Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
DOI
10.21083/partnership.v20i1.8188
Publication Title
Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research
Volume
20
Issue
1
Pages
1-29
Abstract
Canadian communities are facing a crisis of inequity, and library service providers must do more to respond to the causal conditions of anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism (Black & Mehra, 2023). Beginning in 2022, the first known Canadian MLIS course, Anti-Racism in Library and Information Science, was piloted at Western University. It aimed to allow students to engage with transformative and collaborative anti-racism frameworks relevant to the Canadian library sector and MLIS curriculum. The one-semester (13-week) course was offered once each summer in 2022 and 2023. The multi-faceted course aimed to equip students with community-based approaches to learning in partnership with local Black communities. As exemplars, the course approach and learnings also allow LIS scholars and practitioners to explore and evaluate their understanding of community-based and anti-racist frameworks. This paper provides evidence-based research and Black-centred resources that can begin to address anti-Black and other forms of systemic racism impacting Canadian library communities. The Canadian-centric and LIS-tailored approach can further benefit both library and community organizations by supporting anti-racism efforts to uncover covert practices of anti-Black racism in personal and professional practices and worldviews.
Rights
© 2025 The Authors.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.
Original Publication Citation
Matthews, A. (2025). Addressing anti-Black racism in library and information science curriculum: A Canadian-centric learning model. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 20(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v20i1.8188
ORCID
0000-0002-1937-3187 (Matthews)
Repository Citation
Matthews, Amber, "Addressing Anti-Black Racism in Library and Information Science Curriculum: A Canadian-Centric Learning Model" (2025). STEMPS Faculty Publications. 399.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/stemps_fac_pubs/399
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Library and Information Science Commons, Social Justice Commons
Comments
French Title: Aborder le racisme anti-noir dans le curriculum en bibliothéconomie et sciences de l'information : Un modèle d'apprentissage centré sur le Canada.