Performing the school librarian: Using the Butlerian concept of performativity in the analysis of school librarian identities

Abstract

This paper reports on a research study using the Butlerian notion of performativity in the analysis of school librarian identity. The purpose is to explore how librarians at secondary and upper-secondary schools perform their identities as school librarians. Fourteen in-depth interviews were conducted. The analysis was driven by the theoretical concepts of performative identity, recognizability and intelligibility. Performing identity was found to be part of six work-tasks: to express, to position, to make visible, to remind, to inform and to explain. In conclusion, the study contributes to research on school librarian challenges, pursuits and strategies when performing professional identity in relation to teachers. Focusing on the performative acts of school librarians can contribute to understandings of their everyday challenges and deepen the understanding of the profession.

In plain sight: School librarian practices within infrastructures for learning

“…The need for self and professional promotion discussed by the participants has been previously explored by Hicks (2016) who stated that when librarians' advocate their services it is in fact advocacy for the value of the profession (see also Foster and McMenemy, 2012). The constant need to justify and promote (Centerwall, 2019) creates obstacles for the further development of librarian practices. However, this is in tension with the need to proactively highlight the invisible labour performed by librarians and to construct work practices that are perceived as important, which are two major facets of school library work.…”

“…Other ways respondents increased awareness were continuous teaching, informing, reminding, and promoting of the competencies, activities, and subject areas of school librarians (cf. Centerwall, 2019). Work to increase awareness was directed towards all actors within the school including parents and decision makers.…”

“…Building on interviews with 22 Swedish school librarians, the aim of this study was to explore how school librarian practices constitute resources that support teaching and learning at schools. Drawing on work performed in a previous study (Centerwall and Nolin, 2019), this study argued that school libraries can understood as infrastructures for learning, which in turn consist of various structures, arrangements and resources that support a range of different practices taking place at schools. From this theoretical notion of school libraries, the following research question was posed:…”

“…Further, Bentley et al (2016) stated that 'the successful school librarian is involved in a continuous negotiation of role, identity and professional values depending on the context of the situation' (p. 20). Centerwall (2019) investigated the sayings and doings of librarians at successful school libraries and determined that school librarians engage in a range of tasks to increase their visibility and status as acknowledged actors at the school site.…”

What is the literacy supportive role of the school librarian in the United Kingdom?

“…Irving, 2010). Even within individual library contexts, the roles may vary considerably, as ‘the norms of the school librarian are connected to the norms of the school as an everyday workplace for different people’ (Centerwall, 2019: 147). In the UK, secondary schools are far more likely to have a ‘designated member of library staff to run the library’ than primary schools (GSL, 2019: 5).…”