University of Maryland Libraries

1999 - 2000 Diversity Plan

October 1999

DRAFT

October 7, 1999

draft 10-07-99

University of Maryland Libraries

1999-2000 Diversity Plan

October 1999

INTRODUCTION

A. Library Mission

B. Values

C. Vision

D. Libraries' Overall Goals for Diversity Program

I. GENDER AND ETHNIC MINORITY PROFILES of LIBRARY WORKFORCE

A. Profiles

B. Goals for profile changes in one and five years

C. Strategies to help achieve goals

II. UNDERGRADUATE RETENTION RATES

A. Adaptive technology

B. Orientation to the Libraries for students new to campus

C. "Retention 2000" conference

III. LIBRARIES' CLIMATE AND SUPPORT SERVICES

A. General

1. Customer service training and support for all public service staff and others

2. User education

A. Internal

1. Diversity Committee

2. Awareness-raising activities

1. Sexual harassment prevention training

2. Work Culture Task Force recommendations

3. Cultural/diversity audit in 2000

4. Training based on results of audit

5. Cultural/diversity audit again in 2002 to measure changes

III. CAMPUS

A. Diversity Database

B. Web site for library Diversity Committee

C. Collection development

D. Library-sponsored or co-sponsored events

E. Other

INTRODUCTION

The University of Maryland Libraries have traditionally made clear our intent to build and support a diverse work force and student population. Recent years' activities are highlighted in previous Diversity Accountability and Implementation Plans and include

1. The Dean of Libraries' leadership and support

2. Naming of Coordinator for Services to Diverse Populations

3. Diversity Committee's activities.

To continue to build a culture of openness and support, in 1998-1999 there were four library-wide special efforts to encourage staff to communicate ideas, needs, concerns, etc.:

1. June 1998 "Staff Training and Development Needs Assessment Survey"

2. August 1998 sessions on vision, values and leadership for all staff

3. Work Culture Task Force

4. Strategic Planning Task Force.

These efforts lay out the objectives for excellent, client-centered services and for maximum development and support of the Libraries' human resources. Key components are the following from the "Mission, Values, Vision" chapter of the Libraries' April 1999 strategic plan. They are the backdrop and rationale for all the activities and outcomes of this 1999-2000 diversity plan.

A. Mission

The direct mission of the University of Maryland Libraries is twofold: providing access to and assistance in the use of the scholarly information resources required to meet the education, research and service missions of the University.

1. It is building, organizing, maintaining and preserving these resources;

2. It is interpreting, instructing and educating in the use of these resources.

Beyond this direct mission, the Libraries, to the extent possible, serve the larger scholarly community.

B. Values

The Libraries have two statements that summarize who we are: the service philosophy, emphasizing the outward look, and the work culture statement, focusing on the inner. They form two necessary components of a values statement. The March 1998 service philosophy is a product of the Service Task Force. (See Section III.) The work culture statement synthesizes staff's ideas and views from the August 1998 sessions. The Work Culture Task Force's statement follows:

The primary mission of the Libraries is building, organizing, accessing, maintaining, preserving, interpreting, and educating in the use of scholarly information resources which enable the teaching-learning process and research. In order to fulfill this mission, the Libraries must have a staff that is qualified, informed, well trained, dedicated, and appreciated. To that end, the libraries are committed to hiring, training, developing, and retaining a diverse staff in a creative and supportive work environment. Desirable work culture includes shared institutional values, priorities, rewards and other practices which foster inclusion, high performance, and commitment, while still allowing diversity in thought and action. The Libraries' work environment relies on flexible guidelines and a team-based system, rather than rigid policies, procedures, and organizational structure. This work culture rewards the initiative of individuals and self-starting teams that identify and solve complex problems on their own. The Libraries staff is responsible for participating in defining the Libraries mission, values and vision within the context of the Libraries role in supporting the mission of the University. The Libraries' mission is accomplished as staff take personal responsibility for its realization in their individual job assignments and their group work and team work.

C. Vision

The University of Maryland Libraries will be an innovative leader and partner in the research library and scholarly information communities. We will be a model for client-centered service excellence, providing information resources that enhance learning and teaching in an environment - both physical and virtual - that is inviting and user-friendly. We will hold ourselves to high standards of expertise, performance and contribution to the larger effort, in an organization that will enable and reward achievement of these high standards.

D. Libraries' Overall Goals for Diversity Program

"The UMCP [sic] Diversity Initiative explores and enhances common values that emphasize interdependence, equality, justice, human rights and the sanctity of each individual's dignity. The goal is to further a unified vision and recognition of the principle of 'unity and diversity' and of the fact that we are fellow-citizens of an emerging global village." This statement is from the document "UMCP Diversity Goals," October 1, 1996.

