Bledsoe, Kara, Danielle Cooper, Roger Schonfeld, and Oya Y. Rieger. Leading by Diversifying Collections: A Guide for Academic Library Leadership. Ithaka S+R, November 9, 2022.
In this Ithaka S+R research report, Bledsoe, Cooper, Schonfeld, and Rieger offer a guide, with examples, takeaways, and exercises, for academic library administrators to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values in their collections. The authors outline the process of setting goals, identifying stakeholders, guiding strategies, and tracking process (“Creating the process”); evaluating collections, identifying gaps, and determining which materials to reframe or remove (“Shaping the collection”); securing funds and resources as well as appropriately allocating that money and support (“Allocating resources”); and setting concrete goals while fostering a healthy cultural attitude to ongoing DEI work in collections (“Reaching ‘the end’”). The report concludes with an extensive current bibliography of “resources for further reading,” along with a list of well-known library administrators and collections managers interviewed by the authors.