Liberatory Librarianship: Stories of Community, Connection, and Justice

Brian W. Keith, MLIS and MBA, is a professor and the dean of library services at Eastern Illinois University. Previously, he was associate dean and the university librarian at the University of Florida. Brian has envisioned and shaped libraries in terms of spaces, services, collections, and partnerships. He has an extensive record of professional accomplishment and national and international scholarship and service focusing on DEAIJ. He is a past recipient of the SirsiDynix—American Library Association & Allied Professional Association’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Salaries and Status for Library Workers, and he was an Association of Research Libraries Leadership Fellow.

Laurie Taylor, PhD, is the associate university librarian for collections and discovery at the University of Connecticut Library. She was previously the senior director for library technology and digital strategies at the University of Florida, and the operational lead and digital scholarship director of the Digital Library of the Caribbean. In 2018, Laurie was named Caribbean Information Professional of the Year by the Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries.

Shamin Renwick, MLIS, PhD, FCLIP, is a senior librarian II at the School of Education Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, and has served as director of library services at St. George’s University, Grenada. She has been a librarian for more than 36 years, 24 of them as an academic librarian. Renwick was awarded the ACURILEANA Star 2007 for research and publication and the ACURILEAN Medal for significant contributions to ACURIL (the Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries). In 2012, she was named an Outstanding Graduate of the 1980s of the Department of Library and Information Science, UWI Mona Campus.

The former Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), the Library Information Technology Association (LITA), and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) are now Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, a new division of ALA. Its mission is to cultivate and amplify the collective expertise of library workers in core functions through community building, advocacy, and learning.