Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Guide

Lib in Color

As a part of the library's commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, a Slack channel and Google group called Lib in Color was created. The channel/group is specifically for those in the Library who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) to share their stories and experiences. It centers the stories of BIPOC library staff and is about listening, processing, and healing for the BIPOC Caltech Library Community.

We hope that what comes out of this space is a way for our BIPOC colleagues to feel empowered and comfortable enough to share their thoughts and perspectives at their own pace without the need to teach or explain why these feelings exist.  Below is the charter for this affinity group, which is being called Lib in Color.

Purpose of channel:

• Support and share stories with coworkers who have similar experiences
• Provide resources to help manage workplace microaggressions and related information
• Encourage discussion and healing among BIPOC library staff in an environment that centers the experiences of those in marginalized/minoritized racial groups (but can intersect with gender and sexual identity, class, citizenship status, etc.)
• Empower each other to use our voices outside of the group to further enhance the diversity of perspectives in the library

 Topics we foresee discussing include, but are not limited to:

• Personal stories of triumphs, struggles, and solidarity related to discrimination, stereotypes, prejudice, microaggressions, bias, deauthentication, imposter syndrome, and decolonization
• Suggestions on how to respond to common scenarios that BIPOC experience
• Creating a living document on how to show support for BIPOC colleagues as suggested by BIPOC colleagues themselves 

Neurodiversity

Members of the IDEA Committee added a new affinity space in May 2023. Neurodiversity is a Slack channel for those who identify as neurodivergent and a space to share stories and experiences.

The IDEA Committee, along with leaders in the library, have hosted a series of discussions within the library on topics ranging from microaggressions to supremacy culture. The team has also helped organize trainings by the Racial Equity Institute and helps identify professional development resources for staff.

In March 2020, University Librarian Kara Whatley presented on psychological safety and opened up an ongoing conversation about how to bring it into the library. Amy Edmondson, an expert in the area of psychological safety, defines psychological safety as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking”  (Edmondson 1999).

Since that time, the library has opened up many discussions about psychological safety and performed psychological safety assessments at both the library level and department level. As those results came into focus, the library began to address the needs of library staff at the departmental level.

These discussion are ongoing today and we have periodic meetings to reassess how we're feeling about our work and environment.

Whether identified by the IDEA Committee or library staff, the library supports training on inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. Our collective classes, certificates, workshops, and webinars thus far are in the list that follow.

Please feel free to reach out to us if you would like to discuss our experiences or are interested in learning more about finding and signing up for classes like these. Some are free and open to all.

• (Meta)data Analysis for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Accessibility for All: Training Librarians and Auditing Materials for Accessibility Issues
• Creating Accessible In-Person Presentations
• Emotional Intelligence: Understanding Your and Others’ Emotions for Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Guidance
• Ethical Orientations for Collegiality, Mentoring, and Teaching
• From Lady Bountiful to Librarian Cute: Tracing Race and Gender in LIS [Library and Information Science]
• Groundwater: Introduction to Race Equity from the Racial Equity Institute
• Passive-Aggressive Behavior: Sources and Solutions for Library Workspaces
• Practicing Inclusion: Welcoming Transgender Customers and Colleagues
• Putting the "A" in DEIA: Accessibility as a Necessity in the Scholarly Communications Workflow
• Remember Your Patrons with Memory Loss
• Serving the Neurodiverse in Your Library
• Social Justice in Cataloging
• Supporting Dyslexia at Your Library
• Towards Trans-Inclusive Librarianship
• Web Accessibility: Techniques for Design and Testing
• What do you mean by inclusive metadata?
• The Usable and Accessible Library Space