York grad student wins library information studies paper contest

Fourth-year Social & Political Thought PhD student Lisa Sloniowski has won the fourth annual Library Juice Press Annual Paper Contest for her paper “Affective Labor, Resistance, and the Academic Librarian”.

Lisa Sloniowski
Lisa Sloniowski

The paper, which emerged from her course work, was originally written for a History and Development of Feminist Theory course with Professor Meg Luxton. It was originally published in the journal Library Trends, a Johns Hopkins University Press journal.

“I was pleased to win it as the press is well-respected in my field and their materials are read by both scholars and practitioners of library and information studies,” said Sloniowski. “Also, there are very few awards for people in library and information studies doing work from a humanities perspective, and so I really appreciate the support not just for my work, but for humanities approaches in general.”

The paper beat out 18 other entries in a process involving a three-person award jury using a blind evaluation process. There is a $1,000 prize that accompanies the award, which is intended to encourage and reward good work in the field of library and information studies. The papers are judged on clarity of writing; originality of thought; sincerity of effort at reaching something true; soundness of argumentation; and, relevance to our time and situation.

Sloniowski, who is also an associate librarian in Scott Library, likewise took pride in receiving the acknowledgment from across the border.

“It’s an American press, and to have a little international recognition is very exciting,” she said.

Library Juice is a website and email zine covering topics of interest to passionate librarians, from a political left perspective.