[Libs-Or] OLA Quarterly Showcase | Crystal Garcia and Adrienne Doman Calkins | Figuring Out Where to Start, and How: One Library’s DEI Strategies

[OLA Communications Committee]

Crystal Garcia and Adrienne Doman Calkins of Sherwood Public Library have a
new article available called, "Figuring Out Where to Start, and How: One
Library’s DEI Strategies." Please download and read it here:
https://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq/vol25/iss2/8/

>From their article: "Sherwood’s demographics and diversity are changing,
but not as fast as the rest of our region. In a city where 9 out of every
10 people are white and nearly everyone speaks English, it would be
easy—perhaps even statistically justifiable—to leave the difficult and
often uncomfortable work of diversity, equity, and inclusion to those large
libraries situated within urban cores. However, to do so would be
antithetical to the shared mission of public libraries and who we need to
be in this incredible moment of opportunity where addressing the obstacles
to diversity, equity, and inclusion has become a top priority nationwide.
At Sherwood Public Library, staff and board members wanted to incorporate
DEI objectives into our work as a way to open windows into other
backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives— just as much as we wanted to
provide mirrors for the diverse members of our own community. What follows
is a summary of nearly four years of work on our path towards a more
diverse, equitable, and inclusive public library."

Four years of hard work by a dynamic library team is difficult to further
summarize. One must read the full article for oneself to understand the
thoughtful process Sherwood Public Library undertook to "embrace ambiguity
and commit to the unending labor of pushing against the inequity in
libraries that has resulted from generations of systemic oppression." May
their work inform similar efforts and understanding at your library.

Charles Wood
OLA Communications
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