Library EDI Committees Discussion Group

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last person joined: 4 days ago 

Charge: ACRL’s Library EDI Committees Discussion Group seeks to provide a forum for practitioners, especially members of Library Diversity committees, to discuss EDI topics in academic libraries, and share resources useful to library workers engaged in EDI initiatives in libraries. They plan to work to support both library workers who are thinking about starting a diversity initiative and diversity committees that are already established.
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  • 1.  Reposting Shilpa's query - do we have any advice for her?

    Posted 12 days ago

    Hi, everyone!  We're excited to see all of you and looking forward to having productive conversations together.  Please feel free to invite your colleagues to join.

     

    We'll try to post a topic every week or two; we've been waiting for a critical mass of folks to join.  Please also feel free to post your questions and thoughts at any time!

     

    We thought we'd try to respond to Shilpa, who wrote:

     

    Hello all,

    My name is (Marianne) Shilpa Jacobie. I work at a public library in Massachusetts. We have DEI library committee called the Equity and Action Committee. The committee is just a few months old and we have submitted recommendations to leadership that is met with apathy at best. The culture of the library is not one that actively participates in anti-oppression. 

    I would be grateful for any suggestions on how to move things forward.

    Shilpa 

     

    Shilpa - we were wondering what kind of recommendations you made? and what does your administration value?  Tell us something about your community and what they value. 

    Thanks!--Corliss



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    Corliss Lee
    American Cultures Librarian
    University of California - Berkeley
    She/Her/Hers
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  • 2.  RE: Reposting Shilpa's query - do we have any advice for her?

    Posted 6 days ago

    Shilpa - thinking about some other things you could do. Perhaps hosting an open house with coffee and little treats for people to learn about the recommendations? You could answer questions and build enthusiasm among the staff for the recommendations. I might also try distilling them down into themes and creating graphics or a couple words to describe each theme, and putting that on digital signage or on an employee listserv. I think building interest among the folks in the library will help encourage more people to bring it up to leadership and put a little bottom-up pressure on them.



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    Savannah Crowl
    Oxford College Library
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Reposting Shilpa's query - do we have any advice for her?

    Posted 5 days ago
    Hi Corliss,

    Thank you for asking. One of the recommendations we made as a group was assessments for programs and staff as well as training in cultural competency, accessibility (ASL training, proper language usage for and about disabled folks),  and trauma  informed care. 

    Our Equity in Action Committee made up of 3 library staff members and the town DEIA director felt that the demographics are changing in our town and in our library. This is also backed by survey data we received from the public schools as well as a survey that I did at the library.

    There is a need for training as well as looking at who our programs are for. Right now all or most of our programming is directed to the majority in the town population. 

    The little programming we do for BIPOC or LGBTQ+ folks gets pushback from the community about how we are trying to push a certain "agenda".

     Most of our staff including library leadership is performative in their actions or apathetic towards DEIA initiatives. I am the only BIPOC person on staff and it often feels like I am screaming into the void.  

    I hope this helps! Thank you for reaching out. 

    best,
    Shilpa

    --
    Shilpa Jacobie
    She/Her
    Assistant Head of Reference
    Peabody Institute Library - Danvers
    978-774-0554 Extn:3818









    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Reposting Shilpa's query - do we have any advice for her?

    Posted 4 days ago

    Those all sound like good recommendations to me!  I'm surprised they would ignore training on accessibility since that's federal law.  I hope you can at least push that one through.  Is your town's DEIA director an ally?  Or is their job  also very challenging?

    Why does your town have a DEIA director if they don't believe in DEIA?  very odd.

    Are there any folks in the town who would support BIPOC or LGBTQ events?  

    Best of luck and hope you hang in there!   Your work is important, even if it seems unappreciated...

    Corliss Lee



    ------------------------------
    Corliss Lee
    American Cultures Librarian
    University of California - Berkeley
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message