1. Issue a statement that explicitly recognizes historic racism in Evanston and commits the Library to social justice.
- EDI Staff Committee drafting statement to be considered by EPL Board and in consultation with Dr. Pat Efiom - City of Evanston’s Equity and Empowerment Coordinator. Please note: Dr. Efiom and the Equity Commission are drafting a statement on behalf of the City of Evanston.
2. Invest in cultural competence development for EPL leadership and staff.
- Approximately 80% of EPL staff have taken a combined 670 hours of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion training in 2018.
3. Develop a talent management plan that identifies goals for hiring, developing, and promoting people of color.
- Recruitment efforts expanded to place job notifications with ILA, American Library Association Black Caucus and REFORMA (Latinx Caucus.)
- Diverse staff enrolled in accredited MLIS programs and participating in tuition reimbursement.
4. Create a group focused on equity and race composed of Library staff and community members.
- Establishment of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Staff Committee
5. Create and use metrics to assess and adjust efforts in support of the Library’s EDI values.
- Staff are discussing metrics that can be tracked that reflect improvement over time.
6. Create an innovative approach to space and services in Fifth Ward.
- Presented library program highlights (Summer Reading Program and Tech Training) to Evanston Own It Ministers
- Engaging in conversations about library service in the Fifth ward with residents and business leaders during door to door visits; at Junior WildKits Awards Ceremony; small group conversation at First Slice.
- Continued discussions with groups seeking to redefine future of Family Focus building
- Installed electronic Pop-Up library at Fleetwood Jourdain Community Center
- An enhanced presence in the 5th Ward through partnerships with Y.O.U., Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Evanston Own It, Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, Family Focus, Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center, Freedom School, Teen Baby Nursery (IWSE), Home Daycare Provider Book Bag Delivery (4 daycare homes), EvanSTEM and Connections for the Homeless
7. Expand book collections that reflect the needs and interests of the Black and Latinx communities.
- Between 1/1/18 and 12/31/18, we tracked book purchases of Black authors and subject matter. The total number of purchased titles (not number of copies) is 447. This does not include Urban and Romance titles, which we will be tracking in the future.
- The 101 Great Books for Kids 2018 list (PDF here) was released in November of 2018. This list exemplifies the wide diversity and variety of children's literature published that year.
- To better meet the needs of our Spanish-speaking populations, two staff members will be placed in charge of our Spanish language collections. Mariana Priscilla Bojorquez, our Latino Outreach Librarian, will be purchasing Adult materials. She has already made a trip to the Guadalajara Book Fair in Mexico to find materials. Hilda Gonzalez, one of our children's specialists, will be selecting all juvenile titles.
- Betsy Bird created the webinar Developing Diverse Children's and YA Collections for LAIR. Currently you must be a member of LAIR to see the webinar. You can register at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8275158002665640205 and the program is listed on librarylearning.info.
- Betsy served on the library's inaugural EDI Committee and will continue to do so in the future.
- Finally, Betsy wrote a blog post about solving the problem of finding books by people with lived experience (a.k.a. #ownvoices). You may view the post here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/01/02/the-real-way-to-get-ownvoices-books -into-the-hands-of-readers-but-its-not-sexy/
8. Continue supporting culture-specific engagement specialists.
- Hired new Latino Engagement Librarian.
- Submitted grant proposal to fund additional support for culture-specific engagement work
9. Shift the focus of communications from the multitude of programs and services to engagement.
- In small group, partner meetings and one-on-one conversations throughout Evanston, residents and partners are being invited to co-create library services in the 5th ward, at Robert Crown and at all library locations.
10. Embed EDI into the Library’s ongoing communication strategy.
- Work of the Engagement team, marketing and Library Director focused upon deeper engagement with all Evanston residents especially the Black and Latinx community members.
- Produced a library card sign up campaign in English and Spanish; teams of multilingual volunteers deployed throughout Evanston to market the power of a library card and sign up new card holders immediately.
- Through social media channels market programs and services to specific groups based upon ethnicity.
- Reorganized service delivery in the main library to allow additional time for engagement by librarians throughout Evanston.
11. Work with other City agencies to advance Library and City EDI goals.
- Shared draft EDI Assessment with Evanston’s Equity Commission
- Dr. Pat Efiom, Evanston’s Equity and Empowerment Coordinator featured speaker at October All Staff Day
- Dr. Efiom presented small group workshops for staff on equity lens at main library during 4th Quarter
- Ground has broken on a new 6,000 sq ft. library to be located in the new Robert Crown Community Center, providing improved accessibility on the west side of Evanston. Open date: Late 2019
