IDBEA Steering Committee

About the Committee

The Inclusion, Diversity, Belonging, Equity, and Accessibility Steering Committee (IDBEA-SC) was formed in spring 2019 as the result of years of ongoing work in diversity and inclusion across the Division of Libraries. The IDBEA-SC currently works to engage faculty, staff, students, and users in efforts to create a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable Division of Libraries and foster within it an environment that affirms and respects the diversity in our community.

Membership

The Steering Committee solicits new membership within the Division of Libraries every spring. Each member serves for two years and one third of the membership changes annually to bring in fresh perspectives. The Steering Committee strives to include faculty, administrators, union members, and department managers in its membership.

Working Groups and Activities

Since 2019, the Steering Committee has continuously charged Working Groups to advance IDBEA causes within the Libraries. The concluded Working Groups include:

• Internal Community Building and Programming
• IDBEA in Collections
• IDBEA in Recruitment Practices

The Internal Community Building and Programming Working Group evolved into the Day(s) of Learning Standing Committee, which plans semi-annual Days of Learning for the Division of Libraries. Reports and findings from completed Working Groups are available to NYU Libraries staff only through the IDBEA-SC Wiki.

In 2022, the Steering Committee charged two new Working Groups:

1. Mental Health and Wellness
   • To assess the current landscape of mental health and wellness in the Division of Libraries. Building on the recommendations from the Psychological Safety Working Group (NYU Libraries staff login required), this working group will identify ways to support Library members particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to events since 2018 that have had an adverse effect on our community.
2. Meta Assessment
   • To conduct research on accessible, ethical, and inclusive assessment, that centers anti-racist approaches to data collection. This group’s work will inform how the Libraries can develop an organizational assessment strategy that is accessible, inclusive, ethical, and anti-racist. In addition to charging Working Groups, the Steering Committee participates in setting IDBEA goals with the Library Senior Leadership Team, supports Library departments and affinity groups in IDBEA initiatives, and compiles IDBEA-related resources for the Library community.

Statements and Resources

• Anti Racism Education Resource List (PDF: 114 kB) (compiled and shared by NYU’s Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation)
• Banned Books Resource List
• IDBEA Content Resources (Google Sheets)
• Statement on Anti-Asian Violence and Racism (Google Docs)
• Statement on Anti-Black Racism (Google Docs)