Statement on Diversity

ARLIS/NA is dedicated to cultivating a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and just professional community free from all forms of harassment. Within the communities we serve and our profession we understand that every person is a complex individual with multiple overlapping identities. ARLIS/NA recognizes the value of each individual based on unique characteristics which may include commonly acknowledged measures of diversity such as ethnicity, race, gender, age, class, veteran status, sexual orientation, (dis)abilities, and religion. Beyond respecting diversity, we recognize that inequity can accompany diversity and we are committed to a culture of transparency, openness, and accountability in order to identify and remedy barriers to inclusion and engagement within the society. We see diversity as a transformative force, and recognize the power of professional organizations to drive collective efforts to transform the field.

In living our values, the following strategies help us to continually reaffirm our commitment to diversity:

• Foreground the historic power imbalances embedded into library culture and memory institutions more broadly, and specifically how that affects the institutions and members represented within our society.
• Acknowledge and utilize the society’s power and privilege within a profession largely made up of white, straight, and cisgender voices, and actively devote time, effort, and resources to minimizing complicity.
• Work to make the society’s culture one of inclusion and belonging through developing policies and practices that address issues of inequity, underrepresentation, and marginalization within the profession.
• Support all members of our respective communities in reaching their full potential by striving for equitable access to education, training, resources, collections, services, and outreach.
• Take every opportunity to materialize and articulate our values with actions, within and outside the organization.