The Joint ALA/ARL Building Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity Framework Task Force’s final draft of the Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity: A Framework (PDF) was approved by the boards of directors of the four partner organizations, the American Library Association (ALA), Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and Public Library Association (PLA), during summer 2022.
The framework is a tool both theoretical and practical in its orientation, as a guide for developing personal, organizational, institutional, and systems-level knowledge and understanding of the nature of racism and its many manifestations. The framework is not intended to be liberatory practice in itself—an instrument or agent that will abolish racial inequity or a step-by-step guide—but, rather, to provide the grounding needed to effect change in thinking, behavior, and practice that will lead to better outcomes for racialized and minoritized populations. Therefore, while the framework offers examples of implementation, these are not meant to represent an exhaustive list. View and download Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity: A Framework on the ACRL website.
ACRL, along with ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services (ODLOS); the Public Library Association (PLA); and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), launched a Call for Volunteers in September 2019, and formed a Joint Task Force that was charged to create a framework for cultural proficiencies in racial equity that can be used in public and academic libraries. The Building Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity framework will serve as a foundational resource to help public and academic libraries build inclusive cultures, within libraries and their broader communities, through guidelines on the development and implementation of organizational policies and professional practices that support diverse libraries with a diverse workforce. During November 2020 through January 2021, the task force participated in three work sessions facilitated by Dr. Katherine Skinner, Executive Director, Educopia Institute, to identify the goals of the Framework. In May 2021, Christina Fuller-Gregory, assistant director of libraries, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, joined the task force to build on the logic model, as well as an environmental scan and findings from a cross-sector survey, to lead the framework development. Update sessions on the task force's progress have been presented virtually at the ACRL 2021 Conference and the 2021 ALA Annual Conference. Building on the goals outlined in the work sessions, the Framework Development Working Group created the first draft of the framework during May 2021 to December 2021. An open comment period on the draft was held January 2022 to March 2022, and two virtual update sessions were held (one for library workers from all library types and one for library workers from public libraries. After the task force reviewed and incorporated the feedback received, a final draft was submitted to the Boards of the four organizations for review during summer 2022.
Saturday, June 25, 2022, 2:30pm – 3:30 pm EST, Location: Washington Convention Center, 143B, 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC 20001
Join Christina Fuller-Gregory, Assistant Director of Libraries, S.C. Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, and Mark Puente, Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Inclusion, and Diversity, Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, for an update on the process of developing and finalizing the framework, which includes an introduction, four frames, a glossary, and resources for further reading.
