Library Diversity Committee

The Library Diversity Committee (LDC) provides leadership in the area of equity and inclusion by devising overarching strategies, making recommendations, and raising the visibility of the Library's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Group's Charge

  • Develop and assess short- and long-term strategies for structure, policies, processes, learning opportunities and engagement in alignment with the University-wide Diversity Plan and other matters concerning diversity, equity and inclusion.  
  • Develop activities and propose trainings that promote cultural humility, awareness, and responsiveness among library employees.  
  • Advise library leadership regarding issues related to equity and inclusion. 
  • Collaborate with a variety of individuals and organizations, both within and outside UO Libraries, to further diversity-related goals.  
  • Review and approve collections requests submitted to the Library Diversity Fund that support and foster diverse content and authorship. 

Team Membership

This group is made up of volunteers and appointed individuals with term lengths of 2 years and appointments rotating on a staggered basis. This is a very active committee, and members are expected to attend monthly meetings as well as contribute to committee projects outside of meetings.  

Each spring term, the chair will release a call for volunteers, with consideration for representation across all branches of libraries, library departments, employee groups, and underrepresented identities and populations. Membership will be determined by the Vice Provost and University Librarian (VPUL) and the LDC Chair. Membership will start in summer. The VPUL serves as an ex officio member. The committee's structure includes:  

  • 1 chair and 1 vice-chair: The chair will serve a 1-year term. The vice-chair will serve a 1-year term.
  • 1 permanent role held by Associate Director for Employee Engagement, Development, and Belonging.  
  • 5-7 additional members at large, of whom some will rotate off each academic year.  

Current Library Diversity Committee Members

Meetings

  • LDC meets monthly.

Resource People or Groups

This refers to people or teams that are available to the group as resources for consultation, but who are not expected to attend every meeting or participate in all tasks. In this case, known resources are: Library Leadership Team, campus-level contacts or committees, and other stakeholders as identified by the team.

History

The Library Diversity Committee began as the Library Diversity Task Force, established in October 1996 by George Shipman, then University Librarian, to develop a library-wide diversity program. The initial goal of the task force, associated with Association of Research Library's diversity efforts, was to keep diversity in the forefront of library-wide activities. To this end, it sponsored several diversity-related public events and commenced the development of a multicultural resource guide. In March 1998, Shipman created a formal Library Diversity Advisory Group, and the group's name became the Library Diversity Committee in November 2000. The committee's efforts achieved special recognition in 2000 when past and present members were honored with UO's Martin Luther King, Jr. Award.