Call for Proposals – CJAL Special Issue: Labour and Canadian Academic Libraries

November 11, 2021

The Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship (CJAL) invites submissions to our special issue on labour and Canadian academic libraries. CJAL is an open access, peer-reviewed journal published by the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL).

Authors interested in participating are asked to submit a proposal (maximum 800 words plus bibliography) as an email attachment (Word document or PDF) to can.j.acad.lib@gmail.com by December 20, 2021. 

We welcome a wide variety of article types and methodologies, both traditional and non-traditional. These may include empirical studies and theoretical works. We encourage authors to draw on their personal experiences (e.g., program descriptions; autoethnography), but these should be contextualized in the broader environment and literature. Articles submitted for review must fit the journal’s Focus and Scope. The journal is bilingual (English/French); proposals may be submitted in either language. For more guidance, please see the journal’s Focus and Scope.

Deadline for proposal submission: Dec. 20, 2021
Notification of proposal acceptance: Jan. 30, 2022
Deadline for article submission: April 15, 2022

Anticipated special issue publication: December, 2022

CJAL Special Issue: Labour and Canadian Academic Libraries

The term “academic library” often calls to mind the image of a building—but a building is merely an empty space. So what makes a library what it is?

We—library workers—make libraries. Human beings and their labour are behind everything a library is and everything that it does. Yet we suffer from a pernicious discursive tendency to dissociate “the library” as a construct from the library work which animates it and gives it life. We see this reflected in our professional landscape; Canada supports dozens of professional “library” associations, but very few professional associations for library workers.

This dissociation has profound consequences for libraries, both at the institutional level and within the broader context of the academy. Academics argue about library policies without ever speaking to library workers; scholars theorise about “the archive” without ever engaging with archival practise and expertise. These disconnects exacerbate existing inequities in the labour force and contribute to library work being devalued, de-emphasized, and misunderstood.

These challenges are further compounded by a rapidly changing sociocultural and socioeconomic climate. Budget cuts, service constraints, and ongoing library reorganizations have become a fixture of many library workers’ professional lives. Our work is conditioned by de-skilling, deprofessionalization, and corporatization—but also by renewed emphasis on social justice, an increasing appreciation of librarians’ role in teaching and learning, and greater concern for student well-being. The COVD-19 pandemic has reshaped our work even further, ushering in an era where remote work and flexible hours are the norm for many—but where existing inequities may also be amplified.

What are the implications of these changes for academic library work and workers?

In this special issue we invite perspectives that emphasize the experiences of academic library workers, the conditions in which we work, the forces that are changing those working conditions, and ways in which we can continue to strive for improved work environments. We particularly wish to speak to the context of labour in Canadian academic libraries, recognizing that much existing scholarship focuses on the unique context of the United States.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Self-perception and collective identity for library workers
• The relationship (or tension) between maintenance and innovation in libraries
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the labour force
• Reproduction of bias and exclusion of marginalized groups through library work
• Experiences and perspectives on racism, discrimination, and anti-racist practice in libraries
• Experiences of workers during and after library reorganizations
• Hiring practices
• Collective bargaining
• Unionization, labour activism, and organizing
• Perceptions of “value” in library work
• Collegial governance
• Affective and emotional labour
• Library work and an ethic of care
• Library work as service
• Precarious employment
• Perspectives from new library workers or students
• Library credentials and their value
• Library work as gendered work
• Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic library working environments

The Special Issue Editors

Myron Groover, MA (Hons) MAS MLIS, has served as Archives and Rare Books Librarian at McMaster University since 2014. He served for several years on the Executive of the McMaster University Academic Librarians’ Association, including a term as President and two consecutive rounds as Chief Bargaining Officer. Prior to working at McMaster, he held a variety of roles in public libraries and not-for-profits.

Eveline Houtman, PhD MLS MEd, recently retired from the University of Toronto Libraries, where she was variously library technician, music cataloguer, reference librarian, government information specialist, liaison librarian, middle manager, and a coordinator of library instruction. She is an adjunct instructor at U of T’s Faculty of Information and a CJAL editor.

Eva Revitt, PhD MLIS, is currently the Copyright Librarian and Subject Librarian for Anthropology, Economics, and Political Science at MacEwan University. Over the years she has held numerous roles including that of campus librarian, Chair of Campus Library Services, and Interim Director of Office of Teaching and Learning. She has twice served on the Faculty Association Negotiations Committee as well as the university’s Tenure and Promotion Committee.

Joanne Rodger, PhD MLIS, is currently the Director, Program Quality & Accreditation in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Previously, she has worked in public and school libraries, as well as the non-profit sector. She has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education the last 18 years, teaching courses in the library school and elementary education.

(Via Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship)