The working group “Colonial Contexts in Libraries - decolonize the library!” was set up in 2021 with the task of dealing with social developments in the course of the Black Lives Matter movement in Austria at the Vienna University Library.
Networking with similar initiatives at university institutes in Vienna (African Studies, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Philosophy) and at German libraries (Network Colonial Contexts, MARKK library) provides important impetus for critical library work.
- On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21, 2024), the Vienna University Library introduced the “Reminder against Racism and Discrimination”. Users can give books with racist or discriminatory content a “reminder” and thus encourage a critical approach to literature.
- The contextualization of the historically grown book collection through scientific examination of racist content triggers thought processes and promotes dialogue.
- The KRIT-collection at Vienna University Library offers low-threshold literature critical of racism, from fiction and academic readers to guidebooks and children's books. A large selection of works (print and ebooks) deal with topics of racism, discrimination and decolonization can be found via u:search.
- Safer spaces for user groups: e.g. Department Library of Cultural and Social Anthropology as platform for readings critical of racism and guided tours critical of racism at the Department Library of African and Middle Eastern Studies
- Further training to raise awareness among university library staff takes place online and on-site workshops to enable them to respond professionally to racism and discrimination in everyday library life
- In cooperation with the Colonial Contexts Network, the working group is currently developing guidelines on dealing with colonial contexts in libraries.
