[Libs-Or] Fwd: [alacro-l] ALA Executive Board stands with BCALA in condemning violence and racism towards Black people and all People of Color

[OLA President]

Dear Colleagues,

I want to acknowledge the current state of national unrest and share this
statement from ALA, which is endorsed by OLA and condemns violence and
racism towards Black people and all People of Color. I also want to direct
you to the recent OLA Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force
recommendations <https://www.olaweb.org/edi-taskforce-2019-20> for our
association, which were presented to the OLA Board in April and distributed
to unit heads for discussion within OLA units.  I want to personally thank
each member of the EDI Task Force for their work on these recommendations,
and especially Marci Ramiro Jenkins and Martin Blasco for their leadership
of this important and necessary initiative.

These recommendations will guide the future direction of OLA as we work to
create a more equitable and inclusive professional association and local
communities through our shared work in Oregon libraries.  OLA recognizes
much work needs to be done to become an anti-racist organizaiton, and
welcomes the involvement of every individual as we move forward.

Thank you,
Elaine Hirsch
OLA President, 2019-2020

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Michael Dowling <mdowling at ala.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 12:11 PM
Subject: [alacro-l] ALA Executive Board stands with BCALA in condemning
violence and racism towards Black people and all People of Color
To: alacro-l at lists.ala.org <alacro-l at lists.ala.org>




*The following message is sent on behalf of American Library Association
President Wanda Brown.*

CHICAGO  — The Executive Board of the American Library Association (ALA)
stands with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) in
condemning violence and racism towards Black people and all People of Color.

The ALA Executive Board endorses BCALA’s May 28 statement
<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/Statement%20Condemning%20Increased%20Violence%20and%20Racism%20Towards%20Black%20Americans%20and%20People%20of%20Color.pdf>,
in which the caucus decries the death of George Floyd at the hands of
Minneapolis Police Department officers and cites Floyd’s death as “the
latest in a long line of recent and historical violence against Black
people in the United States.”

The ALA Executive Board stands in solidarity with BCALA, with library
workers, with library users, and with members of the communities we serve
and support who are susceptible to acts of prejudice, threats of violence,
and even death based solely on their race or ethnicity. The pervasive
racism present in our nation denies its residents equal rights and equal
access and as such is a barrier to the goals of this association and to the
wider profession.

Wherever it resides, racism leads to degradation. It weakens our
institutions and destroys our communities and is one of the greatest
obstacles to the American Library Association’s mission “to enhance
learning and ensure access to information to all.”

Diversity is one of ALA’s key commitments and guiding principles. For this
reason, the Executive Board calls on library and information services
leaders, staff, and advocates of all races and backgrounds to abolish
racism against Black people and against all People of Color and to see to
it that it has no place in our institutions, our policies, our practices,
or our behaviors.

Just as the BCALA statement urged its members to take “proactive and
preventative measures in the fight against racism” such as participating in
protest and other forms of activism, promoting and creating anti-racist
media content, becoming actively engaged in local policy development,
exercising the right to vote, or “running for office to be a voice for
historically disenfranchised groups,” the ALA Executive Board similarly
calls on the entire association to work against racial bias and prejudice
actively and intentionally through one or more of these means.

The Executive Board therefore urges ALA members and member organizations,
members of the wider LIS community, and library institutions everywhere to
join it and BCALA in condemning the systemic and systematic social
injustices endured by Black people and People of Color and in working not
only responsively, but also preemptively, to eradicate racism anywhere and
everywhere it exists.

Additional resources:

Asian Pacific American Librarians Association statement
<http://www.apalaweb.org/apala-stands-with-bcala-and-blm/>
How to Talk about Race and other recorded webinars and resources
<http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/diversity/odlos-webinar-archives> from
ALA’s Office of Diversity and Literary Outreach Services
Association of College and Research Libraries’ Keeping up with…
Microaggressions
<http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/microaggressions>
and Implicit
Bias <http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/bias>
Public Library Association’s recorded webinar Understanding Power,
Identity, and Oppression in the Public Library
<http://www.ala.org/pla/education/onlinelearning/webinars/ondemand/understanding>
Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation
<http://www.ala.org/tools/programming/greatstories/resources> from ALA’s
Public Programming Office‘s Great Stories Club

Sincerely,

Wanda K. Brown
ALA President


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-- 
Elaine Hirsch
Oregon Library Association President, 2019-2020
olapresident at olaweb.org
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