Publishers of Color

YEAR OF LEARNING

Our Year of Learning starts NOW! I hope you take advantage of the monthly opportunities to learn, interact, and take action, that lead up to the ULA 2022 Annual Conference. Explore the Year of Learning Hub to familiarize yourself with the year long “United in Diversity | Unida en la Diversidad” curriculum.

Library equity partners, the Utah Library Association and Utah State Library, will focus on prioritizing publishers of color during the month of June. This topic is relevant to all of our association section members: Academic, Special, Public, and School. Our first workshop starts on Tuesday, May 25th. Mykie Valenzuela (They/She) will present “Not Just Diverse but Inclusive: Prioritizing Publishers of Color.” Commit to becoming a focused leader of change–register for the diversity workshops and meetup now. I am excited to learn more about Publishers of Color and improve my professional skills and abilities. See you soon!

Rita Christensen (She/Her/Hers)
ULA President, 2021-2022

JUNE 2021: PUBLISHERS OF COLOR

LEARN Workshop: Not Just Diverse but Inclusive – Mykie Valenzuela – Tuesday, May 25, 2021 – 10:00 a.m. This workshop will walk you through the steps of finding publishers of color to order from and support. The purpose of this workshop is to present methods as well as discuss the importance of bringing Publishers of Color to the forefront. The publishers we’ll focus on will range from academic titles, art books, novels, and even children’s books, but the methods can be used for a variety of genres. [Register Now]

LEARN Bonus Workshop: The Library as a Sanctuary – Karen Liu – Thursday, June 3, 2021 – 10:00 a.m. What is “belonging” and how can we be more welcoming and inclusive in our libraries? Let’s test “book cover bias,” examine types of library spaces we can cultivate (safe, creative, innovative), and discover ways to incorporate more diverse books and stories into our collections and displays, in order to promote a greater sense of “belonging” among our student populations. [Register Now]

DISCUSS Zoom Meetup: Prioritizing Publishers of Color – Karen Liu – Thursday, June 24, 2021 – 12:00 p.m. At this first meetup, we’ll be discussing how librarians and library staff can support publishers of color. What hurdles try to stop you from prioritizing publishers of color? How can we move past these challenges? [Register Now]

TAKE ACTION: Look Beyond the “Big 5” – Challenge: This month, make a choice to expand your usual collection development and purchasing procedures to include BIPOC publishers. Post publishers of interest in the Slack #edi discussion. Bonus Challenge: Check your library for the publishers in the lists below. Did you discover holes in your collection’s representation? Share your findings on Slack. Diversity Resources: Access Libguide. Diverse Books: Acces BookFinder. [Read More]