Sandra Hughes-Hassell
Professor, UNC School of Information and Library Science
Expertise
Multi-cultural children's literature, children's services, school library media, social justice issues in youth library services, role of school librarians in education reform.
Education
BS (Early Childhood Education)
MEd (Library Science), James Madison University
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Biography
Dr. Sandra Hughes-Hassell is a Professor and Coordinator of the School Library Media Coordinator Program at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS). Her research focuses on social justice issues in library services, culturally relevant practice in libraries, and diverse youth literature. She has published widely and presented locally and nationally on critical race theory, culturally relevant pedagogy, and the role of librarians in supporting the literacy needs of African American youth.
In 1994 I moved from rural Virginia to Philadelphia to become the director of the Philadelphia Library Power project. Funded by the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, Library Power developed a new, challenging vision for school librarianship by ensuring that all learners in schools—adults as well as children—had the resources and support they needed to become effective users of information and ideas. The Philadelphia Library Power project was one of many programs administered by the Philadelphia Education Fund—a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education for undeserved youth throughout the Philadelphia region. As director of the project, I spent a great deal of time in Philadelphia public schools working with librarians, teachers, administrators, and students. My interactions, my observations, and the relationships I developed during the four years I led this project had a transformative impact on my life and the focus of my work.
Through my work, it became clear that public schools and public libraries are critical institutions for breaking the cycle of poverty and redressing social inequities. My reaction to all I saw and all I learned has been to embrace the social justice roots of librarianship and to focus my research on advocating for youth of color, and other youth who are marginalized.
Building a Bridge to Literacy for African-American Male Youth