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Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

Shattering any idea that librarianship is a politically neutral realm, this insider's account of seven debates from the floor of the American Library Association Council illustrates the mechanisms the governing body used to maintain the status quo on issues like racism, government surveillance and climate change.

At play in each debate are rules of parliamentary procedure, appeals to authority, denial, and chastisement of librarians who pushed the ALA to make real its commitments to human rights and social justice.

Providing a fascinating look at the Council's inner workings, the author parses debates concerning anti-apartheid boycotts; partnerships between ALA, McDonald's and the Boy Scouts of America; spying by the National Security Agency; censorship in Israel and the Occupied Territories; fossil fuel industry divestment; and the recent revival by ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom of the infamous film The Speaker.

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Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

Shattering any idea that librarianship is a politically neutral realm, this insider's account of seven debates from the floor of the American Library Association Council illustrates the mechanisms the governing body used to maintain the status quo on issues like racism, government surveillance and climate change.

At play in each debate are rules of parliamentary procedure, appeals to authority, denial, and chastisement of librarians who pushed the ALA to make real its commitments to human rights and social justice.

Providing a fascinating look at the Council's inner workings, the author parses debates concerning anti-apartheid boycotts; partnerships between ALA, McDonald's and the Boy Scouts of America; spying by the National Security Agency; censorship in Israel and the Occupied Territories; fossil fuel industry divestment; and the recent revival by ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom of the infamous film The Speaker.

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Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

by Elaine Harger
Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015
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Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

by Elaine Harger

Overview

Shattering any idea that librarianship is a politically neutral realm, this insider's account of seven debates from the floor of the American Library Association Council illustrates the mechanisms the governing body used to maintain the status quo on issues like racism, government surveillance and climate change.

At play in each debate are rules of parliamentary procedure, appeals to authority, denial, and chastisement of librarians who pushed the ALA to make real its commitments to human rights and social justice.

Providing a fascinating look at the Council's inner workings, the author parses debates concerning anti-apartheid boycotts; partnerships between ALA, McDonald's and the Boy Scouts of America; spying by the National Security Agency; censorship in Israel and the Occupied Territories; fossil fuel industry divestment; and the recent revival by ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom of the infamous film The Speaker.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781476624716
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date: 02/22/2016
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 236
File size: 5 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Elaine Harger is retired, living in Spokane, Washington, following a 30+ year career as a student worker, clerical employee, paraprofessional, and MLS-degreed librarian in academic, special and public school libraries. She served nine years as a Councilor-at-Large on the governing body of the American Library Association, has been very active in ALA’s Social Responsibilities Round Table, and is a co-founder of the Progressive Librarians Guild. In 2022, SRRT awarded her with the Herb Biblo Outstanding Leadership Award for Social Justice and Equality.
Elaine Harger is retired, living in Spokane, Washington, following a 30+ year career as a student worker, clerical employee, paraprofessional, and MLS-degreed librarian in academic, special and public school libraries. She served nine years as a Councilor-at-Large on the governing body of the American Library Association, has been very active in ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table, and is a co-founder of the Progressive Librarians Guild. In 2022, SRRT awarded her with the Herb Biblo Outstanding Leadership Award for Social Justice and Equality.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. In Denial—Speaking about The Speaker
2. Singing (and Silencing) Solidarity—Interrupting Legacies of Racism
and the ­Anti-Apartheid “Book Boycott”
3. Censuring a Censor—The Debate on Censorship in Israel and the
Occupied Territories
4. Speaking with One Voice, Strangling Others?—McDonald’s and the
Boy Scouts of America
5. Abandoning Snowden…and Privacy?—Hegemony at Play in ALA
6. Charting a New Course—ALA and Climate Crisis
Works Cited
Index

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Reference
Library & Information Science
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Information Science
Library Administration and Services - General & Miscellaneous
Library Science
Organizations & Associations

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