Inclusive Services Update

by | Jun 25, 2020 | Inclusive Services

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Free virtual Advancing Racial Equity & Inclusion in the Workplace Symposium

From the Denver Public Library: a virtual three-day “Advancing Equity & Inclusion in the Workplace Symposium” on July 8th-10th from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM MST.

The symposium will be a chance to leverage professional networks across a multitude of fields to dive deeper into particular issues that contribute to success in promoting racial equity & inclusion in the workplace. The themes for each day are as follows:

· July 8th: Planning and Preparing for Equity Work

· July 9th: Sustaining Equity Efforts and Supporting Staff of Color

· July 10th: Assessment and Accountability

The intended audience is for folks who have been already centering equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the professional work that they do and are wanting to learn from folks that are also equally committed and engaged in the work.  If this sounds like you, please feel free to register by clicking this link!

EDISJ in Library Workforce

Join PLA’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice (EDISJ) for their first live Twitter chat on Wednesday, July 1 from 12–1:00 p.m. Central! The discussion will focus on EDISJ in the library workforce, and will aim to help library staff understand the interplay of EDISJ principles in workforce development and re-examine systems and policies to expose issues of inequity and injustice.

To participate, simply follow PLA on Twitter (@ALA_PLA) and log in at noon Central on July 1. The EDISJ Task Force will post introductions and discussion questions to get things started. To join the conversation, tweet using the hashtags #chatPLA and #libraryworkers.

“Reading and Talking about Race: An Intro to ALA’s Great Stories Club (Part 1: Deeper Than Our Skins)”

A free webinar from ALA’s Public Programs Office / ProgrammingLibrarian.org, Tuesday, June 30, 2 p.m. CT. This is a one-hour webinar to learn about free ALA book club resources that can help us navigate these difficult conversations and critically examine race and privilege. This webinar is open to everyone, including representatives of libraries, bookstores, informal reading groups, or any other venue interested in holding thoughtful conversations about race and identity. Register here.
SRRT Afternoon of Social Justice
Join the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table for an Afternoon of Social Justice. This free virtual event features librarians and scholars as they present on a variety of topics including Native American treaty rights, democracy in the time of COVID, and women activism and libraries. Plenty of time will be allowed for questions and discussions after each presentation. Each session must be individually registered for and a link to recorded sessions will be emailed afterwards for those who can’t attend live. Please see the schedule below and click the link for registration info.

Schedule (Eastern Time):

12:00pm – 1:30pm                         Native American Treaty Rights in the Time of Covid-19

1:45pm – 3:15pm                           Democracy in the Time of COVID

3:30pm – 4:30pm                           Herstory through Activism: Women, Libraries, and Activism

Webinar about Civic Engagement During COVID19 from UW-Madison iSchool
The iSchool is hosting a webinar on July 14 about how libraries can help their communities stay civically engaged during the pandemic and leading up to the November election. Cost is $25. For more information: https://ischool.wisc.edu/continuing-education/webinar-civic-engagement-during-the-time-of-covid19/
The ALA Virtual Conference is happening right now and ALA Council has been busy moving forward EDI issues that I thought I’d share (more to come by next week):
 

ALA statement affirming the rights of transgender people

The American Library Association (ALA), and particularly its Rainbow Round Table, unequivocally and emphatically stands in solidarity with its transgender staff and members, transgender library workers, transgender library users, transgender authors, and the transgender members of the communities we serve. Read the full statement here.

ALA Resolution on Protecting Privacy and Safety in Coronavirus-related Library Policy

The American Library Association (ALA) on behalf of its members 1. encourages libraries to adopt policies consistent with libraries’ core values; 2. encourages libraries to work with public health officials to disseminate crucial information; 3. encourages libraries to modify practices to protect our patrons in the support of the work of first responders; and 4. encourages libraries to protect our patrons and maintain the trust of our community by not collecting data for non-library purposes, including contact tracing. Read the full resolution here.

ALA Resolution Condemning Police Violence Against BIPOC, Protesters, and Journalists
The American Library Association (ALA), on behalf of its members: 1. calls upon its members to support initiatives to end police violence against Black people, to combat the systemic racism that infects our society, and to speak out against all attempts to restrict First Amendment rights. 2. calls upon federal, state, and local governments to uphold, preserve, and respect the constitutional rights of protestors, of journalists, and of all people who want to make their voices heard and to share their words and ideas with the rest of the world and future generations. 3. directs ALA staff to expeditiously publish and distribute this resolution to all ALA members through appropriate channels of communication. Read the full resolution, as well as all of the Office for Intellectual Freedom’s activities here.
Sherry Machones

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