WYOMISSING, Pa. — Sarah Hartman-Caverly, reference and instruction librarian at Berks Thun Library, Penn State Berks, was recognized June 6 for her work co-leading a peer community that explores heterodoxy — ideas and thinking that deviates from standard beliefs — in the context and practice of academic librarianship.
Hartman-Caverly’s community, Heterodox Libraries (HxLibraries), received the inaugural HxA Community Excellence Award from the Heterodox Academy (HxA), a nonprofit organization composed of higher education faculty, staff and students committed to advancing the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement.
HxLibraries was launched in 2020 to provide a forum for addressing the culture war challenges facing libraries. Hartman-Caverly co-moderates the community with Craig Gibson, professor of libraries at The Ohio State University. HxLibraries hosts regular virtual symposia examining a range of issues facing librarianship, intellectual freedom and information culture that promote sharing perspectives across lines of difference. Most recently, Hartman-Caverly organized and served as editor for the spring 2024 HxLibraries Symposium, “Curiosity, Controversy and Intellectual Courage,” for which written proceedings and session recordings are freely available online. The group also launched Heterodoxy in the Stacks on Substack to share issues of viewpoint diversity in the library sciences with a broader audience.
“Libraries are on the front lines of the culture wars, where professional ethics, institutional neutrality, viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom are increasingly embattled,” Hartman-Caverly said. “Our ability to effectively navigate this terrain while upholding core values of freedom of expression touches every discipline, education level and civic life. HxLibraries provides a forum for addressing these challenges so that libraries can continue our work of ensuring access to information and diverse viewpoints as a bulwark of an enlightened society. On behalf of the HxLibraries membership, I’m honored to accept HxA’s inaugural Community Excellence Award along with Craig Gibson.”
The HxA Community Excellence Award was presented as part of HxA’s 2024 Open Inquiry Awards. The annual awards honor individuals and organizations who are leading the way in championing HxA’s values. Other award winners include a University of Virginia instructor in politics, a University of Pennsylvania behavioral scientist, a Carnegie Mellon University assistant teaching professor of philosophy and a Northwestern University professor of psychology, who were recognized for leadership, exceptional scholarship, teaching excellence and courage, respectively. In 2023, Eric Silver, professor of sociology and criminology at Penn State, received HxA’s Open Inquiry Teaching Award.
The Open Inquiry award winners are selected from open nominations submitted by HxA members and supporters.
“It is an honor to recognize this esteemed group of members that are truly putting our principles into action on their campuses,” said John Tomasi, president of HxA. “And it was a special delight to celebrate them with hundreds of members and supporters at our conference in Chicago this year.”