BCLA is inviting expressions of interest for 2 vacancies on the BCLA Anti-racism Committee. These vacancies are the result of committee members leaving the province/library sector. BCLA membership is not required, and non-librarians are encouraged to put their names forward. Appointments are for 2 years.
The majority of Committee members are First Nations, Metis, Black, and People of Colour (IBPOC), but the Committee also includes non-IBPOC people. Anti-racism work must centre IBPOC voices but cannot and should not be the sole responsibility of IBPOC.
The Anti-racism Committee guides and informs BCLA’s ongoing anti-racism work, which is grounded in our values and guided by principles of anti-racism including:
- Identifying and examining racism on a systemic, cultural, individual, and institutional level,
- Challenging underlying and normalized belief systems that uphold racism,
- Encouraging direct action on individual and collective levels,
- Developing an action plan to actively redress racism within our organization.
The Committee’s current focus is the recommendations in the BCLA Current Statement Assessment Report by the Commons Consulting. While we have heard from you that there is a great deal of work to be done in the sector as a whole, BCLA only has the authority to direct changes within our own organization, and we recognize that each organization is responsible for and must do their own work. Through our anti-racism work at BCLA we will continually strive to influence, inspire, and celebrate anti-racism work in individual libraries.
This committee meets monthly (with July, Aug, Dec off), and the time commitment is approximately 2.5 hours per month including meetings, although this may change depending on the work. Note that meetings currently happen on the 4th Friday of the month from 11am-12:30pm but may in future occur outside of Monday-Friday 9-5 to allow all members to participate. We know that many IBPOC library workers are not librarians, which sometimes means they have less autonomy over their schedules, and we do not want meeting times to prevent them from participating.
The BCLA Board is represented on the Committee by Suzanne Rackover, President; Ann Johannes, Treasurer; Jane Jun, Mar González Palacios, and Ignacio Albarracin, Directors-at Large.
If you want to put your name forward to be on the Committee, please submit an expression of interest. Contact Rina Hadziev, BCLA’s Executive Director, if you require an accommodation at any point in the expression of interest process.
We will be accepting expressions of interest until midnight on December 15. The Committee Co-chairs, supported by the BCLA Executive Director, will review all submissions and a response and will be sent to all volunteers mid-January. The new committee members will be announced on the forum and BCLA website. We will provide an update if there is any change to the expected timeline.
Please reach out to Rina Hadziev, BCLA’s Executive Director, with any questions, or contact the Committee Co-chairs, Ignacio Albarracin and Shideh Taleban.
With thanks,
Suzanne Rackover, BCLA President; Anton Dounts, BCLA Incoming President; Ignacio Albarracin and Shideh Taleban, Anti-racism Committee Co-chairs