Make sure to join the Diversity Committee on Wednesday, April 9, at 2 p.m., in Foster Auditorium (and on MediaSite Live) to hear colleagues from all across the University Libraries present on their diversity related projects and research at this year’s Diversity Colloquium.
Presenters: Billie Walker, John Meier, Binh Le, Mike Furlough, Rachel Smith and Mohammed Berray
Presentations are as follows:
Asian American Academic Library Leadership
Binh Le
Numerous factors (e.g., racism, sexism, and the glass ceiling) have been advanced to explain the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in leadership positions in various professions, including the library profession in the United States. This presentation discusses one of the causes of the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in academic library leadership. Specifically, it will examine how Asian American cultural traditions may have played a major role in this phenomenon.
Daniel Murray
Billie Walker
This presentation focuses on Daniel Murray, one of the first African-Americans to hold a professional position at the Library of Congress. In 1899, Murray compiled a collection of books and pamphlets by black authors for an exhibition of “Negro Authors” at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Murray published a preliminary list of titles in 1900. The titles became the core of the Library of Congress’s “Colored Authors’ Collection.” Although Murray planned to expand his collection and create an encyclopedia of African-American achievement, the project never received sufficient support to become a reality.
The Penn State Libraries Diversity Residency Program
Mike Furlough
This presentation will offer an overview of and observations on the Libraries Residency Program: how it came to be, what it aims to do, how it is running, and where the Libraries could take it.
Lightning Talks by current Diversity Residents, Rachel Smith and Mohamed Berray to follow.
2014 University Libraries’ Climate and Diversity Survey
John Meier
This presentation will focus on the preliminary results from the 2014 University Libraries’ Climate and Diversity Survey. With almost 250 responses from all campus locations, there are indicators of how far we have come from the 2007 survey and the challenges we still have for the future.