Emporia Diversity Initiative Leadership Institute on October 18 & 19, 2007
Dr. Gwen Alexander, Dean of Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Management (SLIM) and Dr. John Agada, EDI Director, welcomed participants to the first Emporia Diversity Initiative Leadership Institute on October 18th and 19th, 2007. The attending participants included invited speakers, twelve scholars, library and faculty mentors, SLIM faculty, and SLIM’s distance education program directors.
Students unanimously agreed that “It’s great to finally see and experience the campus and SLIM firsthand!” |
The conference theme of "Making diversity count beyond recruitment" featured:
Sandra Ríos Balderrama
If you listen to me, I will strengthen you -Ka’apor of Brazil
Congratulations to all EDI participants! Your program embodies interdependence, reciprocation, and ultimately, transformation. You are students as teachers and teachers as students. All of you - mentors. All of you - librarians as stewards with Mother Earth in your hands. You/we are peers on the journey to create access, to insure justice, and to infuse information and service delivery with co-existing stories. This is not so foreign to us - is it? When we take a look back, back - to where we came from, we will find a familiarity with these values, some born out of the experience of exclusion and others born out of the memory that at your Great Grandmother’s home there was always enough for everyone that entered the door, no matter what was on the table. You had a life before the EDI and your life goes beyond EDI. Nothing is linear. Only “meant to be”. Your moment is now. The circle stops moving and invites you to step forward. You strengthen our profession. You strengthen our “peoples”. What must you do to translate competencies, increase capacity, and insure that multiculturalism is egalitarian and not based on a caste system? How do you, as our new library leaders, act as a counter force to homogeneity and a conductor of diversity as synergy? I am listening to you! For you will strengthen me.
Panelists’ shot: Cecilia Salvatore (standing), Sandra Rios Balderrama, Andrew Evans, Miguel Figueroa, Marilyn Russell, Rhondalyn Peairs, and Nikhat J. Ghouse, led the panel discussion on the diverse experiences of librarians of color in the LIS field. From their experiences as students, to practicing librarians, to teaching, to becoming an activist and spokesperson for diversity in our profession. |
Miguel A. Figueroa
Building YOUR Best Brand
In any competitive environment—including the library and information profession—building an attractive brand is essential to defining oneself from the rest of the pack. Branding isn’t reserved for products and services; it can also be adapted to your own professional credentials and reputation. This program will explore how library and information professionals can adapt branding strategies for their own career development. Attendees will be familiarized with basic branding terminology; learn the first steps towards building a personal brand (including an overview of vision, mission, and values statements); and learn some common branding mistakes of new professionals. The session will draw heavily on real-world examples and will encourage interaction between the speaker and the participants.
Tracie D. Hall
Diversity and Cultural Competencies for 21st Century LIS Service: Assessment Prospects and Challenges at the Organizational Level.
Tracie D. Hall is Assistant Dean at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University. Formerly Director of the American Library Assoication Office of Diversity, Hall has worked at Hartford, New Haven Free, and Seattle Public Libraries and has taught at the schools of library and information science at Catholic University of America and Dominican University. Recognized by Library Journal as the August 2004 "Mover and Shaker," Hall's writings have appeared in several professioanl publications. Priincipal and Founder of the Goodseed Consulting Group, Hall has provided training and facilitation for libraries across the country. She holds Bachelors degrees form the University of California at Santa Barbara, a Masters degree from Yale University and the MLIS form the University of Washington.
Tracie and Sandra on stage: Moderate audience participation, encouraging attendants to talk about the challenges ethnic minorities face in the field of librarianship. |
Andrew Pulau Evans,
My Asian-American Perspective on Diversity in Academia and Why I Chose Kansas
Andrew Pulau Evans will discuss what areas in academia are welcoming for members of diverse populations and make suggestions for what needs to be improved. He will discuss higher education including a comparison of library and information science training with law school, and then focus on library work environments in academic librarianship. Andrew will also provide reasons why libraries are important to diversity, minor things libraries can do to increase diversity, describe how one can support mentorship programs, and provide excellent tips on how to advance one’s career.
Rhondalyn Peairs
Finding Your Niche: Moving Beyond the Labels of Multiculturalism and Diversity
It is often hard for new librarians, especially diverse librarians to find their niche in the academic library environment. How do they find balance and navigate an environment where they may be called on to participate in tasks simply because they are diverse?
Nikhat J. Ghouse
Moving Beyond Recruitment: Acculturation and Mentoring Tools for Minority Librarians
This panel contribution will discuss mentoring opportunities for minority librarians in predominately white college campuses. Acculturating to the academic library environment can be challenging for new librarians, but can be doubly difficult for a minority librarian. Although much attention has been paid to increasing recruitment efforts for minority candidates, recruitment without retention is pointless. Juggling a new work/city environment, responsibilities and colleagues as well as coping with different expectations, and a possible sense of isolation, can be much to manage. It is important that these new librarians be afforded the same level of comfort and respect for individuality as their non-minority peers.
Discussion in this panel will include the overall benefits of mentoring, how to find a mentor, how they can provide feedback and direction regarding education, and career decisions. The roles of both mentor and mentee and the boundaries necessary for a successful mentorship will be elaborated upon. Also integrated into the discussion will be the presenter’s experiences with being both a mentor and a mentee, with particular emphasis on what to discuss (personal and/or professional), format and frequency of communications and articulation of expectations on both sides. Also mentioned will be the mentee’s central responsibility for cultivating the mentorship.
Taking a break to bond with each other and "Corky," the ESU mascot. |
Marilyn Russell
I Walk the Line: Leadership, Libraries, and Diversity
What road do library leaders walk in today's multicultural environment? Do leaders who are of a minority background face different struggles and conflicts than those who are from the mainstream society? Library leaders need to be aware of the differences in cultural/ethnic groups, leadership styles, personality differences, communication styles, language barriers, and collective and individual strategies. Personal challenges and examples in resolving some of these differences will be given. This is an illustration of how leadership intersects where libraries and diversity may happen to meet.
Last Updated March 3, 2008