Annual Report: 1999

Library Diversity Task Force

Submitted by Linda Long, LDAG Chair
September 1, 1999
Background
The Library Diversity Task Force was created in October 1996. Its initial goal was to keep diversity in the forefront of regular library-wide activities, and to this end, it sponsored several diversity-related public events. In March 1998 George Shipman announced the formation of a formal Library Diversity Advisory Group (LDAG). At that time volunteers were solicited to form a new membership. In June, 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.

Linda Long was asked to serve as LDAG's first chair, and three new members were appointed: Bruce Tabb, Diane Sotak, and Leslie Bennett. The other continuing members were: Charlotte Conlin, Rose Thomas, Carrie Yates, Laine Stambaugh (ex officio), and Jon Cawthorne (ex officio).

Mission Statement
The group's first order of business was to compose the following mission statement:
"It is the mission of the Library Diversity Advisory Group to enhance the quality of the University of Oregon Library System's workplace and provision of its services by facilitating the development of an inclusive environment that benefits from diversity. To that end, LDAG is charged with two fundamental goals. The first is to increase the numbers of employees of color at all levels, including professional, paraprofessional and student assistants. The second goal is to enhance our understanding of gender, ethnicity, and culture and social issues as a means of improving our services."

Making Contacts in the University Community

Knowing that all good things require time to develop and nurture, we agreed that it was better for us as a group to spend quality time laying the groundwork for good working relationships with groups on campus. Accordingly, Linda Long met with leaders of the ethnic students associations, including the Black Student Union, Native American Student Union, MeChA, and the Asian-Pacific American Student Union, all of which were eager to participate in, or be notified about, LDAG projects and programs. Linda also met with Stephanie Carnahan of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance (LGBTA), Troy Franklin, the Assistant Dean for Student Life and Multicultural Programs, and Carla Gary, the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The meeting with Carla Gary in particular was especially fruitful, as Carla became a strong and enthusiastic ally and supporter of LDAG's efforts.

Projects and Programs
LDAG quickly decided to focus its energy on a limited number of long-term projects rather than over-extend itself with numerous public events. The projects and programs we initiated are the following:

Create/publish a brochure that would list multicultural resources on campus and throughout the larger Eugene/Springfield community.
Status: LDAG recognized a need to bring together into one central publication information about various multicultural resources available to all members of the UO campus community. Accordingly, a subgroup composed of Leslie Bennett, Rose Thomas, Bruce Tabb, and Laine Stambaugh compiled a list of resources from various sources on and off campus. The list includes all sorts of resources such as community organizations, restaurants, churches, newspapers, radio stations, bookstores, and library and museum collections. Once in draft form, Linda and Jon met with several administrators on campus to garner support for the booklet's publication. We met with Wes Morrill, Troy Franklin, and Stephanie Carnahan in the Office of Student Life; Dave Hubin in the President's Office; and Carla Gary in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. All were excited about the project and expressed support for it. It was very clear that this publication would fill a real need on campus, and could be an important tool as part of recruitment efforts for students and faculty alike. Carla Gary took a particularly active role in communicating her enthusiasm and support to Provost Moseley. Subsequently, Linda met with George Beltran in University Publications to talk about the booklet's publication. Beltran then worked up a draft mock-up, and Diane Sotak reformatted the text on Microsoft Word. We were led to believe that the President's/Provost's Office would underwrite the publication, but after the available funds were spent on the student internships that were created this summer, stemming from the current race and diversity concerns on campus, we found ourselves in a financial crunch. Currently, we are negotiating to have the booklet published by the Lane County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and are waiting to hear more on that. This association came through the auspices of Carla Gary, who is working with the Convention and Visitor's Bureau on their multicultural and diversity efforts.

Create a video promoting research librarianship targeted to high school students and college students of color who may consider a career in librarianship.
Status: George Shipman had recommended this project and LDAG thought it had a lot of promise. Our focus will be to introduce students to research librarianship in particular. Mike Majdic of Media Services advised us to prepare a video "treatment" that will constitute a proposal for our project. The treatment will spell out our objectives, describe the contents and style of the video, outline the technical aspects of the production, and detail plans for distribution of the final product. Linda consulted with DeEtta Jones, the ARL Diversity Consultant, about support from ARL for production and distribution. DeEtta was very enthusiastic and mentioned that ARL had been thinking of doing a similar project for the last two years, so it seems possible that this may develop into a joint project between the University of Oregon Library System and the Association of Research Libraries. We are currently working on developing the treatment.

Develop a residency program within the library for entry-level librarians of color. One of our ideas was to associate our residency program with the recent graduates of the ALA Spectrum Program. Jon Cawthorne is on the jury for this scholarship program and has said that surprisingly little thought has been given to what happens to the graduates when they finish their program.
Status: A subgroup was established to work on this project, consisting of Linda, Laine, Diane, Carrie, Charlotte, and Jon. Diane agreed to chair this subgroup, which is nearing the point of consolidating its information into a formal proposal to the library administration. Lillian Lewis of the ALA Spectrum Program has volunteered to read our proposal once we get it in draft form.

Sponsor a couple of public events for Library staff and the larger campus community.
Status: We sponsored a talk by Professor Carl Woideck on the history of blues music. The talk by Professor Woideck occurred on February 26 in the Browsing Room. It was LDAG's way of celebrating Black History Month, and corresponded with an exhibit Leslie Bennett and Rose Thomas installed on Blues music in the library corridor exhibit cases. With George Shipman's support, we were able to provide refreshments such as coffee, tea, soda pop and mineral water. Leslie Bennett, who did the lion's share of organizing this event, also made "Blue Note" cookies. The event was well attended, with at least 50 people attending from the library, the music school, and other places on campus.

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