Neutrality is Polite Oppression: How critical librarianship and pedagogy principles counter neutral narratives and benefit the profession

Abstract

The debate about whether or not libraries and information professionals should be neutral seems perpetual. Championing neutrality over a critical perspective intentionally furthers the oppression of not only marginalized patron populations, but of marginalized colleagues. Rooted in principles of critical pedagogy and critical librarianship, this talk will illustrate how neutrality impacts the information professions and the communities we serve, as well as ways in which our expectations of our students to critically evaluate sources can be applied to our own work. We ask our students to think about what information is missing within a resource. It’s time we not only ask our profession the same (who isn’t at the table, what isn’t being discussed, etc.), but also that we take action to counter narratives of neutrality in our everyday practices, including in the classroom and our work spaces.