30 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 301 2020 We are using Zoom video technologies to continue the work. We started with conversations around COVID (part of our conversations around safe spaces), and continued with programs on the experiences of Black and Asian people in light of COVID. These programs were well attended. Perhaps we didn’t have enough representation (space) for POC employees within the organization. We are now looking at ways to reframe that as an action of an affinity group. We are hoping to create a brave space for white people looking at anti-racist practices. We are taking full advantage of positive energy around racial equity right now. DEI is not the same as race equity work. We can become too complacent, patting ourselves on the back about DEI. Hodge: The pandemic has brought to light many things in terms of peoples’ capacity to be engaged. We had a lot of work in the queue. There was a lag in terms of my engagement with the institution, as I became adjusted to the new position. We (the world collectively, institutions, and individuals) didn’t have a week or any time to adapt to this new reality. I was lucky enough to have a workspace at home and only needed a few modifications. Now work has invaded my home sanctuary, so there goes the work/life separation that I was trying to establish. In a pre-COVID-19 time, it was easier to have that separation or the illusion of it. Now I can very easily work until 9:00 p.m. or get up at 1:00 a.m. to work if I choose to do so. This has disrupted my scholarship, as well. The pandemic has brought to light some things that might not have surfaced for weeks or months, such as the faculty/staff divide on our campus and the freedom and protections that some have as opposed to others. Also, the level of surveillance that some experience is problematic. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of frequent communications across the organization, but primarily to staff. It has allowed us to streamline communications to all levels of the organization. One of the biggest things that COVID has surfaced is the disparity in how employees, based on their status/rank/position, receive communication and provide input.
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