Book Review: Inclusive Cataloging: Histories, Context, and Reparative Approaches

Abstract

The introduction of Inclusive Cataloging: Histories, Context, and Reparative Approaches sets forth two aims: “to record the efforts of so many librarians who have worked to improve our systems and collections, as well as to inspire those who have yet to enact change that this work is scalable, possible, and necessary” (x). Editor Amber Billey observes that the “racial reckoning” brought on by the murder of George Floyd, combined with the pandemic forcing librarians to work from home, brought a sudden attention to “the bias and oppression found within our collections and organization systems” and fueled projects countering harmful past practices. Billey describes the summer of 2020 as a turning point: “We have experienced a shift within the profession” (xi). Inclusive Cataloging is about the projects that originated in that summer of upheaval.