Reiterating Visibility: Canadian Librarians’ Experiences of Racial Microaggressions via Findings from a Minority Librarians Network Redux Survey

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v7i3/4.40376

Keywords:

librarian, professional networks, racial microaggressions, Visible Minority Librairans of Canada (ViMLoC)

Abstract

Based on the data from the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada 2021 Redux Survey, this study examines experiences of racial microaggressions among visible minority librarians in Canada. This research fills the gap in the library and information science (LIS) literature regarding racial microaggressions in librarianship in the Canadian context. Of the 148 respondents, 69% (n=102) experienced at least one stated racial microaggression. The result of a Kruskal-Wallis H test revealed a significant association between years of experience as a librarian and a librarian’s overall experiences with microaggressions. A post hoc test based on Bonferroni correction was run, which indicated that librarians with less than five years of work experience encountered microaggressions less frequently compared to those with 11–15 years of experience. For the ten stated types of racial microaggressions, the most frequently reported type was “I was told that people of all racial groups face the same barriers in employment or promotion,” and the least frequently reported type was “A colleague claimed that he/she felt threatened because of my race.” Fisher's exact tests were further performed to examine how the respondents differed in their experiences of each microaggression. The test results revealed that the librarians with different personal attributes (ethnicity, disability status, gender identity, language used) and employment attributes (librarian experience, management position, library type) had significantly different encounters with eight forms of microaggression. Professional library associations and libraries must strengthen education about racial microaggressions and offer support to visible minority librarians when they are confronted with microaggressive behaviours.

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Author Biographies

Yanli Li, Wilfrid Laurier University

Yanli Li is a Business and Economics Librarian at Wilfrid Laurier University. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Renmin University of China and an MLIS from the University of British Columbia. Her research interests lie within diversity in librarianship and information-seekingbehaviours. She is the Principal Investigator of the ViMLoC 2021 Redux Survey and served as Chair of the ViMLoC Mentorship Committee from 2017 to 2022.

Maha Kumaran, University of Saskatchewan

Maha Kumaran is a librarian at the Education and Music Library of the University of Saskatchewan. Her research interests are equity, diversity, and inclusion in librarianship. More about her work can be found in her ORCID profile at https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4643-865X. Apart from serving or leading EDI committees or working groups within her library and institution, Maha has served as the first Visiting Program Officer for CARL’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and is an active member of the ARL Leadership & Career Development Program Task Force.

Allan Cho, University of British Columbia

Allan Cho is a Community Engagement Librarian at the University of British Columbia. His research interests are EDI in libraries. Allan’s work includes supporting ongoing community initiatives and leading new ones, focusing on community engagement with historically underrepresented groups. He manages UBC Library’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Scholars-in-Residence program and is the subject liaison librarian to the School of Information.

Valentina Ly, University of Ottawa

Valentina Ly is a Research Librarian for the health sciences and sciences at the University of Ottawa Library. Since graduating with an MLIS from the University of Alberta in 2018, she has been focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion work through the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) network and Ontario Library Association’s Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Suzanne Fernando, Toronto Public Library

Suzanne Fernando is a Senior Services Specialist in the Children’s Services Department at the Toronto Public Library. She holds an MEd in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto, and an MLIS from Western University. She is a member of the Ontario Library Association’s Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and former co-chair of the Toronto Public Library’s Equity and Diversity Group for Employees.

Michael David Miller, McGill University

Michael David Miller is an Associate Librarian and Liaison Librarian for French Literature, Québec Studies, Economics and Gender Studies at the McGill University Library. He holds an MIS from the Université de Montréal. His EDI professional and scholarly contributions primarily intersect with librarianship and the Francophone Wikimedia Movement. Michael David is also one of the co-founders of the EDI Committee of the Fédération des milieux documentaires.

Cover of IJIDI Volume 7, Issue 3/4. Cover features all article titles. Featured image is of one black woman, seen in 4 poses with raised arms, appearing to dance. She wears brown pants, a tan shirt, and an army-green vest.

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Published

2023-12-07

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 3/4 (2023)

Section

Research

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Copyright (c) 2023 Yanli Li, Maha Kumaran, Allan Cho, Valentina Ly, Suzanne Fernando, Michael David Miller

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: see Author Agreement. Articles are licensed under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.