The Journal of Critical Digital Librarianship has announced calls for proposals for two upcoming special issues. “Digital Librarianship in an Eroding Democracy” focuses on precarity, censorship, AI, and broader political crisis as they shape digital library work, while “The Graduate” invites current students, recent graduates, and early-career librarians to consider transitions into the profession and the challenges facing those new to digital librarianship. Proposals for both issues are due May 29, 2026; publication is planned for Spring 2027 and Winter 2027, respectively.
From the CFPs:
Special Issue: Digital Librarianship in an Eroding Democracy
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 current students, recent graduates, and early career librarians to reflect on the transition from the classroom to the profession and the many pathways that lead to and through digital librarianship. As this occupation continues to evolve from its origins in the 20th century ‘digital turn,’ what are the challenges and barriers facing those who are new to the field? Digital library roles continue to be characterized by highly specialized or niche job requirements while also asking librarians to have or develop divergent skills across multiple disciplines.
dh+lib Review
This post was produced through a cooperation between Claire Burns and Melissa Horak-Hern (Editors-at-Large), Caitlin Christian-Lamb and Molly McGuire (Editors for the week), Claudia Berger, Ruth Carpenter, Nickoal Eichmann-Kalwara, Linsey Ford, Pamella Lach, Hillary Richardson, Christine Salek, and Rachel Starry (dh+lib Review Editors), and Tom Lee (Technical Editor).