In August, the OLC hosted a powerful conversation with All American Boys authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely on how to advance racial equity within public libraries. This was an honest and direct discussion on the difficult topics of racism, power, identity, and oppression, and how they impact public library staff, services, programs, and collections. The conversation will continue this fall with a new online program for OLC members on implicit bias, microaggressions in the workplace and being an active bystander. This professional development training is part of OLC’s commitment to promote equity, diversity and inclusion within the library profession.

The OLC’s Addressing Race in Public Libraries Workshop will be held Thurs., Nov. 19 from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. The virtual workshop features a session with Preshuslee Thompson from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University and a panel discussion on experiences within the Ohio library community. The online program is designed for all public library employees and includes two on-demand webinars and the live workshop. The registration fee for the entire program is $15 for members ($30 for non-members). Discounted group rates are available for OLC Institutional Member Libraries.

Learn more and register.