Current Issue: Spring 2025
Article
Spring 2025
Getting Inked? A Survey of Current Institutional Marking Practices in Rare Books and Special Collections
Gemma Steele, Hayley Webster
A survey was conducted to ascertain whether applying institutional ownership markings such as ink stamps ...
Recently Published
Editor's Note • Spring 2025
Editor’s Note
Diane Dias De Fazio
In the autumn, my Editor’s note was, in part, an accounting of the work we’d done, and a hesitant pledge in uncertain times. Writing in February to be read in May or June now seems less soaked in doubt, though we are awash in uncertainty. Developing this issue took over a year, and what a difference a year made. This issue brings dauntless authors, who collectively took an honest look at the special collections profession and—despite revealing uncomfortable truths—herein provide pathways, for all of us who nonetheless want to remain working in archives and special collections, to demand better for ourselves, our colleagues, and the future of the field, ...
Article • Spring 2025
“Some Days, My Work Is Unbearable”: The Impact of Chronic Illness and Disability on Recruitment and Retention for Workers in American Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries
Melanie Griffin
This survey-based article explores how chronic illness and disability impacts workers in archives and special collections, and focuses on how these individuals experience recruitment, retention, and working life in the United States. At the cultural level, it explores how the profession can create inclusive environments that enable all practitioners, including those with physical, mental, and neurological illness and/or disability, to enter, remain, and flourish in the field. The paper concludes with suggestions for systemic, structural change based on participant responses. ...
Article • Spring 2025
“But Do They Really Want Me?”: Reflecting on the Language of DEIA Adopted in Entry-Level Job Postings for Special Collections Librarians in 2023
Ruth Xing, Yuzhou Bai
This study evaluates the extent to which job descriptions for special collections librarians reflect organizational values surrounding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). In early 2024, the authors began by reviewing thirty randomly selected advertisements posted to the RBMS News Blog in 2023, using a newly devised DEIA Assessment Checklist. This paper summarizes past practices and common pitfalls in the recruitment of diverse candidates through job descriptions. Considering the key legislative and political changes in early 2025, the authors also seek to guide institutions unable to openly adopt DEIA language on alternative ways to portray organizational values in the recruitment process. ...
Article • Spring 2025
Making Third Spaces Safe Spaces: How Trauma-Informed Care Informs Librarianship
Lyric Grimes
Libraries are increasingly aware that patrons have experienced traumas related to social, economic, racial, and political factors. With the 2020 pandemic came an increase in vulnerable populations and library patrons. As a result, “Trauma-informed Care” (TIC) and “third spaces” in libraries emerged. Ray Oldenburg defined “third space” as neutral space separate from home and work where we build connections and have a good time. At the same time, TIC promotes person-centered, culturally aware, and strengths-based interaction. This paper provides a brief overview of TIC and “third spaces” in libraries and special collections, and shares strategies to follow to create a safe, inclusive, and supportive environments in library spaces. ...