Support beyond the studio: Critical pedagogy in art librarianship

Abstract

This session grew out of conversations between two art librarians working in close proximity at different institutions, centered around the idea that while the needs for art and design students require a different type of academic support than others (Hemmig, 2009), this approach to learning and information lends itself to critical pedagogy and takeaways for other disciplines. Dismantling the paradigm that positions librarians in the role of the sage, critical pedagogy establishes more of a horizontal line of support from the student to the librarian. Those students whose academic work is rooted in creative practice operate on a continuum that does not culminate in a single research paper or study. Instead, they may work on a piece in their first year and continue to iterate until their thesis show. Therefore, it is critical to consider how we teach and support students that we work with holistically. Art and design students especially “need to learn how to find their voices, which in turn becomes liberating, allowing them to fully engage in their own intellectual and educational process” (Reale, 2012, p. 85). This session explores strategies for supporting students working in creative disciplines for the entirety of their academic stay and beyond, and what takeaways there may be for librarians working in other areas. For example, Grimm and Meeks (2017) address critlib and social justice in visual literacy—how library practitioners may address inequity and racism in representation, teaching students to look (and make) critically. While visual literacy naturally lends itself to art and design library users, it is equally vital that students in other areas gain the skills necessary to grapple with and decode the visual media that surrounds them inside and outside of the classroom. Centering the idea of holistic student support, these two librarians began to think about what it means to apply critical pedagogy to art librarianship. Studio art and design pedagogy align with the tactics and motivations of critical librarianship and pedagogy; by attempting to recreate the studio environment through activities emphasizing collaboration and critique, this session will demonstrate how librarians can critically engage with students in the long term in any discipline.