The Dialectic of Academic Librarianship: A Critical Approach

by Stephen Bales

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.

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Stephen Bales is a Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian at Texas A&M University Libraries.

Reviews

[Romany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very difficult to read, but worth every minute of re-reading and stopping to look up definitions. The book asks academic librarians to reflect on our profession through the lens of dialectical materialism. The essays “serve as instruments for supporting a progressive and transformative professional praxis that consciously struggle against the dehumanizing aspects of neoliberal capitalism” (p. 17).

[Samantha Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a LOT to think about. I will have to re-read at some point when I have more time, but a great overview and call to action regarding critical librarianship.