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Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace\u003Cbr>Jennifer A. Ferretti\u003Cbr>Maryland Institute, College of Art, [jferretti@mica.edu](jferretti@mica.edu)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit)\u003Cbr> Part of the Information Literacy Commons\u003Cbr>Let us know how access to this document benefits you. |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nFerretti, J. A. (2020) . Building a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace. Communications in Information Literacy, 14 (1), 134-152. Retrieved from  \n[https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit/vol14/iss1/10](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit/vol14/iss1/10)  \nThis Perspective is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communications in Information Literacy by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact [pdxscholar@pdx.edu](pdxscholar@pdx.edu).  \nBuilding a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace  \nJennifer A. Ferretti, Maryland Institute, College of Art  \nAbstract  \nCritical librarianship, or critlib, has made its way into the mainstream of library and information science through conferences, scholarly publications, social media, and other outlets. Over the past 10 years critical library instruction specifically has continued to be amuch presented and published topic. Classes and other groups that come through our libraries are opportunities for us to teach, learn, and empower. The care and critical perspectives we bring into the classroom are necessary, but are we also fostering this type of environment in the workplace? Are we doing enough to turn the critical lens on ourselves? As a woman of color in a predominantly white profession, it is difficult to not feel as though critical librarianship is performative. There is a time and place to refer to theory and another to engage in practice. Throughout this article I will illustrate that while critical pedagogy in librarianship has changed the way we teach information literacy and think of the teacher/student relationship, it’s been slower to change power relations between library colleagues. We ask our students to critically examine a resource and to see what is being left out of the conversation. It’s time to not only ask the same of us and the profession but also for us to take action.  \nKeywords: critical librarianship, librarians of color, equity, workplace culture, Critical Library Instruction  \nSpecial issue edited by Maria T. Accardi, Emily Drabinski, and Alana Kumbier  \nFerretti, J. A. (2020). Building a critical culture: How critical librarianship falls short in the workplace. Communications in Information Literacy, 14(1), 134–152.  \nBuilding a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace  \nAs a woman of color in a predominantly white profession (Rosa & Henke, 2017), I have many stories where I am celebrated for my difference—which does not just include race or ethnic background, but cultural difference such as knowledge building and approach to problem solving—and discounted for the same reasons. My friends and I are probably the ones getting photographed at a national conference, but also the ones getting microaggressed or worse in the same venue. Despite sanctioned spaces provided by professional organizations, the work of Black and Indigenous folks and People of Color (BIPOC), our intentions, need to convene, and narratives can still be called into question.  \nAt the 3rd National Joint Conference for Librarians of Color (JCLC), Jennifer Brown, Sofia Leung, Marisa Méndez-Brady and I presented a workshop centered on the library worker of color and self-care titled “We Here: Community Building as Self-Care.” JCLC is a conference ","cbCait16uEzz2s60","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCait16uEzz2s60","pdf",197642,"English","# Article\n## Building a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace\n## Abstract\n## Keywords","[{\"question\":\"What does the article argue about critical librarianship in the workplace?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that workplace power relations change more slowly than classroom approaches to information literacy, and that critical librarianship may become performative if it does not extend into workplace culture.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the author feel critical librarianship can be performative?\",\"answer\":\"As a woman of color in a predominantly white profession, the author describes being celebrated for difference while also being discounted for the same reasons, making it hard to separate performative recognition from meaningful practice.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author connect classroom criticality to action in professional settings?\",\"answer\":\"The author notes that students are asked to critically examine what resources include and what is left out, and concludes it is time to ask the same of professionals and take action in the profession itself.\"}]","Communications in Information Literacy - Issue 1 - Building a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace | PDF",1792088210]