On Friday April 8, the ACRL Value of Academic Libraries initiative offered the panel discussion Beyond Words: Initiating, Implementing, and Sustaining Change. The panel centered four librarians who had been featured in ACRL VAL’s spotlight series focused on practices of equity and social justice. Their spotlights can be read at the links below:
Dr. Salinas works at a community college as the dean of library and learning resources, but all four discussed issues relevant to all libraries.
Topics touched on during the panel included:
- Balancing sharing your voice with taking on additional labor. Panelists agreed on the importance of finding areas where they could be passionate and impactful, while being willing to say no.
- Actionable items for co-conspirators. (Tips: do work on yourselves before bringing in people meant to ‘fix’ everything, leverage your sphere of influence, and act as an amplifier ready to pass the mic to marginalized colleagues.)
- Programs worth imitating, which received the response, “Don’t replicate, originate.” Institutions were encouraged to consider their unique needs when planning programs and aspire to be their best selves rather than someone else.
- Self-care and imposter syndrome. A panelist recommended Nicola Andrews’ “It’s not imposter syndrome: Resisting self-doubt as normal for library workers”.
Watch the full video to hear everything the panelists had to say!