In my last post I related one of my objectives in taking the PGCert course as gaining understanding of some foundational ethos’ of education. This week I’m questioning my relationship with theory in light of this. The first learning outcome for this unit lists ‘theories, policies and pedagogies’, so it’s clear that theory is a necessary bridge I will need to cross. I’ve tended to think of the PGCert as a skills-based ambition – learning to better plan and deliver the student sessions I teach in my Academic Support Librarian role. I had anticipated exploring pedagogical theories, which would be new ground for me, I was not expecting so much library-centred content in the course readings.
In preparation for this week’s session I read ‘Decolonising the library: a theoretical exploration’ (Crilly, 2019a). I initially found the article quite frustratingly theoretical (despite its intent being clear in the title). The article discusses critical librarianship, of which decolonisation is a key element. In another text Crilly herself notes critical librarianship as potentially exclusionary in its language and comfort zones of social media and academic writing (2019b, quoting Nicholson and Seale, Hudson and Almeida). I sometimes share this irritation that librarianship can be inward looking, over-relying on discourse with not enough focus on action, impact and change – and this feeds into my wariness of theory without an immediate translation to practical implications.
Crilly herself detailing these critiques of critical librarianship gave me pause to re-appraise the initial more theoretical article. Macfarlane’s clarity of portrayal of unbalanced criticism as a cheap way to achieve status prompted me, on reflection, to re-frame my dismissive reaction as defensive. I tend to be a very practical person, I’ve been previously described as ‘solution oriented’. There are situations when I think this is advantageous – I get things done, I’m comfortable with change, I can be adept at removing or working around barriers. However, it also means I can jump too fast to the nearest acceptable answer and move quickly on. And it means I can find theoretical discourse frustrating and excluding, sharing Appleton’s (2019) feelings of sometimes being an ‘imposter’ with a ‘corporate’ approach to art librarianship.
I have initiated several practical projects at the Camberwell library and across the service that I believe embody the action side of critical librarianship; disaggregating the Dewey scheme for African art and artists (we regularly displayed the book ‘Africa is not a Country’, yet treated it as one in the scheme); initiating and helping to write a collections and content positionality note (UAL, 2024); auditing and cataloguing Camberwell’s Special Collections thus usurping ‘the librarian’s custodian power’ (Brett, 2024). On occasion I have questioned why, with UALs long participation in decolonising discourse in the UK some of these basics had not been addressed in the library. Delving into this article reminded me that the only reason I knew to ‘fix’ these operational elements was having encountered earlier more theoretical arguments and writings based on decolonisation and critical librarianship.
Brett (2024) proposes that critical librarianship can ‘provide a theoretical approach which can open up conversations and ideas that once may not have seemed relevant to librarians’. This encourages me to widen my engagement with theory texts, including re-engaging with critical librarianship theories, that might give me a better understanding of, or new ideas for, the more operational and collections parts of my role in addition to the teaching practice that I am newer to. A timely quip attributed variously to either a French or Irish business context popped up on my social media towards the end of the week : ‘that’s all very well in practice, but will it work in theory?’, I think it’s a helpful filter!
References :
Appleton, L. (2019) ‘Viewpoint: Is critical art librarianship actually a thing?’, Art Libraries Journal, Vol. 44(2), pp. 92–95. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2019.10.
Brett, R. (2024) ‘Viewpoint: How critical can librarians be?’, Art Libraries Journal, Vol. 49(2), pp. 71–75. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2019.10.
Crilly, J. (2019a) ‘Decolonising the library: a theoretical exploration’ Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal ‘Libraries, Archives and Special Collections’ special issue Vol. 4 (1). Available at: https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/123, accessed on 18/01/2025.
Crilly, J. (2019b) ‘A reflexive lens: Critical librarianship at UAL’, Art Libraries Journal, Vol. 44(2), pp. 83–91. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2019.9.
Macfarlane, B. (2004) Teaching with Integrity: The ethics of higher education practice. London: Routledge Falmer, p.92.
UAL (2024) ‘Why does my book display a collections note?’, ask: Access and Inclusion. Available at: https://arts.ac.libanswers.com/accessinclusion/faq/256376, accessed on 18/01/2025.