Register here: CRT in Libraries Case Study: A Conversation on Library Work In and Against Prisons
This event is co-sponsored by the Prison Library Support Network and the Reference and Instruction Special Interest Group of the Metropolitan New York Library Council. It is the second event in a series, leading up to a symposium on Critical Race Theory in LIS, slated for May 2023.
Want to learn more about library work supporting people surviving mass incarceration or movements for prison abolition? Join us on Wednesday, November 9th at 2pm EST via Zoom for a conversation co-sponsored by the Prison Library Support Network and the Reference and Instruction Special Interest Group, both based within the New York based library council, METRO.
Our panelists (bios below) will discuss how they use their skills as information workers in and against prisons broadly defined. Our goal in this conversation is to outline a range of critical standpoints, practical strategies, and real-world experiences.
Panelist bios:
Kevin Adams is an instruction librarian at Alfred University and a member of the AU Libraries Anti-racism and Anti-oppression Working Group. He is a member of the Abolitionist Library Association and a volunteer for the Prison Library Support Network. His current research is on the relationship between prison labor and academic library furniture with an eye toward divestment from the prison industrial complex.
Sarah Ball (she/her) is a NYC public librarian working inside jails and prisons, providing access to books and information for criminalized and incarcerated people and their families, with a priority on patron privacy and autonomy. Sarah works for the New York Public Library.
Maria Planansky is a collection management librarian at Alfred University. She is a member of the AU Libraries Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Working Group, and the Abolitionist Library Association. Her current research is on the institutional framework between academic library furniture and prison labor.
Emma Ramirez (she/her) is a graduate student working on her Master's degrees in Library and Information Science from Dominican University and Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary. She is interested in the capabilities and responsibilities of libraries to address the public's spiritual and physical needs. She has worked in public libraries for over five years and currently works in the Chicago Public Library system.