“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Library is taking action to combat racism and increase equity, diversity and inclusion. Here are some of the changes we’ve been instituting:
- Conducting diversity audits in both the Adult and Youth departments. This entails examining every item in the collection to look for biases, racism and stereotypical tropes. Additionally, an audit tells us what we are missing in the collection and provides an opportunity to add materials of diversity where we are lacking.
- Extending library access to those without a home or in temporary shelters with Temporary Visitors’ Library cards.
- Creating a blind application process for job openings to eliminate bias.
- Ongoing staff development and training, including completion of these Library Journal courses: “Equity in Action: Fostering an Antiracist Library Culture” and “Equity in Action: Building Diverse Collections.”
Books
The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman
Better, Not Bitter by Yusef Salaam
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
Do Better by Rachel Ricketts
Faithful Anti-Racism by Christina Edmondson
It Could Happen Here: Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable–and How We Can Stop It by Jonathan Greenblatt
Not Quite Not White by Sharmila Sen
Social Justice Parenting: How to Raise Compassionate, Anti-Racist, Justice-Minded Kids in an Unjust World by Traci Baxley
Anti-Racist Ally: An Introduction to Action and Activism by Sophie Williams
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
Read This to Get Smarter: About Race, Class, Gender, Disability and More by Blair Imani
Reading Writing and Racism: Disrupting Whiteness in Teacher Education and in the Classroom by Bree Picower
Righteous Troublemakers: untold stories of the social justice movement in America by Reverend Al Sharpton
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The Wake Up by Michelle Mijung Kim
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Organizations
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
Center for Anti-Racist Research
Center for Racial Justice in Education
Chicago ROAR (Chicago Regional Organizing for Antiracism)
Enrich Chicago (An Arts-Led Movement to Undo Racism)
FAPAC (Federal Asian Pacific American Council)
Federal Bureau of Investigation on Civil Rights and Hate crimes
Podcasts
1619 (New York Times)
Code Switch (NPR)
Momentum (Race Forward)
Seeing White (Scene on Radio)
Movies and Streaming
America’s Truth: Cincinnati available 6/14/22 (Center For Community Resilience)
Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses ‘White Fragility’
“How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” (Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools)
Korean American Community Foundation’s webinar, Anti-Asian Racism & Violence: Then and Now
Race Matters: America in Crisis (PBS)
Kanopy
White Like Me: Race, Racism, and White Privilege in America
The Civil Rights Movement: Post-Civil War Reconstruction Through the Revolutionary 1960s
Martin Luther King, Jr. We Shall Overcome
Healing From Hate: Battling for the Soul of a Nation
In Whose Honor? American Indian Mascots in Sports
Early Civil Rights: Washington or Du Bois?
What’s Race Got to Do With It?
Websites/Articles
Anti-Racism Resources (Shriver Center on Poverty law)
Confronting Prejudice: How to Protect Yourself and Help Others (Pepperdine)
Disparities in Health and Health Care: 5 Key Questions and Answers (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Guidance for Reporting and Writing About Racism (Syracuse University)
Hate Speech and Hate Crime (American Library Association)
Health Disparities (Medline Plus)
Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups (CDC)
History of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States (The Skimm)
Learn about hate crimes (US Dept of Justice)
Racial Bias Test (Harvard University)
Racial Equity: 12 Key Words & Phrases to Know and Understand in the Movement (Global Citizen)
Talking About Race with Children (National Museum of African American History & Culture)
What is a Hate Crime? (Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes)
Who Gets to Be Afraid In America? (The Atlantic)
