September 13, 2016 Meeting of Diversity Committee

?? – Minute Taker

I. Approve Minutes – Welcome Angie Gruendl to the committee – New Chairs Harriet and Zoe

II. World Peace Day, September 21: Inclusive Illinois and Diversity Committee will have a table in the Marshall Gallery – schedule of volunteers/supplies needed

III. Update:  Cindy’s work with Lori Mestre regarding the recent practicum and Diversity resource themed Compass (Blackboard) page.

IV. ClimateQUAL Update re: the Focus Groups – Cindy

V. Update regarding the recent appointment of an Associate Provost of Diversity: how the committee might collaborate with this office.

VI. ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services, United Nations Remember Slavery Programme –update/next steps

VII. Diversity and Multicultural Information LibGuide
Since committees are not allowed to have LibGuides, there was discussion to offer any tools or resources through a tool box instead on the Diversity & Multicultural Information web page (http://www.library.illinois.edu/diversity/).

VIII.  Human Library event, Sept. 22: Volunteers Needed

IX. Diversity Conference Brown Bag – Sept. 27

X. Other News and Updates.

Harriet Green, Angie Gruendl, Donna Hoffman, Cindy Ingold, Qiang Jin, Heather Murphy, JJ Pionke, Zoe Revell, Ben Riegler, Ellen Swain
Absent- Laila Moustafa

Minute Taker- Ben Riegler

I. Approve August Meeting Minutes
The August minutes were approved with corrections.

II. World Peace Day September 21
Cindy and Zoe met with the Mortenson Center to discuss activities for World Peace Day. The Mortenson Center will have a table and tree in the UGL for people to hang peace wishes on, as well as a photo booth.
The Diversity Committee will have a table in the East-West Hallway on the 1st floor of the Main Library, outside of the Business Office, celebrating Inclusive Illinois and World Peace Day. We will man the table from 10-3. This year’s theme for Inclusive Illinois is “I unite”. We will get the paper “symbols” from the Mortenson center for people to fill out, and then we can take them down to the UGL when we are done, to hang on the tree. There will also be information to hand out on the table and a laptop from IT for people to sign the Inclusive Illinois Pledge on, as well as post-it notes for people to write “I unite” themed messages on. We can use whiteboards for people to put their “I unite” and World Peace Day messages on.
Zoe has put in the request for the table and space, and will get candy, a basket to put it in, and post-it notes. JJ will send out an online survey for the committee to sign up to man the table. Heather will bring library banners and put up the announcement on the digital signage. An announcement will also go out over Libnews.

III. ClimateQUAL Update
Cindy reported that the Implementation Team met September 13th to look at the focus group reports and recommendations. The team continues to work and they will send more information out to the library when they can.

IV. Update Regarding the Associate Provost for Diversity
Assata Zerai is actually the Associate Chancellor for Diversity, not Provost. Cindy went to the Diversity Summit September 9th. Chancellor Zerai presented a slideshow on her vision to representatives of the various campus diversity committees, then the committees shared what they were working on. Among the topics that came up was the issue of AP recruitment, retention, and advancement.
Cindy will share the slides with the committee via email.

V. ALA/United Nations Remember Slavery Programme Update
The program runs through the end of October. We are still looking for a speaker- Harriett and Cindy will contact professors to see if any are interested. We should also check to see if the film Birth of the Nation will be shown anywhere in town, such the Art Theater. If so, we could work with the venue or other campus units to co-sponsor any events they may have already planned.

VI. Diversity and Multicultural Information LibGuide
The possibility of switching the Diversity Libguide to a toolbox was discussed. Currently, LibGuides are not searchable, although that may only be temporary.  It was decided to wait until the Library Diversity and Multicultural Information page was updated to WordPress, and then reevaluate.  The updated page could have a link to the LibGuide if desired.

VII. Human Library Event September 22
Volunteers are still needed- orientation is September 15th from 5:30-6:30. The event is the same night as the AP/Faculty Awards Dinner. JJ Pionke will be there as a “book”. Zoe will be volunteering, and Angie stated she might be able to volunteer as well.

VIII. Diversity Conference Brown Bag September 27
The event will be at 12 in Room 106. Donna and Heather will be there to discuss what they saw at the Diversity Conference and any ideas that could be brought to our library. Donna and Heather both stated that they felt our campus was ahead of most of the schools in attendance there in terms of diversity initiatives and training offered.
The event is on the staff calendar, and Zoe will send out an announcement over Libnews. Cindy and Lori Mestre will also be at the meeting to answer questions, since they attend the conference too.

IX. Other News and Updates
Kathryn La Barre from the iSchool Diversity Committee contacted Harriett to ask if our committee would be willing to collaborate with them. They are interested in doing disability ally training, and also looking for other specific ideas we could collaborate on.
Donna stated she would like to see the Library coordinating with the iSchool for recruiting library faculty and staff. Zoe mentioned that this idea had come up in the Staff Development Committee as well. This could also go the other way, by encouraging library student workers to attend the iSchool. The notion of improving the student hiring process in the Library was also discussed. People wanted to see a more interactive, centralized, transparent process, with better communication. Donna stated that Library Human Resources is currently working on a library-only job board website, so that students do not have to check with every departmental library to find openings.
Ellen brought up the UIUC Sesquicentennial, which will run from the end of February 2017 through commencement in 2018. The committee can look for opportunities for diversity tie-ins with existing events. Heather has been assembling a list of all the planned events which she will share with the committee.