Social and Cultural Justice in LIS

 

​LIS Related Ethics Case Study Assignment (Link to PDF)

For the first assignment, my ethics case study centered on the scenario of a new prison librarian encountering administration that wants to maintain broad-sweeping content bans for books. It looked at the moral claims made by both sides of the situation, the support for each claim, the ethical harms and benefits presented, and the frameworks through which to evaluate the most ethical course of action for the librarian in this hypothetical situation. This build upon the work done in LS 502 (discussed for PLO 2) to evaluate the overarching issue of book bans in prisons and zooms into one specific instance of it to look at through the lens of ethical philosophy. This furthered my understanding of the role of libraries in the work of supporting intellectual freedom for all readers, including incarcerated ones, and the specifics LIS professionals must be able to evaluate and use evidence to help inform the best practices for supporting the needs of our constituencies through these issues.

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​Zoom Library Workshop Project (Link to Workshop Slides PDF) (Link to Workshop Outline PDF) (Link to Workshop Handout PDF) 

For the second assignment, I’m reflecting on the final project I created during my internship with Columbia University Libraries. Used to earn my credit for the course LS 570, this internship focused on serving a diverse student body through virtual reference work and library instruction. I learned this through a combination of discussing through assigned texts with my supervisor such as What Inclusive Instructors Do by Tracie Marcella Addy and “Intimacy and Interruption in Remote Library Instruction” by Leila Walker, interviews with various members of library staff, and hands-on experience helping the students, staff, and alumni of Columbia University. It was during one interview with the Public Services Librarian, Caro Bratnober, when I gained better insight into the unique challenges students at Columbia University have traveling through a dense metropolis like New York City to reach the libraries for resources to help with projects and studying. This conversation combined with what I was learning through my internship inspired me to create the workshop “We Have the Libraries at Home!” to highlight all the library services students can access from home. This experience taught me to look at diversity from a variety of angles, not only factoring in the differences in experiences of patrons based on race, religion, and gender but also living environment, work schedules, family structures, and more in order to support their needs best through information services.