Purpose and Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA) View
The IU Libraries Diversity Strategic Plan acknowledges the inequitable and oppressive systems in which we all live and the ways we can change those systems within our spaces. The history of Indiana University and the United States includes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other exclusionary ideologies and practices. These exclusionary ideologies and practices have also shaped the history of academic libraries and librarianship. Based on this history, we at IU Libraries understand that to be antiracist and intersectional in our purposes, goals, and actions means we are on a continuous path of learning and working to counter our inherent biases, bigotry, white supremacy, and the ongoing structural oppression and disenfranchisement of marginalized communities. At IU Libraries, our Diversity Strategic Plan is an iterative tool to help all employees to learn, to confront and disrupt, and to improve future practices and procedures.
First, we acknowledge that Indiana University and the city of Bloomington occupy the ancestral and unceded homelands of a number of Indigenous groups, including the myaamiaki (Miami), Lenape (Delaware), saawanwa (Shawnee), and Bodwewadmik (Potawatomi) peoples. We honor and acknowledge the ancestral and contemporary caretakers of this land and point to the following goals and actions of this strategic plan as a means to support the indigenous communities that are still present and a part of our Indiana University community in Bloomington. We also acknowledge that IU Libraries has resources and materials that represent the peoples native to this land which we can use to continue our own education as well as upport the education of others.
This acknowledgement is a modified version of the recommended language from the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center Land Acknowledgement.
Indiana University's Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity & Inclusion requires all schools to write a diversity plan that expresses the school's values, best practices, and accountability. The IU Libraries recognizes the importance of and the need for this larger, university-wide commitment to diversity and inclusion and welcomes the opportunity to define our DEIJA view in this plan. However, beyond just fulfilling a requirement, the IU Libraries intends to cultivate a culture of anti-racism, inclusion, and belonging. In order to achieve this purpose, the Diversity Strategic Plan contains Goals and supporting Actions grouped into the following Categories relevant to the IU Libraries and the communities we serve:
- Supporting Libraries Staff and Faculty
- Recruiting, Hiring, and Retention
- Welcoming Our Users
- Collections and Services
- Part-Time Employees, Including Student Workers
- Accountability and Reporting
The ultimate goal of the IU Libraries Diversity Strategic Plan is to center the values of anti-racism and intersectionality, as well as those of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility into our work, organizational culture, vision, and values. The goal and actions outlined herein are designed to help us all think critically about our work in the IU Libraries and to help us adjust our behaviors and actions when we learn that we are not equitably considering and including-or worse, when we learn that we are excluding a variety of perspectives, in particular those communities that have historically been the most marginalized.
Goal: Be anti-racist in our purpose, objectives, and actions. Based on the history of IU and IU Libraries, we understand that we are on a continuous path of learning and working to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of racial groups.