September 2020

Over the last few months ILA’s Committee for Diversity & Inclusion has been hosting bi-monthly Zoom calls during which we discuss issues relating to diversity and inclusion. So far we have explored articles, blogs posts, videos, podcasts, and more on the topics of Living With Mental Illness or a Mental Health Condition, Microaggressions, Ethnicity, and Sexuality.

 

Throughout the month of September we will be reading, watching, and listening to resources about the topic of Ability. Discussions are scheduled for October 7  at 9:00 am and October 12th at 2:00 pm. We would love it if you joined us for either or both calls. The level of participation is up to each attendee; you may actively contribute to the discussion or just listen & learn. Here are some resources for next month’s discussion groups:

 

• Iowa State University: Ableism & Disability Studies libguide

• Disability advocate says #JustAskDontGrab highlights how often strangers 'help' without consent

• Librarians with disabilities face barriers to accessibility and inclusion

• Services to People with Disabilities: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights 

• Accessibility: Image Alt Text best practices

• Disability at work: Libraries, built to exclude

• Ableism and Access in the Academic Library

• Words Matter, Association for Library Service to Children blog

• Disability, Identity, and Language (Person First or Identity First language) video

• Perspectives & Advice on Universal Accessibility Design video

• Oregon City Public Library: The Disability Community in the Library 

• Providing Access to the Good Life for the Disabled webinar

 

 

Creating a Diversity Plan for your library.

 

• ILA Committee for Diversity & Inclusion Libguide

• Iowa State University Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Libguide 

• ALA Building a Diversity Plan - Strategic Planning for Diversity

• Library Accessibility Toolkit 

• Developing and Implementing a Diversity Plan at Your Academic Library

 

Examples of DEI Statements:

• Marion (IA) Public Library

• Sherwood (OR) Public Library

• Oak Park (IL) Public Library

• Urban Libraries Council

• Free Library of Philadelphia statement

• Arapahoe Libraries statement

• Indianapolis Public Library statement

 

Other Resources:

 

• Reading and Talking about Race: An Intro to ALA’s Great Stories Club (Part 1: Deeper Than Our Skins)

• BCALA and ALSC Social Justice Reading List | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

• Intersections | Advocacy, Legislation & Issues Blog

• WebJunction Webinar: Strengthen Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Practice Through Self-Paced Learnings. 

• Tuesday, September 15th 2:00 PM

• While classroom training has an important place in library staff education, learning is extended and reinforced when staff have the opportunity to work through difficult topics outside of the classroom. In order to support staff learning about issues of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), Multnomah County Library has developed a “Racially Just” toolkit, containing activities staff can use to learn and practice on their own, with colleagues, or in their staff groups. The toolkit workbooks include information and activities related to bias, microaggressions, allyship and cross-cultural communication, as well as a workbook focused on learning about Native American and Alaska Native people and communities. Learn how Multnomah Library developed the workbooks and what indicators signaled that their organization was ready to support staff with self-paced learning about EDI. Presented by: Ekatrina Sotomayor, Access Services Assistant, and Amy Honisett, Learning and Development Specialist, Multnomah County Library, Oregon.

SAVE THE DATE! Live Twitter Chat on Health Disparities September 2 at 12:00 p.m. Central   Join PLA's Task Force on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice (EDISJ) for their next live Twitter chat on Wednesday, September 2 from 12–1:00 p.m. Central! The discussion will focus on how library workers can address health disparities and advance public health in our communities.

To participate, simply follow PLA on Twitter (@ALA_PLA) and log in at noon Central on September 2. The EDISJ Task Force will tweet introductions and discussion questions to get things started. To join the conversation, tweet using the hashtags #chatPLA and #HealthDisparities.   To ensure a lively discussion, we're providing the discussion questions ahead of time. So get ready to share your experiences and resources, ask questions, and learn from your peers!   What, if any, training or formal education have you received to address the diverse health and social needs of your patrons? How is your library responding to evolving and exacerbated social needs of the current crises? In what ways are you managing the imposed trauma of returning to work and/or reopening the library? Post COVID, what are the biggest challenges you anticipate in addressing diverse health and social needs in the library? What can PLA do to help support library workers who face the chronic burdens of social determinants of health in their communities?   If you skipped the last live Twitter chat on Creating Inclusive Communities, search #chatPLA on Twitter to see what you missed. To learn more about PLA's EDISJ work and to read their latest statement and call to action for public library workers to address racism, please visit http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/edi.