Inspired by the excellent work of the MIT Libraries, I recently advocated for, and was successful in creating, a Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Working Group at the Vassar College Libraries. I co-chair this group along with my colleague, Rachel Finn, and our membership represents a cross-section of library departments, and includes a mix of managers, administrators, and unionized staff. Though our work is currently in the beginning stages, I am interested in developing a presentation for NASIG that looks specifically at ways in which values of social justice can be integrated into the day-to-day work of technical services. Frequently, social justice initiatives are thought of as activities belonging to outreach staff, or more public-facing staff; such initiatives exist alongside the daily work of librarianship rather than being fully integrated within it. I think there are opportunities for this work to happen within the technical services sphere, but it requires taking a hard look at existing workflows and staff capacity. Much of technical services work is built around the idea of "efficiencies," but what are we sacrificing in the name of efficiency? In the name of conveniences? In the zine librarian community (in which I am active) we have standards surrounding the idea of ethical acquisitions--what would that look like if it were to be developed for technical services more broadly? In the area of collections, how could we enhance diversity and inclusion by backing out of the big deal and/or approval plans? What would the impact on technical services departments be and how would be absorb that work? In the area of vendor performance, are we ready to sever ties with corporations that aren't centering social justice in their own work? Again, this work at Vassar is only in the early stages; however, this is a moment when Vassar College as a whole is looking very seriously at transforming the academic and residential life of our community through the work of the Engaged Pluralism Initiative. My hope is that we will be able to build on this momentum and contribute to positive changes in campus climate. I would like the opportunity to speak about our process, enumerate our short-term goals, and talk more about our aspirations for bringing real change to existing department workflows. Heidy Berthoud Head of Technical Services, Vassar College Acquisitions, cataloging, zines, and Russian studies. Frequent lurker on #critlib, #mashcat, and #radlib. Cat enthusiast. Rachel Finn Social Sciences Librarian, Vassar College

1. Bringing social justice behind the
scenes:
transforming the work of technical services
Heidy Berthoud, Head of Technical Services, Vassar College Library
Rachel Finn, Social Sciences Librarian, Vassar College Library

2. As all of us who work in libraries know, each choice we make for something is a choice against some
other thing. We have to make decisions about resources. That is our job….Each of our nuanced and
careful choices comes at the necessary, material, bounded cost of a whole range of other choices
[we] do not make. We buy one book to the exclusion of probably thousands of others….And in the
process we build our libraries as one kind of world, one that can never encompass the possibilities of
how we might organize ourselves in social, cultural, political, and critically, material space.
from “Are libraries neutral?” by Emily Drabinski

3. We don’t see things as they are,
we see them as we are.
Anaïs Nin

4. DISJ working group
at Vassar

5. The DISJ Working Group will be charged with creating a report that
enumerates existing efforts and new opportunities to manifest the values of
diversity, inclusion, and social justice. During the course of their work, the
group will review relevant professional literature, familiarize themselves with
EPI planning documents, and hold feedback forums and facilitated
discussions with the library team.
from Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (DISJ) Working Group charge

6. social justice
A commitment to recognizing,
addressing, and correcting systemic
power imbalances that privilege one
group at the expense of another. It
is based on the premise that all
people are of equal and
incalculable value.
from “Creating a social justice mindset,” p.8

7. social justice
(as engaged pluralism)
Viewing all manner of social
differences as essential
components of a strong community,
rather than as challenges to be
overcome. This means
reconsidering how we listen, learn,
and provide proactive support for
our community--especially for those
members who are most vulnerable
or who come from historically
underserved groups.
from “What is Engaged Pluralism?”

8. three point
approach
1. redo mission statement and
strategic aims to foreground
DISJ values
2. conduct internal assessment of
library climate
3. promote the creation of
inclusive spaces within the
library

9. social justice
behind the scenes

11. acquisitions

12. acquisitions
● use ethical acquisitions
principles
● research alternate vendors
● be transparent about budget
constraints
● educate and advocate

13. discovery

14. find the “real”
subject
heading!
ableism
gender identity
pansexual
sizeism
white privilege

15. agender cisgender demigender
genderfluid gendermagical
gender neutral genderpunk
genderqueer neutrois nonbinary
pangender transgender

16. discovery
● add keyword rich summaries
that reflect the language of
your students
● use an alternate thesaurus
● create local subject/genre
headings when LCSH falls
short
● educate students on subject
bias and get feedback

17. decolonizing
collections

18. Can we arrive at theory
that guides and
decolonizes collection
development praxis?

19. the truth about
libraries
● fundamentally, libraries have
never been for everyone
● libraries aren’t neutral
● libraries were and continue to
be organized around the notion
of creating/maintaining an
informed citizenry

20. the truth about
librarians
● the profession is predominately
white and middle class
● librarians are not neutral
● librarians, archivists, etc. all
perpetuate inequality and help
maintain hegemonic structures
without a critical approach

21. “When we look into the collections, the actual ‘information’ contained in
libraries and how it is organized, we can see that it (surely by accident)
somehow manages to construct a reality wherein whiteness is default, normal,
civilized and everything else is Other.”
-nina de jesus

22. “We significantly influence or control the selection, organization, preservation,
and dissemination of information. In a political system grounded in an
informed citizenry, we are members of a profession explicitly committed to
intellectual freedom and the freedom of access to information. We have a
special obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present
and future generations.”
- Code of Ethics of the American Library Association

23. the heart of the matter
“... [O]nes’ social situation enables and sets limits on what one can know; some
social situations--critically unexamined dominant ones--are more limiting than
others in this respect, and what makes these situation more limiting in their
inability to generate the most critical questions about received belief.”
-Sandra Harding

24. collection work:
how do we get
there from here?

25. Central Topic
womanism
Cultural
significance
of hair and
beauty
Black female
archetypes
Black women
artists
Misogynoir
Black
women
during
Black
Motherhood
Black women in
poverty
African
American
Women in the
United States

26. CONCENTRIC COLLECTING IN MULTIPLE
AREAS
African
American
Women
in...
Sciences
History
(by &
about)
Sociolog
y
Educatio
n
English
Art
History

27. conclusion
● libraries are not neutral
● you have a choice; you have
power
● small changes can make a big
impact
● focus on your patrons

28. conclusion
● libraries are not neutral
● librarians are not neutral
● a commitment to unlearning
hegemonic principles is the first
step to decolonizing collection
work

29. heberthoud@vassar.edu
@heidylibrarian
rfinn@vassar.edu
@gastrolibrarian

30. Sources consulted
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31. Sources consulted
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32. Sources consulted
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33. Sources consulted
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