Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Libraries

ALA & SAA Groups & Sections

ALA (American Library Association) and Affiliates

• ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services (ALA ODLOS)

  • "Libraries Respond" by ALA ODLOS

• ALA Equity Diversity and Inclusion Resources

• Asian and Pacific American Library Association (APALA)

• Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA)

• Chinese American Librarians Association

• Rainbow Round Table of ALA (formerly GLBTRT)

• Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Diversity Committee

• REFORMA - The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking

• Social Responsibilities Round Table of ALA

• Statements from Libraries and Library Organizations on Racism, Black Lives Matter, and Increased Violence (Infodocket, June 1, 2020)

SAA (Society of American Archivists)

• Archivists & Archives of Color Section (SAA)

• Archivists of Religious Collections Section (SAA)

• Human Rights Archives Section (SAA)

• Labor Archives Section (SAA)

• Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Heritage Archives Section (SAA)

• Diverse Sexuality and Gender Section (SAA)

• Native American Archives Section (SAA)

Other Organizations

• Archivistas en Espanglish

• DLF Authenticity Project

• Empathic Museum

• IDEAL: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity Activists in Libraries: wiki resource of social justice in libraries

• The Incluseum - An inclusive resource for museums, many of which are useful for library work.

• Impacting Museums: explores ways that museums, galleries, and heritage sites create more socially just societies through museum practices

• Gender Variant LIS Network

• HBCU Library Alliance

• Joint Council of Librarians of Color

• Librarians and Archivists with Palestine

• The Network: UK-based organization working to support libraries, museums, archives, galleries and other cultural and heritage organizations (as well as individuals) who are working to tackle social exclusion and towards social justice. 

• POC In LIS Summit

• Program for Cooperative Cataloging Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, & Accessibility

• Que(e)ry Librarians: Community and fundraising events for libraries and archives of LGBTQ+ history and heritage

• We Here: supportive community/space for library and archives workers of color.

• WOC+LIB

Resources

• 2016 LACUNY Institute - Race Matters: Libraries, Racism, and Antiracism, commons.gc.cuny.edu, 20 May 2016.

• Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley

• Design for Diversity: Teaching and Learning Toolkit

• Disability in Libraries and Information Studies: Open-access journal

• Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship (University of Wisconsin)

• Diversity and Inclusion SPEC Kit 356, Published by Association of Research Libraries, September 2017.

• “Empowering Voices, Inspiring Change: Advancing Diversity Within Librarianship” (American Library Association/Gallup, 2025).  

• Green Book for Libraries: A Guide to Working Conditions of Libraries For Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

• International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Knowledge Justice: Disrupting Library and Information Studies through Critical Race Theory. Edited by Sofia Y. Leung and Jorge R. López-McKnight. MIT Press, 2021.

• Moore, Alanna Aiko & Jaena Alabi. Racial and LGBT Microaggressions: An Introduction for Library Leaders, March 2015.

• Racial Equity in the Library

• Resources to Counter White Nationalism in Libraries (Library Workers against Racism, Progressive Librarians Guild)

• Up//Root: a publishing collective that exists to center the works, knowledge, and experiences of BIPOC within the context of the library and archive community.

• Topographies of Whiteness: Mapping Whiteness In Library and Information Science. Editor: Gina Schlesselman-Tarango. Library Juice Press, 2017.

Articles, Presentations, etc.

• Bourg, Chris. The unbearable whiteness of librarianship. Feral librarian Blog, https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/, 3 March 2014.

• Brook, Freeda, and others. "In Pursuit of Antiracist Social Justice: Denaturalizing Whiteness in the Academic Library." Library Trends, Vol. 64, No. 2, 2015 (Fall 2015), pp. 246–284

• Brown, Jennifer, and others. "We Here: Speaking Our Truth." Library Trends, Vol. 67, No. 1 (2018), pp.163-181.

• Gandhi, Lakshmi. "Libraries Aren't Neutral Ground in the Fight for Anti-Racist Education." Prism, 21 September 2021.

• Hathcock, April. “White Librarianship in Blackface: Diversity Initiatives in LIS.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe, 7 October 2015.

• Hudson, David James. "On 'Diversity' as Anti-Racism in Library and Information Studies: A Critique." Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2017)

• Hughes-Watkins, Lae'l. "Moving Toward a Reparative Archive: A Roadmap for a Holistic Approach to Disrupting Homogenous Histories in Academic Repositories and Creating Inclusive Spaces for Marginalized Voices." Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, Vol. 5, Article 6, 2018.

• Leung, Sofia. "How LIS Upholds White Supremacy and What to Do About It." Core Virtual Forum, November 20, 2020. (Presentation recording, approximately 1 hour).

• Nataraj, Lalitha & others. “‘Nice White Meetings’: Unpacking Absurd Library Bureaucracy through a Critical Race Theory Lens”. Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 6 (December 2020)

• Peet, Lisa. "Louisville Library Workers Champion Preferred Pronoun Badges." libraryjournal.com, 10 Feb. 2017.

• Michele R. Santamaria. “Concealing White Supremacy Through Fantasies of the Library.” Library Trends, Vol. 68, No. 3 (Winter 2020). (via Project MUSE)

• Swanson, Juleah & others. "Why Diversity Matters: A Roundtable Discussion on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Librarianship." In the Library With the Lead Pipe Journal, www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/, 29 July 2015.