Annual Report: 2000

Library Diversity Task Force

Submitted by Diane Sotak, LDAG Chair
November 6, 2000

Background
In 1998, the Library Diversity Advisory Group (LDAG) was formalized as a continuation of the Library Diversity Task Force, originally established in 1996. At that time volunteers were solicited to form a new membership for LDAG. In June of 1998, following a visit by DeEtta Jones, the ARL Diversity Consultant, LDAG took on the broader challenges of:

Recruiting/retaining employees of color

Enhancing our understanding of gender, ethnicity, cultural and social issues as a means of improving our services.

Membership The LDAG membership underwent some changes in the latter part of 1999. One of our ex-officio members, Jon Cawthorne, left in the summer of 1999 to take another job. He had been a very valuable resource because of his well-developed relationships with campus groups. Due to staff shortages in her department, Linda Long asked Diane Sotak to take on the role of LDAG Chair beginning in October of 1999. At the same time three members (Charlotte Conlin, Carrie Yates, and Rose Thomas) finished up their terms of service. In November and December of 1999 we put out the call for volunteers or nominations for new members. We received no response and found that identifying potential members and personally inviting them to serve on LDAG worked best (George Shipman and existing members identified possibilities). Also, after some discussion with George Shipman about the difficulties in recruiting LDAG members, it was decided that members did not have to leave LDAG after two years and could continue to serve if they were interested.
By the beginning of 2000 the group was fully solidified. Michiyo Goble, Joni Gomez, David Landazuri filled the member vacancies, and Rose Thomas returned for another term. The other continuing members for 2000 are: Leslie Bennett, Linda Long, Diane Sotak, Bruce Tabb, and Laine Stambaugh (ex officio).

Throughout this time LDAG has continued to meet once a month.

2000 Accomplishments
Establishing a Stronger Presence
In the beginning of the year LDAG discussed ways to raise awareness of our group and our goals within the Library. We took the following steps:

In Spring of 2000, with Sara Brownmiller's help, we transferred our website to a more official address on libweb (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/diversity) and revised its look to conform with the Library's web standards. At our request a link was also placed to it on the "General Information" web page. The website has also helped raise awareness of our group on campus.

We approached the editors of the Library Staff Association News about adding a regular "Diversity Doings" feature which we could use to inform library staff about our activities and to promote an interest in diversity issues. LSA was very receptive and this feature began in June of 2000.

In Summer of 2000 we also met with Deb Carver and suggested that the Chair of LDAG meet once per quarter with the AULs as a way to establish a better flow of communication and information sharing between LDAG and the library administration.

We also made a more concerted effort to communicate with library staff by making LDAG-related announcements at faculty and all staff meetings.

Campus Connections and Contributions
The changes in our membership have impacted on our campus connections. It was clear we needed to renew connections with campus groups and stay informed of university diversity efforts. In particular, we needed to increase campus awareness about the information resources we had compiled.

Throughout the year we continued to seek a funding source for a print version of the "Multicultural Resource Guide to the University of Oregon and the Eugene-Springfield Community." This Guide has gone through a few iterations over the past three years and is also available online via our website. LDAG members, George Shipman and Deb Carver have helped promote the Guide to campus leaders. All of the LDAG members have been involved with creating and updating the online version of the Guide.
Carla Gary, Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), has been a wonderful champion for the Guide and she brought it to the attention of the Convention and Visitor's Association of Lane County (CVALCO). In October of 2000, CVALCO committed to underwriting the Guide and they plan to use it in their Convention Center office, Visitor's Center, and will send it to people requesting information about Eugene as a convention site. They will also fund copies for the UO campus. OMA is also seeking support from other city and campus groups (City of Eugene, ASUO Multicultural Resource Center, etc.). The partnership we have with OMA is that they will handle the fundraising and production of the Guide, while LDAG provides the content and format. The goal is to have a print version of the Guide available by the end of the year.

The University's diversity website has a link to the online Guide. One of the Diversity interns, Jamila Singleton, responsible for upgrading that website to a "diversity portal" met with Diane Sotak and they plan to place a link to this resource in a more prominent place on their website.

