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RLUK has published a report on Equality, diversity, and inclusion in the research library. An analysis of RLUK institutions’ job descriptions.
Research libraries across the world are striving to become more inclusive and diverse places where scholarship and learning can thrive. Over the past few years, efforts have focused not only on developing and presenting library collections in more engaging and inclusive ways, but also on creating a diverse workforce which can be representative of the multicultural communities that libraries serve today.
This piece of focused research aimed to investigate how issues around equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are represented in the job descriptions of RLUK member institutions as well as how libraries apply EDI values to their recruitment practices. It also looked at whether new roles, including leadership positions, are being created to drive EDI initiatives and contribute towards culture change within institutions. Finally, the representation of EDI initiatives and roles amongst RLUK members was placed within an international context through a comparison to initiatives being undertaken by US and Canadian research libraries.
For the purposes of this project, an analysis of the position descriptions submitted by RLUK libraries to the Research Libraries Position Description Bank (RL PD Bank) was conducted which was complemented by interviews with representatives of six RLUK member institutions. A brief landscape analysis with the purpose of conducting a comparison between the practices employed by RLUK members and those by US and Canadian research libraries was also conducted.
