Examining the Hidden Ideologies within Cultural Competence Discourses Among Library and Information Science (LIS) Students: Implications for School Library Pedagogy

Martinez, Evelyn

Kumasi, K. D., & Hill, R. F. (n.d.). Examining the Hidden Ideologies within Cultural Competence Discourses Among Library and Information Science (LIS) Students: Implications for School Library Pedagogy. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/slisfrp/94.

  

Summary: Kumasi and Hill point out in their article that in the LIS profession, structural racism has been largely ignored because libraries and staff are either not aware and/or have not challenged the Eurocentric and White normative culture of libraries and within the LIS profession (2103).  The authors also point out that within the LIS profession there exists a “tendency to rely on empty, celebratory rhetoric that employs race neutral terms such as diversity and multiculturalism” that does not specifically examine racism and white privilege on a structural level (2013).  This article further examines the complexity and importance of these ideologies.

Evaluation/Opinion:  This is an important article that raises crucial issues that all LIS professionals should be aware of.  Librarians that work in public libraries and school libraries in urban areas service populations that are diverse in race, ethnicity and language.  Library professionals can best serve their needs by acknowledging and legitimizing their experience through collections that are relevant to them.  Ensuring that materials/texts used in the library are inclusive of their language, culture, experience and are inclusive of characters representative of underserved diverse cultures is important.  Providing materials where diverse cultures see themselves portrayed, as main characters in texts would be a way of affirming their identity as well as including materials in their primary language.