[Lysapo] Lysapo Asks! Library Interview #1: Associate Professor KATADA Kaori, Faculty of Social Sciences

The library is a space independent from university classes. I am sure there are things you can only learn there."
Associate Professor Kaori KATADA Kaori, Faculty of Social Sciences

　Have you ever thought, "I don't know how to use the library? The Library Supporter, a library student volunteer, has interviewed university professors to find out how they have used the library.
　The first interview is with Ms. KATADA Kaori of Faculty of Social Sciences. Her research themes are social welfare, welfare sociology, and social policy, and she is in charge of "Welfare Sociology I & II" and "Social Research Practicum. A library supporter belonging to Prof. Katada's seminar asked her how she used the library when she was a student and what books she recommends to university students.

---Katada, please tell us how you came to study poverty issues.

Katada: When I was about 16 years old, I became friends with a homeless woman, and as I got to know her better, I began to feel that the world was absurd because I could go to school normally and have a home, while she had no home and no job. I lost my motivation to go to college, and while I was struggling with this, I came across a book by a poverty researcher named Masami Iwata, and learned that social welfare studies could help me think about the problem of poverty.
　So I decided that if I was going to go to university, I would go to such a place, and I enrolled in the Faculty of Faculty of Letters (now the Faculty of Social Sciences Humanities and Faculty of Social Sciences ) of Tokyo Metropolitan University, which had the lowest tuition fees at the time, and which had a social welfare studies department. However, when I entered the university, I found that the study offered in social welfare was completely different from what I had imagined, and it seemed to me that it was a study of controlling, managing, and governing the poor, and I almost stopped attending the university. At that time, I went to the streets, not to the university, to spend time with, exercise with, and support the people living in the fields. I was trying to continue that kind of lifestyle, but for various reasons I fell apart, and ended up staying at the university, where I am now.

---I think you used the library for research when you were a graduate student.

Katada: To be honest, the library helped me a lot. However, as I mentioned earlier, as an undergraduate student, I did not go to the university very often, so I rarely used the library. Sometimes, on hot summer days, I would go to the library to sleep because it was air-conditioned. In a complete turnaround, when I was a graduate student, I mostly inhabited the library. When I didn't have part-time jobs, classes, or support activities, I was in the library all the time and rarely at home.
The library at the graduate school I was attending at the time was open practically 24 hours a day. So I used it not only to read books and papers, but also as a place to just hang out and chat with my friends, and often stayed there even after midnight.
　When I was a graduate student, I had very little money at my disposal, so the library was the best place for me because I could stay there for free and use it anytime I wanted, and it was air-conditioned. When I was writing my thesis, I brought my computer into the library and was sometimes told that I was practically living in the library.
　Hosei University also had such a service, but academic books were too expensive for graduate students to afford, so I often submitted purchase requests to the library when there was a book I wanted. Also, as for journal articles, online access was not as advanced back then as it is now, so I submitted purchase requests and the library would purchase the latest domestic and foreign journals and let me use them free of charge. I was really grateful.
　But I thought that using the library was not only about borrowing and reading books. I think it means a lot that it is a space that anyone can enter at any time. In the movie "Miracle of the Public Library," there were "homeless" people occupying the library. At the Tama Library, there is a creative room that can be used freely, where you can hang out and chat with friends. The library is a space independent of university classes. I am sure that there are things you can learn there that are not recognized as learning.

---What kind of books did you read when you were a university student?

Kata: Not books, but I liked reading various articles in the magazine "Gendai Shiso" (Contemporary Thought). In terms of novels, I often read books by Natsuo Kirino. In particular, "OUT" is a story about four housewives who work at a factory late at night. Their husbands are gamblers, they are in deep debt because they have lost all their money, they have domestic violence, they have difficulties taking care of their children, and they all have their own problems, but they all work part-time at the factory to survive, One of them kills her husband to start the story, and I think it is an interesting work in terms of gender and class. I mention a bit about "OUT" in my recent book, "Feminism for Living.

---Do you have any habits that you do to remember when you read?

Katada: I used to keep a handwritten reading notebook. I have been using Excel and Word to keep track of the books I read since a certain stage, but I think I remember more when I kept my reading notes by hand, although it may be outdated. I have been using EndNote and Refworks, which is also provided by Hosei University Library, but I have not been able to master it very well.

---Finally, do you have any book recommendations for students?

Kata: As mentioned in the " Recommended Books from Tama Campus Faculty " section, I recommend a book by Takako Kuritatitled "Blurred Voices Feminism" published in 2019. I hope many people will read it.
　But when it comes to academia, I think it is best to read what you are interested in. My perspective is very narrow, and I am sure that everyone has different sensibilities and preferences, so rather than my recommendations, I think it is best to be honest about what you find interesting and try reading a variety of books. It doesn't matter if it is different from what the faculty recommends. I think it is important to find what you find interesting.