Creating a Diversi-TEAM at #alaac23
2023/6/24 点击数：203
[作者] Jaime Eastman
[单位] the Harrington Library
[摘要] No matter the size of your library or your community，diversity is an important part of our experiences.This session was presented by Joselyn Williams and Chris Robinson.Their key idea:No one should be made to feel less than，unwelcomed，or judged.No characteristic or trait should outweigh your worth as a person.Examples included gender，race，ethnicity，age，cultural background，religion，political views，native language，sexual orientation，disabilities，education，and more.
[关键词] #alaac23 belonging diversity diversity and inclusion Inclusion
No matter the size of your library or your community，diversity is an important part of our experiences.This session was presented by Joselyn Williams and Chris Robinson.Their key idea:No one should be made to feel less than，unwelcomed，or judged.No characteristic or trait should outweigh your worth as a person.Examples included gender，race，ethnicity，age，cultural background，religion，political views，native language，sexual orientation，disabilities，education，and more.
The Diversi-TEAM concept combines two elements:diversity and team.In this case，TEAM stands for Through Education Achieve More.This underscores the importance of education in addressing problems with insensitivity and microaggressions.Often，we aren’t aware of our microaggressions.The first step:being aware of our biases and understanding what counts as a microaggression.
As an individual and as a leader，you can be the first example.By doing the hard work to recognize your biases and leaning into doing better，others around you are more likely to do the same.The concept of intercultural development can help you learn where you are on the continuum and identify next steps.
This session also included a breakout session in which each participant received a label.This label was visible to others，but not the person wearing it.Then，participants interacted with each other nonverbally to see how others responded to that label.This generated important conversation to think about:
What makes you feel seen or unseen?
How did seeing how others interacted with labels make you feel?We all have a choice to be upstanders for others when we observe microaggressions in action.
What can you do to change your nonverbal communication to improve your inclusion?
What assumptions do we make about other people based on their labels，even without knowing them as people?
What nonverbal(and verbal)cues can you use to help others know that you see them and accept them as they are?How do we help others see that we might see them in a way different than they expect from their labels.
This session included a lot of honest conversation about things triggered by labels and microaggressions.Hopefully this will be the first of many important conversations here at conference and beyond!
Today’s guest contributor is Jaime Eastman(she/her/hers).Jaime is a senior Public Services Librarian and Family Place Coordinator at the Harrington Library，one of the Plano(Texas)Public Library locations.She’s currently serving as a member of the ALSC Board of Directors.This will be her second Annual Conference.She is looking forward to many things，including finalizing the strategic plan with the rest of the Board，seeing great educational sessions sponsored by ALSC，and connecting with members both in person and through the blog.Jaime is currently working on at least two ambitious cross stitch projects，dreaming of future travel plans，and reading far too many books at once.As a child，she wanted to grow up to be an author.Writing for the blog and publishing with Children and Libraries feel like a good start，and she regrets nothing about her adult decision to be a librarian doing storytimes who didn’t have to grow up too much.
Please note that as a guest post，the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.