Libraries and Collective Power

In February the Srsly Wrong podcast featured an interview with the eventual winner of the American Library Association presidency for 2023-2024, Emily Drabinski. Libraries are obviously, heartwarmingly good, and as a centre of public good they hold the potential to be an ideal starting point for expanding the scope of public good. Emily talks about the importance of investing in public institutions and universal access, and the need for collective power. It’s an inspiring conversation that highlights a lot of the good of libraries and unions.

This week, Shawn interviews leftist candidate for President of the American Library Association Emily Drabinski about the role, her goals in office, and labour issues facing Librarians today.

250 – Interview: Emily Drabinski for ALA President

Decades of disinvestment in public institutions coupled with deep inequalities at the core of our profession have left our libraries without the resources necessary to advance our common mission of providing access to information in all its forms to everyone in our communities.

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The American Library Association must advocate for what we need most: reinvestment in schools, libraries, and communities, economic and racial justice for library workers and the communities in which we live and work, environmental sustainability, and collaboration and cooperation beyond our borders.

EMILY DRABINSKI – A platform for collective power, public good

Photo by Ryunosuke Kikuno on Unsplash