Unlocking the Democratic Potential of Urban Planner–Librarian Collaborations

Abstract

Planners and librarians work in complementary fields with common civic engagement and empowerment goals. This essay argues that urban planners and librarians stand to benefit mutually from interdisciplinary collaboration in four key areas: democratic access and participation, information literacy and capacity building, trust and social capital, and evolving institutional relevance. My commentary draws from a review of relevant literature, personal experiences collaborating with librarians on the Planning Free School of Chattanooga, and the perspectives of participants who joined the initiative.

Reinforcing and innovating teacher professionalism

“…Career progression in teaching may also be hindered by gender inequalities, consistently with other fields such as accounting (Windsor and Auyeung, 2006[100]), and higher education (Bowyer et al, 2022[101]). In the context of law, there is evidence to suggest that women's perceived lower chance of promotion may have repercussions on their decision to leave their employment (Anker and Krill, 2021[102]; Kay, Alarie and Adjei, 2016 [103]). However, in teaching it is not clear how gender affects likelihood of exit from the profession, with different studies reporting conflicting findings (Struyven and Vanthournout, 2014[104]).…”