The Dialectic of Academic Librarianship: A Critical Approach

Oftentimes, academic librarians are not fully conscious of the role that their libraries play in late-capitalist society or how they, as information professionals, help to perpetuate this role. Adopting a dialectical materialist perspective, Stephen Bales investigates the modern academic library as an institution and academic librarianship as a profession. The author examines the academic library's position as a culturally and historically situated producer and curator of knowledge and its instrumental role in driving social reproduction and the status quo. The book then considers the effect of academic librarians in bolstering dominant ideologies and argues instead for a transformative, engaged librarianship that recognizes and implements the academic library as a locus for positive social change. To these ends, the book serves as a tool for deepening the theoretical consciousness of practicing academic librarians and as a point of entry for praxis.

Author: Stephen Bales
Publisher: Library Juice Press
Published: 05/11/2015
Pages: 202
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.67lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.46d
ISBN13: 9781936117895
ISBN10: 1936117894
BISAC Categories:
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Library & Information Science | General

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