Teaching and Learning Librarian, Associate Faculty, Library and Information Science IUPUI University Library
This poster will provide a brief history of neutrality within libraries and the library profession. What does neutrality mean in libraries, and who does it serve? It will explore and identify neutral actions that libraries have taken, what actions libraries have taken against neutrality, and what that means for the community and the profession.
What the inaction of neutrality looks like for marginalized populations and community members, and understanding that while a collection can be neutral, a library as a physical space cannot be neutral because neutrality is often the side of the oppressor. This poster will explore the differences between neutrality and objectivity, and how objectively, libraries are not neutral. This poster is designed to showcase how white supremacy has been weaponized to preserve the status quo.
This poster should make you ask: who benefits from neutrality and whose feelings are being protected? Intellectual freedom is inherently not neutral. Access to libraries is a radical method of social and community engagement.