Liberatory Librarianship - Authors@EIU Book Talk

In Liberatory Librarianship: Stories of Community, Connection, and Justice, Brian Keith, Laurie Taylor, and Shamin Renwick explore how librarianship can be a vehicle for empowerment, equity, and social justice. In this Authors@EIU talk, Brian Keith and Laurie Taylor share the inspiration, process, and key ideas behind the book, including how their work with the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) shaped their thinking about uncolonized, community-driven models for digital libraries. Drawing from examples across cultural heritage institutions, the speakers trace how traditional archives have often perpetuated colonial power structures, and how liberatory librarianship proposes a forward-looking alternative that centers marginalized voices, participatory governance, and contributive justice. The talk highlights liberatory librarianship’s resonance beyond libraries, offering a broader framework for teaching, learning, and community engagement across higher education. By emphasizing student agency, interrogating systems of power, ensuring accessibility and belonging, practicing ethical stewardship of knowledge, and advocating for shared governance, liberatory principles align with the goals of community-engaged scholarship. The speakers also connect this work to initiatives like EIU’s pursuit of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, celebrating the liberatory efforts already underway across the university. Through storytelling and case studies, the presentation invites reflection on how educators and institutions can move from resisting inequity to proactively building inclusive, justice-centered academic communities.