ALA Resolution 52 from AASL:
Because we so often run out of time to discuss the other resolutions, I wanted to share my 3 minute explanation of resolution 52 which we should be discussing and voting on today.
Why did AASL bring this resolution? This resolution is not solely an apology for inaction and for harm to others regarding past actions that were brought to our attention by author Wayne Wiegand. While looking at the actions, inactions and the silence of the past, we looked at ALA and AASL today to see how well we are working together on current EDI initiatives. We discovered that AASL has taken some beginning steps that others in ALA are unaware:
AASL has created documents and initiatives to support equity, diversity and inclusion and we listed these in the resolution in case you haven't seen them.
AASL has sponsored Spectrum Scholars program since its inception – our current president Kathy Carroll is a Spectrum Scholar.
Equity, diversity & inclusion are core values of our profession; EDI is at the forefront of AASL policies, our strategic, and our operational plans; and within every area of school librarian practice.
We acknowledge and we apologize for past actions and inactions that have harmed members of the profession and for the part AASL and ALA has played in historical racism and segregation in the library profession.
We commit to promoting diversity at the beginning of their careers, in leadership opportunities and in the greater work of AASL and ALA through an EDI lens in a sustainable manner.
We see the need for better communication throughout ALA so all are aware of EDI initiatives. One of the problems historically has not been that nothing was done, but that nothing was written or communicated to others within our profession about our work and opportunities.
AASL stands ready to lead loudly while creating opportunities and resources for collaboration with ALA divisions, ALA chapters, AASL chapters, ALA Roundtables and Ethnic Caucuses to create a stronger voice for our profession.
At a time when school and youth librarians are being targeted in our society for our intellectual freedom and social justice efforts; at a time when our BIPOC students are losing equitable access to school librarians and their libraries; at a time when we need to be standing together, taking action and communicating to others, this is when ALA needs to join with us to acknowledge the past, commit to doing better, and sharing our message of power and hope to promote Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Efforts in ALA while addressing historical effects of racism.
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Diane R. Chen
School Librarian @ Stratford STEM Magnet School
AASL Division Councilor
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2021-2022 ALA CD#52
2022 ALA Virtual January Council Meeting
Resolution to Promote Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Efforts in AASL
While Addressing Historical Effects of Racism
Whereas the American Library Association (ALA) Council adopted resolution CD#41-7618 “Resolution to Honor African Americans Who Fought Library Segregation” stating that the American Library Association participated both passively and actively, in the disenfranchisement of African American librarians, depriving them of the resources of a professional association;
Whereas between 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education decision through 1968, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) took no action to publicly support Brown or to oppose segregated public school libraries;
Whereas Koch wrote in 1975 “from their late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century origins, southern state library and education associations to which school librarians belonged had been segregated. AASL not only said nothing and took no public position against these racist practices, it continued to accept delegates from segregated school library associations as AASL representatives until the mid-1960s. In 1951, AASL quietly decided that in its state-member Assembly, segregated black and white state library associations could each appoint one representative, but those representatives would each get only half a vote” ;
Whereas AASL acknowledges the racist experiences suffered by Black school librarians including Ernestine Denham Talbert, Jurl Portee Watkins, Carrie Coleman Robinson, and many others who did not have the voice of the association advocating on their behalf;
Whereas the inactions of AASL also caused harm to Black and Indigenous People Of Color (BIPOC) members of the school library profession;
Whereas AASL acknowledges harm done to fellow BIPOC colleagues and offers a sincere apology as an important and necessary first step in the process of reconciliation;
Whereas AASL must communicate how the association has worked to create documents and
initiatives to support equity, diversity and inclusion such as “Developing Inclusive Learners and Citizens Activity Guide”, “Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Material in School Libraries" Toolkit, Mary Keeling’s 2019-2020 Presidential Initiative, Office Hours, and Increasing Representation Mentoring Program (IRMP), and the Knowledge Quest March/April 2021 issue Black School Librarianship: Navigating Race and Creating Change;