"The Libraries' Diversity Committee exists to implement the campus' Diversity Initiative in the libraries and on campus. It is essential to recognize, respect, and promote each individual's uniqueness within the larger and more important context of our shared experience as human beings. The committee is dedicated to staff and patron education to increase diversity awareness and effect positive change in the library environment." This statement is from the committee's plan for 1999-2000.

The University of Maryland defines diversity to include age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, national original, race, religion and sexual orientation.

In the context of the above statements and definition, the UM Libraries' overall goals are to develop and retain a workforce representative of a diverse population; foster a work environment where all employees are valued for their uniqueness and personal contributions, gifts and talents; provide services and collections that meet users' individual and diverse needs.

I. GENDER AND ETHNIC MINORITY PROFILES OF STAFF

A. Profiles

B. Goals for profile changes in one and five years

The University of Maryland Libraries will seek to maintain or improve current employment profiles in comparison to the national labor market for associate staff (primarily librarians).

The Libraries will seek to narrow, by 1% yearly, the current deviation from market for employment of blacks (a group that includes but is not the same as African-Americans), at the same time retaining rough parity with the local market for other identity groups.

C. Strategies to help achieve goals

1. The Libraries are embarking on a new program of outreach and recruitment efforts not tied to individual job openings. Its purposes are to promote the University of Maryland Libraries as a potential employer and to help increase number and diversity of librarians or related professionals who might be or become interested in working in UM Libraries.

a. The Libraries will participate in job fairs or similar events at graduate programs in library and information studies.

b. The Libraries will have official representatives at conferences or meetings of

Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association

Chinese-American Librarians Association

DC Library Association

Maryland Library Association (MLA conference, May 10-12, 2000, Towson)

"Diversity Now: People, Collections and Services in Academic Libraries,"

Training session, "Spectrum and Beyond," at ALA Midwinter, Jan. 2000

II. UNDERGRADUATE RETENTION RATES

The Libraries' public service staff, with training and support, will continue an environment that is user-friendly for undergraduates and other users as well. The special challenge for 1999-2000 is to be sure that undergraduates are welcomed and appropriately aided in McKeldin Library, now the central library for campus. The Hornbake Library, for undergraduates, was closed and its services merged into McKeldin. Undergraduates will have at their disposal an even broader range of services and materials than they had in Hornbake, but they will also need a user-friendly and relaxed environment as well. Library staffers are aware of these needs and are making every effort to meet them. One example is that McKeldin is now open for all-night study, Sunday through Thursday. Another is that undergraduates, especially freshmen, will be surveyed or invited into focus groups to be sure the Libraries, including the branches, are meeting their needs and that they are getting in the habit of using the Libraries for their research.

This section of the Libraries' diversity plan closely relates to the following section, III.

A. Adaptive technology and pro-active disability compliance and awareness

Staff members provide additional services for the research and personal information needs of library users with disabilities. Furthermore, McKeldin Library has an adaptive technology room for people with visual impairments. It contains an enlarger, a Kurzweil reading machine, disk and audio cassette Talking Book machines, a Perkins Brailler and reference materials in Barille or on audio cassette. McKeldin also has a TTY for patrons with hearing impairments who phone the library for information. The Libraries employ a coordinator of services to people with disabilities.

The Libraries will work to increase accessibility of all facilities and services to insure that by June 2000 the Libraries are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in as many ways as realistically possible. The entire library staff will be encouraged to be alert to such needs and report any shortcomings to the appropriate offices. These efforts will benefit not only the staff but also the patron in a positive manner.

B. Orientation to the Libraries for students new to the campus

The Libraries have representatives and materials at all campus orientation events for new students as well as general events like the recent "First Look Fair," 13 "My Maryland" orientation sessions for incoming students, and many special sessions for the Academic Achievement Program (AAP), EDUCP108-0 and UNIV 101, Upward Bound, College Bound, Good Morning Commuters, Academic Success Week, and many other at-risk, international, and minority students.

C. "Retention 2000" conference

The Libraries have supported previous years' conference and will expand to co-sponsorship this year, by sending at least eight staff members and having an ad in the conference program. One of the librarians has submitted a proposal for a presentation relating her experience of teaching UNIV 101 and how the course illustrates the impact of technology instruction on retention.

III. LIBRARIES' CLIMATE AND SUPPORT SERVICES

A. General

"We are a Service Organization.

