December 2023 MBR The Library Science Shelf

The Library Science Shelf

Hopeful Visions, Practical Actions
Sarah R. Kostelecky, editor
Lori Townsend, editor
David A. Hurley, editor
ALA Editions
www.alastore.ala.org
9780838938300, $54.99, PB, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Hopeful-Visions-Practical-Actions-Cultural/dp/0838938302

Synopsis: Cultural humility offers a renewing and transformative framework for navigating interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or staff members with one another. It foregrounds a practice of critical self-reflection and commitment to recognizing and redressing structural inequities and problematic power imbalances.

The collection of the contributors to "Hopeful Visions, Practical Actions: Cultural Humility in Library Work" have create the first book-length treatment of this approach in libraries. Contributors from across the field were selected to demonstrate how cultural humility can change the way we work and make lasting impacts on diversity, equity, and inclusion in libraries.

"Hopeful Visions, Practical Actions: Cultural Humility in Library Work" collectively explores such topics as: How Indigenous adages can be tools for reflection and guidance in developing cultural humility; The experiences of two Black librarians who are using cultural humility to change the profession; New perspectives on core concepts of customer service; rethinking policies and practices in libraries both large and small; Using cultural humility in approaching collection development and creating resource guides; What cultural humility can look like for a tribal librarian working in a tribal college library; And reflecting on cultural humility itself and where it is going.

Critique: Featuring a complete listing of the contributors and their credentials, "Hopeful Visions, Practical Actions: Cultural Humility in Library Work" is a uniquely ideal and exceptionally well written and organized textbook for library in-service training sessions, for inclusion in supplemental Library Science curriculum studies lists, as well as for personal, profession, community, college, and university library collections dealing with General Library & Information Services.

Editorial Note #1: Sarah R. Kostelecky is the Director of Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communication (DISC) for University of New Mexico Libraries. Her research focuses on outreach efforts to underrepresented communities, diversity in academic libraries and library collections, and Native American language resources. Previously at UNM, Sarah has served as the Education Librarian and Access Services Librarian in the Indigenous Nations Library Program (INLP). She earned both her MA in Information Resources and Library Science and BA in Sociology from the University of Arizona. Prior to working at UNM Libraries, Sarah was the Library Director at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM, the premiere educational institution for contemporary Native American arts and cultures.

Editorial Note #2: Lori Townsend is the Learning Services Coordinator and Engineering Librarian for the University of New Mexico Libraries. Her research interests include threshold concepts and information literacy, academic librarians of color and cultural humility. Lori holds a BA in history from the University of New Mexico and an MLIS from San Jose State University. Before coming to UNM, she worked as the Electronic Collections Librarian at California State University, East Bay from 2005-2010. She is co-author, along with Amy R. Hofer and Silvia Lin Hanick, of the book Transforming Information Literacy Instruction: Threshold Concepts in Theory and Practice (Libraries Unlimited, 2018); she and Silvia Lin Hanick are Series Editors for the just-launched Libraries Unlimited Series on Teaching Information Literacy.

Editorial Note #3: David A. Hurley is the Web and Discovery Librarian for the University Libraries. In addition to cultural humility, he writes and presents on search, reference services, and information literacy. He was previously the director of the Dine College libraries on the Navajo Nation, chief of the library development bureau at the New Mexico State Library, and branch and digital services manager for the public library of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.

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