The time has come for academic libraries to fully embrace a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) in their collections. As we modify our acquisition practices to develop diverse and inclusive collections and to meet the goals of EDI initiatives, we must concurrently develop assessment methods to evaluate our collections in relation to those initiatives. The presenters will showcase two ongoing projects from the intersection of library assessment and collection diversity:Tim Morton will outline a framework that the University of Virginia Library has developed to evaluate our global collections. This framework is inspired by the #ownvoices hashtag, which has been embraced by public libraries seeking to provide diverse works by diverse authors in their collections. In addition to discussing the origins of this framework, we will also present our findings from applying it UVA’s African Studies collection. We will also discuss the limitations of this framework and will offer the chance for discussion on adapting, improving, and reusing this framework in other institutions and for other global collections.Roxanne Backowski will share an example of a campus diversity initiative assessment measure, a result of a user-centered collection assessment project in relation to EDI undertaken at a mid-size public university in the Midwest. Through quantitative and qualitative research methods, this research explores the effect of campus diversity initiatives and curriculum changes on the rate of use of library books. The findings suggest instructors are increasingly assigning content related to EDI due to campus diversity initiatives. Simultaneously, collection content related to EDI is being accessed at an increasing rate. This session aims to give attendees initial strategies for assessing not only the equity, diversity, and inclusivity of their collections, but also to place those collection efforts in the broader picture of institutional values and goals.
