Pam McKinney here live blogging from the second day of the lilac conference in Manchester. This morning the first session is a keynote from Marilyn Clarke, director of library services at Goldsmiths university in London. The format of the keynote is for delegates to watch a pre-recorded presentation, then for the keynote to feature questions posed by the audience. Marilyn spoke about the need to have difficult conversations about challenging issues of race and gender, and the need to confront feelings of guilt, uncertainty and being uncomfortable. One theme discussed was around decolonising the library, and dismantling the colonial structure. Marilyn has been addressing racism in her work at Goldsmiths,with a working group called “liberate our library” in response to student activism to create a fairer and more inclusive university. They created a new collection called “liberate the collection” featuring resources recommended by students of underrepresented authors and communities. They have created a zines collection, which represent hidden voices, and work with authors to develop meaningful subject headings to aid discoverability. There’s a need to diversify collections, but alongside this to address why the situation is as it is, and why we have biases. For example, why did it take until 2019 to form a group to address the lack of black authors, thinkers etc in the UK school curriculum.
Marilyn spoke about the need to address diversity at all levels in university, from resources, to teaching, to the environment. Libraries have a role in increasing diversity in publishing, and seeking out resources that represent a wider range of authors with diverse backgrounds - we have some agency here, due to the huge amounts of money that we all spend on materials.
Librarians have a role in speaking to academics about the resources they recommend, and to increase the diversity of materials that are offered. Most people are open to these conversations, although it isn’t always easy work. Look for allies, and use these relationships to impact on a wider circle. We need to use our power where we can to address equality and social justice, and to empower ourselves.
At Goldsmiths they run IL workshops on citing underrepresented authors, and use open access resources to do this. This is one way to increase inclusivity in the university and bring in alternative voices to the academic discourse. It’s important to acknowledge where resources have outdated terminology, and be explicit that librarians are working towards addressing these issues with collection management, rather than simply removing these resources. We need to document the journey towards inclusivity.
Representation of BAME people in libraries needs to be increased, this is important for the sector. We are now seeing more professional BAME networks and this is vital. We need a plan of action, inclusivity isn’t just going to happen by itself. (Side note: the work we have been doing @ the information school as part of our Athena Swan bronze award is part of our departmental journey towards equality and inclusion, and I’ve found this to be a good start, but it’s not the end!).
Marilyn encouraged us to read books about decolonising the university, as a way to develop ourselves and inform ourselves about this issue.
Photo by Pam McKinney: the keynote interview.
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