Digital Commons Network^™

Kick Back And Relax: Creating A Radical Sense Of Belonging In Our Libraries, Ione T. Damasco

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

Libraries are places that hold the ability to connect people from different backgrounds and life experiences. However, despite that being the goal, sometimes stories are left out, experiences aren’t told, and identities are not represented. In this keynote address, Ione Damasco shares how her library has been able to make connections across campus with partners to develop and implement programming that fosters a more inclusive campus environment and how other libraries might do the same.

From Being To Doing: Anti-Racism As Action At Work, Ione T. Damasco

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

Over the past few years, the conversation around equity in libraries has focused on thinking of the word ally as a verb, rather than as an identity. With recent events highlighting specific issues around race, the conversation has now shifted to many people wanting to be anti-racist. In this session, we will focus on anti-racism as action, rather than using the word anti-racist as identity. In particular, we will examine our notions of professionalism in libraries. Can changing how we define professionalism in library workplaces be an example of anti-racist action?

We will take a critical look at how certain …

Developing A Social Justice Mindset In Technical Services, Ione T. Damasco

Roesch Library Faculty Presentations

These days, the words "equity," "diversity," and "inclusion" are used throughout libraries. But what do people mean when they use these words? And how do these words manifest in library technical services work? In this talk, participants explored how they can give these words real power when they frame them within a social justice mindset. The program started with an understanding of who participants are as individuals and how they fit into larger systems and structures of societal oppression. They they explored together how their work in technical services can contribute to the dismantling of those systems to ensure a …

Why Diversity Matters: A Roundtable Discussion On Racial And Ethnic Diversity In Librarianship, Juleah Swanson, Ione Damasco, Isabel Gonzalez-Smith, Dracine Hodges, Todd Honma, Azusa Tanaka

Roesch Library Faculty Publications

After presenting together at ACRL 2015 to share their research on race, identity, and diversity in academic librarianship, the authors resumed the conversation, which resulted in this article. Here, they discuss why diversity really matters to academic libraries, librarians, and the profession, and where to go from here. They conclude the article with a series of questions for readers to consider, share, and discuss among colleagues to continue and advance the conversation on diversity in libraries.