January 9, 2007
10:00-11:00 am
413 Main Library
Present: Cindy Ingold (Chair), Mary Beth Allen, Lori Carroll, B.A. Davis-Howe, Bernice Harrington, Emily Love
Absent: Raj Chilana, Chris Hamb, Lisa Romero
Guests: Scott Walter, Beth Woodard
The minutes from 12 December 2006 were approved.
The Executive Committee has approved the revised charge for this committee.
Cindy Ingold submitted the Library Committee and Task Force Self-Review for this committee in December.
Discussion with Scott Walter and Beth Woodard
N.B.: The following are not in the order discussed.
General issues:
Beth wants to know what the Diversity Committee thinks are the priority issues that need to be incorporated in all levels of staff development and training.
Everyone agreed that diversity awareness needs to be seen as a customer service basic. We wish diversity to be seen as a core value throughout the library.
We need to both include diversity awareness in general training, and provide stand-alone sessions on various issues.
It is difficult to get people to commit to workshops. Busy people want shorter sessions (1-1.5 hours). If the library held an annual retreat day, a longer program could be possible.
How can we incorporate diversity sensitivity in library classroom instruction?
How can we draw on existing programs elsewhere on campus?
The campus-wide surveys administered by the Services Advisory Committee do not currently include diversity-related questions.
The current list of Services Values for the library does not include a mention of diversity.
A book was recently published focusing on diversity in libraries:
Achieving Diversity: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians
. Edited by Barbara I. Dewey, Loretta Parham.
New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2006.
In the old charge for this committee, a representative from the Staff Development and Training Advisory Committee was supposed to serve as an ex-officio member of the Library Diversity Committee. That didn't happen this year. It seemed to be the consensus that it would be more useful to have a liaison on the newly constituted Customer Service Subcommittee. We may also want to invite Beth Woodard, as the Staff Development and Training Coordinator, to visit us once or twice a year.
Proposals and Approaches:
Library Student Assistants could be required to complete a Compass module on diversity.
The Graduate Assistant Orientation already includes videos taped in our libraries that model good and bad customer service scenarios. A diversity-specific scenario could easily be added.
Programs with a video and subsequent discussion, such as the one focused on disabled patrons that we held last spring, are an effective way to reach some staff and librarians.
A discussion program with preparatory reading actively involves all participants in identifying issues and creating change. This might be an effective way to inspire librarians and some staff members in creating a library-wide culture of diversity awareness. The book by Dewey might provide the preparatory reading.
We intend to schedule a presentation and discussion on diversity for librarians and staff. We will invite OEOA staff to present and facilitate the discussion. We will coordinate with Beth and the OEOA office to pick a date in March (but not during Spring Break).
Bernice Harrington agreed to serve on the Customer Service Subcommittee and to be the liaison between the Customer Service Subcommittee and the Library Diversity Committee.
All members of the committee are requested to look for videos on diversity topics (particularly videos that address diversity in library settings) to be included in an ongoing series of programs involving a video followed by discussion. These sessions would be open to all librarians and staff.
13 February 2007, 10am, 413 Main Library. Raj Chiliana will be the minute-taker for this meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
B.A. Davis-Howe
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