#LibRev Support for Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter
#LibRev stands with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) in condemning violence and racism toward Black people, Indigenous peoples, and People of Color. The unjust killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others have led to outrage across the globe. We recognize that if marginalized members of our communities are not safe, then our communities themselves are not safe. We repeat the call: “No Justice, No Peace.”
Safer Communities
It is critical that libraries provide safe spaces for the communities we serve. We must proactively seek and form partnerships with members of marginalized communities. We must prioritize privacy and minimize surveillance in order to provide a refuge from oppressive systems, like law enforcement.
Library workers have engaged in long discussions about neutrality, but there is a reason why we keep hearing Desmond Tutu’s words in the current moment: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” It is imperative for library workers to refuse the side of the oppressor. To do this, we need to first acknowledge that libraries have an ongoing history of maintaining oppressive systems in our policies and practices (x, x, x), and commit to fostering an anti-racist culture of learning and mutual respect both within our field and in the communities we serve.
Healthier Library Workplaces
As a profession, we have a problem. The lack of racial diversity in our field deprives our communities of seeing themselves and their stories reflected when they access our services. It marginalizes the experience, knowledge, and skill of our current and potential colleagues. We collectively lose essential insight, talent, and relationships needed for communities to thrive.
Library leaders must move beyond minimal efforts to recruit a diverse workforce, and acknowledge that libraries have lost and will continue to lose BIPOC workers without radical and sustained change to current workplace environments. We acknowledge that those environments are often hostile to Black library workers and recruitment must incorporate anti-racist action to improve working conditions.
Library administrators must prioritize the essential work of dismantling white supremacist policies, practices, and assumptions that limit access or perpetuate racial stereotypes. Library administrators must work with employees to create environments that do not harm marginalized peoples within our profession, workspaces, and broader communities. They can do this by building on these basic suggestions that BIPOC librarians have made widely available for years: re-examine job requirements and performance evaluation processes to remove discriminatory barriers, enhance opportunities for current workers to be promoted from within, respect peer support activities of librarians of color, and develop other inclusive practices across the organization.
Stronger Relationships
#LibRev upholds the right to engage in political protest against racial injustice without fear of reprisal or being harmed by government authorities or private citizens.
#LibRev calls on library administrators to explictly state that Black Lives Matter, publicly and to their employees. One event, one group reading, one book club, or one month of displays is not enough to confront the significant inequity and injustice of the systemic racism endured by Black Americans for hundreds of years.
#LibRev asks that library workers commit to lifting Black people’s voices every day. We believe that by coming together in the spirit of supporting and challenging each other in constructive ways as part of a continuous, ongoing commitment, we will begin building a better community of libraries.
Call to Action
We all have a part to play in dismantling white supremacy. Create a plan of what you personally can commit to. Schedule time for learning. Identify what resources you can provide, and talk with others about what you can do collectively. Working together in a spirit of hope and mutual accountability, we can make things better. Let’s get started.
