University Library
Nov. 10, 2020
The Brandeis Library strives to create a safe and inclusive environment for both in-person and virtual engagement. The strategy is to start with being self-aware and providing opportunities for personal development through discussion, staff training, and reading groups, as well as an active communication available to all staff that highlights news and information via Slack.
We have also developed a strategic plan that highlights diversity, equity and inclusion with a priority that specifically focuses on these efforts. We have created an equitable hiring process that has been reviewed by ODEI and HR to ensure a wide net is cast.
Our Archives & Special Collections have a strong focus on underrepresented communities and oppressed people, and the department also records current efforts to change the campus.
By design (though not in current practice in response to the Pandemic), the Library created physical spaces that allow for group study, community study, and private study.
The Brandeis Library Strategic mission reads: The Brandeis Library will enhance our position as an intellectual and creative hub that empowers our community by creating equitable opportunities for furthering knowledge, inspiration, and growth.
Current Actions
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- There is a staff-led, 90-minute discussion group each month that focuses on literature of other resources that seed meaningful discussions and self-reflection.
- There is a reading group that will choose titles, such as Algorithms of Oppression, and meet over a series of weeks to explore relevant topics.
- The Brandeis Library Strategy Statement and Strategic Plan
- The strategic plan has been reviewed by ODEI and Allyson Livingston’s comments and suggestions have been integrated (see attached).
- Priority III: Access & Equity: One of the founding principles of Brandeis is a strong commitment to social justice. The Library provides equitable access to Library collections, services, and staff expertise. The Library invests in physical and virtual spaces that are accessible, multifunctional, and inclusive. In the Brandeis spirit, diversity and equity are foundational in our thinking as we create learning and research environments that support the various needs of the entire Brandeis community.
- One of the biggest challenges of bringing diversity to libraries is that consistently over 80%, and as high as 88%, of graduating new librarians are white. Bringing in a diverse workforce is a challenge before the hiring process begins.
- The hiring process for any position includes casting a wide net to many identified job listing opportunities.
- When possible, experience is equal to formal education to encourage those who may not have taken the path of degrees and worked “from the bottom up.”
- Focus of our Archives and Special Collections on Jewish Feminism
- Brandeis National Committee current campaign, Honoring Our History, to digitize collections that highlight social justice issues, aggression against women and minority communities.
- Subject headings used for discovery have been modernized to current sensitivities such as “illegal aliens” to “undocumented immigrants”.
- We’re started working with Digitalia Publishing as a new vendor through which we can obtain academic titles in Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and French.
- The Library has added databases of digitized primary sources focused on people of color, including several Historical Black Newspapers and historical newspaper collections from Africa and Latin America.
- Our new repository for digital collections has allowed us to provide digital representations of print materials.
- During the pandemic, this has been critical to provide more access to the print collection without being physically present in the Library
- After the pandemic, these collections will remain available for anyone with a print disability
- Expanded recreational reading to include popular books in Chinese and Hindi. In the next year, we’re planning to further expand the languages to include Spanish and Korean.
- Black Space Portal an opportunity for students of color to explore the historical racism in library practices.
- Grants for Open and Affordable Educational Resources (O/AER) to encourage faculty to close the financial gap and give equitable access to learning materials.
- The Library is establishing a new Research Excellence Prize for student research related to racism and anti-racism.
- Librarians seek out ways to incorporate topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their teaching. This instruction includes conversations around the seeking out underrepresented voices in research and how structural racism is reflected in classification systems.
- Several librarians are currently collaborating with Maria Madison, Associate Dean for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity at the Heller School, and several Heller students on a program to help faculty in diversifying their syllabi. A small number of faculty will participate in the pilot, with the goal of using these materials to expand this program and work with more faculty in the future.
- Library staff have spoken at CTL programming about ways faculty can incorporate A/OER into their teaching and diversify their syllabi.
Measures of Success
- A shift in the demographics of hired staff and Input from the undergraduate and graduate student advisory groups.