Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference poster

I attended the online CALC25 [Critical Approaches to Libraries] Conference from 13 – 15 May 2025. The programme, slides and recordings are available at https://sites.google.com/view/calcconference/calc2025  It was great to see Alice our Strathclyde placement student there too.

As you would expect from a conference on critical librarianship the programme topics were wide-ranging and diverse. Topics included professional identity, slow librarianship, supporting neurodivergent colleagues, information imperialism, and justice-orientated librarianship. I would highly recommend this affordable conference. It is £15 for 3 days and you can choose to donate a £15 entrance fee for another participant who can then attend for free. Most of the sessions were recorded and are on Youtube or the above website.

It is a very friendly and inclusive forum and describes itself as “challenging power structures in libraries in a spirit of liberation and joy, while living our values and creating a safe space for all.”

A stand-out speaker for me was Rachel Brett, asking “Just how critical can librarians be?”, discussing the commodification of HE, and positing that HE library wellbeing collections and colouring books infantilise students, when actually they should be taught to be critical thinkers and encouraged to understand Marxist critical theory.

Jane Furness

Academic Support Librarian, ECA