36 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 301 2020 of content and access. Digitization could help with some of this, although access could still be a problem. Inclusion is needed at all levels in librarianship including leadership. Witt: We’ve been having conversations with folks about these systems. We’ve had conversations with university publishers about how to set up authors of color to be successful—editors, marketing, distribution. We recognize that we don’t have the data to know where we are. We need to create a platform to gather that information. Thinking about collections, we have to focus on decolonization…drawing out problematic parts of the collection, such as Robinson Crusoe. And then we build programming around that theme, creating a platform for anti-racism and anti-colonialism. We need to look at recruiting/hiring, especially at the leadership level. We need to look at how we develop talent within the organization. Succession planning is important but we have to analyze who gets picked as the emerging talent and who gets left out? Where are future talent pools? Now is exactly the right time to dismantle our hiring processes and our developmental strategies. It is easier to dismantle a system that we’re not actively using. Hodge: We need further critiquing of professional credentialing (the barriers associated with it), gatekeeping that occurs, and vocational awe embedded in librarianship. We need to examine the things related to culture that impact librarianship. For example, what’s taught in LIS programs about the contribution of BIPOC library workers? I didn’t learn about E.J. Josey, civil rights activist and one of the founders of the Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA), until my last quarter of library school. To my knowledge, LIS programs offer no systemic education for LIS professionals in training on racial identity, power and privilege, and their impacts on interpersonal relationships, collection development services, and programming. There are no curriculum-based or focused discussions about ethnic caucuses. For a profession working for so long on diversification of its workforce, we have not done a
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