As President and Incoming President of BCLA, we wanted to start 2024 with an update on BCLA’s anti-racism work and what you can expect in the coming months.
In November, The Board had a 2 session retreat with The Commons Consulting. We reviewed the BCLA Current State Assessment Report prepared by The Commons, and discussed how to move the recommendations forward. We also explored tools and approaches to help support anti-racism work in our governance role and discussed what actions we need to take next. We’ve shared some of the resources we used during our retreat on the BCLA website.
The Current State Assessment Report is the foundation for our upcoming work. We are grateful to everyone who responded to the survey that informed the report, particularly Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour who shared their personal experiences. We also want to express our thanks to the Project Advisory Group, who co-led the current state assessment process.
We are now stepping into the next phase of our anti-racism work, where BCLA Board, members and staff take ownership of becoming an anti-racist organization. We are continuing our relationship with The Commons as we know we will need their expert guidance and support, but they are transitioning to an advisory role.
Recognizing there is much to be done, and that it is vital to have a variety of perspectives and experiences guiding us, BCLA will be forming an Anti-racism Committee composed of 5 BCLA Board members and 6 BC library community members. The BCLA Board members on the committee will be Tracey Therrien, President; Sajni Lacey, Incoming Treasurer; Ignacio Albarracin, Jorge Cárdenas, and Shideh Taleban, Directors-at-Large. The six committee members from the library community will be identified via an expression of interest process, and BCLA membership will not be required.
The Committee will help to prioritize recommendations from the Report and identify new actions needed. More details about the new committee will be forthcoming, including how to express your interest in participating.
You can find more information about BCLA’s anti-racism work on our website, and updates and the call for expressions of interest for the Anti-racism Committee will be shared there and via the BCLA Main Discussion on Branches: BCLA’s online forum.
We look forward to working with all of you in 2024 and beyond to make BCLA an anti-racist organization and make the library sector more equitable and inclusive.
Please reach out to Rina, BCLA’s Executive Director, with any questions, or contact us via the BCLA President’s email.
With thanks,
Tracey Therrien, BCLA President 2023-2025, and Suzanne Rackover, BCLA Incoming President