The Seventeenth International Conference on Books, Publishing & Libraries

Abstract

Librarians must be equipped to consider numerous cultural issues in providing services to diverse groups of patrons. This is not always a priority of library science educators and practitioners in the United States. Henry Giroux’s theory of radical democracy and border pedagogy is one framework that can be used to examine libraries as traditionally hegemonic institutions controlling services and collections. Giroux’s attention to equity, freedom, and justice (radical democracy) reveals many issues prevalent in the field of library science. By encouraging students to explore new borders to deconstruct culture, power, and history, Giroux’s theory provides a framework whereby students can learn to create a sustained dialogue focused on respect for otherness. This study highlights library science student work, including journals and a service-learning project, which are used to build connections through community and culture. Students developed perspectives and self-reflection through journaling during a course on building connections through community and culture. The distance education students also work with community libraries to assess services and collections, and discover suggestions for improving connections to various cultural groups. As students learn to cross disciplinary, cultural, and political borders through a series of readings and the class project, their connections are informed by the spirit of Giroux’s theory to consider how underrepresented or marginalized groups are being served.