Whereas, AASL has and continues to be a sponsor of the Spectrum Scholars program since its inception;
Whereas AASL affirms the importance of equity, diversity & inclusion as core values of our profession;
Whereas equity, diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of AASL policies, our strategic, and our operational plans;
Whereas equity, diversity and inclusion are within every area of school librarian practice including collection development, professional development, recruiting, mentoring, and instruction through our National School Library Standards and opens opportunities for future members to see themselves as an integral part of AASL; and
Whereas the inclusion of all perspectives enriches and builds understanding which in turn impacts our school library profession, our learners, and our community; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the American Library Association (ALA), on behalf of its members
- Acknowledges the American Association of School Librarians’ past actions and inactions that have harmed members of the profession;
- Apologizes to Black school librarians for wrongs committed against them and for AASL’s inactions on behalf of segregated school libraries and school library state associations;
- Apologizes to all Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) school librarians for AASL’s part in historical racism and segregation in the school librarian profession;
- Commits to promoting diversity in school librarianship in undergraduate and graduate programs and at school recruitment fairs;
- Commits to ensuring a diverse and inclusive membership by recruiting, welcoming and encouraging BIPOC school librarians to consider leadership opportunities within ALA and AASL;
- Commits to applying and prioritizing an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) lens in all aspects of the greater work of AASL and ALA;
- Commits to sustaining a more diverse and inclusive leadership within ALA and AASL in terms of ethnicity, gender, and ability representation;
- Communicates all EDI initiatives throughout AASL, ALA and the profession;
- Creates opportunities and resources for collaboration with ALA divisions, ALA chapters, AASL chapters, ALA Roundtables and Ethnic Caucuses to create a stronger voice for our profession.
Mover: Diane R. Chen, AASL Division Councilor
Seconder: Erika Long, Chapter Councilor
Kathy Carroll, Councilor-at-Large
Kathy Lester, Councilor-at-Large
Brenda Pruitt-Annisette, MLS, Ed.D., Chair, Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee
Dorcas Hand, Councilor-at-Large
Joyce Kasman Valenza, PhD, Councilor-at-Large
Dr. Daniella Smith, Councilor-at-Large
Sara Dallas, Councilor at Large
Amy Lappin, Councilor-at-Large
Sara Kelly Johns, Councilor-at-Large
Version 11/07/2021
References:
American Association of School Librarians. 2018. “Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Material in School Libraries.” https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/toolkits/LGBTQ%2BResource%20Guide_FINAL-180709.pdf
American Association of School Librarians. 2019. “Developing Inclusive Learners and Citizens Activity Guide.”
American Association of School Librarians. 2021, March/April. ”Black School Librarianship: Navigating Race and Creating Change.” Knowledge Quest vol. 49, no. 4.
Koch, Charles William. 1975. “A History of the Association of American School Librarians, 1950- 1971.” PhD diss. Southern Illinois University.
Wiegand, Wayne A. 2021. “Race and School Librarianship in the Jim Crow South, 1954-1970: The Untold Story of Carrie Coleman Robinson as a Case Study.” Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 254-269. 2021 by the University of Chicago.
Wiegand, Wayne A., and Shirley A. Wiegand. 2018. The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
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Spectrum Scholars, by the way, is a grant program for people who do not have "white" skin color. It's racist. It's reverse racism, just like everything else coming from school librarians today. "The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA."
To me, the above "Resolution" tells me the so-called "National School Library Standards" are racist and anything a school librarian says in furtherance of such "Standards" will be racist. To me, the above shows me school librarians are all in on state-sponsored racism also known as Critical Race Theory. What does it tell you?
As an aside, these same racist school librarians are calling it "freadom" for school kids to have school access to graphic child p r n—so why should we believe these racist groomers? At least some people are no longer blindly accepting school librarian grooming, like Larry Sanger of Wikipedia and Knowledge Standards Foundation fame:
Should we disallow obscene material in libraries for *school children*?
— Larry Sanger (@lsanger) March 12, 2022
Being strongly opposed to censorship (and that includes ideological censorship/filtering of library content) does not require that we give up all age standards, of course—never did.
What's changed? https://t.co/tYy532s59L
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