CFP | Special Issue: Digital Librarianship in an Eroding Democracy

2026-04-20

 

Call for Papers | Special Issue: Digital Librarianship in an Eroding Democracy

Guest Editors | Rachel Starry; Krystal Boehlert; Crissandra George; Larry Eames; Kathryn Michaelis; Hillary Richardson

The current experience of digital librarianship in the U.S. and around the world is defined in part by precarity and crisis. In March 2025, Trump issued an Executive Order that dismantled the IMLS; as of April 2026, his proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year does not include IMLS funding. Demands to censor books representing the experiences of LGBTQ+ people continue to break records. Tech companies inundate our digital platforms with AI tools dependent on extractive environmental practices, exploitative labor, and copyright infringement. Libraries are reorganized and consolidated in grasping attempts to prove relevance and stretch resources. These examples are specifically relevant to our work as information professionals, but we are also affected by broader atrocities. As ICE’s federally-mandated acts of cruelty, bragging promises of war crimes, and ongoing genocide in Palestine fill our newsfeed, we continue to be faced with questions about the impact and sustainability of our digital library work.

This special issue of the Journal of Critical Digital Librarianship invites submissions that explore the intersections between digital library work and current democratic crises. What strategies can we use to keep our work sustainable when funding is precarious? How are our digital tools (including tools we are expected to engage with on our campuses) changing, and how do we respond when those changes threaten our ability to center justice in our work? What steps can we take within our professional roles to advocate for our most vulnerable neighbors? What work is being done to digitally highlight and archive the labor of activists who resist nationalist violence? 

We are interested in publishing articles, case studies, interviews, reflections, personal narratives, and creative works that provide critical approaches to topics including, but not limited to:

  • Strategies for building and maintaining digital libraries that survive funding loss;
  • Digital collections or preservation efforts representing political resistance;
  • Ethics of generative AI use or resistance in digital library work;
  • Impacts of politically-induced stress on digital library workers;
  • Frameworks for sustaining library workers through and after crises;
  • Approaches for centering human care and making visible our emotional labor when library workers experience loss, grief, or anxieties during crisis work;
  • Politics of refusal or approaches to shifting the scope or framing of digital library work in response to governmental mandates;
  • Advocacy strategies for centering labor and intellectual freedom in digital library spaces.

Submit your abstract via this form.

Submission Guidelines

  • Article (5,000-7,000 words)
    • Formal and/or academic tone and style
    • Clear structure
    • Clearly engages with the wider body of literature
    • Examples: original research, case study, literature review, systematic review, etc.
  • Interview (3,000-5,000 words)
    • Professionally colloquial tone
    • Structured, edited, and arranged for clarity
    • May engage with the wider body of literature
    • Examples: informational interview, moderated conversation on a specific topic, etc.
  • Reflection or Personal Narrative (1,000-3,000 words)
    • May use a colloquial tone
    • Semi-structured or unstructured essay
    • May engage with the wider body of literature
    • Examples: response to or commentary on an event/article/video/etc., narrative or commentary on a personal experience within the broader environment of digital librarianship, etc..
  • Media-Rich Perspectives
    • Ideas represented visually and/or aurally
    • May also include submissions that pair written text with non-textual elements
    • Clearly engages with the wider body of literature
    • Examples: podcast episode, video essay, digital zine, multi-media collage, infographic, etc.

While we are open to submissions in many formats, final submissions will need to be published or represented within the structure available via the publishing software. Compatible formats include, but are not limited to, PDF, JPG, MP3, MP4, CSV, and HTML. If you want to check in about a specific format, reach out to the editorial team directly.

Submission Process and Deadlines

  • May 29, 2026: Submit a proposed abstract (up to 250 words) via this Google Form
  • June 26, 2026: Guest editors announce accepted proposals
  • September 25, 2026: Submit first full draft via Online Journal Systems (OJS)
  • October 23, 2026: Guest editors use a form within OJS to record feedback and notify the author about next steps
  • January 8, 2026: If relevant, author submits a revised draft
  • January 29, 2026: Guest editors use a form within OJS to record feedback and notify the author about next steps
  • February 19, 2026: If relevant, author submits a final submission
  • March 12, 2027: Guest editors review final submission and notify author of final decision regarding publication; if submission is accepted, it is moved to copyediting and typesetting 
  • April 2, 2027: Special Issue is published

Focus, Scope, and Open Peer Review

The Journal of Critical Digital Librarianship is an open access and open peer review journal that publishes and builds community around cultural heritage digital library work. We focus on work that integrates feminist, anti-racist, postcolonial, queer, anti-ableist, and techno-critical frameworks. At each step along the way, authors have the opportunity to speak directly with guest editors via email and/or video call. While a central goal of our journal is to build community, JCDL only publishes final submissions that are within scope and contribute meaningfully to the field. Please be aware that acceptance of a proposal or draft does not guarantee final publication in the special issue. 

To see more about the journal and its peer review process visit the JCDL website. 

Code of Conduct

JCDL is committed to creating and supporting an inclusive, diverse, and equitable community of practice. Please see our full Code of Conduct.

Have questions about this special issue or the submission process? Unsure if your idea is a match for this call? Contact Rachel Starry, rachel.starry@pitt.edu, to chat with the editorial team.