The following ways of working together were established by the Committee in October 2024.
Confidentiality is our default
- What happens in this space stays in this space and is not shared, unless we all agree it can be shared.
- When sharing, we anonymize details but recognize that the library world is small, and anonymizing is not enough without agreement to share.
- We flag when what we are not open to what we are saying being shared.
We assume positive intention when others speak
- We give each other space to finish speaking and don’t expect polished perfect speech
- We don’t reject views that may differ from ours but allow different views to enhance and increase our own perspective on the topic.
- We practice attentive, active listening
- We ask questions with a willingness to learn
We are conscious of our privilege and ensure that we leave space for others who may have lived experience of oppression.
- Neither our disagreement nor our agreement is required for another person’s contribution to be valuable or valued.
- We acknowledge that we all have different experiences, educations and value systems that are valid. (intersectionality)
- We challenge ideas, not people, by catching and releasing
- We acknowledge discomfort and emotions are often a part of difficult work
- We don’t have to bring our whole self – we can share what you wish, and we believe and trust each other in what we choose to share
- We use language that helps when our view differs – such as:
- “Another way I think about this is …” rather than to say, for example, “I disagree …”.
- There is no need to reject one opinion to make room for yours. Think about the difference between “I hear you, but …” and “I hear you, and …”.
We have a process for dealing with conflict if someone is not comfortable bringing it up in the meeting
- Go to one of the co-chairs, if the issue is with the co-chairs, then go to Rina.
- If anyone on the committee feels an issue has gone beyond our ability to resolve it as a group, Rina can bring in Adeline from The Commons to support us to resolve and move forward.
We make decisions by consensus; everyone needs a chance to be heard and needs to be able to live with any decision made. We do our best to get to consensus.
- We will poll the group so people can express their level of agreement.
- We will try to find ways to be transparent about areas of disagreement or areas of tension related to important decisions when communicating out
We’ll remember that we are important as individuals and doing our best, and the work is important but is not ours alone.
We are willing to revisit these agreements and respond to emerging needs of the Committee