Extending Education

When I began my first career as an Audiologist at the turn of the century, continuing education was primarily obtained by attending conferences, seminars, and workshops in person. Some were local, maybe even brought to your place of employment along with lunch, or a day off from seeing patients so you could learn about advances and current issues in audiology or brush up on rarely used skills. Now, almost 20 years later, much continuing education can take place online. You can access recordings or videos at no cost beyond your time. As I head down the road to becoming a librarian, I utilized this modern perk to learn a little bit more about diversity in libraries.

I chose to watch an OCLCVideo published to YouTube on December 20, 2016. Trevor A. Dawes from the University of Delaware presented “Welcome to the Library: Success of Inclusion and Diversity Initiatives” as a part of the OCLC Distinguished Seminar Series. His talk was initially presented on November 21, 2016 and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfvBWOF4qQ .

Mr. Dawes discussed the idea of diversity and inclusion, gave examples of how we measure diversity, and detailed his experiences as part of both university and ALA groups focused on measuring diversity and inclusion and how such groups were tasked with finding ways to increase diversity and inclusion in library spaces.

The talk opened with the idea that people do not actively oppose the idea of diversity and inclusion but often aren’t aware of the need for it, and when they are, they face funding challenges to support research and implementation of diversity measures. Mr. Dawes discussed his personal background and how he came to be involved with equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) issues. He is a past ALA chair for the diversity committee and was on the ALA task force on EDI initiatives, so he speaks from a strong backgrouind in diversity issues.

Mr. Dawes shared two stories that highlighted the need for and implementation of EDI issues. The first, about a giraffe and an elephant, highlighted the need for a diverse worldview.

The second, a real-world example of an inclusive university library, discussed how a non-diverse library staff can still meet the needs of a diverse community – but how it would be nice if that same workplace looked like the community it served.

Next, the idea of how to define diversity was discussed. The audience, when asked, did not volunteer much on this definition. Mr. Dawes presented the dictionary definition of diversity, which was not very helpful as it gave Bob Hope vs Bob Dylan as an example! The irony of comparing two white, male musicians who are both named Bob was not lost on the audience.

Mr. Dawes then moved on to present the idea that both visible and invisible differences and similarities should be considered. Visible measures include race and gender, which are typically easy to identify. Invisible measures include sexual orientation and religion, which are typically less easy to identify and measure. He discussed how such measures should be considered when striving to treat all people equally and give equal opportunities. He also pointed out that studies have shown that having a diverse workforce, no matter how you are measuring diversity, consistently provides better services and better solutions to problems because you end up with a diversity of thought with which to plan programs and solve problems.

He then discussed that the latest ALA measures of diversity in the library workforce revealed that our workforce is still over 80% white and female, which is not representative of US demographics. While this workforce is often excelling at providing services for a diverse

population, there are initiatives in place that are trying to expand the diversity of the library workforce. Such initiatives include scholarships and summer internship programs aimed at recruiting underrepresented persons into library studies. While there has been some success seen as a result of these initiatives, nonwhite participation in librarianship has risen 13% since the 1990s and stalled. Mr. Dawes suggested this is an additional area to explore: why has nonwhite participation not continued to grow?

Near the end of his talk, Mr. Dawes gave specific examples of how university libraries have listened to their community and integrated diversity into their every day spaces. University libraries have begun to give diverse example in their user instructions, such as using Coltrane instead of Mozart as an example of how to search for a composer. They have also included more nonwhite photos in their webspaces and provided multi-use spaces inspired by the needs of a specific user group. They are also showcasing diversity in their collection development policies, the exhibitions they develop, and the programs they host. He thinks that libraries that are looking for ways to incorporate diversity in their communities should look to these examples as models to follow to increase their own diversity.

Mr. Dawes closed with the idea that promoting diversity can go a long way to healing past wrongs and providing better user services. He feels that such successful initiatives can only be achieved through the use of teamwork, and diverse teamwork as much as possible.

I enjoyed learning about EDI issues and initiatives from Mr. Dawes. I felt he was an organized speaker and presented high-quality information. His use of illustrative stories was helpful, especially the real-world example of successful diversity initiatives at a university library. I like that he didn’t dwell on defining diversity, equality, and inclusion but rather moved quickly along to show the need for diversity measures and success stories. I feel it is more important, at this point, to share ideas and examples of EDI than to belabor the fact that such initiatives are needed. We know we need to allow everyone to have a voice and be heard; we need ideas of how to hear their voices and allow them to speak up. This is important from both the perspective of library users and library employees.

From the perspective of a library student, I feel this professional level session was a helpful way to practice synthesizing theory with practice. While in library school, we are taught theory and given ideas of how to apply such knowledge to real-world situations. The talks given at conferences and conventions help to integrate theory with day-to-day work expectations. I think this blog's focus on diversity in the workplace, where workplace is defined as a university library, is a useful one. Mr. Dawes' talk gives some concrete examples of how EDI issues succeed in the real world.

References

Welcome to the library: Success of diversity and inclusion initiatives2016. , ed. Trevor A. Dawes, ed. OCLCVideo. online recording.