ACRL, along with ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services (ODLOS); the Public Library Association (PLA); and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), seek volunteers for a Joint Task Force to develop a framework for cultural proficiencies in racial equity. The Building Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity framework will serve as a foundational resource to help public and academic libraries build inclusive cultures, within libraries and their broader communities, through guidelines on the development and implementation of organizational policies and professional practices that support diverse libraries with a diverse workforce.
The library field has articulated the strong desire for increasing training and resources and each of our organizations is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice (EDISJ). We recognize good work is already taking place across our organizations and the field. We expect the framework will serve as an important foundational resource for current and new work, as well as providing our organizations with an excellent collaborative opportunity.
The development of this framework, with input from a large number of key stakeholders across the profession, intends to support library associations’ commitments to diversity in order to provide the means for collective impact across communities. The framework will be based on a cluster of interconnected core equity, diversity, and inclusion concepts, with flexible options for implementation, rather than prescribing a set of standards or universal professional practices.
Charge
To create a framework for cultural proficiencies in racial equity that can be used in public and academic libraries through:
- Scanning the environment, including review of the current Cultural Competencies, to identify relevant literature and similar statements and frameworks related to racial equity.
- Drafting the framework
- Seeking comment from stakeholders and the library community on the draft, and revising as needed
This project has an ambitious timeline, with a launch date of October 2019 and a completion date of June 2020. An interim report will be developed by March 2020. The Task Force will include 8-10 members with expertise in equity, diversity and experience building inclusive cultures. It is anticipated that the project will be completed in a nine-month period, from October 2019 until June of 2020. The work will be directed by a skilled facilitator with logistical and administrative support provided.
The Task Force will meet twice in-person (at a location easily accessible for commercial travel, but to be determined) for facilitated meetings lasting one and a half to two days, with additional 90-minute monthly video/conference calls for the duration of the project, and some work in between the calls. It is expected that the Task Force will circulate drafts of the framework for public comment and revise as appropriate before submitting a final document to the associations. A facilitator will be retained for the in-person meetings and administrative support will be provided. The Task Force will have the expertise of Mark Puente, Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs at ARL, and Kristin Lahurd, Interim Director of ODLOS. Travel expenditures for Task Force members will be covered by the partner associations.
If you are interested in being considered for services on the Building Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity Framework Task Force, please complete the volunteer form by October 8, 2019.
Questions?
Please direct any further questions about this Task Force to Mark A. Puente, ARL Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs, mpuente@arl.org; Kristin Lahurd, ALA ODLOS Interim Director, klahurd@ala.org; Scott Allen, PLA Deputy Director, Operations, sallen@ala.org; or Allison Payne, ACRL Program Manager for Strategic Initiatives, apayne@ala.org.