Diversity Committee Activities
Meetings
Regular meetings of the Diversity Committee
are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 1:30pm, and
additionally as needed.
Diversity Internship Program
The Oberlin College Library has just been awarded
a National Leadership Grant from the Institute
for Museum and Library Services. This will be a two-year
project to establish a program for recruiting students into
the library profession by offering undergraduate fellowships
and graduate internships in combination with mentoring by
library staff and work experience in the college library.
The Diversity Committee worked with other Library staff and
with other campus offices in designing the program and writing
the proposal, and will continue to work on the project as
it comes to fruition. Committee members will serve as the
review committee for applications and will work with other
Library staff in continuing further design of the program
and in mentoring of the interns. The first interns will be
recruited in the Fall of 2000 and will begin project work
in 2001.
Participation at Conferences
ALA
Diversity Fair, 1998
Portion
of site including description of Oberlin presentation
Challenge
to Change Conference, October, 1998
Summary
of Oberlin presentation
Diversity
Now Conference, April, 2000
Portion
of site including description of paper presented by Haipeng
Li
ALA
Diversity Fair, 2000
Workshops & Discussions
May, 1996--Workshop
Title: "Diversity in Libraries"
Guest speaker and facilitator: Kriza Jennings, Program Officer
for Diversity and Minority Recruitment, Office of Management
Services, Association of Research Libraries.
August 20, 1998--Workshop
Title: "Creating and Maintaining a Diverse Student Workforce"
Guest speaker: Mark Winston, Professor of Library and Information
Sciences, Rutgers University
Staff speakers: David Bower, Conservatory Circulation Supervisor,
Cecilia Robinson, Government Document Assistant, Jiann Lin,
East Asian Specialist, and Julie Ramos-Weir, Main Library
Reserve Supervisor.
Pictures
April 6, 2000--Discussion Sessions, Mudd 202,
10:30am & 2pm
Title: "A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind: Creating a Bias-Free
Environment"
Presenter: Kathy Abromeit, Conservatory Public Services Librarian
Description: Our culture's idealization of slenderness results
in personal and cultural biases against people of size, and
causes discrimination against those who are larger than average.
In this discussion, we will examine what we can do to help
create a bias-free environment. Topics to be covered include:
behavior assessment where we look at our own fattist assumptions
and attitudes; groovy URLs; and how to create the friendliest
library possible.
Handouts
Fall, 2000--Public Services Diversity Workshop
In response to a College diversity workshop in the Spring,
a task force has been formed in the library to coordinate
a diversity workshop on providing best public services to
our community.
Fall, 2000--"Knowing Our Students More" Series
A series of talks by campus administrators will be coordinated
to discuss different aspects of students' life, including
demographic changes, religion, and culture.
Brown Bag Series
October 7, 1999--Brown Bag, Mudd Staff Lounge,
Noon
Jennifer Schreiner, Science Library Supervisor, presented
her and her husband's trip to Cambodia in January '99 to adopt
their son. The focus was on life in Phnom Penh and at the
Chom Chau Orphanage through the eyes of a novice traveler
and first time parent.
November 18, 1999--Brown Bag, Mudd Staff Lounge,
Noon
Megan Mitchell, Reference Librarian, spoke about her recent
trip to Portugal. She shared her impressions and experience
of the Portuguese culture, language, cuisine, and history.
January 27, 2000--Brown Bag, Mudd Staff Lounge,
Noon
Peggi Ignagni, Circulation Supervisor, shared her recent experience
visiting the site of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany;
she toured the museum, camp and various religious temples.
She showed photos of the remains of the camp and some memorials.
April 28, 2000--Brown Bag, Mudd Staff Lounge,
Noon
Title: "Exploring Diversity: Avoiding Assumptions and Facing
Fears"
Presenter: Harry Pepper, Psychologist, Oberlin College Counseling
Center
Description: All of us have likely been exposed on numerous
occasions to the importance of issues of diversity. Regardless
of the number of workshops, presentations, training sessions,
and discussions etc. we have attended we still find ourselves
(often unintentionally) making assumptions about other people
without realizing it. This interactive discussion will present
ways in which our assumptions impact on our relationships
with people who are different from ourselves. We will explore
our common fears related to diversity issues, offer one other
new challenges to gain awareness of our assumptions, and support
each other in our efforts to continue to face our fears.
May 11, 2000--Brown Bag, Mudd Staff Lounge,
Noon
Title: "Rediscovering South America."
Mike Haverstack, a journalist for over 25 years, and currently
the Secretary of the Friends of the Oberlin College Library,
talked about cultural diversity, as exemplified by the peoples
of the five nations he recently visited (Brazil, Uruguay,
Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile). He shared some of the photos
of his trip and led the group in singing a Brazilian folk
song.
July 19, 2000--Diversity Meal Celebration, Mudd
Staff Lounge, Noon
Diversity Committee members will brought samples of cuisine
from diverse cultures, each labeled with information about
the cultural implications and meanings behind them.
Menu
and Pictures