A newer online resource that Laine Stambaugh has been developing is a "Cultural Explorations: Suggested Books & Films" web page that serves as a guide to books and films about various cultural groups. Jamila Singleton said that students are very interested in this resource because it is a nice entree to cultural resources that are not always included within the curricula. She asked if there were work-study positions available so that students could work with LDAG to develop this resource and the Guide. This presents a unique opportunity to develop deeper relationships between the Library and students of color.

In the Summer of 2000, LDAG contacted Dave Hubin, Executive Assistant to the President, to let him know that we wanted to be included in University diversity meetings. However, the diversity meetings were on hiatus until October when Mark Tracy, the new Assistant Dean for the Office of Student Life, brought key campus administrators and leaders together to share and coordinate diversity efforts. Diane Sotak attended the first meeting for the Library (in Barbara Jenkins' place) and it was a great opportunity to promote the Guide. This Diversity Team group will continue to meet with a focus on coordination of diversity efforts and LDAG plans to continue to attend these meetings as they provide an avenue to easily reach everyone at once.

Going beyond the UO, the Library sent Diane Sotak to a Big 12 Plus Libraries Consortium spring conference held in Austin, Texas: Diversity Now: People, Services, and Collections. Diane Sotak provided a summary of this conference in the May issue of the LSA News, in a November faculty forum, as well as in LDAG meeting discussions.

Enhancing Our Understanding Part of our charge is to enhance the Library's "understanding of gender, ethnicity, cultural and social issues as a means of improving our services." Towards this end we continue to offer events and programs.

In November of 1999 we co-sponsored (with the Friends of the Museum) an open house and tour of the UO Museum of Natural History for library staff. Exhibits on Native Americans were the highlight and approximately 30 people attended. Diane Sotak coordinated this with Nancy Slight-Gibney.

In May of 2000, LDAG organized a special tour of the Museum of Art Asian collection for library staff. The tour was led by Art History professor, Charles Lachman, and approximately 30 people attended. This event was organized by Michiyo Goble, Rose Thomas, and Leslie Bennett.

In September of 2000, LDAG arranged for Magid Shirzadegan from the Office of International Education and Exchange to give a Cross-Cultural Differences workshop for library staff. Approximately 35 people attended. Diane Sotak and Laine Stambaugh coordinated.

In November of 2000, LDAG will sponsor two events in honor of National American Indian Heritage Month. Rose Thomas and David Landazuri have worked with Special Collections to put together an exhibit featuring photographs of Oregon Native Americans. Rose Thomas also worked with Media Services and the Head of Collection Development to arrange a showing of the video Smoke Signals for library staff.

Recruitment
In 1999 LDAG passed along some information on Residency programs for new librarians of color to George Shipman. We hope to continue to research the advantages and disadvantages of these programs and present the information to the AULs in 2001. The new leadership and changes at the University of Washington School of Library and Information Science need further investigation as possibilities for developing internships and residencies at the UO Library.

In a summer meeting with Deb Carver, LDAG passed along information on "incentive" funds that the University administration provides to departments trying to hire faculty from underrepresented groups. As a result, the University did release some funds to help with recruiting an Asian American for the Head of the Science Library. While the recruitment was ultimately unsuccessful, having worked with the University in this area may be helpful in future recruitments.

Recommendations

Authorize a name change from Library Diversity Advisory Group to Library Diversity Committee as a way to reduce staff and campus confusion about our group's role. The types of things we do are typical of diversity committees in other academic libraries.

Provide a budget for LDAG, or a mechanism for requesting funds from Library administration. We have managed to organize free events, but in some cases there are fees involved. A recent example is the Native Americans in Oregon display, which requires some purchase of materials. This will provide us with more flexibility to respond to event opportunities, including being able to take advantage of chances to partner with campus groups on diversity-related events and programs.

Consider funding a work-study position to assist LDAG with maintaining the currency, and expanding, information in the Multicultural Resource Guide and for the Suggested Books & Films web pages.

We recognize that addressing diversity is an ongoing process that benefits from some expert guidance. We recommend that another campus visit be scheduled with DeEtta Jones, ARL Director of Organizational Learning Services. Her last visit in the Spring of 1998 helped set the course for LDAG. Future visits should include meetings with the Library administration, LDAG, and a program with staff.

Maintained by: Erin O'Meara, erino@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 03/28/2007