Hi everyone! I'm feeling a little under the weather so I'll be late to the conference but here's my report:
IDEA has done SO MUCH this year!
- We've launched the mini DEI guide series of handouts designed to help build competency in key areas of campus life.
- We hosted a workshop on advocacy
- We surveyed SUNY libraries and got a sense of our strengths and areas of need related to DEI
- We had several spotlights and themed issues in the newsletter
We also have a ton in the works for the coming year
- We'll be launching a book club in the fall discussing Can't Even: how Millennials became the burnout generation by Anne Helen Peterson
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/cant-even-anne-helen-petersen?variant=41000353759266 - We'll continue the mini guides series, so feel free to email mcameron@mvcc.edu with topic suggestions
- We're working on putting together a rough calendar of annual DEI symposiums, conferences, and events across the state (like the TransAction conference at Cortland or the PRISM conference at Oneonta) so if you know of any that should be included please send links and info to mcameron@mvcc.edu
- We're in talks with the EIT accessibility committee to produce a series of fireside chat/ brown bag style videos on different accessibility measures that can be implemented in libraries, so let me know if there are any topics you're interested in hearing! We're already looking at libguide formatting for accessibility and supporting sensory regulation in the library.
- We are putting together a SUNYLA Discord server for a more informal space to cultivate mutual support in uncertain times. If you have experience administrating this kind of server please let me know so I can pick your brain.
Amidst all these fun resources we're developing, there are also some concerns to address. There have been reports of some library leadership on one of our campuses engaging in behavior that toes the line of outright censorship, especially relating to anything that can be considered politically controversial (re: religion and genocide). The committee has determined that it would be beneficial for SUNYLA to adopt a very clear definition of censorship so that we can prepare for drawing boundaries and supporting our members facing pushback from their institutions. Anyone interested in engaging in this conversation is invited to email me at mcameron@mvcc.edu, either with resources/thoughts you'd like to share or to express interest in being included in our next meeting regarding the topic.
As always, thank you all for your constant enthusiastic support. It means the world!
Hopefully I'll see you soon,
-Milo
