Diversity Committee Annual Report 2018

submitted by Joy M. Doan, Chair

Current Roster

  • Joy M. Doan, Chair (2020)
  • Randye L. Jones (2019)
  • Vincent H. Pelote (2019)
  • Patrick Sifuentes (2019)
  • Wendy Sistrunk (2019)
  • Misti Shaw (2021)
  • Winston Barham (2022)
  • Callie Holmes (2022)
  • Terra L. Merkey (2022)
  • Z. Sylvia Yang (2022)
  • Sara D. Outhier (2022)
  • Mallory Sajewski, Ex-officio

List of Previous Goals and Progress Made

  • At the 2017 Annual meeting (Orlando, FL) the Diversity Committee discussed and agreed to writing three (3) columns per year in the MLA Newsletter.
    • To date, two columns have been contributed; member Patrick Sifuentes wrote “MLA Diversity in Action: Adaptability, You’re Already Doing It” for the July-August 2017 newsletter. Ricky Caboverde (FY 2017 – 2018 MLA Diversity Scholarship recipient) wrote “MLA Diversity Scholar: Spotlight” for the November – December 2017 newsletter.
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Organizational Excellence, Objective 2” and “Goal Area: Membership, Objective 1”.
  • The Diversity Committee and the Public Services Committee jointly sponsored and presented a panel townhall session for the 2018 MLA Annual Meeting entitled, “Diversity & Inclusion through the Lens of Critical Librarianship”. We thank the Programming Committee, as well as the MLA Board for their support of this session as a free-streaming session during the conference.
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Advocacy, Objective 3” and “Goal Area: Value of Profession, Goal Statement, Objective 2”.
  • In its April 2017 Report to the Board, the Diversity Committee asked that personal pronouns and photography permissions be addressed as part of the registration for Annual Meetings. We again thank the Board for their support of these initiatives.
    • For the 2018 Annual Meeting (Portland, OR) attendees selected their personal pronouns and received ribbons that indicated their choices as part of registration. Photography permission signage at MLA’s 2018 Annual Meeting was posted outside of rooms where photography and/or webcasts would occur.
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Advocacy, Goal Statement, Objective 2.”
  • In conjunction with MLA’s Placement Officer (Sara Outhier), the Diversity Committee will present a plenary entitled, “Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforc —Considerations for MLA” at the 2019 Annual Meeting (St. Louis, MO). 
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Organizational Excellence, Objective 2”, “Goal Area: Value of the Profession, Goal Statement, Objective 3”, “Goal Area: Membership, Goal Statement and Objective 1”, “Goal Area: Technology, Goal Statement” and “Goal Area: Education, Goal Statement, Objective 2”.
  • The Diversity Committee will be (co)sponsoring several sessions for MLA’s Annual Meeting 2019 (St. Louis, MO), including “Minimizing Microagression: How to Identify, Mitigate and Prevent Negative Bias” with the Education Committee, “Box Seats to the World: A Global View of the Diversity of Musical Theatre” with the Musical Theater Interest Group, and the Post Conference “Wikipedia Edit-a-thon” with the Emerging Technologies and Services Committee. 
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Advocacy, Objective 5”, “Goal Area: Technology, Goal Statement” and “Goal Area: Education, Goal Statement, Objective 2”.

List of Future Goals

  • Preparation for the Diversity Committee and MLA Placement Officer’s plenary session for the upcoming Annual Meeting (St. Louis, MO), the Committee will confirm its speakers and solidify the panel’s discussion outline.
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Organizational Excellence, Objective 2”, “Goal Area: Value of the Profession, Goal Statement, Objective 3”, “Goal Area: Membership, Goal Statement and Objective 1”, “Goal Area: Technology, Goal Statement” and “Goal Area: Education, Goal Statement, Objective 2”.
  • The Diversity Committee Chair (Joy M. Doan) will work with the Advocacy Committee’s Chair (Linda B. Fairtile) and MLA Member Vaughan Hennen on a proposal to the MLA Board for a Public Policies Committee or Group.
    • This aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Advocacy, Goal Statement, Objective 4” and “Goal Area: Membership, Objective 2”.
  • The Diversity Committee Chair (Joy M. Doan) will work with the Scholarship Committee Chair (Patrick Sifuentes), Editor of the MLA Newsletter (Michelle Hahn) and the FY 2018 – 2019 scholarship recipient to compose a ‘Diversity Column Spotlight’ on this FY’s recipient. 
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Organizational Excellence, Objective 2” and “Goal Area: Membership, Objective 1”.
  • To ensure more evenly distributed membership rotations, the Diversity Committee will continue its plan to recruit one to two new members per FY. 
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Membership: Goal Statement.”
  • The Diversity Committee Chair (Joy M. Doan) will work the MLA Placement Officer (Sara Outhier) and the Editor of the MLA Newsletter (Michelle Hahn) on a ‘Diversity Column’ to reflect and highlight the Committee’s (and the MLA Placement Officer’s) plenary session from the 2019 Annual Meeting (St. Louis, MO). 
    • This goal aligns to MLA Strategic Plan “Goal Area: Organizational Excellence, Objective 2” and “Goal Area: Membership, Objective 1”.
  • Goals for Q4 (April – June 2019) will be determined at the 2019 Annual Meeting (St. Louis, MO).