The work of every member of the staff contributes directly to the service mission of the Libraries. The pursuit of service excellence at all levels requires the ongoing commitment and dedication of all staff. This is truly a collaborative effort that recognizes the need for continuous improvement, innovation and experimentation on behalf of our customer, internal as well as external." This quote is part of the statement of service philosophy from the 1998 Service Task Force.

1. Customer service support and training for all public service staff and others

The service philosophy formed a strong backdrop for huge efforts over the past year, efforts which will continue, mature and expand in the future. With last year's merger of the undergraduate and graduate libraries and the creation of the Service Plus concept, customer service has become an ever bigger focus of the Libraries. Libraries are open more hours and librarians are on duty for more hours. Staffing of service desks in general has increased too.

Former reference librarians and bibliographers in 1998 were assigned in three subject teams (arts and humanities, science and technology, and social sciences and allied fields) to strengthen both the collection development and public services aspects of their jobs. New positions were also added to these teams to make the new approach viable.

Library staffers from divisions other than public services also use part of their work weeks as "rovers," especially on the first floor of McKeldin, helping library users navigate the computer interfaces to catalogs and databases, locate and use various materials, and generally supporting the inviting and helpful environment of all the libraries.

Much coaching and training in information and research services and in customer service for public services staff members have already taken place and more formal efforts are planned for 1999-00. For example, the Libraries expect to sponsor in College Park an institute done by the Library Administration and Management Association. That institute will be a springboard for training for more staff as well as advanced training and policy examination and process re-design.

2. User education

The Libraries have a unit dedicated to user education to assure that instructional needs of students are addressed. In 1998-99, there were 759 classes reaching 12,711 students. The 1999-00 year is off to as busy a year, starting with 25 sessions of "VictorWeb," an introduction to using the University System of Maryland's Web-based catalog, and how to find journal articles in a periodical database. There are also 47 sessions of "The Basics and Beyond: Steps in Library Research," for more advanced undergraduate researchers who are getting ready to research and write substantial papers, reports or proposals. The class covers how to define a research topic and emphasizes selecting and researching databases to find periodical articles.

Five sessions of two workshops on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) ArcView software are also scheduled.

In addition to these classes, many others are conducted for specific classes and/or for specific library resources. Classes are taught in the Libraries' instruction labs and/or elsewhere on campus as needs indicate.

In addition to class sessions designed for college courses, the user education program is participating in the Northwestern Partnership, a joint program of the University of Maryland and Northwestern High School. In October 1999, a day-long college experiential program was held for Hispanic high school students. Their written evaluation comments afterward indicated that the day was a tremendous success in raising their expectations and desire to attend the University. The Northwestern Partnership group is eager to replicate this type of experience for many more minority high school students in the future.

B. Internal

1. Diversity Committee

The Diversity Committee was established in 1996 and charged as indicated in its goal statement in the Introduction of this plan. The committee is active, visible and well supported, especially in the designation of the paid Diversity Coordinator as its chair and in having a student assistant assigned to it. Its activities and plans are highlighted elsewhere in this plan.

2. Awareness-raising activities

Brown-Bag Video Sessions: The Diversity Committee will continue to offer these sessions to inform and educate staff about the various facets of diversity. These informal sessions take place monthly during lunchtime gatherings of library staff and have been ongoing and well attended since June 1998. Plans will be made for showings through at least June 2000. These sessions include facilitated discussions which encourage staff in attendance to become active participants in conversations on diversity.

Town Meetings: The Diversity Committee will sponsor and host at least two "town meetings" by June 2000 for library staff. The first meeting was held in August 1999. These forums will allow staff to engage in an open dialogue on race, ethnicity and other diversity issues. In addition to the forums themselves, information on the town meetings and continuation of the dialogue created in them will be furthered by various means, including articles in Library Matters and electronic mail via the library staff reflector.

Outcome: The above "awareness-raising" activities" will create a positive arena for discussions on diversity issues and underscore for the library staff the value that the Libraries place on diversity. These forums will equip employees and supervisors to recognize and deal better with

issues and problems that can arise in a diverse workplace. These activities will provide improved climate and supports that will reflect positively on the students, employees and the library patron.

3. Sexual Harassment Prevention Program (SHPP)

The keystone of this program is the training, which officially got underway in 1998 and is ongoing. It requires all staff members and student employees to participate in a workshop annually. The Libraries' Staff Training and Development Office coordinates this required campus program. The first sessions were held in late 1998, with campus trainers conducting the workshops. After the four library staff were trained to lead sessions, the Libraries have held workshops monthly or bi-monthly since March 1999, with seven sessions conducted by July 1999. By the close of the 1999 fiscal year, 128 staff attended the workshops. By the end of 2000, staffers who were among the first to attend the two-hour workshops will attend refresher sessions.

