We invite attendees to critically reflect on the library’s internal power dynamics and consider: How do you understand the ‘librarian/ staff divide’? Co-presenters Alicia (staff) and Monica (librarian) will share insights from the literature alongside personal observations. By historicizing the professionalizing of librarianship, we can better reckon with the ‘zero sum game’ fallacy which pits Us versus Them. Organized labour and feminism have the goal of a more just society for all: We argue that reinforcing the workplace binary undermines solidarity while working against shared values. Three topics which reveal this tension include work-from-home, the impact of AI, and decision-making bodies.

Monica Rettig

Brock University

Monica Rettig

X

Brock University

Alicia Floyd

Brock University

Alicia Floyd

X

Brock University

Evidence-Based Activism (EBA) challenges professional discourses on disease, disability, and therapy. Activists are self-educated in medical knowledge, forming communities that confront what they see as inequitable treatment or misinformed understandings of their conditions. They attempt to augment medical evidence, arguing that their lived experiences (‘experiential expertise’) be valued as much as clinical trials. For librarians, supporting users who challenge authoritative information creates tensions between the expert knowledge we advocate for and the rights of our users to reject it, even asking for our assistance in creating alternatives to commonly accepted practices. I use the literature on EBA and patient organizations who counter expert information to think through possibilities of professional neutrality and how we accommodate authority in relation to our users’ needs.

David Gerstle

University of Toronto Mississauga

David Gerstle

X

University of Toronto Mississauga

As our institutions buckle under aggressive attacks on public education and institutional investments in racial capitalism, we are reminded that our collectively won working conditions and policy environments determine how free we are to demand better at the workplace for ourselves and our communities. Join us to think through the work(!) of building broad-based labour resistance in academic libraries!

Alex Jiyun Jung

University of Toronto

Alex Jiyun Jung

X

University of Toronto

Alex works as Open Knowledge Specialist at the University of Toronto Libraries. He is an engaged unionist in CUPE Local 1230 and a long-time community organiser. In library work, he helps people edit, learn/teach with, and observe limits to open knowledge tools like Wikipedia.

This presentation will be based on a research paper that we wrote, in which we conducted an environmental scan of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statements and language in job postings at academic libraries in the United States. In this session we will uncover our findings, discuss how the language of job postings isn't as neutral as they seem, and the affects this language can have on the applicant pool and thus the diversity of the institution and how this research can be applied to analyzing academic libraries in Canada. We hope that this presentation will contribute to scholarly and professional discourse around recruitment, hiring, and retention by showcasing how precariously intertwined librarianship is with politics, despite the industry policy of neutrality.   

Rochelle David

University of Toronto

Rochelle David

X

University of Toronto

Mona Makinejad

University of Toronto

Mona Makinejad

X

University of Toronto

Jim is Director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prior founding and leading CFE since 2015, Jim was Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, previously having been an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto where he taught Canadian Studies. He has also held several senior positions in the Canadian trade union movement. In 2024, Jim was honoured by being named the first recipient of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations Intellectual Freedom Award for outstanding contributions to intellectual freedom in Canada.

James Turk

Director, Centre for Free Expression / Toronto Metropolitan University

James Turk

X

Director, Centre for Free Expression / Toronto Metropolitan University

Jim is Director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prior founding and leading CFE since 2015, Jim was Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, previously having been an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto where he taught Canadian Studies. He has also held several senior positions in the Canadian trade union movement. In 2024, Jim was honoured by being named the first recipient of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations Intellectual Freedom Award for outstanding contributions to intellectual freedom in Canada.