SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

November 9, 2022 by Gary Price

A New Guide From Ithaka S+R: “Leading by Diversifying Collections: A Guide for Academic Library Leadership”

November 9, 2022 by Gary Price

Leading by Diversifying Collections: A Guide for Academic Library Leadership was published on November 9, 2022 by Ithaka S+R.

Title

Leading by Diversifying Collections: A Guide for Academic Library Leadership

Authors

Kara Bledsoe
Danielle Miriam Cooper
Roger C. Schonfeld
Oya Y. Rieger

Source

Ithaka S+R
November 9. 2022

DOI: 10.18665/sr.317833

From the Introduction:

Academic libraries build collections in the context of their parent institutions—primarily to support the institution’s research, teaching, and learning mission. They also build collections that document and preserve the cultural and scientific heritage of our society to represent a wide range of perspectives. In these efforts, universities and their libraries are developing approaches that address calls for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with a focus on creating space for and the perspectives of historically marginalized groups. Library leadership has an important role in ensuring this work is championed and steered effectively, and this guide is designed in support of that. We also anticipate this guide will be of interest to a broader audience interested in diversifying library collections, including especially those who will partner with leadership to realize the library’s goals in this area.

[Clip]

Knowing that their libraries have much work to do—particularly with collections—many library directors and AULs are looking for support. Ithaka S+R developed this guide to contribute to the efforts emerging in response to this need. The guide presents a series of takeaways, exercises, and examples that those in leadership positions in academic libraries, including deans, directors, and collection heads, can utilize to begin, supplement, and review their library’s efforts to diversify collections. To develop this guide, we worked with many individuals, both in on the ground roles and in positions of authority, most of them leaders in this work. The approaches we recommend here represent an aggregated and refined version of practices that have worked to good effect in leading contexts. While we attempt to provide sufficient scaffolding to enable leaders in other institutions to adapt their approaches, we recognize that in some contexts these approaches may be an imperfect fit. As always, we advise leaders who may be interested in implementing our approach to bear in mind their local context, not only in their library but also as it is situated institutionally and regionally, in considering how to adopt and adapt from our approach.

The guide is grounded in and advances the following foundational principles:

  • Libraries have a unique role in supporting institution-wide DEI goals through their collection strategies.
  • Meaningful contributions to collections work can come from library staff at all levels; therefore a library-wide strategy for diversifying collections must foster shared values. New organizational directions that involve cultural, budgetary, and policy change must have strong support from directors and collection managers as primary facilitators of large-scale change.
  • Diversifying collections may require senior leadership to take risks in the face of opposition or inaction internally and externally

The guide is designed to help library leadership take action in ways that are grounded in the reality that every institution is unique. There is no “one size fits all” approach to address any of the field’s key issues, and the guide therefore provides a framework rather than a prescriptive method for universal application.

Direct to Full Text

Direct to PDF Version (31 pages)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News

SHARE:

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

SAGE Releases a New Free-to-Read Collection with Research into Academic Freedom and Censorship 

From a SAGE News Release: Sage has launched a new collection of free-to-read research highlighting the effects of academic censorship on democracy, social-emotional learning, higher education, and more. Categories in ...

New Online Resource: University of Maryland Libraries Announces Online Launch of the "Advancing Workers' Rights” Digital Collection

Here’s the Full Text of Today’s Annoucement From the University of Maryland Libraries: The University of Maryland Libraries announces the debut of a significant, newly digitized collection, making available online for the ...

In Affiliation with Arizona State University, "President Biden to Create Library Honoring His Friend and Rival John McCain"

From The New York Times: President Biden plans to announce on Thursday that he will devote federal money to create a new library and museum dedicated to his old friend ...

Boston Public Library Joins Books Unbanned Initiative to Fight Censorship

Here’s the Full Text of Today’s Boston Public Library Announcement: The Boston Public Library (BPL) is joining the Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned initiative to fight censorship and book banning by offering teens and ...

Merriam-Webster Adds Adds 690 New Words to the Dictionary (September 2023 Update)

From the M-W Website: Signs of a healthy language include words being created, words being borrowed from other languages, and new meanings being given to existing words. Based on our ...

CT: Local Libraries Investigating Book Thefts After Titles Go Missing; Brooklyn Public Library’s Leigh Hurwitz on Helping Young...

Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Public Library’s Leigh Hurwitz on Helping Young People Resist Censorship (via LitHub) Connecticut Local Libraries Investigating Book Thefts After Titles Go Missing (via NBC Connecticut) Copyright ...

AI/GPT News Roundup: Items From ACM, JISC, OpenAI, Meta, and Others

ACM Tech Brief: Generative Artificial Intelligence AI Now Computational Power and AI (Report) Anthropic Amazon is Investing Up to $4 Billion in AI Startup Anthropic in Growing Tech Battle (via ...

EveryLibrary Institute and BookRiot Releases Findings From "Public Libraries and Book Bans - Parent Perception Survey"

From an EveryLibrary Release: The “Public Libraries and Book Bans – Parent Perception Survey” gathered insights from 853 parents and guardians with children under 18 during September 2023. The survey ...

Idaho: "Sheriff Scopes Out Explicit Library Books"

From The Coeur d’Alene Press: “Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said he has heard from both sides about reportedly inappropriate materials available to youth at local libraries. One side argued ...

MIT Libraries Receives Grant From National Science Foundation to Explore Open Science Evaluations with ICOR; Clarivate Establishes Academia...

AI Generative AI Has Disrupted Education. Here’s How It Can Be Used For Good – UNESCO (via WEF) University of Leeds Research Report on Potentials for AI in Libraries (via ...

Resources: FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Proposes to Restore Net Neutrality Rules

UPDATED POST (Sep. 27, 2023): ALA Welcomes FCC Chair Rosenworcel’s Proposal to Reinstate Network Neutrality Rules —End Update— From a FCC Fact Sheet: The internet is too important to our ...

Brown University Digital Publications Joins the Association of University Presses; Report on Open Book Collective's (OBC) First Annual...

Advocacy ‘A Toolkit for Knowledge Rights Advocacy’ – KR21 Workshop Report (via LIBER) Legal Appeals Court Temporarily Stays Injunction Blocking Texas Book Rating Law (via PW) Open Book Collective Report ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Tweets by infoDOCKET

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2023 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.