21 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 303 2022 would have like to learn more about what indicators are being used for measuring progress on DEIA efforts. It is my understanding that some institutions are using diversity dashboards to display current demographic composition, then following with disclosure statements about their benchmarks for improving DEIA in the next year. Some of the leadership recommendations provided at the 2021 ARL Fall Meeting revealed the unequivocal awareness that it was going to take that, the leadership, to elevate DEIA efforts in all organizations if we wanted to realize change. Some examples given of leadership courses of action were fostering cultures of continual feedback, making the commitment to work intentionally, avoiding tokenizing the doers, assessing privilege and anti-racism training, and taking the lead in anti- racism efforts as a practice. There were many more recommendations contributed, but these are the ones resonating with me. Effort and struggle have been key words used quite often during the fellowship experience. It is true that to improve our organizational cultures it does take everyone’s engagement. Throughout my experience of the ARL LCDP, I witnessed various leaders attempting to make the best out of the disruptive environments and social climates faced. Strength and growth were demonstrated many times by all having the courage to disagree, to voice different opinions with colleagues who we were just beginning to know at the time. Those challenging conversations provided a window into the decision-making processes leadership goes through every day. It was reassuring to know that despite the unpredictable climate, we were all vested in providing services to as many users as we could. There were, after all, access barriers to both physical and virtual environments. There was a strong emphasis on assessing DEIA efforts in our profession, along with reflections of scenarios and processes unperceived before. Indeed, “Transformation in This Time of Disruption” was the precise title for a session from which I believe we had hoped to emerge as better professionals.
Previous Page Next Page