Purpose of the group
The Library’s internal anti-racism book club aims to provide a space within Okanagan Library for all library workers to engage in discussion and conversation about our individual and collective responsibility to work towards anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice within the imperialistic, white supremacist space of the Library.
General description of participation
Anyone working in the Library can participate. Participation is made up of all employee groups within the Library including librarians, professional and administrative staff, and student employees. The Library purchases titles for all interested participants. Participation is optional. The book club meets once a week from late June to early August, depending on the book.
2022 book club
In summer 2022 we will be reading Arthur Manuel's book Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call.
Unsettling Canada by ISBN: 9781771131766Publication Date: 2015-04-30As the son of George Manuel, who served as president of the National Indian Brotherhood and founded the World Council of Indigenous Peoples in the 1970s, Arthur Manuel was born into the struggle. From his unique and personal perspective, as a Secwepemc leader and an Indigenous activist who has played a prominent role on the international stage, Arthur Manuel describes the victories and failures, the hopes and the fears of a generation of activists fighting for Aboriginal title and rights in Canada. Unsettling Canada chronicles the modern struggle for Indigenous rights covering fifty years of struggle over a wide range of historical, national, and recent international breakthroughs.
2021 book club
In summer 2021 we read Ijeoma Oluo’s book So You Want to Talk About Race.
So You Want to Talk about Race by
In So You Want to Talk About Race, Editor at Large of The Establishment Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the "N" word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don't dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans. Oluo is an exceptional writer with a rare ability to be straightforward, funny, and effective in her coverage of sensitive, hyper-charged issues in America. Her messages are passionate but finely tuned, and crystalize ideas that would otherwise be vague by empowering them with aha-moment clarity. Her writing brings to mind voices like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay, and Jessica Valenti in Full Frontal Feminism, and a young Gloria Naylor, particularly in Naylor's seminal essay "The Meaning of a Word."
Call Number: E184.A1 O454 2018ISBN: 9781580056779Publication Date: 2018-01-16
2020 book club
In summer 2020 we read Dr. Ibram Kendi’s book How to be an Antriracist. This was a partnership with Dr. Karen Ragoonaden formerly of the Okanagan School of Education.
Contact
Jane Jun: jane.jun@ubc.ca