Place Consciousness: A Narrative Inquiry of the Advocacy Practices of Five Rural/Frontier School Librarians

This study investigates how place consciousness affects the advocacy practices of five rural/frontier Montana school librarians. Eighteen Montana rural/frontier school librarians were interviewed about their advocacy activities. A grounded theory analysis revealed that the recognition of community context is vital to effective school library advocacy. A secondary data analysis using narrative inquiry was conducted, resulting in five narratives anchored in the conceptual framework of place consciousness and using the hero’s journey story structure to further explore how rural/frontier school librarians advocate for effective programs. Lessons learned about rural/frontier school librarian advocacy are shared, as are implications for practice and suggestions for future research.