Allyship, Anti-Oppression Practices, and Building Inclusive Libraries

June 5 - July 2, 2023 | Four-week course

Witnessing acts of oppression can be a jarring experience. Bystanders are often horrified by the behavior, but become paralyzed with shock or aren’t sure how to intervene without causing more harm. The inability to respond in these incidents can be combated by equipping yourself with the tools and skills to be an effective ally. Allies can have a significant impact on making libraries the equitable and inclusive spaces we aspire for them to be.

This Allyship course will educate you on how to support members of marginalized groups with everyday actions in a range of scenarios and offer guidance on working to dismantle systemic oppression. We know that the library profession is overwhelmingly white. Recruiting and retaining diverse voices is a step in the right direction, but it is important that libraries do not place the brunt of the diversity and inclusion work on the shoulders of these underrepresented voices. Even members of marginalized communities may not have the skills needed to react in the moment or don’t feel empowered to fightback against oppression.

By the end of the course, students will:

• Identify and acknowledge your positionality in relation to marginalized groups
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role and responsibilities of allies
• Gain confidence in taking action as an ally through education and discussion

This course can be taken as one of four courses needed to earn our Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion Skills, but can be taken as a stand-alone course as well.

Instructor, CJ Ivory, is Assistant Professor and Instruction Librarian at the University of West Georgia where she teaches a credit-bearing course on Information Literacy & Research. In this semester-long course she connects social justices issues to information literacy concepts. Prior to this position, CJ served as Business Librarian at the University of Central Florida and Reference Librarian at Valencia College. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Central Florida and Master of Library & Information Science from Florida State University. Her research interests include open pedagogy, critical information literacy, and social justice education.

CALL Training Partner for this Event: Library Juice Academy