Open AccessReading the Silence: Canadian Library Responses to Racial Injustice
Author(s) -
Amber Matthews
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the annual conference of cais
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2562-7589
DOI - 10.29173/cais1206
Subject(s) - injustice , reading (process) , racism , accountability , silence , george (robot) , sociology , statement (logic) , public relations , library science , political science , gender studies , law , history , philosophy , computer science , art history , aesthetics
This paper presents the findings of a research study on the statements issued by the Canadian library community in the wake of George Floyd’s death in May 2020. The study employed mixed-methods content analysis to (a) identify formal responses between May to August 2020; (b) analyze themes; and, (c) identify commitments for future accountability and research. Ninety-seven organizations were in the study and represent large public and academic libraries along with provincial, national, and professional associations. The results show that one third of the sampled Canadian library community formally responded with an organizational statement and fewer situated their organizations as contributors to systemic racism in Canadian society.