Student-Led Resistance

This paper examines the formation, implementation, and impact of a student-led Critical Librarianship Reading Group (CLRG) initiated in a graduate Library and Information Science (LIS) program in the U.S. South. Designed to fill gaps in formal curriculum related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the CLRG became a transformative space for students to critically engage with social justice theory and practice. The significance of this intervention is heightened by recent political attacks on DEI efforts, most notably, Donald Trump’s moves to dismantle federal DEI initiatives and defund related programming (Haberman & Karni, 2020; White House, 2025). As higher education institutions face increasing scrutiny and censorship around critical race theory and queer inclusion, the CLRG offers a case study of resilience and student-driven curricular repair.