Outcome: The workshops present the standard content developed by the University's Office of Human Relations Programs. They enable the Libraries and all other campus units to explain laws and definitions; to make clear the ground rules for interpersonal relations within a culture of fairness, equity, diversity and respect; and to ensure that all staff members and student employees have the same information. Employees and supervisors are thereby better equipped to deal properly with harassment if it happens and to make clear that such behavior is not tolerated.

4. Work Culture Task Force Recommendations

The Libraries' Work Culture Task Force's February 1999 report and recommendations contains the work culture statement and organizational values, excerpted in the first section of this plan. The task force also had twenty recommendations. The Library Executive Council took all the recommendations under advisement. It discussed and responded to them in a first report to the staff, July 1999. The 15-page report divided the recommendations into three categories: Shared Leadership, Governance and Responsibility; Communication, Human Resources.

Outcome: The openness, support and personal and corporate accountability advanced by the Work Culture Task Force apply to and for all staff. To the extent that these values are practiced, all staff members will benefit. The cultural audits and follow-up described below will be essential tools to measure and foster achievement of the Libraries' goals for diversity.

5. Cultural/diversity audit in 2000

The Libraries' Diversity Coordinator and the Manager of the Staff Training and Development Office are developing a proposal for a diversity cultural audit as a precursor to a training curriculum exploring issues of diversity within the context of workplace excellence (e.g., providing optimal customer service to internal and external clients). Their schedule follows:

By Nov. 30, 1999 Present to Library Executive Council (LEC) objectives and a recommended avenue for a cultural/diversity audit of library staff views, experiences, etc.

January 2000 Begin cultural/diversity audit project.

Feb-March 2000 Assess results.

April 2000 Develop plan based on results of audit.

May 2000 Present plan and proposed budget to LEC for training and other activities based on results of audit and to address other diversity-related needs or objectives.

Outcome: The diversity cultural audit will measure staff views and experiences and thereby clarify and set priorities for future activities of the Diversity Committee and of the Staff Training and Development office

6. Training based on results of audit

Various activities will be undertaken, as defined by the results of the above audit. The activities could be coordinated with other library emphases such as customer service, supervisory skills, communication skills, etc. These activities should run for twelve to eighteen months - likely July 2000 through December 2001 - at the end of which a second audit would be conducted.

Outcome: The training and other awareness-raising activities should steadily improve the library staff members' abilities to support, work with and understand each other. While anecdotal measurement is important, the statistical measurement of the 2002 audit will give the facts about the extent to which cultural proficiency has improved.

7. Cultural/diversity audit again in 2002 to measure changes

The audit will be carried out so that results from it and the 2000 survey can be compared.

Outcome: The audit will measure staff views and experiences and thereby clarify and set priorities for future activities of the Diversity Committee and of the Staff Training and Development Office. Those activities should steadily improve staff members’ abilities to support, work with and understand each other. While anecdotal measurement is important, the statistical measurement of the 2002 audit will give the facts. Cultural proficiency should have improved markedly. In any case, the audit will provide the tool for fact-based decision-making, with the results of the follow-up audit providing the priorities for the next cycle of training and other awareness-raising activities.

IV. CAMPUS

The Libraries have been and will continue to be pro-active and innovative in supporting campus-wide efforts to promote diversity in all its many forms – age, class, disability, gender, national origin, race and ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. The Libraries’ approach to these issues will remain as diverse as the isues themselves. Listed below are some past, present and future activities.

A. Diversity Database

UM'S Diversity Database contains campus, local, national and international academic material relating to the following areas of diversity as defined by the Office of Human Relations Programs (the database sponsor): age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, national original, race, religion and sexual orientation. The database is support by the UM Libraries, the College of Library and Information Services and the Office of Information Technology.

Library staffers help evaluate and choose sites and links to the database. Further, in 1999-2000, the Libraries' Diversity Committee plans its own Web site, to be linked to campus' Diversity Database.

B. Web site for library Diversity Committee

By June 2000 the Libraries' Diversity Committee will create a Diversity Committee Web page as part of an ongoing effort to further diversity awareness and discussion among staff and patrons. It will enable library staff and other interested persons, both on and off campus, to learn how the Libraries are involved in diversity. This Web page will be part of the Libraries' Web site and will contain such things as Diversity Committee membership and e-mail links, minutes, and reports; lists/links of upcoming events related to diversity within the Libraries (e.g. the monthly Brown Bag Video sessions), the campus (e.g. Diversity Initiative proposals and campus-wide diversity forums), and the community at large (e.g. the P.O.V. film series on television and other local diversity-re