We are pleased to announce that RLUK’s Special Collections and Heritage Network has published a position paper on ‘Equity, diversity, and inclusion in the research library: a special and heritage collections perspective‘. Through this paper, RLUK wishes to express its strong commitment to the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion and present a set of objectives which will help towards achieving EDI goals from a special and heritage collections perspective.
This position paper is envisaged to foster conversations in the context of the RLUK strategy as well as inspire RLUK member libraries and others in the sector to place EDI in the heart of everything that they do. EDI is a cross-cutting theme in the current RLUK Strategy and RLUK aims to work with its members to incorporate these values within all aspects of our work wherever possible. Thus, RLUK welcomes and supports this position paper as well as the challenge it poses for strategy planning and development and member support in this area.
Background
From September 2023 to March 2024, the RLUK Special Collections and Heritage Network (SCHN), held a series of conversations where the topic of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) was at the core.
Acknowledging the common challenges around EDI that special and heritage collection professionals in RLUK member libraries are currently facing, the group met at the University of Lancaster in September 2023 to initiate relevant discussions. Unpacking what equity, inclusion, and diversity mean in a modern research library context brought to the fore a variety of examples of the role that special and heritage collections play in attracting diverse audiences. The opportunities they offer in fostering conversations around ‘difficult’ and ‘hidden’ histories were also considered significant.
Moreover, the challenges faced by professionals when trying to embed EDI principles in their daily work routine were an important part of the conversation; developing a more diverse workforce as well as reviewing and re-imagining current practices were considered essential for achieving real change in how collections are developed, accessed, and used by different audience groups. Thinking about how the work of RLUK member libraries links to other efforts across the sector nationally and internationally provided food for thought for potential collaborations and future activities.
The outcome of this initial conversation was reviewed, updated, and refined through follow-up conversations until September 2024 and led to the development of the position paper ‘On Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: a position paper by RLUK’s Special Collections and Heritage Network’.
This work was led by a working group consisting of the current SCHN conveners, Simon Dixon (University of Leicester) and Gary Brannan (University of York), as well as Nicola Euston (University of Liverpool) and Kevin Bacon (University of Sussex). The group was supported by the RLUK Executive.
