Preface. The Origins of Narrative Expansions

This is the introduction to 'Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries'

The demand to decolonise the curriculum has moved from a protest movement at the margins to the centre of many institutions, as reflected by its inclusion in policies and strategies and numerous initiatives in libraries and archives that have responded to the call, and are critically examining their own historic legacies and practices to support institutional and societal change.

Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries explores the ways in which academic libraries are working to address the historic legacies of colonialism, in the context of decolonising the curriculum and the university. It acknowledges and explores the tensions and complexities around the use of the term decolonisation, how it relates to other social justice aims and approaches, including critical librarianship, and what makes this work specific to decolonisation.

The book is international in scope, and considers the contextual nature of decolonisation, with discussion of the impacts of settler colonialism, and post-colonial contexts with authors from Canada, the United States and Kenya, as well as universities in the UK.

Split into two sections, the book first addresses experiential contexts, discussing the environment in which the academic library is enmeshed: legacy knowledge systems, the neo-liberal university, the pervasive Whiteness of the higher education sector, the global publishing industry – how these structures are constitutive of coloniality and how they can be challenged. It then brings together theory and practice featuring case studies interpreting what it means to 'decolonise' in information literacy, collection management, inclusive spaces, LIS education, research methods and knowledge production through the lens of critical pedagogy, critical information literacy and Critical Race Theory (CRT). The book also addresses the impact and implications of the Whiteness of university library staffing.

Introduction: Decolonise or 'Decolonise'? Jess Crilly and Regina Everitt
Part 1 Contexts and Experiences
1 Decolonising the Library: From Personal Experience to Collective Action A conversation with Hillary Gyebi-Ababio
2 Intelligent Leaders, Intelligent Spaces Regina Everitt
3 Decolonising Research Methodologies Sara Ewing
4 Do Black Employees' Rights Matter? The Lived Experience of BAME Staff in UK Academic Libraries Mohammed Ishaq and Asifa Maaria Hussain
5 Decolonising the Academic Library: Reservations, Fines and Renewals Lurraine Jones and Marcia Wilson
6 Critical Information Literacy and Structural Oppression: Reflecting on Challenges and Looking Forward Angela Pashia

Part 2 In Practice
7 The Contribution of Library and Information Science Education to Decolonising Briony Birdi
8 Indigenising Canadian Academic Libraries: Two Librarians' Experiences Rachel Chong and Ashley Edwards
9 Liberate the Library: What It Means to Decolonise and Why It Is Necessary Marilyn Clarke
10 Opening Spaces for Creative and Critical Enquiry Alexandra Duncan, Vivienne Eades-Miller and Adam Ramejkis
11 Towards Decolonising the British Library: A Staff-Led Perspective Pardaad Chamsaz on behalf of and in collaboration with the British Library BAME Staff Network Decolonisation Working Group
12 Cataloguing, Classification and Critical Librarianship at Cambridge University Cambridge University Decolonising Through Critical Librarianship Group
13 Re-membering Kenya: Building Library Infrastructures as Decolonial Practice Syokau Mutonga and Angela Okune
14 Challenging Its Imperial Origins: Towards Decolonising SOAS Library Ludi Price
15 Decolonising Library Collections: Contemporary Issues, Practical Steps and Examples from London School of Economics Kevin Wilson
Afterword: Challenging the Narrative of the Storyteller Regina Everitt

This is a preprint of a chapter accepted for publication by Facet Publishing. This extract has been taken from the authors’ original manuscript and has not been edited. The definitive version of this piece may be found in Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries, edited by Jess Crilly & Regina Everitt, 2022, Facet, London and can be purchased from www.facetpubishing.co.uk. The author agrees not to update the preprint or replace it with the published version of the chapter.