Free Diversity Audits Program Organized by ARRT

Yesterday I gave a version of my #OwnVoices for All Readers talk, and one of things I encourage libraries to do in this talk is a Diversity Audit; however, because I am not a diversity audit specialist, I do not offer that as part of my training. Instead, I tend to connect libraries to resources and humans who are offering these services.

Today I want to connect all of you to one such event. The Adult Reading Round Table is presenting Diversity Audits for Library Collections.

You can sign up here or by clicking on the image. I am pretty sure anyone, anywhere can participate for free. 

I also want to draw your attention to the fact that RAILS [Reaching Across Library System] is working in tandem with ARRT to offer this program. I am not only on the RAILS Board but I am also on their newly created EDI committee.

One of the resources RAILS provides in relation to EDI is this excellent EDI Pulse page. You do not need to be a RAILS library to use it. Bookmark it to find more resources going forward.

And register-- all of you-- for this free diversity audit program. Stop making the excuse that you don't know where to begin. Begin here. And with the EDI Pulse page.

And don't stop putting EDI issues at the forefront of everything you do. We cannot distantly systemic racism unless we do so in every part of our lives. For those of us who do RA, our collections are the perfect place to begin.

For more conversations about EDI from a specific RA and Collections perspective, you can also check out these two conversation Robin Bradford and I had on the topic this past Fall. All recordings are free:

• LibraryReads: Actively Anti-Racist RA
• NYLA Combating Racism in Libraries series