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An interview published in The Reconstruct newsletter from Sojourners detailed how libraries play and essential role for people of faith and for those looking to support a great future.
Journalist Mitchell Atencio, writing for the outlet, interviewed theologian, author, and Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville’s librarian Keegan Osinski about how these knowledge centers can contribute to social justice movements and those movements can contribute to libraries.
Curation Of History
What is the role of libraries and librarians in social justice work,” asked Atencio. “The [two] most important things that librarians can do in social justice and movement spaces are instruction and archiving,” Osinksi replied. “I’m not an archivist, so that’s not really my specialty. But [I’m referring to] things like collecting ephemera from movement spaces — zines, [for example]. There’s been a big push in the past five or 10 years of zine libraries [and] collecting these independently published works. This is happening because the work of the oppressed, of labor, or “the people” are not necessarily published by Cambridge University Press.” (TAKE A POLL: Do You Believe Your Vote Can Make a Difference in Local Elections?)
“So, finding those small publications or going to movement meetings and collecting handouts or other material that’s being disseminated and used in the movement spaces can be really important and powerful for historical record,” Osinski continued. “And that leads me to my second piece: instruction. Something that’s really important in social movements is history and learning. There’s so much that has been done before. Activists feel like they have to reinvent the wheel when there’s been so much work done in the past that we can learn from.”
“David France wrote How to Survive a Plague — there’s also a documentary of the same name — and it’s a recounting of the AIDS crisis and the activism and work that happened there. It’s a big book. But it’s really enjoyable to read because it’s lots of stories and [is] really historically rich. I learned so much about queer advocacy and activism. Personally, as a queer person, I was really shocked by all the work that was done and the things that we take for granted today as young people,” Osinski added. “As librarians and archivists and historians, teaching that history to the younger generations of activists can be really useful and really powerful in helping them know where everything’s coming from, providing context, and providing tools for activism.”
Curating Knowledge Capital
When asked plainly how can churches support the work of librarianship broadly? Should churches consider developing a library, Osinksi had an interesting answer … (TAKE A POLL: Do You Feel Financially Stable at the Moment?)
“I love the idea of a church library. I actually did a couple projects in library school about church libraries and how to create one. Obviously, information and resources are really great and important. If you can get the stuff into people’s hands, I think you can do a lot of good.
“Depending on the size of your church and the programming going on, any kind of Christian education minister or whatever could absolutely do some really cool things by creating a library or getting involved in another library and making some kind of relationship.
“Here at Vanderbilt, I administer this program called the Kesler Circulating Library. It was started in 1936 by the director of the Divinity Library, John Louis Kesler. When he retired, he actually left an endowment to continue this program.
“Any minister from the U.S. can sign up with me and request a book — a physical book — from Vanderbilt Divinity Library and I will mail it to them for free. The only cost to them is to mail it back. (TAKE A POLL: Is the Government Doing Enough to Address Unemployment?)
“Particularly back in 1936, rural ministers or any minister that was outside the city didn’t have access to a theological library. That’s still the case today. A lot of ministers don’t have access to a good theological library. So through this program, you have access to the Divinity Library here at Vanderbilt.”
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