Abstract
This paper suggests the simultaneous consideration of three documents, UNESCO’s R.O.A.M. Internet Universality Principles, the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy, as resulting in a fruitful conceptual roadmap for the development of a hu-man rights education practice in libraries. I discuss my experiences using these documents in one-shot bibliographic instruction sessions as well as semester-long courses, within the larger goal of facilitating thoughtful student engagement with global information ecologies. I propose ways that librarians can leverage human rights education practices to create opportunities for student self-reflection that have meaning beyond the space of the classroom, and help them develop awareness around the global impact of their participation in the local in-formation economy.
Additionally, these experiences suggest that the reflective practices involved in creating such classroom spaces for our students have the potential to impact the profession of area studies librarianship itself, reinforcing the value of connecting instructional activities to the everyday experiences of people around the world in an effort to promote respect for human rights. In centering the presence of those separated by borders, we create deeper consciousness of the global impact of our actions, and further align our work with the core professional values of librarianship.