Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Thriving With Peer-To-Peer (P2p) Mentoring: Strengthening Leadership, Promoting Advancement, And Uplifting Poc In Lis, L. Marie Avila, Letha E. Johnson

POC in LIS Summit

This roundtable discussion will focus on the benefit of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Mentoring for People of Color (POC) in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) from the view-point of two-tenure track librarians whose identities run lateral to the western narrative at an academic Predominantly White Institution (PWI). As theory is the primary emphasis in LIS education, POCs benefit from experience gained in other settings such as internships, affinity groups and civic work. P2P Mentoring discussions are unique to POC success individually and collectively. These settings provide a safe space to confront and explore topics not covered in formal Promotion …

Menstrual Equity For $22 A Month: How One Health Sciences Library Brought Free Menstrual Products To An Entire University, Donna Baluchi

POC in LIS Summit

Over half of the world’s population menstruates, and yet the health products necessary for menstruation are regularly criticized for not being easily available and being prohibitively expensive (specifically being unreasonably taxed). It also is not uncommon for those that menstruate to find themselves unpleasantly surprised by their period starting. The public services department of the health sciences library at the University of Utah advocated to use those funds for menstrual products that would be freely available in all six (four of which were gendered) bathrooms. After 18 months, and 250,000 patrons visiting the library, the cost to supply them averaged …

The Ambivalence Of Librarianship, The Pipeline, And Pathways For Bipoc, Tarida Anantachai, Camille Chesley, Kenya Flash, Jamia Williams

POC in LIS Summit

"For BIPOC, the library pipeline evokes strong ambivalence. It provides a fixed entry into the professional world, but the long term prospects are neither clear nor without consequence. For many, there is the expectation that regardless of personal choice, they will enter leadership roles. The nuance of these spaces is undeniable, especially if one considers the fact that hiring BIPOC into academic librarianship is often predicated on these “separate” programs. Without question, these pipelines provide fiduciary and career support for those who work within them, but the tradeoffs have not always been beneficial either in a cultural or holistic manner. …

Connecting Academic And Public Libraries For Future Poc In Lis: Discussion Of A Partnership Between The Los Angeles Public Library And Loyola Marymount University's William H. Hannon Library, Ray Andrade, Jené Brown

POC in LIS Summit

At the inaugural 2018 POC in LIS Summit, Jené Brown (LAPL Principal Librarian, Engagement & Outreach) and Ray Andrade (LMU Student Engagement Librarian) crossed paths and learned about their respective institutions' outreach initiatives. Ray learned about LAPL's Diversity and Inclusion Apprenticeship (DAIA) program to support LAPL library staff and high school and college students interested in librarianship, and Jené learned about LMU Library Outreach programs such as tours, orientations, and Careers in Academic Librarianship panels. The following summer (2019) they joined forces for a summer program featuring a back-to-back LMU Library Tour and Careers in Academic Librarianship panel, and in …

Espacios De Confianza: Disrupting Power Imbalances Within The Residency Experience, Jessica Dai, Sheila Garcia Mazari, Kenya Flash, Twanna Hodge

POC in LIS Summit

Library residencies offer early career librarians an opportunity to develop their knowledge of and experiences within academic librarianship. Over the last few years, the number of residency programs have grown, especially as more institutions develop residencies to recruit and hire Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Residencies, however, are built on the concept of the “sponsored mobility system,” a term coined by Ralph H. Turner, whereby entrance to a system is contingent on sponsorship by an existing member. For residencies, this translates to their institutions acting as “sponsors'' for a resident to successfully achieve permanent employment in academia. This …

Good Gossip: Spreading The Word To Protect Each Other, Nimisha Bhat

POC in LIS Summit

Librarians from traditionally underrepresented populations are subjected to a litany of toxic behaviors in our workplaces and often find ourselves using strategies that help us survive in the job. One of those strategies is gossip. We have a default societal understanding of gossip as an inherently negative way of communicating, and associate it as a bad behavioral trait in people. This presentation will address the concept of “good gossip,” a way that librarians of color spread news and information amongst ourselves in the workplace in order to keep each other informed of knowledge that is often kept secret or privileged …

Poc In Lis Cohorts, Aidy Weeks, Ruby Nugent, Melanie Dixson, Niki Kirkpatrick, Mayra Corn

POC in LIS Summit

According to ALA Diversity Counts Survey (2012), librarians of color (African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Native American including Alaska Native, Two or more races, and Latino) made up only 12% of the profession. Building community in the form of cohorts is a vital opportunity that allows librarians of color to connect with one another and provide support while navigating a profession that is predominantly white.

In this presentation, the panelists will discuss different types of cohorts that exist in POC in LIS circles. We conclude by presenting a call to action and ask participants how they might define a cohort, …

Diversity At Scale: The Necessity Of Integrating Social Justice Into Technical Development, Jackson Huang

POC in LIS Summit

With the increasing emphasis on digital access, platforms - such as DPLA, HathiTrust, and iDigBio - provide an opportunity to make materials available to a broader audience by aggregating materials from multiple libraries and archives into a single point of access. But just because something is online doesn’t mean that it’s actually accessible -- it needs to have accurate and relevant metadata. The history of libraries and archives means that materials related to marginalized communities are often poorly or incorrectly described, which means that they are difficult or impossible to find or understand, even when they are online.

Social justice …

Imagining Trauma-Informed Care In Libraries (2 Hour Workshop), Nisha Mody

POC in LIS Summit

Trauma-informed care is widely discussed in literature related to social work and psychology, however, trauma-informed care principles can be applied everywhere. To put it simply, trauma-informed care asks "What happened to you?" instead of "What's wrong with you?" However, it isn't easy to ask this question directly in libraries as opposed to social work and/or psychology. However, there are ways to create trauma-informed practices in librarianship. It gives regard and consideration to individual trauma and well as the systemic trauma that comes with racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, homophobia, ageism, and other forms of oppression, especially related white supremacy and capitalism. …