devoted 1 or 2 class periods to this teach-in. 

The faculty organizers asked librarians to create a research guide for the teach-in. This allowed the library to participate in this campus-wide event, even though librarians might not have classes or one-shots running during this time period. The LibGuide creation process was collaborative and iterative, with many opportunities for all parties to have input. 

The guide links to SSU and publicly available books, databases, and articles on the Black Lives Matter movement, racial justice, inequality, and police brutality. It is intended for students, and faculty to use as a starting point for their own research. 

Teach-in Outcomes

• 38 faculty members from 15 different departments, reaching approximately 1,370 students
• Inspired discussion of race, racism, and racial injustice on campus
• Working with Black, Brown, and Proud students, a Diversity, Power Dynamics and Social Justice course requirement was added to the General Education Curriculum
• The teach-in was held again in 2017
• In 2019, inspired by the success of the Black Lives Matter teach-in, SSU held a teach-in on Facing the Crisis in Public Higher Education

LibGuide Statistics

• During the teach-in the guide had 313 views. 
• 2 schools asked to adapt the SSU guide for their own use

Collection Development

In creating this LibGuide, we realized that we had gaps in our collection, specifically related to black voices and books that center black experiences. While the LibGuide was not created as a collection assessment device, it served as one. In the past 3 years, librarians have shifted purchasing practices to address this gap.