Chapter 5: Student-led CritLib Initiatives: The Creation of the Critical Librarianship Reading Group

This chapter provides insight into the efforts to introduce critical librarianship (critlib) to students at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). The authors detail the creation and implementation of the student-led Critical Librarianship Reading Group (CLRG). The UNCG Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA) formed the CLRG after one member wanted to supplement her library and information science (LIS) education with deeper discussions of critlib and social justice principles. The CLRG founders aimed to create a space for open discussions of uncomfortable topics such as racism, privilege, fragility, microaggressions, and intersectionality. This chapter uses single autoethnography (SAE) and collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to offer a comprehensive case study of the group’s formation, reading selection criteria, and reception from both faculty and students. The authors, representing the diverse perspectives of an LIS student, a professional librarian, and a faculty member, embraced autoethnography as a valuable methodological framework for discussing critical theory and exploring their roles within the LIS profession and academia.