Black Lives Matter - Evanston Public Library

To the Evanston Community:

The Evanston Public Library stands in solidarity with our Black community members. We grieve the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. We condemn this brutal injustice, one of far too many killings that have preceded it, including those of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. We stand for racial equity and social justice for all. We hurt with our community.

As rage sweeps across the country, we recognize that white people, privileged simply by the color of their skin, have an important role to play in creating a just and equitable society for everyone. Some of us are already active in this fight for racial justice. Others have just begun. Some have not yet started. We must all fight against racism. The time to act is now.

We offer this list: Anti Racism Resources and Reads: Lists for All Ages. (https://www.epl.org/antiracist-resources-and-reads-lists-for-all-ages/) It recommends books, articles, videos and podcasts on anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice. We hope these resources will help community members educate themselves further, and inspire us all to take actions for the greater good.

We commit to pursuing racial equity in our daily work, policies, and everything we do. We offer mandatory equity training on a regular basis to all of our staff members — 88% of our staff say that this training has improved their understanding of racial equity and has made it easier for them to engage in conversations around race. 68% of staff say they have used these new understandings to conduct the work of the library.

Read our Commitment to Racial Equity. We are steadily working to meet the recommendations of the 2018 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Needs Assessment conducted by a third-party on our behalf.