Working Groups

The following is a summary of existing UW Libraries staff-led working groups related to EDI and anti-racist work. Progress on the work of these groups will be documented through the Libraries EDI updates.

Libraries EDI Working Groups

These groups support and promote the inclusion of diversity in the Libraries' culture and organizational values through ideation, guidance and recommendations to leadership across focus areas as follows:

  • How We Work: With staff participation, recommend sustainable organizational models and systems for advancing ongoing EDI work in the Libraries, including the current staff EDI committee and Libraries ways of working on EDI.
  • Policy Review: Systematically examine existing policies and procedures with an intersectional anti-racist lens and rewrite those that are exclusionary or uphold white supremacy. Collaborate and connect with existing policy review efforts in the Libraries.
  • Recruitment & Retention: Review and revise recruitment and retention efforts throughout the Libraries for all job classifications in order to work towards a racially diverse staff.
  • Staff Growth & Development: Develop ongoing tri-campus anti-racist and EDI staff growth and development program for all job classifications of staff (including student staff as appropriate), with prioritization of resources for both time and funding.

Accessibility

The Accessibility Working Group advocates for and promotes accessibility in the Libraries, including information and communication technology (ICT), facilities accessibility, assistive technology, reference and instruction for users with disabilities, and captioning processes.

Collections

The Collections Task Force on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-racism is charged with leading the UW Libraries in an examination of how the structures of racism, inequity, and privilege shape the work of building and maintaining collections at the UW Libraries.

Website

Under the Libraries broader Public Web Operations Group, the Web Inclusion Working Group reviews the Libraries primary web pages through an EDI lens to increase visibility of EDI work and resources, to ensure inclusive terminology and visual representation, and create guidance to facilitate consistent use of best practices across all Libraries web pages.