Cosponsored by:

Nassau County Library Association, Academic and Special Libraries Division

Long Island Library Resources Council

Suffolk County Library Association, Division of Academic and Special Libraries

Keynote: Corliss Lee and Brian Lym, Editors, Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Handbook for Academic Libraries (ACRL, 2022).

Corliss Lee (she/her/hers) is the American cultures librarian at the UC Berkeley Library as well as the liaison to the American studies, college writing, and ethnic studies departments and a member of the Instruction Services division. Her interests include diversity, equity, and inclusion in libraries; disinformation literacy; and empowering undergraduates through information literacy. She is a two-time graduate of UC Berkeley (BA, English, and MLIS). Corliss was awarded the Distinguished Librarian Award by the Librarians Association of the University of California, Berkeley, in 2020.

Brian Lym has been an academic library leader in New York and California. He has served as dean of libraries and chief librarian at Hunter College, dean of university libraries at Adelphi University, and director of library services at Napa Valley College. His career began as a student library employee at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his MLIS, MS (wildland resource science), and BA (humanities) degrees. Brian is supporting and advancing inclusivity, equity, and diversity efforts in the Sonoma County Library system where he serves as an adult services librarian.

Shawn(ta) Smith – Cruz: Hiring Us: From Diversity Statements to Conversations

Academic Libraries are implementing recruitment initiatives for diversifying the profession. This talk will provide a case study that will overview best practices in our recruitment strategies. Shawn will overview her work as the Faculty Diversity Search Liaison at NYU, detailing practical applications, while outlining challenges and implications for librarians to consider as we embark on this journey to diversity.

Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz is an Assistant Curator and Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Engagement at New York University Division of Libraries. She is the Faculty Diversity Search Liaison for the Division and works with her colleagues to support NYU Libraries Cluster Hiring Initiative. Shawn is a co-coordinating volunteer archivist at the Lesbian Herstory Archives and through her work archiving Black lesbians is the recipient of the 2020 WGSS Award for Significant Achievement in Women’s & Gender Studies in Librarianship from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Shawn has a BS in Queer Women’s Studies from the CUNY Baccalaureate Program, an MFA in Creative Writing/Fiction, and an MLS with a focus on Archiving and Records Management from Queens College.

Register @ LILRC