Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum

Canadian communities are facing a crisis of inequity, and library service providers must do more to respond to the causal conditions of anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism (Black & Mehra, 2023). Beginning in 2022, the first known Canadian MLIS course, Anti-Racism in Library and Inform...

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Main Author: Amber Matthews
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Partnership 2025-08-01
Series:Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/8188
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author Amber Matthews
author_facet Amber Matthews
author_sort Amber Matthews
collection DOAJ
description Canadian communities are facing a crisis of inequity, and library service providers must do more to respond to the causal conditions of anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism (Black & Mehra, 2023). Beginning in 2022, the first known Canadian MLIS course, Anti-Racism in Library and Information Science, was piloted at Western University. It aimed to allow students to engage with transformative and collaborative anti-racism frameworks relevant to the Canadian library sector and MLIS curriculum. The one-semester (13-week) course was offered once each summer in 2022 and 2023. The multi-faceted course aimed to equip students with community-based approaches to learning in partnership with local Black communities. As exemplars, the course approach and learnings also allow LIS scholars and practitioners to explore and evaluate their understanding of community-based and anti-racist frameworks. This paper provides evidence-based research and Black-centred resources that can begin to address anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism impacting Canadian library communities. The Canadian-centric and LIS-tailored approach can further benefit both library and community organizations by supporting anti-racism efforts to uncover covert practices of anti-Black racism in personal and professional practices and worldviews.
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spelling doaj-art-4f057bbb0fcf4ed2ad3c28438d5694dc2025-08-20T03:40:22ZengThe PartnershipPartnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research1911-95932025-08-0120110.21083/partnership.v20i1.8188Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculumAmber Matthews0Old Dominion University Canadian communities are facing a crisis of inequity, and library service providers must do more to respond to the causal conditions of anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism (Black & Mehra, 2023). Beginning in 2022, the first known Canadian MLIS course, Anti-Racism in Library and Information Science, was piloted at Western University. It aimed to allow students to engage with transformative and collaborative anti-racism frameworks relevant to the Canadian library sector and MLIS curriculum. The one-semester (13-week) course was offered once each summer in 2022 and 2023. The multi-faceted course aimed to equip students with community-based approaches to learning in partnership with local Black communities. As exemplars, the course approach and learnings also allow LIS scholars and practitioners to explore and evaluate their understanding of community-based and anti-racist frameworks. This paper provides evidence-based research and Black-centred resources that can begin to address anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism impacting Canadian library communities. The Canadian-centric and LIS-tailored approach can further benefit both library and community organizations by supporting anti-racism efforts to uncover covert practices of anti-Black racism in personal and professional practices and worldviews. https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/8188library and information science curriculumanti-racismcommunity-engaged learningCanada
spellingShingle Amber Matthews
Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum
Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research
library and information science curriculum
anti-racism
community-engaged learning
Canada
title Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum
title_full Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum
title_fullStr Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum
title_full_unstemmed Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum
title_short Anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum
title_sort anti black racism in library and information science curriculum
topic library and information science curriculum
anti-racism
community-engaged learning
Canada
url https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/8188
work_keys_str_mv AT ambermatthews antiblackracisminlibraryandinformationsciencecurriculum