Critical Analysis of ARL Member Institutions’ Diversity Statements

In March 2018, the Board of Directors of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) approved a new mission statement that includes a call to “promote equity and diversity” and lists “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) as one of its four priorities. ARL encourages but does not mandate similar visible commitments from its member institutions. This is evident by the resource webpage that ARL maintains entitled, “ARL Library Statements and Signs Affirming Our Core Beliefs.” The listed members represent approximately 19% of ARL’s membership. After reading the existing statements, the authors noticed a similar pattern in terms and context. This led to curiosity about how many other ARL member institutions have diversity statements and whether the statements follow a similar formulaic pattern. The primary objective of this research project is to use the lens of critical discourse analysis to conduct a content analysis of the 125 ARL Libraries’ diversity statements. This project reviews and analyzes how ARL member institutions use DEI statements to address institutional concerns, marginalized communities, and larger social justice issues