Together We Read, Together We Learn: Examining Book Clubs as a Means of Connecting LIS to a Feminist Diversity Ethic

Abstract


 
 
 This article examines the significance of dialogic exploration of feminist and diversity-orientedtexts in book clubs consisting of Library and Information Science (LIS) master’s students at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Through this research, I sought to achieve an understanding of how participation in book clubs that espouse a feminist or diversity ethic inspire members to create deeper, more insightful connections between these values and LIS. While the two book clubs under study began as separate entities with distinct memberships, participants’ dualmembership increased over time. The initially distinct ideals of each book club—feminism and diversity—coalesced, and a new value schema emerged in common between the two: a feminist diversity ethic. A feminist diversity ethic is a form of intersectional feminism that values experiential knowledge, the multifaceted nature of identity, respectful communication, caring, and orientation toward social justice as a means of dismantling interlocking systems of oppression. In the book clubs, this ethic encouraged the proactive search for exposure to diverse cultural and experiential paradigms through texts and stories of lived experience. Emphasis onthis ethic informed book club members’ approach to LIS in several ways: first, it challenged participants to define diversity and its importance in LIS; second, it fostered the deconstruction of the notion of the other; and third, it enabled participants to actualize a feminist diversity ethic within the structure of the book clubs, thus preparing them to continue this ethic in their future roles as LIS practitioners.
 
 

Reading Well

“…Morris and Kumasi, librarians who coordinated, facilitated, observed and participated as researchers in library-based book clubs, situate librarians as de-facto readers with an inquiry stance (Cochran-Smith and Lytle 2009; Irvin and Reile 2018;Irvin 2022). Librarians reading with an inquiry stance within a book club context is a viable practitioner model for librarian professional development (Brown 2019;Brown and Shaindlin 2021).…”

Advancing book clubs as non-formal learning to facilitate critical public pedagogy in organizations

“…The egalitarian nature of the book clubs helps to facilitate cultural change processes because shared reading spaces “challenge what is understood as ‘proper’ knowledge” and because within them “moral grounds are flattened, and we make ourselves open to being ‘wrong’ as a component in re-making knowledge” (Kaserman and Wilson, 2009: 29). In contrast to the formal work environment, participants in the book club are on equal footing (Brown, 2019) with each contributing their own skills, backgrounds, and perspectives to shape their interpretations of the text (Bessman Taylor, 2007). When this structure is combined with intentionality in selecting texts that stimulate critical reflection and dialogue, there is strong potential for meaning-making that expands or challenges existing mental models.…”

“…When readers are willing to stand in another’s shoes, mental models expand and book clubs can become a space for engaging in cultural change work (Brown, 2019; Djikic et al, 2013; Mar and Oatley, 2008). This contention is exemplified in a study by Davis (2008) exploring the effect of reading African-American literature in White book clubs in the U.S. She found that members’ engagement with these texts lead to cross-racial empathy, new or increased political activism, and participation with movements for social change.…”

Reading work as a diversity practice: A differentiated approach to reading promotion in academic libraries in North America

“…Similarly to genre-based book clubs, these discussion groups can be student-initiated. An excellent example thereof is two reading groups (which eventually merged into one) created by a small group of LIS master’s students at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (Brown, 2019) and guided by the feminist and diversity ethics. However, they can also be initiated and encouraged by academic librarians.…”