University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Postwar Politics and Postcolonial Approaches: Rebuilding a Library and Information Science Program for Kosovo

Montoya , Robert D.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/110206

Description

Title
Postwar Politics and Postcolonial Approaches: Rebuilding a Library and Information Science Program for Kosovo
Author(s)
Montoya , Robert D.
Issue Date
2021
Keyword(s)
  • library partnerships
  • academic institutions
  • public libraries
Abstract
This article lays out the mechanics of a complex partnership between large, research-oriented, U.S.-based universities and the National Library of Kosovo, the nation’s largest public library that is also charged with establishing nationwide library policies. The goal of this partnership is to create two interconnected but distinct programs: the nation’s first bachelor’s program in library studies at the University of Pristina and a National Library Training Program intended to train current professionals and provide continuing education opportunities. This partnership case highlights the complex positionality of the library as a public institution, both as an educational entity with responsibilities to disseminate information and teach literacies, but also as an institution that is political in position, as a cultural producer and modeler of social discourse. The project highlights the inherent dangers involved when U.S.-based institutions enter foreign lands to develop library infrastructure from potentially univocal standpoints. The article then proposes critical and postcolonial theoretical approaches as a way to interrogate the power imbalances that might arise from library partnerships of this type. The hope is that this case highlights the problematic nature of partnerships between academic institutions and public library spaces, whether they be international or domestic in nature.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Illinois School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Series/Report Name or Number
Library Trends 69 (4). Spring 2021
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110206
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2020.0048
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2021 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 69 (4) Spring 2021: Researching Practice / Practicing Research: The Public Library in Partnership with Academia. [Restricted Access] PRIMARY
Library Trends 69 (4) Spring 2021: Researching Practice / Practicing Research: The Public Library in Partnership with Academia. Edited by Joyce M. Latham and Noah Lenstra.