This presentation traces how capitalism and neoliberal policy have shaped the library marketplace from the Carnegie era to today’s platform-dominated e‑resource ecosystem. By examining philanthropic foundations, corporate consolidation, the serials crisis, rentier business models, and platform capitalism, it reveals how market forces influence library autonomy, access, pricing, and infrastructure. Participants will gain historical context and practical strategies for navigating an increasingly commercialized information landscape.
Dwindling library use and rumors of upcoming staff cuts compelled me to offer personalized reference services that I had previously considered outside our normal scope. These budget-neutral “concierge services” allow us to form personal relationships with library users, increase use of library resources, and build advocates in a time when the library can be too easily overlooked.
Indigenous Librarianship seeks to reclaim space and authority within library systems in order to create more ethical and inclusive Indigenous knowledge creation and preservation in the library. This presentation describes the special role academic libraries lead in the creation of Indigenized libraries by describing the work of the Xwi7xwa Library, Leech Lake Tribe’s Bezhigoogahbow Library, and Red Lake Nation’s Medweganoonind Library.
