CARL’s Equity Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group has launched a series of monthly features to highlight the work and contributions of Indigenous, Black and racialized library colleagues, those with disabilities, and those of marginalized or minority genders, sexual identities, religious and cultural groups.
If you are interested in being featured or nominating someone for this series, please submit your initiative using our online form (you can view the list of questions in advance here). Expressions of interest are encouraged on an ongoing basis. Research or work highlighted can be in any field, and does not need to focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, or other related areas.
November 2023 - Saran Croos
Saran Croos (he/him)Engineering & Computer Science Librarian
University of New Brunswick Libraries
https://guides.lib.unb.ca/profile/scroosSaran Croos joined UNB Libraries in 2013. Before he received his library degree from Western University (2013), he was trained as a tool and die maker and worked as a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist at Lee Valley Tools in Ottawa. Saran also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Queen’s University.Drawing on his background working in the manufacturing industry, Saran launched a tool lending program in 2015 in response to student feedback for hand tools for usage in personal and academic DIY projects. The tool library is based in the Engineering & Computer Science Library and has received $3500 in funding to date from the UNB Engineering Program Fund (EPF). The tool lending program has been very successful with students from all disciplines and helps support innovation, sustainability and maker initiatives on campus.
October 2023 - Allan Cho
Allan Cho (he/him)Community Engagement Librarian, University of British Columbia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5686-4930
https://www.allancho.com/Allan Cho is the Community Engagement Librarian at UBC Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Allan’s role includes supporting ongoing community initiatives and leading new ones (focusing on community engagement with historically underrepresented groups), acting as subject liaison librarian for Library, Archives, and Information Studies (LAIS), and managing the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Scholars-in-Residence program with the support of the Peña Family Foundation. Allan has a Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS), History (MA), and Education (MET) from UBC. An academic librarian for more than 15 years, Allan’s previous professional experience includes Research Commons Librarian and Digital Humanities liaison librarian. Allan’s research interests are EDI in libraries, Asian Canadian history, literature, and culture. Outside of work, he volunteers his time for several anti-racism and solidarity building community organizations. Allan is Co-Chair of the Visible Minority Librarians Network of Canada (ViMLoC) and the recipient of the 2021 Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS) Recognition Award.Allan is currently working on three research projects:
- “Retention of Racialized Academic Librarians in the U.S. and Canada” with Silvia Vong (Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries) and Elaina Norlin (Association of Southeastern Research Libraries). The purpose of this study is to identify organizational barriers that may impact the retention of racialized academic librarians in predominantly white institutions such as colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. The study focuses on structures in the library organization that may impact the experiences of racialized or BIPOC librarians.
- ViMLoC National Survey Redux. The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Network conducted a comprehensive survey on visible minority librarians in 2013. As part of this current project, Allan and the research team (Maha Kumaran, Yanli Li, David Michael Miller, Valentina Ly, and Suzanne Fernando) conducted this survey again in 2021 to examine the changes in the library landscape regarding visible minority librarians in various librarian positions, including leadership. The project is currently analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data to identify visible minority librarians’ needs and propose projects to empower them in their current positions and their future career development, such as mentorship programming, leadership training, and networking opportunities.
- The Curious Case of the Asian Male Librarian. This project examines the professional and personal lives of an extremely small subset of librarians: those who self-identify as Asian and male. Using the counter-story as an approach to deconstructing the power dynamics of the intersectionality of gender, race, sexuality, and class, this project explores the stories, experiences, narratives, and truths of this precarious community of librarians that is often concealed within the dominant discourse’s majoritarian narratives.
In addition to being an academic librarian, Allan also dabbles in creative fiction and poetry. As the Executive Director of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW), he volunteers as Festival Director of the LiterASIAN Festival, the first Asian North American literary festival, and Editor of Ricepaper Magazine, one of the longest running BIPOC literary magazines in the publishing world.
September 2023 - Karim Tharani
Karim Tharani (he/his)Associate Dean, Research and Collections, University of Saskatchewan
https://library.usask.ca/people/karim-tharani.phpKarim Tharani’s research focuses on user-centric ways of utilizing information technology to foster knowledge equity for non-Western and marginalized knowledge traditions and materials. He engages in community-based research to develop technology solutions to address the unique needs of ethnocultural communities for accessing and preserving traditional knowledge and to support digital pedagogy and scholarship.
Over the years, he has worked closely with the Ismaili community to preserve its oral tradition of Ginans, which is a corpus of devotional and gnostic hymn-like poems. As part of this community-based research project, he was able to gather over eight thousand audio recordings in addition to numerous textual materials. Ginan Central, an online portal, was formally launched at the University Library with the purpose to identify, implement, and showcase best practices of digital curation to share and safeguard oral knowledge respectfully and responsibly. This portal has brought together academics and community educators to work as partners for a common cause of safeguarding at-risk and marginalized knowledge materials.Recognizing that modern scholarship and library practices reflect colonial worldviews, the University of Saskatchewan Library is committed to being an open and inclusive environment that respects and promotes knowledge traditions of diverse communities and worldviews. Ginan Central extends this commitment to the living tradition of Ginans that continues to be revered by the immigrant Ismaili communities of South Asian origin living in diasporas in North America and Europe.Ginan Central began as a research project in 2011 at the University of Saskatchewan Library with the goal to digitally preserve the Ginans of the Ismaili community, specifically the manner in which members of the community engage with and interpret the tradition in their contemporary contexts. In this regard, it serves primarily as a digital archive of Ginanic literature for the community members globally, especially younger members, to learn, understand, and engage with the Ginans.Ginan Central is now a global resource, not only for the community but also for academics, and attracts patrons from around the world. Using Ginans as a case study, Karim continues to explore, develop, and apply best practices for libraries to provide equal footing to marginalized knowledge traditions and materials. Using digital Ginan resources available through Ginan Central, he also designed and prototyped an online Ginan learning tool to incorporate contemporary online language-learning strategies with traditional transmission and teaching of the Ginans.
August 2023 - Ashley Edwards
Indigenous Initiatives and Instruction Librarian, Simon Fraser University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0631-3107Ashley Edwards is a Métis, Scottish, and Dutch librarian. Her Métis heritage comes from the Red River settlements of Manitoba, where her ancestors were given scrip in the historic Métis community of St. Francis Xavier; she is a citizen of Métis Nation BC. Ashley has a Library Technician diploma and BA in Adult Education from the University of the Fraser Valley, and a Master’s in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta.
Ashley developed the Indigenous Curriculum Resource Centre (ICRC) to support educators who are interested in decolonizing their teaching practices, but are often unsure how to start.
The ICRC is a response to the final report of SFU’s Aboriginal Reconciliation Council, released in 2018. Within the report are 34 Calls to Action for the SFU community to engage in, as a response to the TRC Calls to Action.
The development of the ICRC supports the expressed need and understanding of the importance for educators to decolonize and Indigenize their work.
The ICRC is also a site of decolonizing library practices, specifically classification, as the collection is classified using a locally modified Brian Deer Classification System. This system brings an Indigenous understanding of the world to how knowledge is organized and how topics are related. The classification system is already being used in two additional collections and Indigenous communities are excited by the possibilities the space and resources offer for education.
The library is also finding ways to include orality into the ICRC, in recognition that not all knowledge is found within books, such as the Salish Weave Box Sets: Art and Storytelling project. Through her work and research, Ashley examines decolonizing education, the concept of literature, and Indigenous information literacy.
