Diversity and Inclusion Resources

Beyond the Board Statement: How Can Boards Join the Movement for Racial Justice? (Part Two): In this second part of a two-part series, nationally renowned board and equity consultants Vernetta Walker and Robin Stacia answer participants’ questions about how to transform a board so it embraces a racial equity agenda.

Black Excellence LIS Syllabus: A live list of Black LIS created works that include numerous anti-oppression, anti-racism, and social justice works.

Black Owned DEI Companies + Consultants Currently Accepting New Corporate Clients: A live google doc of companies and consultants that you could hire- many are based in the states but quite a few are global too.

#BlackLivesMatter PGI Micro-Syllabus: This micro-syllabus brings together a broad collection of readings about the Black Lives Matter Movement, police violence, and subsequent Black political responses. The syllabus includes discussions about the origins of Black Lives Matter and how this movement fits in the story of American Political Development.

Considering: The Diversity Discount: Kaetrena Davis Kendrick has written extensively about the experiences of BIPOC librarians and diversity in the field. Also, look for Kendrick's work here on BIPOC low morale experiences.

The Definitive Guide to Disability Inclusion in the Workplace: A UK resource that covers statistics about disabled workers, hiring practices, language, and supports. The equivalent act referenced at the beginning of the article in Canada is the Employment Equity Act.

Disrupting diversity + inclusion: The promise of behavioural design: This post explores how innovative tools like behavioural design can be used to create and sustain real change.

Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship: A Reading List: This bibliography contains citations and links (when available) to resources focused on race, racism, and disrupting whiteness and white supremacy in libraries. Particular emphasis is placed on the field of library and information science and librarianship as a profession. The resources are organized by topic; non-LIS-specific resources can be found at the bottom of the list.

Diversity vs inclusion: What’s the difference?: This post identifies the difference between diversity and inclusion and takes a closer look at the concept of intersectionality.

Edmonton Social Planning Council: Statement on the Impact of Systemic Racism on Income Inequality and Low-Income Households in Edmonton

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion: Seattle’s ‘Loud at the Library’ Collaboration In this article from the Fall 2019 issue of Children and Libraries, the journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, Pugh and Doyle share how the Seattle Public Library (SPL) has explored new paths in pursuit of racial equity, and the lessons that all libraries can take from this effort.

Bright Future Podcast: Hadiya Roderique on systemic racism: Dr. Hadiya Roderique, writer, lawyer, and diversity advocate, wants to support actions over symbolism. She’s dedicated herself to creating more inclusive and diverse organizations.

Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus: How can we help students understand George Floyd’s death in the context of institutionalized racism? A reading

Librarians as campus partners- Supporting culturally responsive and inclusive curriculum: Though primarily focused on examples in the USA, this article focuses on the role that academic libraries can have in creating, advocating for, and maintaining an inclusive curriculum

The Quest for Diversity in Library Staffing: From Awareness to Action: Despite our ongoing quest for diversity and a growing number of initiatives to increase it, the demographics of the professional librarian population haven’t changed in any significant way. We are starkly lacking in diversity based on race and ethnicity (we are overwhelmingly white), age (librarianship is an aging profession), disability, economic status, educational background, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other demographic and identity markers of difference.

Reading and Talking about Race: An Intro to ALA’s Great Stories Club (Part 1: Deeper Than Our Skins): Join ALA's Public Programs Office for a one-hour webinar to learn about free ALA book club resources that can help us navigate these difficult conversations and critically examine race and privilege. This webinar is open to everyone, including representatives of libraries, bookstores, informal reading groups, or any other venue interested in holding thoughtful conversations about race and identity.

Responding to and reimagining resilience in academic libraries: The authors posit that the resilience narrative obscures structural issues, particularly those relating to socioeconomic status, and shifts responsibility to library workers who must then overcome barriers to success.  The authors challenge the concept of resilience as used in library workplaces, offer potential responses to it from library workers and supervisors, and conclude that applying resilience in and to libraries causes more harm than good.

Safer Spaces - Institutional LGBTQ Inclusion: Gain insight on creating inclusion for community beyond standard staff training.

Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources: This is a working document for scaffolding anti-racism resources. The goal is to facilitate growth for white folks to become allies, and eventually accomplices for anti-racist work. These resources have been ordered in an attempt to make them more accessible. 

Sights on Success Consulting: 10 Myths about Intercultural Competence Development.

Trans Toolkit for Employers: Human Rights Campaign has created a Trans Toolkit for Employers that has resources on how to create a trans-inclusive workplace.

Urband Libraries Council Statement on Race and Social Equity

Urban Libraries Council Statement on the Role of Libraries in Dismantling Systemic Racism

Urgently Looking For Anti-Racism Training for Your Company? Start Here.: An article that is a great start to looking at training to make sure it's successful, well-planned, and not superficial.

Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves: A key barrier to true anti-racism work in libraries can be vocational awe, this article defines it and shows how it limits the field.