Facilitating for Diversity and Inclusion

“I’m grateful to the DLF for taking their mission of inclusion seriously.”—Stacie Williams

“I love the inclusive, expansive, thoughtful, and community-oriented leadership [of the DLF].”—Chris Bourg

Service to social justice and the public good is front-and-center in DLF’s mission statement. This is an impossible goal without thoughtful, conscious, welcoming, and dedicated efforts among all our working and interest groups, as well as by the committees that collaborate to put on our annual DLF Forum.

Below, you’ll find some recommended readings and toolkits for pushing against structural racism, systemic gender bias, able-ism, and other forms of oppression and exclusion that are endemic in librarianship and technology fields. We welcome your advice to colleagues and additions to this list!

• Social Inclusion Audit and Toolkit

• Geek Feminism Wiki

• Code4Lib Journal Special Issue on Diversity in Library Technology

• Diversity & Consensus - Training for Change

• DLF Forum Guide to Creating Accessible Presentations

DLF has also underwritten formal Ally Skills training courses at two recent Forums, most recently in Milwaukee, 2016 with Bess Sadler and Mark Bussey. Interested in having this opportunity available at a future DLF Forum or in helping us to fund opportunities like this? Let us know.

• 2016 DLF Ally Skills Workshop
• Video: Ally Skills Workshop taught at Wikimedia Foundation - Valerie Aurora of Ada Initiative

In 2016, DLF staff and members of our newly-established DLF Forum Planning Committee on Inclusivity worked together to revise our Code of Conduct, which had been in place since 2012. The DLF CoC now covers activities happening under the Digital Library Federation umbrella, both in person and online, year-round. All group facilitators are asked to read this document, share with their communities, and contact us with questions or suggestions.

• Revised DLF Code of Conduct
• Blog post: “Behind the scenes: making the Forum as welcoming and accessible as possible”

Table of Contents

1. About DLF and the Organizers' Toolkit
2. Working with Team DLF
3. General Facilitation and Goal-Setting
4. Facilitating for Diversity and Inclusion
5. Preventing and Managing Burnout
6. Gathering Info/Building Enthusiasm
7. Planning an In-Person Meetup
8. Setting Up Year-Round Meetings
9. Talking and Writing
10. Organizing and Sharing Your Work