CARL has prioritized advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research libraries and enabling research libraries’ work toward reconciliation, Indigenization, and decolonization (framed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action), as important areas for capacity building within its member institutions over the coming years.
CARL hired its first Visiting Program Officer for EDI and formed an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group (EDIWG) in the summer of 2019 to shape CARL’s EDI-related initiatives and communications and support the planning and delivery of activities in the following areas:
- Recruitment: How can CARL support expanding the pool of individuals from diverse backgrounds entering the profession?
- Retention: How can CARL libraries create welcoming environments to support ongoing retention of staff from diverse backgrounds?
- Staff Learning: Can CARL facilitate educational opportunities to better prepare staff to support a diverse workforce and a diverse student population?
- Services and Spaces: What are successful practices for creating welcoming and inclusive services and spaces in research libraries?
To date EDIWG initiatives include:
- Foundational work including developing CARL Definitions of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Rules of Engagement for the working group, and an environmental scan of CARL and non-CARL libraries’ diversity plans.
- Publishing Strategies and Practices for Hiring and Retaining Diverse Talent.
- Reviewing and advising on a number of CARL projects, including but not limited to the CARL Code of Conduct and the Competencies for Librarians in Canadian Research Libraries.
- Organizing a series of webinars on inclusion perspectives (recordings available here)
- Advising CARL on a national diversity and inclusion study of, and for, its members.
In March 2021, CARL partnered with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) – an external organization specializing in promoting diversity and inclusion in Canada – to conduct a diversity and inclusion study of, and for, its members. More information on CARL’s Diversity and Inclusion Study
