Micro Actions Support Culture of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in an Academic Library

As student workers at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Library, we wanted to better understand the role of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in an academic library. In conversations with staff, both in person and through emailed questions and responses, we have found that personal values are a driving force behind many smaller, continuous staff actions in promoting EDI throughout different departments. Across libraries and larger institutions, EDI values are often built into larger strategic visions. However, guidance for the practical implementation of these values may be less specific, leaving staff to make their own decisions on how to achieve these larger institutional goals. Diversity and inclusion are top values at OHSU.... However, there are no clear policies or guidelines for how to do this. For example, within the library’s collection development policy, there is no mention of EDI (Oregon Health & Science University Library, 2018). This does not mean, however, that there is not a culture of EDI at OHSU Library