Critical race theory (CRT), in a nutshell, asks the question, “What does race have to do with it?” In the legal context it seeks to acknowledge and document all of the many factors that play a role in the outcome of a case, including but going well beyond the race of any of the parties, often drawing on disciplines like sociology and psychology to clarify and explain human behaviors and motivations influenced by race. For law libraries, critical legal research (CLR), which springs from CRT, can help expose inequities in access to legal information due to race or racialized information within law libraries or within the profession of law librarianship. This session will discuss the history of CRT and CLR and how law librarians can use them to address biases, expose truths, and improve their institutional cultures and their services. 

Recorded at the 2022 AALL Annual Meeting & Conference. Please note the opinions shared during the programs represent the views of the speakers and not of AALL.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

All law librarians from all types of law libraries

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Attendees will gain a better understanding of critical race theory and how it applies to law librarianship.
2. Attendees will learn how they can improve inclusivity within their own law libraries.

SPEAKERS:

• Jennifer Allison, Harvard Law Library, Harvard Law School
• Devon Carbado, UCLA Law
• Grace Lo, Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School
• Nicholas Stump, George R. Farmer Jr. Law Library, West Virginia University College of Law

COORDINATOR:

• Clanitra Stewart Nejdl, Alyne Queener Massey Law Library, Vanderbilt University

MODERATOR:

• Ronald Wheeler, Boston University School of Law

AALL BODY OF KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS: Professionalism + Leadership At Every Level, Management + Business Acumen