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Bodies & Display: Reflections on Centering Fat Activist Voices

Joanne Chern, Je Salvador

UW Bothell & Cascadia College Campus Library

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Overview

Motivation and Objective
How

Selection
Display

FAQs for library users
Reflections
What are we excited about?

<<with gratitude for our colleagues>>

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Display Objectives

Provide counterprogramming against springtime “bikini body” messaging

Center the voices and lived experiences of fat people

Create and hold inviting space where library users could encounter liberatory materials on fatness

Support both individual and communal learning

Provide materials that patrons may not typically find in the mainstream

Challenge ourselves?

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Selection Process

Iterative - spreadsheet
Prior knowledge
Open web searches
Fat reading lists and book recommendations
Citation chasing

Historical materials
Recurring presses and publishers
Collectives, digital archives, and zines
Authors and creators

Current collection

Manual examination of items
Objectives:

Center voices and experiences of fat people
Provide materials that users may not find elsewhere

Collections Development

Display Selection

Je: We had a lot of fun during the process of selecting for collections development and selecting for the Fat Activism display.

For developing the collection, we…

created a spreadsheet;
activated our prior knowledge of fat studies, fat activism, body positivity;
conducted a WorldCat search: “fat activism” OR “fat positivity”;
sought and trawled fat reading lists and book recommendations; and we
chased citations for more– and more historical– items.

We noticed recurring presses and publishers in fat studies, and we sought inspiration from Fat Activist collectives, digital archives, and zines.

When we got close to display setup time, we actually assembled the items in my office and conducted a manual examination of those items.

Joanne: We included those we considered “liberatory”. In that vein, we tried to uplift materials that specifically centered fat voices and that would disrupt mainstream anti-fat bias, while weeding out materials that fell more into the existing narrative. This is where manual examination became really important; subject terms in the library catalog did not necessarily differentiate between materials that were critical of anti-fat bias and materials that were critical of fatness itself.

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FAQ for Users

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Reflections

Interaction

Processing

Future?

Discussion

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Je: As we finished setting up the display, we found ourselves reminded of the tension between getting excited about the display and its impact in our mental framework, and continuing to center who the display is for. At one point I, Je, was called in by a couple colleagues who, while appreciating our enthusiasm for the display and subject area, also gently reminded me that ‘this display isn’t about you’.

Library users seemed to interact a lot with the display– particularly using the printed emojis on the Manifesto– and many let us know this display helped them feel ‘seen’. One library user, however, later expressed to us that the wording from the Manifesto aligning the struggle against anti-fat bias “with the struggles against classism, racism, [...] imperialism and the like” was really problematic and felt tantamount to our ignoring the struggle against racism in this country. While it didn’t compel us to remove the display or accompanying LibGuide, our conversation with this library user was an opportunity for growth and learning. It highlighted a need in our population that wasn’t being met, and we continue to consider, beyond displays, what are other, more persistent mechanisms by which students of all backgrounds can feel seen.

Joanne: So often in libraries we undertake displays about communities of which we are not, and we must prioritize our responsibility to center that community’s voices and experiences. Reflection is integral to that process, as we consistently check in with each other and ourselves about our respective positionalities, and how we relate to the displays we are creating. It is also important to consider how our displays relate to the larger context and history of the library, including the affordances for and constraints on library workers’ intellectual freedom. Additionally, displays are just a small piece of what our patrons, particularly students, are experiencing on a daily basis. If we were to repeat a similar display in a future quarter, how might our objectives change based on what we learned through this iteration? What other, less ephemeral aspects of the library would need to change to support those objectives in a sustainable way? These are questions that we invite you, the audience, to consider as well.

padlet: https://padlet.com/jchern/fat-activism-discussion-10-11-gr7g1lzgpa8yo00

announcements about discussion possibility, discussion agendas (notes in L Drive?):

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Thanks!

You are welcome to contact us at:

Joanne Chern (she/her): jchern@uw.edu

Je Salvador (they/them): jsalv@uw.edu

CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, infographics & images by Freepik