CLA: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice for Library Advocacy

On Aug. 10, I was part of a panel for the California Library Association Ursula Meyer Advocacy Fund Training "Workshop on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice for Library Advocacy", which was a 120-minute online event. The session has been archived on YouTube. Given the interest in the event, I'm posting info about it here, along with the video and resources mentioned during the session.

Description: 

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice remain critically important elements of our library advocacy efforts; they also are interwoven themes with which we struggle within our organizations and within the communities we serve. This highly-interactive, discussion-focused session, featuring a panel of library advocates, will explore the hopes and challenges that drive advocacy, unconscious bias, and ways to be effective in fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

Panelists: 

• Jené Brown, Director of Emerging Technologies and Collections as well as Racial Equity Officer for the Los Angeles Public Library; also serving as California Library Association President.
• Jill Hurst-Wahl is a member of Widerstand Consulting, which does anti-racism work with many organizations, including libraries. In her own consulting practice (Hurst Associates, Ltd.), she works at the intersection of information, technology, and people, which includes creating inclusive systems and spaces. She is professor emerita at Syracuse University's iSchool. 
• Essraa Nawar, Development Librarian, DEI Program Coordinator, and Chair of the Arts, Exhibits, and Events Committee at Chapman University; has also been a TDx speaker.

Moderator:

• Paul Signorelli, a writer, trainer, presenter, and consultant serving as Library Advocacy Training Project Manager for CLA; Storyteller in Residence for the Arizona State University ShapingEDU community; and a board member for the UCLA Daily Bruin Alumni Network.

Resources Shared in Chat:

• Liverpool (NY) Public Library Books & Beyond Book Club  
• Leatherby Libraries Wins Award for Diversity Initiative
• Nordell, Jessica. (2021) The End of Bias: A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious. (paid link)
• Eberhardt, Jennifer. (2020) Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. (paid link)
• Grady, Constance. (2020) “Why the term ‘BIPOC’ is so complicated, explained by linguists.” Vox.
• New analysis shows startling levels of discrimination against Black transgender people.
• ALA Committee on Diversity. (2021) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Scorecard for Library and Information Organizations.
• Essraa Nawar. Feeling welcomed and empowered. (16 min.)