1) The document outlines the career and activism of librarian Yohanna Anderson, including founding advocacy groups like Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries and #ebooksos to address issues like public library cuts and the high prices of ebooks.
2) Anderson's tactics as an activist librarian have included organizing petitions, speaking to media and sector leaders, and using social media to raise awareness of issues.
3) Through her various campaigns, Anderson has helped save libraries in deprived communities, registered thousands of students to vote, and brought international attention to the problems with academic ebook licensing and pricing.
Why all librarians should be revolting - a case study .pptx
1. Why all librarians should be
revolting - a case study
Yohanna Anderson, #ebooksos,
University of Gloucestershire
2.
3. About me: according
to them..
"Uncompromising campaigner" (my
previous MP)
"Spirited rascal" (a colleague)
'Indulges in exaggerated hyperbole &
hysterical behaviour' (Goudie QC,
2012)
4. About me: according to me
Just an academic librarian at a tiny University since
2010 and a prolific shouter into Twitter
NOT
• an expert on copyright
• the holder of any position endowed with authority or
influence,
• an expert on the publishing industry.
5. research trip to Malawi, investigating
library aid, reinforced the inherently
political, social and cultural nature of
information & who can access it
2008
founded Friends of Gloucestershire
Libraries and Co-founded Voices for the
Library in response to mass cuts, closures
and de-professionalisation of public
libraries
2010
launched a student voter registration
campaign
2016
working to address period poverty in
libraries (paused by COVID)
2019
founded #ebooksos in response to price-
gouging practices in publishing
2020
6. Tactics
• Approached sector leaders (largely met
with tumbleweed at best)
• Grumbled into Twitter
• Armed myself with information
• Organised (which feels better than crying.
Though crying did still happen
sometimes)
• Got cheeky and used every contact (and
the contacts of contacts) tenuous or
otherwise I could think of
• Stood my ground (after all, I was right!)
7. Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries
• 16k signatures, to our petition
against monumental cuts, in a
matter of months
• Local and national mainstream
media attention
• Won a judicial review in the High
Court
• Saved libraries in 4 of the most
deprived areas of the county
(and, indeed, country) and
secured better deals for others.
8. Voices for the Library
Share positive stories from
public libraries and
librarians across the
country.
1
Provide factual information
about library usage in the
UK
2
Provide spokespeople for
the media from a variety of
different public libraries
3
Be a voice for
communities and
individuals to speak out
about why they value their
public libraries
4
Support local campaigns to
save libraries where it is
apparent that the local
council has not properly
considered the impact of
cuts to library services
5
10. Registering students
to vote
"Johanna Anderson, a librarian at the
University of Gloucestershire, was putting
posters up in the library about registering to
vote even before the election was called.
Now she has recruited a group of about 30
academics, support staff and students to
take an iPad around the university’s three
campuses in between lectures to sign
students up. “The impact of this election is
going to be monumental and I think it would
be completely irresponsible of us not to
encourage our students to take part,” she
says".
"The electoral office in Cheltenham has
phoned to thank her, following a spike in
registrations since her team hit the campuses"
12. eBooks are licensed not owned
• Complex licensing models
• Access precarious (withdrawn
titles, merged or collapsed
providers)
• Loss of control over collections
13. Not just about the price
Bundled packages
Missing chapters
Access restricted to particular cohorts - front loading of
costs
14. Publisher responses
condescending at best
Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive,
Publishers Association
Many of the examples cited by this
campaign are not comparing like for
like. A digital textbook is often put
together using multiple authors over
a long period, is regularly updated,
has additional functionality and might
be used by entire cohorts of students
on a course or lent thousands of times
(3)
Taylor and Francis
Comparing individual print costs to a
Digital licence which gives access to
many readers does not represent the
reality of how different formats are
used (4)
15. • PDF scan of original text
• Often poor quality
• Poor accessibility (5)
• Never updated
• Hardcopies are also lent
"thousands of times"
Ebooks in practice
16. Impact
featured in national and international press
Gained cross-sector support from almost 5,000 academics, librarians, students +
Spoken at multiple conferences and events - national & international
Met with Government bodies and policy advisers
Collaborated with senior sector leaders in Ireland and further afield – South Africa, USA, Canada.
Contributed to international research papers
Nominated for several awards
House of Lords and Parliament (Hansard)
18. Scarlet Galvan
Collection Strategist Librarian, Grand Valley State University, Michigan
“It’s striking to me that discussing the conditions of access and terms of sale is considered brave.
Libraries generally forget it’s a business relationship,” say Galvan. “This has accelerated a move
away from some of the more egregious, profit-driven content providers. Publishers have had so
much time to change their side of the relationship and they have chosen not to.”
"The assumption that students could just turn to the library for access is no longer an option"
quoted by Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), (2020) Pandemic amplifies trouble with restrictive licensing and e-
textbooks https://sparcopen.org/news/2020/pandemic-amplifies-trouble-with-restrictive-licensing-and-e-textbooks/
19. Challenges
• People who say but don't do
• Lack of resources – time and
financial
• Lack of leadership
• Communicating the
complexities
• Resistance and hostility (both in
and outside profession)
• The expectations of others
20. Tips
Make your own platform – there are lots of free tools out there
Exploit all the contacts (and their contacts)
Do it – apologise (or not!) later
Trust your own expertise
Be an opportunist
Resist playing to the stereotypes
Self care!
21. Enough of
the
vocational
awe,
already...at
least until we are
deserving of it
Librarians are tour-guides for all of knowledge.
Patrick Ness
Google can bring you back 100,000 answers,
a librarian can bring you back the right one.
Neil Gaiman
When the going gets tough, the tough get a
librarian.
Joan Bauer
Librarians are the secret masters of the world.
They control information. Don’t ever piss one
off.
Spider Robinson
22. What needs to
happen in the
face of current
financial,
political and
ethical
challenges?
Senior information professionals need to actively
empower their staff (Oxford Brookes are leading the way!)
We need to hold sector leaders to account
Practice what we preach
Don't be afraid of failure
Put ethics at the heart of everything we do
23. Hope
Compared to just over a decade ago, society feels very different
#blacklivesmatter
#metoo
Censorship in US libraries
Extinction Rebellion
COVID
BREXIT
And librarianship is beginning to also
24. “[Librarians] are subversive. You think
they're just sitting there at the desk, all
quiet and everything. They're like plotting
the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with
them.”
― Michael Moore
26. Resources
IFLA Code of Conduct
https://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-code-of-ethics-for-librarians-and-
other-information-workers-full-version/
Ethics in UK Librarianship animation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twVVmkyY3HE&ab_channel=EbookInv
estigation
#ebooksos website https://academicebookinvestigation.org/
'UK academics face furious backlash for encouraging students to vote' BBC
News
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/nov/12/academics-facing-
furious-backlash-advising-students-vote
