Registration is free and you do not need to be an ALA member.
Each session must be individually registered for and a link to recorded sessions will be emailed afterwards for those who can't attend live.
August 3, 2022 1:00pm – 4:45pm Central Time
Join the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table for our third Afternoon of Social Justice. This free virtual event features librarians and scholars as they present on a variety of topics including disabilities, Indigenous communities, and neurodiversity. Plenty of time will be allowed for questions and discussions after each presentation.
Schedule (Central Time):
1:00pm - 2:00pm Disability is Not a Bad Word CANCELLED
2:15pm - 3:30pm Paying Better Attention to Indigenous Communities
3:45pm - 4:45pm Neurodiversity in the Library
Paying Better Attention to Indigenous Communities
Join two librarians as they discuss how to provide better service and pay better attention to Indigenous communities. Karleen Delaurier-Lyle will begin the session with by discussing how she provides reference and instruction services to Indigenous students at Xwi7xwa Library, a centre for academic and community Indigenous scholarship in British Columbia, Canada. She will discuss how Indigenous Knowledges (IK) is more relational than compartmentalized and how this knowledge is often spread among various sections of the library than a single dedicated location. Next, Kael Moffat will discuss how most academic libraries stand on occupied lands and are founded on Western ways of knowing that typically oppose Indigenous/place-based knowledge, thus continuing the centuries-long war on Native peoples. Since most librarians are non-Indigenous we need to learn how to desettle, to learn to recognize our positionality as settlers, learn to hear tribal voices, and to oppose settler colonial structures that continue to harm local tribes. Kael will briefly define desettling and will show how Saint Martin’s University library is working to support the Squalli-absch, the Nisqually Tribe, on whose land the school stands.
Panelists: Karleen Delaurier-Lyle, Information Services Librarian, Xwi7xwa Library, The University of British Columbia
Kael Moffat, Information Literacy Librarian, Saint Martin’s University
Recording (With Sound Correction)
Neurodiversity in the Library
Join us for a conversation about neurodivergence in the library, and learn how to make the library a welcoming environment for both patrons and employees. We will discuss the needs of neurodivergent library workers and give tips on interviewing, hiring and training new employees. We’ll cover the physical environment and inexpensive tweaks you can make. We’ll also look at some examples from other libraries to brainstorm about signage, programs, equipment and more.
Panelists: Kate Thompson, MLIS, Adult Services Assistant, West Des Moines Public Library
Rachel Bussan, Collection Services Specialist, West Des Moines Public Library
CANCELLED Disability is Not a Bad Word
A critical step towards making libraries more equitable, diverse, and inclusive is increasing library staff awareness about disability. Accessibility is more than just wheelchair access and website functionality. It includes a library’s culture surrounding the way disability is understood and discussed. And importantly, it means ensuring libraries are inclusive for not only patrons but also library workers with disabilities. To create a more inclusive culture, library staff and administration can start by improving their understanding of accessible language and disability concepts. This session uses a disability justice framework to explore the historical context of disability, which connects to the importance of disability as a part of EDI work in libraries. Attendees will learn the importance of terminology in disability inclusion and receive strategies to incorporate accessible language into their library cultures.
Panelists: Katelyn Quirin Manwiller, Education Librarian, West Chester University
Brea McQueen, Librarian