Vanessa Irvin - Böcker

Social Justice in Library and Information Science addresses an urgent need for more credible, accurate, authoritative, authentic, and current experiences about library and information science (LIS) research, practices, policies, and services in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The collection of edited contributions focuses on how social justice and social equity is emerging as a powerful force in shaping contemporary LIS developments in Iran. The experiences capture the complex nuances of intersecting realities in local context, unrepresented voices, and empowering efforts in LIS to overcome marginalizing conditions and circumstances. Chapters include the participatory (and engaging) aspects of LIS (including academic libraries, public libraries, special libraries, LIS education, and more) that document empirical evidence and current scholarship on how progressive institutions and fearless change agents in LIS are promoting social justice outcomes and impacts via information-related work.

Poetry as Knowledge in Librarianship draws on poetry to illustrate its role in library and information science professionals' intertwined personal and professional streams of life journeys.The edited collection explores the power of poetry as a “voice” in transforming librarians’ lives and shaping their motivations, directions, choices, and actions at intertwined personal and professional nexus of intersection from all around the globe. Chapters provide an opportunity for librarians and information professionals worldwide to discuss the use of poetry and its transformational potential within and beyond the academy. The authors draw on the theoretical construct of “voice” as an instrument of self-consciousness, narrative development, storytelling, and discourse analysis.

During the 2020-2023 years of the pandemic, when it came to the workplace, public librarians creatively adjusted their practices and their praxis to keep communities engaged with a myriad of virtual information services and distal information delivery during lockdown, lasting for often long and uncertain timeframes. Library staff then had to transition back to providing information services that resembled pre-pandemic services, but with added virtual options that library users had become accustomed to. How the pandemic affected librarian praxis has become a testimony of how librarian ethos has grown and become stronger for the lessons learned.Defining the librarian ethos as the character of the librarian identity, Reading Workplace Dynamics offers a renewed ethos for public librarianship synthesizing frontline practitioner outcomes with scholarship via a blend of chapters presenting innovative and bold testimony on ways in which COVID-19 forever changed public librarianship. With a diverse geocultural scope, all chapters mindfully focus on the value of regionality and geoculture, centering and highlighting new voices to document the knowledge and wisdom of scholars and practitioners with front-line experience and longevity in public library services.Reading Workplace Dynamics appeals to public library professionals globally interested and invested in their professional development, and wider readers seeking to understand experiences, practices, and initiatives in public libraries.