The following is a list of recommended resources on diversity, inclusion, accessibility and equity that will hopefully be helpful in nurturing inclusivity in your library. All these resources helped me with my speeches on diversity and inclusion at the ALIA QLD Mini Conference 2018 and the 9th New Librarians’ Symposium.
Generic readings
- Do you want to dance? Inclusion and belonging in libraries and beyond: Christian Lauersen’s (@clauersen) keynote at the UX Libraries Conference 2018
- Diversity, inclusion, social justice and libraries: proposing a framework – the transcript of a speech from Chris Bourg (@mchris4duke)
- Deviating with diversity, innovating with inclusion: a call for radical activism in libraries – the transcript and slides of my NLS9 presentation
- Diversity and inclusion in libraries – one of the first blog posts I did that inspiired my ALIA QLD Mini Conference
- Diversity and inclusion – it’s up to all of us: an interview from CILIP about how we all can contribute to inclusion
- Open eyes unto inclusion and diversity – an open textbook published by the University of Southern Queensland
Let’s be accessible
- Dos and Donts on designing for accessibility: The dos and don’ts of designing for accessibility are general best practice guidelines. Currently, there are six different posters in the series that cater to users from these areas: low vision, D/deaf and hard of hearing, dyslexia, motor disabilities, users on the autistic spectrum and users of screen readers
- Accessibility and study hack: Flic French (@JustFlic) created a module on creating accessible content
- Digital accessibility toolkit: toolkit on designing accessible digital content
- Universal Design for Learning guidelines: a table that illustrates UDL guidelines
- Accessible Social Media: Accessibility tips for Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Flickr and Google +
- Accessibility quick cards: Simple reminders on ways to make emails, documents and social media posts more accessible.
- Six core skills of accessibility: Here are six core skills that we all can use to contribute to a more digitally accessible environment
- 5 ways to make your Tweets more accessible: for all the Twitter users out there!
- Project ENABLE: an online platform that supports librarians in creating inclusive and accessible libraries for people with disabilities
- Open Education Accessibility Toolkit: The goal of this accessibility toolkit, is to provide resources for each content creator, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistant to create a truly open textbook—one that is free and accessible for all students.
- Turbitt & Duck Podcast Episode 8 [1hr 6mins]:Katie Lumsden chats about dyslexia and libraries.
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): Worldwide guidelines for web accessibility to ensure web content is available to all
- Getting started with the Marrakesh Treaty: a guide for librarians
- 10 accessibility tips – a short blog post by me
- Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative guides: two helpful guides for the publishing and disability sectors. The first guide offers publishers a set of workflow strategies for creating accessible digital books that are inclusive by design, and the second guide explains the legal environment for making books accessible to those with a print disability.
Let’s be diverse, inclusive and welcoming
Diverse spaces
- Indigenous spaces in library spaces: online toolkit for building a vibrant public library network inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
- Libraries are for everyone: inclusive posters (I used one of these in my presentation).
- Sensory safety: After my speech, I got a lot of questions regarding sensory safety and sensory bags in libraries. Akron Summit County Public Library (@akronlibrary) and KultureCity (@kulturec) have joined forces to enhance sensory-inclusion throughout libraries in the US.
- The 3Ps of creating a welcoming library: Focus on policies, practices and patrons to foster inclusion
- The danger of a single story : In this video we hear about the power of storytelling as a tool to construct understanding of people and cultures different from our own. Ask yourself, who tells the story of your culture, and does it represent how you’d like the world to see you?
- Diversity means disruption: a great blog post by Nathan Sentance (@SayWhatNathan)
- 10 ways to diversify – a short blog post by me
- Services for Migrants and Refugees – a collaborative report by the Australian Library Association (@ALIANational) and the Australian Public Library Alliance
- First Peoples: A Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries
- Queer eye for the library: Transforming library spaces, collections and communities by @clarefications
- Improving library services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – report from ALIA (@ALIANational)
- Transformative praxis: Building spaces for Indigenous self-determination in libraries and archives from Kirsten Thorpe (@kirstythorpe)
- Sacha Fawkes has recorded what is currently being done in the Australian GLAM sector for Indigenous programs. Check our her curated list.
