Vuyokazi Jamieson
PhD Student · Community-Engaged Scholar · Nonprofit Founder
I study youth literacy and build community-led library spaces.
My work bridges research and practice, focusing on youth reading cultures, school libraries, and equity-centered, participatory approaches to knowledge-making. I’m also the founder of Project XXI, a nonprofit advancing youth-led literacy initiatives in South Africa.
About Me
I am a PhD student and community-engaged scholar in Information Sciences, and my work explores youth literacy practices, school libraries, and the relationship between literacy, power, and belonging in contexts shaped by structural inequality. My research centers on how young people build meaningful reading lives through everyday practices, peer networks, and literacy spaces—particularly in and around school library environments. Guided by equity-oriented frameworks and participatory research ethics, I am especially interested in approaches that refuse deficit narratives and instead highlight youth knowledge, community expertise, and locally rooted literacies.
Alongside my academic work, I am the founder of Project XXI, a nonprofit initiative advancing access to literacy in South Africa through a collaborative book club and school library model. Project XXI supports partnerships between well-resourced and under-resourced schools, enables youth to select books that reflect their interests and identities, and works toward sustainable library development through community participation and long-term capacity building. The initiative is grounded in the principle: nothing about them without them.
My work sits at the intersection of research and practice: I build literacy infrastructures while also studying how these efforts shape youth agency, reading identity, and experiences of recognition. I welcome opportunities to collaborate with researchers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and funders committed to youth-centered literacy, community-led educational change, and ethical, relationship-based research.
Featured Publication
Radical School Librarianship
A Global Response
In our book Radical School Librarianship: A Global Response, available from Facet Publishing in September 2025, school librarian leaders from around the globe contributed chapters related to their work in preserving equity, diversity, inclusion, and intellectual freedom (EDIIF). These core values in (school) librarianship are currently under threat in many school systems, communities, and countries.
As a South African librarian, contributing to Radical School Librarianship helped me name and deepen my commitment to radical youth literacy—centering students as shapers of their own learning. What began at St Andrew’s College as student-led book clubs and collaborative library work grew into cross-school partnerships grounded in the principle, “nothing about them without them.” Sustained through peer leadership and annual mentorship, this work reshaped access to reading as a shared, student-driven process. Now, as a PhD student, I continue to explore how embedding youth agency into school culture transforms libraries into living models of literacy justice.
What I Do
Research
I conduct qualitative, community-engaged research on youth literacy, reading identity, and school libraries, with a focus on ethics, power, and participation.
Community Practice
Through Project XXI, I design and lead youth-centered book clubs and school library partnerships grounded in the principle: nothing about them without them.
Why This Work Matters
Literacy is not only about access to books—it is about agency, recognition, and the ability to see oneself as a knower. My work seeks to create and study literacy spaces where young people can read, choose, question, and belong.