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Power to the People: Public Libraries Using Critical Information Literacy Pedagogy in Prisons

Exploring the Roles and Practices of Libraries in Prisons: International Perspectives

ISBN: 978-1-80043-861-3, eISBN: 978-1-80043-860-6

Publication date: 6 September 2021

Abstract

Public library workers (PLW) in the United States can use critical information literacy pedagogy (CILP) as a framework for working with people who are incarcerated to combat oppression. PLW who teach information literacy in any capacity in carceral settings should honor their involvement in pedagogy and follow Paulo Freire’s pedagogical philosophy by rejecting humanitarian postures in favor of humanistic approaches. This can be accomplished by aiming to have both PLW and people who are incarcerated reach an awareness of and critique multiple information literacies, and for PLW to situate themselves alongside, not above, people in jails and prisons in an effort to authentically empower the incarcerated to re-enter society. This practice promotes social justice because it challenges the idea that information literacies associated with dominant groups – and thus, groups who are in power themselves – are intrinsically more valuable than information literacies engaged in by groups that are systematically disempowered. The chapter will end with prospective examples of PLW who participate in CILP in carceral settings.

Keywords

Citation

Hancock, E.J. (2021), "Power to the People: Public Libraries Using Critical Information Literacy Pedagogy in Prisons", Garner, J. (Ed.) Exploring the Roles and Practices of Libraries in Prisons: International Perspectives (Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 49), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 85-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-283020210000049005

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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