Headshot of Robert Montoya

Libraries are deeply integrated into our community spaces; and, while we always need more libraries, they pepper the entire landscape of the United States.

The Radical Librarianship Institute is rooted in humanitarian work Dr. Robert Montoya engaged in in the wake of the Kosovo War—at a time when the library network and infrastructure there had been destroyed. 

A professor wearing blue jeans and a black sweater stands next to a large marble wall and looks at the camera

The act of collecting information with intention and through a social justice framework can make people more visible, and in turn, help them to imagine more just and equitable futures. 

Hands of a person who is off camera turn pages in a book

Dr. Montoya (middle) stands with Sean Pessin (left), a PhD student and director of the California State University, Northridge Book Arts Lab, and PhD student Liza Mardoyan (right).

Three people stand in an archway of a building. The archway is decorated with ornamental design.

An article about the Radical Librarianship Institute, a project that aims to provide training and resources to librarians and archivists who are working in libraries today. 

Radical Librarianship Institute

Radical librarians aim to center community voices and scrutinize how institutional resources are allocated. 

Three people stand in a library with shelves on either side of the group. Together, they hold a book in front of their faces so they are not visible to the camera.

Libraries Are Vital Community Spaces (and, They Need to Evolve)

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 