Developing and Delivering Resistance Researching

This chapter will explore the ongoing experience of new professionals in the role of Subject Librarians, developing and delivering library workshops for students in ‘Resistance Researching’ at Goldsmiths, University of London. These workshops drew on ideas from critical librarianship, with a focus on examining social justice principles in library work, and were designed to contribute to the ‘Liberate our Library’ and decolonising the curriculum campaigns.

The chapter starts with a literature review to highlight writing we have found particularly useful in developing our thinking and ideas. Our aim here is to give any readers new to this area of library work a bibliography to use to develop their own knowledge and practice. The rest of the chapter looks in more detail at the workshops we created. Here, it is our intention to detail our workshops for others to use. However, we are not showcasing a series of perfect workshops, rather work in progress. We seek to be open about the challenges we have come across, and to offer up our insights to others interested in adopting this approach in their library teaching work. We hope it will inspire others to develop their own versions of ‘Resistance Researching’ that work for their institution.