An Appeal to Kairos: Building a Sustainable Assessment Practice

Abstract

Perhaps one of the most common narratives among librarians is the difficulty of saying "no" and scoping our work appropriately. Fobazi Ettarh's work on "Vocational Awe" examined the roots of this problem critically and has spurred continued discussion around dismantling the framing of the library profession as a "calling" and valuing individual well-being. This approach to the issue of burnout and the glorifying of unsustainable practices can be particularly impactful within Social Justice work and more so, for traditionally underrepresented communities.

This session will focus on an individual journey to build a sustainable assessment practice that centers the needs of an underserved community. To break the cycle of assessment practices solely benefitting academic discourse, the concept of Kairos - the "right" and/or opportune time do something - should guide practice to ensure intentional sustainability of our work. This lightning talk will walk through the journey of a Diversity Alliance resident librarian and her initial capstone project that focused on the experience of undergraduate language brokers in academia in order to inform first-year information literacy instruction. Recognizing that a short-term position would almost guarantee that results of research do not directly benefit the community that is studied, the research practice was reframed accordingly to a multi-year collaborative project.

Participants will leave the session with a deeper understanding of the use of Kairos to reframe their practice, moving toward critical practice and intentional sustainability of assessment practice. Additionally, this talk will highlight an area of need within librarianship that has not been discussed as deeply, which is the need to ensure that results of library assessment, particularly assessment that uses a social justice lens, not only benefits but is communicated back to the populations that are directly affected, an approach that necessitates a sustainable research practice.