Calls for Book
Chapter Proposals
Book series title: Critical Issues in Library and Information Sciences and Services
If you are interested in proposing a book chapter for a planned forthcoming book, please see the calls for chapters below.
For all questions about and submissions of chapter proposals, please contact the corresponding editor(s) mentioned in their respective call.
Call for Chapter Proposals #1
(Download the chapter proposal information and instructions for this book)
Researchers Holm, Marcano, and Guimaraes welcome chapter proposals on topics related to the lived experiences of library professionals working within dysfunctional organizations. We have outlined several suggested chapter topics; however, we also welcome proposals for topics that we have not identified.
Book working title: Inhospitable: The Lived Experiences of Librarians
Book editors:
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Christina E. Holm, MLIS (ORCID 0000-0001-5263-7837)
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Nashieli Marcano, PhD, MSLIS (ORCID 0000-0002-1808-8165)
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Ana B. Guimaraes, MSLIS (ORCID 0000-0002-4096-7318)
Book overview:
Library work is constantly being transformed by forces in our environmental landscape, such as war, reduced budgets, a global pandemic, mass misinformation, censorship demands, social work-based job functions, and shifting understandings of being a librarian. Amid this tumult, librarians are engaging themselves and their communities in transforming libraries. This work has been fueled by a mindset that situates librarianship as a vocation with its maintenance, requiring ever-increasing levels of passion and commitment from everyday librarians. Within this construction of librarianship, it becomes clear that our organizations often ask more of individuals than they can provide in return.
As our profession grapples with the knowledge that we rely upon the vocational awe of our members, it becomes imperative that we seek to illustrate the experience of our work from an individual and collective level. This book will present the lived experiences of librarians in evocative, vulnerable, and intimate accounts of the inhospitable norms and developments within librarianship in the globalized 21st century. Employing research rigor in presenting these personal encounters, Inhospitable will help readers critically examine librarianship in the field and promote solidarity among library workers. Through inclusive and embodied qualitative research methods (e.g., autoethnography, autobiography, storytelling, reflection) and theoretical lenses (e.g., emotional labor, critical race theory, anti-oppression, decolonial feminist, intersectionality), this book will present a shared and holistic understanding of dysfunctional library structures.
Inhospitable will unify perspectives from the Américas. To be considered for inclusion within the book, chapter proposals must rely upon lived experience research methodologies, focus on a topic related to dysfunctional library organizations within the Américas, and contain an impact statement. Central to this monograph is the idea that individuals can create shared wisdom by confronting our profession, and we can also find validation and paths to recovery by voicing our lived experiences. These chapters allow contributors to self-advocate while supporting current workers to recover from dysfunctional library workplaces and cultivating positive norms for future workers. Recognizing their backgrounds and agencial voices, the editors request submissions written primarily in English but welcome authors to include Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Indigenous language quotations or colloquial expressions.
Suggested topic areas:
The editors welcome submissions from all individuals who have worked within libraries or are pursuing entry into the profession.
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Burnout
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Critical librarianship
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Cultivating positive norms
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Demoralization and moral injury
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Deprofessionalization
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Developing agency
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Dysfunctional library structures
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Librarians navigating sociopolitical conflicts
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Redignification and personal recovery
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Role conflict
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Vocational awe
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Worker solidarity
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Other topics that the applicant feels are relevant to this book
Proposal guidelines:
Proposals should follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (APA-7) and use 12 pt., Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, and be double-spaced. Please download this proposal template, complete it, and attach it to your submission. Please review the Taylor & Francis AI Policy before sending us your proposal.
Proposals should include the following elements:
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Author name(s), optional organizational affiliation(s), job title(s), and ORCID ID number(s)
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Brief biography addressing how the author(s) are involved with libraries
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Chapter working title
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Topic area(s) your proposal falls under
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500-word abstract (approximate word count)
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Planned methodology for analyzing your lived experience(s)
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Short (100-200-word) statement of impact on the profession
Proposal submission and timeline:
Please email your proposal to inhospitablelibraries@gmail.com as an MS Word or Google Doc attachment.
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All proposals are due by January 10, 2025.
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Authors will be notified of acceptance by June 2025
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Authors will submit their first draft by August 2025
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Final chapters are due February 2026
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Publication is anticipated in 2026 or 2027
Questions?
Please email your questions to the same email above: inhospitablelibraries@gmail.com