LIS Interrupted: Intersections of Mental Illness and Library Work

Within the realm of library work, conversations about mental illness are too frequently pushed to the sidelines, whispered about behind office doors, or covered up for others' comfort. LIS Interrupted is a book that directly addresses those conversations in an edited collection of firsthand experiences from library workers. This book draws these conversations into public view and in doing so brings the experiences of mental illness to the forefront-offering space for comfort, connection, and community.

The intention of this work is to provide a collection of both personal narratives and critical analyses of mental illness in the LIS field, thus offering a unique opportunity to explore the many intersections with labor, culture, stigma, race, ability, identity, gender, and much more to provide context for positive change. LIS Interrupted is geared towards library workers, educators, and students in a variety of environments as a text, resource, guide, and place of refuge.

Miranda Dube is librarian in New Hampshire. Her research interests include library services for domestic and sexual violence survivors, as well as the intersection of LIS workers with mental illness and addiction. When not working or doing research you can find her on call with the local crisis center, crocheting, or hanging out with her two pet rats.

Carrie Wade is the Health Sciences librarian at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and a backpacking subject specialist at REI in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Her research interests focus on analyzing historical discourses in Library and Information Science and other fields as a means to plot out a more just, equitable, and liberated future for libraries and the people who work in them.