- A Million Stories – how libraries can foster integration of refugees through culture and storytelling by Christian Lauersen (@clauersen)
Diverse collections and inclusive classifications
- Doing a YA Collection Diversity Audit Series by TeenLibrarianToolBox (@TLT16)
- Turbitt & Duck Podcast Episode 22 [40mins]: Maeva Masterson talks about classifying library collections, cultural safety and air-conditioning
- Turbitt & Duck Podcast Episode 14 [1hr 12mins]: Nathan Sentance talks about cultural collections, looking for authentic sources and being critical
- Creating metadata for equity, diversity, and inclusion: Some great ideas for building diversity and discoverability in our repositories and catalogues
- CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. You’ve heard of the FAIR principles. Introducing the CARE principles
- My cultural competency journey: An Italian perspective of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections and Services in GLAM by Monica Galassi (
@LaMonicaGalassi) - We need to talk about cataloguing – Alissa McCulloch’s (@lissertations) transcript and slides from her NLS9 presentation
- AUSTLang dataset: AUSTLANG provides information about Indigenous Australian languages which has been assembled from referenced sources. The dataset provided here includes the language names, each with a unique alpha-numeric code which functions as a stable identifier, alternative/variant names and spellings and the approximate location of each language variety.
Workforce diversity
- Diversity in public libraries: strategies for achieving a more representative workforce by Larsen
- Why diversity matters: a roundtable discussion on racial and ethnic diversity in librarians.
- The quest for diversity in library staffing: from awareness to action by Vinopal
- Soliciting Performance, Hiding Bias: Whiteness and Librarianship by Galvan
- Diversity within the Profession by Nick Poole (@NickPoole1)
- AusLibChat workplace diversity wakelet
Let’s use inclusive language & representations
- Words at Work: Building inclusion through the power of language, created by Diversity Council Australia (@DivCouncilAus)
- Language and terminology guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: Created by Australians Together and licensed under Creative Commons
- The Human Library: The Human Library is designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. The Human Library is a place where real people are on loan to readers. A place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.
- Gender specific and gender neutral pronouns: an infographic
- Disability is not a bad word: disability and language by Chloe Tear (@chloeltear)
- Disability etiquettes and inclusive language: two facts sheets
- Who owns Indigenous languages? Indigenous Language Materials and Copyright: Short blog post from Terri Jankes (@TerriJankes)
- What if radical kindness was a library policy development principle? Blog post by Jane Cowell (@janecowell8)
Let’s be inclusive library professionals
- The Art of Inclusion: Diversity Council Australia’s (@DivCouncilAus) podcast on who we include, who we don’t, and how we can do better in everything from gender, race, mental health and disability, through to the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ and our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
- Communication tips for librarians working with hard of hearing/deaf clients: Information for librarians who work with deaf or hard of hearing clients or with deaf-related collections
- What is kindness: Rowena McGregor (@rowenamcgregor) wrote a thoughtful piece on what is kindness and how it relates to libraries
- Unconscious bias test: Take this Implicit Association Test to see what unconscious biases you may have
- R U OK? How to have the R U OK conversation: a speech I did for R U OK day on how to have R U OK conversations
- Building inclusion: an evidence-based model of inclusive leadership by Diversity Council Australia (@DivCouncilAus)
- Be inclusive every day: an infographic on how you can be inclusive every day
- Manager’s roadmap to LGBTIQ inclusion: a quick guide to LGBTIQ inclusion
- Workplace mental health toolkit: a practical guide and resource from Black Dog Institute
- Social work for librarians: an editorial on cultural humility
- Professional development – who’s role is it anyway? Clare Thorpe (@thorpe_clare) writes about the importance of professional development. We need to incorporate diversity and inclusion professional development opportunities in our libraries.
- Cultural Humility in Librarianship: What is it?: A blog post about inclusion from the perspective of cultural humility
- Why writing a values list changed everything – Sally Turbitt(@sallyturbitt) shares her values list and how this has impacted on her resilience
- Embracing social justice as a library leader by Stephen Bell
- 10 traits of being an inclusive professional: Blog post by Nikki Andersen
- How to practice emotional first aid – Ted Talk by Guy Winch
- 5 Ways to be an Empathetic and Resilient Client Service Librarian – Full transcript from Leela Wittner’s(@ma_petite6) presentation at NLS9.
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