Critical Reflective Practice for the Overburdened Library Worker

Emma Karin Eriksson, Senior Young Adult Librarian, Brooklyn Public Library

It is often uncomfortable to engage in introspection because it highlights our assumptions, views, and behaviors—but we cannot grow if we do not challenge and interrogate ourselves. Critical reflection is a process of personal inquiry that asks us to unsettle our assumptions about power, examine our biases, recognize our privilege, and use these revelations to transform how we engage with the world. It greatly reduces the gap between theory and practice, what we say and what we do, which currently stymies many EDI efforts. ​During this workshop, participants will be given space and support to reflect and to leave with tools for engaging in critical reflection when they return to their workplaces.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Define critical reflective practice
• Employ critical reflection strategies
• Justify the importance of engaging in critical reflective practice as a part of EDI work

About our presenter:

Emma Karin Eriksson (she/her) is an activist-academic whose personal and professional life is driven by a commitment to social justice. Believing deeply in people over property and profit, Emma sees libraries as a place of liberation. She is a Senior Young Adult Librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library, a radical facilitator, and zine maker. To learn more about her, her work, or to get in contact visit www.bit.ly/emmakarin.