Engaging to Empower: Using Student Sentiment and Voices to Implement a Holistic Approach in Creating an Inclusive and Anti-Racist Library

Abstract

The past few years have seen many global issues that have greatly showcased the severe adversity and inequities for a large part of our society, especially within our student populations. While these events have shone a light on the overt disparities between social groups, they have also offered us an opportunity for growth. This poster will focus on a multiyear three-pronged approach that the University Libraries at St. John’s University is implementing in order to make our Libraries truly inclusive and ant-racist in response to our student voices. This holistic approach will showcase creative and manageable ways that libraries can grow as institutions more closely aligned and attuned to the needs of all our students. By making changes relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) on the resource level, personnel level, and community level, we can use our students’ voices to shape our practices and environment, in order to more transparently show the commitment we are making to being as supportive as possible to their needs. This poster will visualize how libraries can harness the power of their users’ or communities’ voices in order to re-envision a library that more closely engages those voices through a holistic and simplified approach.