The DIAL (Diversity in Academic Libraries) Interest Group showcase for the 2016 California Academic and Research Libraries (CARL) conference addressed the library’s role in responding to the growing societal unrest of their marginalized communities via a discussion of the Black Lives Matter movement and a showcase of best practices that California academic libraries/librarians might utilize in their own efforts.
For its 2018 showcase, with the conference’s theme being “Libraries Respond: Connecting with our Communities in Times of Crisis,” DIAL continued with this structure with a broader focus on marginalized communities in general, with some attention to the government’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and how that affects library communities.
The panel, representing four different institutions, discussed how they respond to community issues and offer support. DIAL’s goal is not only to educate the CARL membership, but also to arm members with the tools to do the work themselves. As such, the panel offered concrete suggestions members can take back to their own libraries. Two members of the Tell Us How UC It project were featured on the panel.