Stories Between the Stacks: Current Black Women School Librarians' Lived Experiences

Black women school librarians navigate complex professional landscapes shaped by their lived experiences, intersecting identities, and systemic barriers. Despite their significant contributions to school librarianship, their perspectives remain largely absent from scholarly work. This qualitative study explored how the lived experiences and positionalities of Black women school librarians shape their practices. It addressed the critical gap in research on Black women school librarians. Grounded in Black Critical Theory (BlackCrit) and guided by Black feminist-womanist storytelling, this study employs a narrative approach to explore the experiences of four Black women school librarians in the Southeastern Region of the United States. Data collection methods included in-depth semi-structured interviews and a focus group interview. Through the stories, the study illuminates the persistent anti-Blackness these librarians encountered in K12 school environments, including racial microaggressions and institutional constraints on culturally responsive practices. Regardless of these barriers, participants engage in deliberate acts of resistance and care, including culturally affirming collection development, embedding diverse literacy practices into their programming, and adopting othermothering practices to foster student success and well-being. It examines the barriers and challenges four Black women school librarians face and the strategies they employ to overcome them. The findings reveal that Black women school librarians are knowledge curators, mentors, and advocates, disrupting dominant narratives that often exclude Black voices. However, their work continues to be undervalued within the broader education and library science profession. By centering on Black women school librarians’ lived experiences, this research calls attention to the need for changes in school librarianship, including prioritizing culturally sustaining pedagogies and fostering transformative love in school libraries. This study contributes to scholarship on Black women’s knowledge production in education and librarianship. It demonstrates how Black women school librarians actively shape the field despite systemic challenges. It underscores the necessity for school librarianship to move beyond white hegemonic norms and adopt culturally responsive frameworks that acknowledge and affirm Blackness. By amplifying the voices of Black women school librarians, this research advocates for a more equitable and just profession.