The following post is one in a regular series on issues of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility, compiled by a team of OCLC contributors.
Books for Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2024
“Indigenous Peoples’ Day” is not yet a federal holiday in the United States, but since 2021, the administration of President Joe Biden has recognized it as an official observance. This year, the commemoration is on 14 October 2024, but there is no reason to confine the recognition to a single day. In the American Library Association’s “Booklist,” Tennessee-based author and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Christine Hartman Derr has compiled a list of fourteen recent books for kids to “honor North America’s first people.” “Essentials: Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day” includes picture books, chapter books, novels, novels in verse, graphic novels, thrillers, and a few stories with recipes, appropriate for pre-school through high school ages.
As Derr notes, “There are more than 500 Native Nations on the land presently known as the U.S., each with its own culture, traditions, language, and ways of being. Native cultures and people are often relegated to museums and history books—but Indigenous people are still here, with inherent sovereignty and thriving cultures.” Derr’s eclectic list has author and character representations from the Blackfeet, Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Ojibwe, among other cultures. Because a few of the books are in series, they can introduce readers to further adventures. Contributed by Jay Weitz.
University of Nevada Las Vegas and We Need to Talk
Since 2020, the UNLV Libraries (OCLC Symbol: UNL) has hosted the We Need to Talk series, which are facilitated panel discussions hosted by UNLV’s Oral History Research Center that feature “university and community experts discussing issues on race and seeking solutions for a more inclusive society.” The library now has nineteen recorded episodes in the series, which focus on a range of topics: Black and Asian inclusion, Indigenous focused segments, as well as episodes focusing on Muslim and Queer community members, and more. In addition to the archived segments which are available for viewing, UNLV librarian Brittani Sterling has created a LibGuide to accompany the series.
The LibGuide created by Sterling to support We Need to Talk give additional depth to each episode, including definitions for terms, pointers to key selected resources in the library’s collection, and avenues for researchers to discover their own materials. In keeping with the local focus of the series, Sterling also puts the spotlight on community organizations and resources. The inclusion of Sterling’s LibGuide for the event series helps to demonstrate how a combination of domain and community knowledge can enhance an already wonderful resource. Contributed by Merrilee Proffitt.
Incorporating neuroinclusivity in library apprenticeship programs
“You never tell a patron no” and “Make sure you are smiling to welcome people” are examples of the training document instructions that that University of Washington-Tacoma (OCLC Symbol: WAU) librarians Johanna M. Jacobsen Kiciman and Alaina C. Bull inherited in their learning employment program for MLIS students. In the article “Apprenticeships, MLIS Students, and Neurodiversity: Centering the Humanity of Student Workers, Part 1” (College & Research Libraries News, Volume 85, Number 9, October 2024) the authors discuss their redesign of the program, focusing on a framework of inclusivity and belonging that better prepares students for their first librarian jobs. Bull, who self-identifies as neurodivergent, explains, “The amount of emotional and physical labor it takes to perform neurotypical expectations is a huge part of burnout for people under the neurodivergent umbrella.” The authors refocused the program to teach students skills that would enable them to set appropriate boundaries to keep them safe while acquiring library experience.
Part two of this article will appear in the November issue of College & Research Libraries News, and I am looking forward to learning more about how the authors refocused the program. Their quotations from the old training documentation are very familiar—the kind of oversimplifications that can be disastrous for neurodivergent people that think literally. The assumption that “everyone” will understand what is meant places a burden on the student workers who should be learning about the profession rather than deciphering unclear instructions. Refocusing the training to be neuroinclusive better positions everyone for success, strengthening the future diversity of our profession. Contributed by Kate James.
Merrilee Proffitt is Senior Manager for the OCLC RLP. She provides community development skills and expert support to institutions within the OCLC Research Library Partnership.
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