Cultural Humility

Cultural humility is an approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within librarianship that recognizes the limits of knowledge, reckons with fallibility, educates about power imbalances, and commits to making change. It is an ideal approach for navigating spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory, supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness, and has limitations and criticisms.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 56 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2022
Publisher: American Library Association

Cultural humility is a lifelong practice that can guide library workers in their day-to-day interactions by helping them recognize and address structural inequities in library services. Cultural humility is emerging as a preferred approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within librarianship. At a time when library workers are critically examining their professional practices, cultural humility offers a potentially transformative framework of compassionate accountability. It asks us to recognize the limits to our knowledge, reckon with our ongoing fallibility, educate ourselves about the power imbalances in our organizations, and commit to making change. This Special Report introduces the concept and outlines its core tenets. As relevant to those currently studying librarianship as it is to long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings including archives and museums, from this book readers will learn why cultural humility offers an ideal approach for navigating the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or amongst staff members themselves; understand how it intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory; see the ways in which cultural humility's awareness of and commitment to challenging inequitable structures of power can act as a powerful catalyst for community engagement; come to recognize how a culturally humble approach supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness in day-to-day interactions; reflect upon cultural humility's limitations and the criticisms that some have leveled against it; and take away concrete tools for undertaking and continuing such work with patience and hope.

Cultural humility is a concept that is gaining increasing importance within the field of librarianship, particularly in the context of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. It is a lifelong practice that involves recognizing and addressing the structural inequalities that exist in library services and the broader society. At a time when library workers are critically examining their professional practices, cultural humility offers a potentially transformative framework of compassionate accountability. It asks us to recognize the limits to our knowledge, reckon with our ongoing fallibility, educate ourselves about the power imbalances in our organizations, and commit to making change.

This Special Report introduces the concept of cultural humility and outlines its core tenets. It is relevant to those currently studying librarianship as well as long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings, including archives and museums. From this book, readers will learn why cultural humility offers an ideal approach for navigating the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or amongst staff members themselves. They will understand how cultural humility intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory, and see how it can act as a powerful catalyst for community engagement. Readers will also come to recognize how a culturally humble approach supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness in day-to-day interactions, and reflect upon cultural humility's limitations and the criticisms that some have leveled against it.

In conclusion, cultural humility is a critical concept for library workers to embrace as they strive to create more inclusive and equitable library services. By recognizing the limits of our knowledge, reckoning with our ongoing fallibility, educating ourselves about power imbalances, and committing to making change, we can develop a more compassionate and effective approach to our work. This Special Report provides a valuable introduction to cultural humility and its core tenets, and I encourage readers to explore this concept further in their own professional and personal lives.

Dimension: 279 x 216 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780838949887