Join us for the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Fall Workshop as we ask the question: What's Next?

Explore the intentionality needed to create inclusive, equitable, and diverse spaces and staff in your Library. This workshop should help you take the next step towards putting your EDI training into action.

Workshop Schedule:

10:00 am: Welcome and CLA business by CLA EDI Section

10:15-11:30 am: Monica Figueroa and Kristan Shawgo University of North Carolina, The Reckoning Initiative
Building an antiracist library takes education, action, and reckoning with our past. In this presentation, Monica Figueroa and Kristan Shawgo, will share about the equity and inclusion work of the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Join them to learn about their library’s Reckoning Initiative Framework, including an internal grant funding program and a 21-day habit-forming challenge, and how you might advocate for a similar framework at your own library.

11:30-11:45 am: Break

11:45 am-12:45 pm: Christina Fuller-Gregory, Cultivating a Culture of Care
In preparation for this presentation, please spend some time thinking about what the word “competence” means to you and also consider what it means to practice “humility.” For some participant activities, we will be using Mentimeter which should be a smooth (and fun!) experience.

12:45-1:15 pm: Lunch

1:15-2:15 pm: Audrey Becker, Inclusion: It Doesn’t Happen by Accident
The Rochester Public Library has been working to become a welcoming place for every member of the community.  But they’ve learned that they can’t be the welcoming place they want to be without taking a hard look at themselves and dealing with some difficult truths. Audrey Betcher, Director, will share their journey.

2:15-2:30 pm: Recap and Closing

Presenter Bios:

Monica Figueroa (she/her) is Librarian for Inclusive Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. In this capacity, she serves on the Library Leadership Team and leads strategic priorities related to transforming the Libraries’ services, programs, and scholarship with an eye towards equity and inclusion. She also serves as Director of the Carolina Academic Library Associates (CALA) program, a graduate student partnership between the Libraries and the School of Information and Library Science. 

Kristan Shawgo (she/her) is a social sciences librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. She is the library liaison to public policy, sexuality studies, sociology, women’s & gender studies, Carolina Women’s Center, and UNC LGBTQ Center. She is a member of the Libraries’ IDEA Council and chair of the IDEA Action Committee.

Christina Fuller-Gregory is the Assistant Director of Libraries at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. Before joining SCGSAH she was the Spark Space Manager for Spartanburg County Public Libraries (SCPL). While at SCPL Christina was responsible for all maker-based programming, technology, instruction, and services for the library system. She is passionate about creative placemaking and the power of hands-on learning. To say she loves libraries is an understatement- Christina is active with the American Library Association (ALA) and Public Library Association (PLA), serving as chair of ALA’s Emerging Leaders Interest Group (ELIG) Steering Committee and as chair of PLA’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (EDISJ) Taskforce. In addition to her work with the PLA EDISJ Task Force, Christina also led SCPL’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee, a committee that works to develop library policy and procedure supporting both internal and external Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Audrey Betcher has been with the Rochester Public Library since 1996 and was named director in 2000.  Prior to working at RPL, Audrey managed a computer system for public and school libraries in southeastern Minnesota.  She also worked for a library automation vendor in St. Louis.  She is a graduate of St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, MN and holds her Masters of Library Science from the University of Missouri – Columbia. She is involved in the community through volunteering:  Rotary (where she is currently  President), Cradle to Career Leadership Table, Ready to Lead Leadership Team, and she is a Rochester Reading Champions tutor.

Special Accommodations
The Connecticut Library Association seeks to provide reasonable accommodations by request for physical access, communications, or other needs to ensure that services, activities, and programs are available to individuals with disabilities. Accommodation requests may include, but are not limited to, sign language interpretation, assistive listening devices, or written material in alternative format.

If you have a request for accommodation, please submit information at least 21 days in advance of the conference to Kym Powe. Include a description of the accommodations you are requesting, and describe any equipment you are requesting to be provided.

The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require the Connecticut Library Association to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.