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Critical Library Instruction, Causing Trouble, and Institutionalization
Open accessAbstract
This essay considers the institutionalization of critical library instruction in the decade since the publication of Critical Library Instruction: Theories & Methods. Drawing on the work of Sara Ahmed and Rod Ferguson, I suggest that because library instruction is marginalized within librarianship, critical library instruction can and has become institutionalized within the profession. The institutionalization of critical library instruction represents the management of the wider-ranging and more troublesome critiques of critical librarianship. The marginality of critical library instruction, however, means that it continues to function as a site of troublemaking.
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“it has become integrated into this more dominant discourse in considerable ways (Seale, 2020).”
From Two decades of critical information literacy: a review and analysis of the literature (2025) · cites this paper as Seale, 2020
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Research works printed but not linked: 18
- Accardi, M. T. (2010). Teaching against the grain: Critical assessment in the library classroom. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, and A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. 251-264 ). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
- Accardi, M. T., Drabinski, E., & Kumbier, A. (2010). Introduction. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, and A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. ix- xiv). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press. Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Retrieved from https://alair.ala.org/handle/11213/7668 Association of College and Research Libraries. (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework Seale: Causing Trouble Published by PDXScholar, 2020 Seale Causing Trouble [ PERSPECTIVES ]
- COMMUNICATIONS IN INFORMATION LITERACY | VOL. 14, NO. 1, 2020
- Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Blankstein, M., & Wolff-Eisenberg, C. (2019). Ithaka S+R US faculty survey 2018. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.311199 · DOI
- Cope, J. (2010). Information literacy and social power. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, & A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. 12-28). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
- Ferguson, R. A. (2012). The reorder of things: The university and its pedagogies of minority difference. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Fisher, Z. (2018, April). Who succeeds in higher education? Questioning the connection between academic libraries & student success. Paper presented at the California Academic & Research Libraries Conference, Redwood City, CA. Retrieved from https://quickaskzoe.com/2018/04/15/who-succeeds-in-higher-education/
- Franks, S. (2010). Grand narratives and the information cycle in the library instruction classroom. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, & A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. 43-54). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
- Harris, B. (2010). Encountering values: The place of critical consciousness in the competency standards. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, & A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. 279-292 ). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
- Leebaw, D. (2019). Participatory and ethical strategic planning: What academic libraries can learn from critical management studies. Library Trends 68(2), 110-129. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0033 · DOI
- Mirza, R., & Seale, M. (2017). Who killed the world? White masculinity and the technocratic library of the future. In G. Schlesselman-Tarango (Ed.), Topographies of whiteness: Mapping whiteness in library and information science (pp. 171-197). Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press.
- Nicholson, K. P., & Seale, M. (2018). Introduction. In K. P. Nicholson & M. Seale (Eds.), The politics of theory and the practice of critical librarianship (pp. 1-18). Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press.
- Oakleaf, M. (2010). The value of academic libraries: A comprehensive research review and report. Retrieved from Association of College and Research Libraries website: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/value/val_report.pdf
- Schmidt, J. (2018, May). Innovate this! Bullshit in academic libraries and what we can do about it. Paper presented at the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL) 2018 Conference, Regina, SK. Retrieved from https://digital.library.ryerson.ca/islandora/object/RULA%3A7113
- Seale, M. (2010). Information literacy standards and the politics of knowledge production: Using user-generated content to incorporate critical pedagogy. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, & A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. 221- 236). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
- Seale, M. (2013). The neoliberal library. In L. Gregory & S. Higgins (Eds.), Information literacy and social justice: Radical professional praxis (pp. 39-61). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
- Smith, D., & Eisenhower, C. (2010). The library as "stuck place:" Critical pedagogy in the corporate university. In M. T. Accardi, E. Drabinski, & A. Kumbier (Eds.), Critical library instruction: Theories and methods (pp. 305-317). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.
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Sorted by citations
Two decades of critical information literacy: a review and analysis of the literature
Tewell, E. (2025) · Information Research an international electronic journal · doi:10.47989/ir30colis52267 · Cited by 7
Metadata
- Authors
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, & Seale, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Seale, Maura
- ORCID
- Seale, Maura
- Venue
- Communications in Information Literacy
- Publisher
- Portland State University Library
- Published
- 2020-06
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 1933-5954 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3035165670
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 15.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Communications in Information Literacy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PDXScholar (Portland State University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Administration
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Information Science and Libraries
- Keywords
- institutionalization, critical librarianship, marginality, Sara Ahmed, library instruction, information literacy instruction
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