“Libraries are for Everyone” The State of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives in Small College Libraries Gretchen Revie, Reference Librarian, Instruction Coordinator, Associate Professor, etc. Pete Gilbert, Random Library Guy August 18, 2017

Who are we? Gretchen Revie, Reference Librarian, Instruction Coordinator, Associate Professor, etc. Pete Gilbert, Random Library Guy

Who are you?

Definitions What do we talk about when we talk about D&I? Race? Ethnicity? LGBTQ+? Sociocultural? Disabilities/Different abilities? Neurodiversity?

Literature Review Because, hey – it’s what we do. See the handout…

Let’s do a Survey! Oberlin Group: 80 small, private, liberal arts college libraries Questions: What diversity and inclusion initiatives are going on at your library? When did they start? Are these new initiatives or converted older ones? Who's involved? How are those initiatives going? What should college libraries be doing in the way of diversity and inclusion? Responses: 25% response rate

Responses: What are we doing? Services Facilities Collections Personnel

Services Exhibits: Heroes and Holidays Reading groups – internal and external Speakers – internal and external Afrofuturism at Union Committees/task forces/interest groups Partnerships Alignment with campus initiatives Educational programming LIFT at Earlham Artist Stacey Robinson addresses students, faculty, and staff at Union College’s Schaffer Library

Facilities Signage Exhibits Restrooms and gender neutrality

Collections Service based collections Breadth Viewpoint diversity Textbook availability Breadth Viewpoint diversity Focused collections General D&I Specific topics Bates Picture Book Project

Personnel Staff recruitment and retention Student worker hiring and training The Librarian Pipeline Staff training

At the Mudd http://www.lawrence.edu/library/about/diversity

Responses: What should we be doing? Actively participate in institutional efforts Partner to identify and recruit diverse candidates for librarian positions Making sure diversity and inclusion are overall goals of our work Talking about the issues and creating an open space to think about/address them Show up! Continue to build broad, inclusive collections Share what we’re doing, on- and off-campus

The Takeaway Message(s) Libraries are for everyone. Your library is working hard on this issue and has been for some time. Include the library in D&I discussions. You won’t regret it.

Questions? Comments? Brickbats?