Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Resources

The article discusses the implicit or unconscious bias of librarians in the U.S. and how to address them through diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Also cited are the efforts by libraries, including health sciences libraries, to develop materials addressing implicit biases, as well as the continuing education classes offered by groups like the American Library Association to recognize and resolve biases in interpersonal relationships.

At the remove of 2019, it is hard for many to imagine the sense of apocalypse that was palpable throughout the gay community during the 1980s and much of the 1990s. My professional career was launched at the height of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic, and at the time, saving lives through librarianship was my mission. This Janet Doe Lecture presents my personal story of activism and advocacy as a lens through which to consider the larger story of activism around social justice issues for the Medical Library Association, by groups such as the Relevant Issues Section, now the Social Justice Section, and by the work of past Doe Lecturers Rachael K. Anderson, AHIP, FMLA, and Gerald Oppenheimer. It is also the story of an association that has at times been deeply conflicted about the role of such activism in our niche of librarianship. With anchors in poetry and prose, this is a story of hope through justice, conveying a message of the essentialness of our work as librarians and health information professionals to the mission of saving lives.

This lecture discusses social justice and the role that
medical librarians can play in a democratic society. Social
justice needs to be central to the mission of medical
librarianship and a core value of the profession. Medical
librarians must develop a new professional orientation: one
that focuses on cultural awareness or cultural
consciousness that goes beyond ourselves and our
collections to that which focuses on the users of our
libraries. The lecture advocates for an understanding of
and connection to social justice.