Abstract: "Our research study on precarity in libraries aims to provide new information on the extent and effects of precarious work in library settings in Canada. It will gather evidence for the effects of precarity on library service and work culture, explore how precarity connects to libraries’ professed values of equality, diversity, and inclusion, and measure trends in precarious positions in the Canadian library employment landscape.
We are nearing one year of collecting and coding job advertisements from the Partnership Job Board and have completed qualitative analysis of 13 semi-structured interviews with BC library workers. In this presentation, we will reflect on how our team of precariously employed new professionals navigated these stages of our research project and on how both the challenges we face as precariously employed librarians and the privileges our contract positions afford us shaped the design, collection, and analysis of our research."