Radical librarianship: the politics and mechanics of DIY culture, and how librarianship might be able learn from grassroots organisation

Radical Librarians Collective (RLC) was founded in 2013 as an “umbrella title for a freely associating collective of autonomous, politically-conscious librarians and information workers” (Lawson, Sanders & Smith, 2015). Its development has helped construct RLC as a fluid and dynamic project. With an increasing international interest in the concept and praxis of radical librarianship, RLC offers a space to participate in dialogue to conceive and build reflexive and socio-politically conscious discourse of librarianship, challenging the idea of neutral librarians and libraries by fostering the agency of information workers to enact productive changes for library services. This case study explicates how the politics and mechanics of DIY subcultures have contributed to the organisation of RLC as a grassroots group. The practices of the collective’s members has coalesced a diverse group from hunt saboteurs, trade union representatives, punks, skateboarders and beyond. It highlights the practical skills that members’ actions in activities outside of LIS have imbued the collective with alternative means of organisation for LIS to produce voices of resistance against the neoliberal consensus. This use of resistance tactics has expedited and enhanced our communications and helped to develop a safer space for dialogue, and organisation in a non-hierarchical way.