Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice in Library Technical Services

Abstract

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Libraries recently embraced a large-scale initiative to incorporate the values of diversity, inclusion, and social justice (DISJ) into library practices. In early 2017, the MIT collections directorate task force on diversity, inclusion, and social justice released a report with recommendations for embedding DISJ values into the daily work of archives, technical services, preservation, scholarly communications, and collections strategy staff. This chapter focuses on the challenges and opportunities in undertaking a sustained effort to achieve diversity, inclusion, and social justice specifically within technical services. The authors highlight how technical services staff can use their unique position within libraries to dismantle existing structures of inequity and privilege by providing access to information and shifting resources to underrepresented groups. This chapter presents the historical context of DISJ within the library profession and the MIT Libraries, discusses implications of this paradigm shift for library technical services departments, and presents cataloging and acquisitions job profiles to help readers envision the practical significance for library staff of the imperative to incorporate DISJ values into the regular practice of their work.