Bloomington Public Library stands with our city and our community in the fight against systemic racism. The Library serves people of all races, religions, orientations, political philosophies, backgrounds, and countries of origin. We strive to listen to all voices, encourage genuine understanding, and support the exchange of ideas for the betterment of our community and society. We also believe that books can foster personal growth and can help us become more empathetic. Therefore, we strive to provide books that allow everyone to see themselves and allow everyone the opportunity to view the world from different perspectives.
We acknowledge that we can always do more to include marginalized parts of our community. With that in mind, in 2020, Bloomington Public Library established an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee. The vision for the BPL EDI committee is to help BPL become a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization for both patrons and staff by providing them with resources, ideas, and support. Modeling behaviors, communicating efforts, and collaborating with other staff are key priorities. Since its inception, the EDI committee has:
- Developed an inclusive language guide
- Provided several staff training sessions and resources, including one recognizing that the repercussions of slavery and anti-blackness that are still felt today on personal levels from daily microaggressions, through systemic racism, and oppression
- Created a calendar highlighting various cultural events for staff awareness
- Developed a land acknowledgement statement
- Completed an audit of the Library collection using Ingram’s iCurate Diversity Audit
- Developed Transition Guidelines for employees
- Created pronoun buttons/nametags for staff
- Added more gender options to patron accounts (read more about why pronouns and gender options matter)
- Developed a “Libraries Are For Everyone” magnet
- Launched a “Diverse Reads for All” e-newsletter
- Started a staff book club focused on titles featuring diverse authors and characters