Library SDE Initiatives
Library Staff Advisory Committee on Workplace Culture
The Library Staff Advisory Committee on Workplace Culture n collaborates with Yale Library leadership to share staff perspectives, and it recommends positive and meaningful ways to strengthen our organizational climate. The committee provides a platform for colleagues to voice their needs and concerns, helping to ensure that the leadership remains aware and supportive of staff well-being. Library staff may contact YaleLibrarySDE@yale.edu for more information.
Accessibility Advisory Group
The Library Accessibility Initiatives Task Force is charged with providing a vision for and consultation regarding accessibility across the library’s operations, spaces, and resources. The group develops and recommends strategies, policies, and actions that embed accessibility into all aspects of library operations. The group promotes a unified approach to accessibility, aligning with both university- and division-wide initiatives as well as specific library goals. The group facilitates the ongoing identification and elimination of barriers to accessibility, ensuring that our spaces and environment become even more welcoming to and inclusive of all constituents and staff, regardless of ability identity.
The Reading Resilience Project
In 2015, during a wave of student activism aimed at making Yale more inclusive, Bass Library partnered with student groups to create the Reading Resilience Project. The project aims to highlight voices of commonly underrepresented peoples in library collections. The books you find on this site are based entirely on Yale student, staff, and faculty recommendations.
Reparative Archival Description Working Group
The Reparative Archival Description (RAD) Working Group is charged by the Archives Advisory Group (AAG) with creating draft recommendations regarding principles and practices for reparative archival description work. Reparative archival description aims to remediate or contextualize potentially outdated or harmful language used in archival description and to create archival description that is accurate, inclusive, and community-centered. For more information on RAD’s work, see the RAD LibGuide.
Yale Archival Reading Group (YARG)
The Yale Archival Reading Group (YARG) provides an informal space for Yale Library staff and allied colleagues to discuss readings in the archives and library fields. Discussions are wide-ranging, and reading topics have included archival management and principles; ethical stewardship; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and labor issues. For more information, visit the YARG wiki or contact Alison Clemens.
Cushing/Whitney Medical Library’s Disability Studies Resource Guide
The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library’s Disability Studies Resource Guide provides information on print and electronic resources for the study of disabilities and people with disabilities.
Library Accessibility Services
Yale Library is an important research and educational resource for the students, faculty, and staff of the Yale community. In order to ensure all users equitable access to the library’s collections, public services, and web resources, we have developed our Library Accessibility website to enable users with disabilities to take full advantage of the library’s offerings.
Library Information Technology Accessibility Resources
Making your website accessible means your online resource is usable by the widest variety of people possible, including those who use screen readers, cannot use a mouse, or who may be on a slow wireless connection. The User Experience group recommends library website and subject guide creators review these accessibility guidelines so that the major components of web accessibility are better understood.
Music Resources on Diversity and Underrepresentation
These Music Resources on Diversity and Underrepresentation present focused resources for increasing diversity in music performances and research, particularly in the Western classical tradition. Many of the general resources on the main Music research guide also include information on, or scores and recordings of, composers from underrepresented groups. The library has recently increased its holdings of scores and recordings of music by composers from underrepresented groups and welcomes suggestions from students, faculty, and staff of additional works. See also the Ethnomusicology guide for resources focusing on traditional and popular music from around the world.
Oral History of American Music Collections Guide: Music in the Black Church
Music and the Black Church is a collection of video interviews with leaders of music in the Black church, including pastors, music ministers, gospel artists, and choir directors. These interviews were conducted by students in Professor Braxton Shelley’s gospel courses at Yale University. This is an ongoing and ever-expanding effort. Please note: interviews with other gospel figures may be found in the Major Figures in American Music collection of the Oral History of American Music (OHAM).
Library collections, exhibitions, and more
Gilmore Library’s Music Resources on Diversity and Underrepresentation Resource Guide
The Gilmore Library’s Music Resources on Diversity and Underrepresentation Resource Guide presents focused resources for increasing diversity in music performances and research, particularly in the Western classical tradition.