The Michigan Academic Libraries conference met on Grand Valley State University's downtown campus in late May. Five of Hekman's eight librarians attended. The keynote presenter, Emily Drabinski, coordinator of library instruction at LIU, Brooklyn, focused her talk on the topic of critical librarianship. This is a relatively new field of study in the library world. It has to do with the study of critical approaches or theories and the practice of librarianship. For example, how does feminist theory intersect or have an impact on the work of librarians and the study of librarianship? How about race studies or anti-colonial studies? Queer studies or disability studies? 

After hearing Emily Drabinski's talk, librarian Francene Lewis remarked, "I found her talk fascinating. It made me think about critical librarianship as similar to our call to be always reforming. How is the need to review the things we see as 'normal', to question critically the who and the why of our jobs, our places of work, the standards that were created, like our call as Christians to stand for those who can not speak or don't even have a voice at the table?" 

If you're curious to learn more, here's a video of Emily Drabinski's talk entitled "What's Critical about Critical Librarianship"?