Silenced and Siloed : Racism, Rankism, and the Age of COVID
Workshop | Tuesday, May 18, 2021 | 1:30pm – 2:30pm EST
The organizational structure of academia is by nature hierarchical and colonialist. While librarianship remains a feminized field, the few men employed hold leadership positions. Additionally, whiteness is the default. Adherence to traditional power structures afford faculty access to networks unavailable to frontline staff. Across all strata of society, COVID-19 has exacerbated inequities and discrimination; academic libraries have not been immune. Statistically, frontline positions have higher numbers of BIPOC employees. The CDC notes that minorities are at an increased risk of “getting sick and dying from COVID-19”. However, frontline staff have regularly been required to work in unsafe conditions with leadership’s perceived need to keep the library physically open for patrons — a tool of abuse as staff have little or no choice about patron contact regardless of community infection rates or personal responsibilities altered or increased by the pandemic. We propose that librarianship’s ideals are diametrically at odds with its practices.
Presenters: Juanita Thacker & Suzanne Sawyer
Juanita Thacker is the Information Literacy Lecturer at UNC Greensboro. Thacker also holds an MLIS from UNC Greensboro. She is devoted to advocating for all library users particularly students and paralibrary staff. Thacker is also a founding and marketing team member of WOC+Lib.
Suzanne Sawyer is a Preservation Specialist at UNC Greensboro University Libraries. Sawyer holds an MFA in Book Arts from UA, a BFA and BSW from VCU, and is an MLIS candidate at UNCG. She serves as a staff representative to the library’s Administrative Council and is an EDI team member.