Event Type
Presentation
Start Date
23-7-2021 1:05 PM
End Date
23-7-2021 2:05 PM
Description
Librarians from traditionally underrepresented populations are subjected to a litany of toxic behaviors in our workplaces and often find ourselves using strategies that help us survive in the job. One of those strategies is gossip. We have a default societal understanding of gossip as an inherently negative way of communicating, and associate it as a bad behavioral trait in people. This presentation will address the concept of “good gossip,” a way that librarians of color spread news and information amongst ourselves in the workplace in order to keep each other informed of knowledge that is often kept secret or privileged to those with the most administrative power because of bureaucracy. Many of us have colleagues or communities of color in our workplaces who we turn to in order to privately share information and knowledge as a “head’s up,” a way to warn or inform each other so that we may be better prepared to deal with whatever may be coming our way. Drawing on different definitions and analyses of gossip as well as informational infrastructure in libraries, attendees will hear about and share their own experiences with how information/LIS workers can use gossip as a way to protect ourselves and each other in a field that does not prioritize our wellbeing.
Good Gossip: Spreading the Word to Protect Each Other
Librarians from traditionally underrepresented populations are subjected to a litany of toxic behaviors in our workplaces and often find ourselves using strategies that help us survive in the job. One of those strategies is gossip. We have a default societal understanding of gossip as an inherently negative way of communicating, and associate it as a bad behavioral trait in people. This presentation will address the concept of “good gossip,” a way that librarians of color spread news and information amongst ourselves in the workplace in order to keep each other informed of knowledge that is often kept secret or privileged to those with the most administrative power because of bureaucracy. Many of us have colleagues or communities of color in our workplaces who we turn to in order to privately share information and knowledge as a “head’s up,” a way to warn or inform each other so that we may be better prepared to deal with whatever may be coming our way. Drawing on different definitions and analyses of gossip as well as informational infrastructure in libraries, attendees will hear about and share their own experiences with how information/LIS workers can use gossip as a way to protect ourselves and each other in a field that does not prioritize our wellbeing.
