The last bastion of democracy
When bad things happen, we should become even more open rather than follow the normal but very human response of condemnation and then censorship.
Intercultural competency
Open for all? offers a “think piece“ rather than an intellectual analysis. Columnist John Pateman shares his personal observations on issues and his columns…
Unlevel playing field
White middle class professional library values can create an unlevel playing field for Indigenous organizations and individuals. How? By privileging one world view over another.
Race matters
When I was thinking of a suitable title for this month’s column a number of ideas came to mind including “Decolonization is not a metaphor” and “Acknowledgement is not enough.”
Class matters
Social class is the most significant single determinant of public library use and non-use. A recent study in the U.K. found that 46 per…
John Vincent: Libraries, the universe & everything
I interviewed John Vincent by email in February, 2018. I have known John since we were both chief librarians in London in the 1990s.…
Decolonization
Decolonization is a powerful and contentious word. What does it mean exactly? Is it feasible? Is it desirable? And what does it mean for…
The Great October Socialist Revolution
October 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution which began a new stage in the development of librarianship by creating the objective…
Cultural appropriation
“No man is an island entire of itself.” ~ John Donne Cultural appropriation is a “hot button” and deeply polarising issue that is being…
Fake news and manufacturing consent
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance" – George Bernard Shaw Given all the fuss that has been made about fake…
To defend the revolution is to defend culture
Having considered the cultural policies of Ontario and the U.K., I would now like to turn my attention to Cuba, where culture has been…
Culture, Goebbels and 1984
The timing of the UK’s first white paper for culture in more than 50 years, and only the second ever published, is curious to…
Ontario’s culture strategy
Whenever I travel around the world I always visit the local public library because I think that this is an indicator of how progressive…