Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee Meeting: April 7, 2026
CONFERENCE CALL
Members attending representing these CARLI member institutions: Illinois Central College, Depaul University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Erikson Institute, Dominican University, Illinois State Library, University of Illinois Springfield, Bradley University
CARLI Staff Attending: Nicole Swanson, Wyn Schell
Announcements
- CARLI Announcements
- April 8: PDA Event, From Concept to Display: Creating Impactful Library Exhibitions
- April 16: Free Speech Needs Free Libraries: Censorship in Libraries and Academic Spaces
- Please encourage colleagues to volunteer for a CARLI Committee by May 1
Discussion
- Touched base on ILA speakers chat from last month to discuss new insights/additions.
- Could try to survey the rest of the CARLI committees on how the DEI members could help and collaborate with them
- Member brought up the question of what resources we have access to or ways we can connect and disseminate information on DEI.
- Co-chair brought up the Padlet that DEI members worked on last term and potentially using it to share out resources to the rest of CARLI
- CARLI staff brought up that the Preservation committee keeps a page of resources on the CARLI website and DEI could do something similar
CARLI DEI Committee FY26 report
- Discussed whether or not we should include our full names in the version that will go out to the board. The members decided that full names for the internal board version are fine and will keep names off for the public version.
- Discussed changing the verbiage from “first annual” to “inaugural” for the conference recommendation.
- Began working on the program description/scope for the symposium:
- Members brought up types such as lightning talks, Presentation, Panels, virtual posters, etc.
- Member reminded the group the PDFs are not accessible so it will be important to think through ways to make poster sessions accessible. PowerPoint sessions could be a good route to explore.
- Other factors to think about are creating a theme and examples for potential presenters but not to flesh the ideas out so we don’t lock in the DEI committee members who will be working on this project
- Tag professional development offerings description/scope:
- Can promote DEI related programs through CARLI communication channels
- CARLI staff mentioned that we have not had as many PDA sessions on DEI related topics due to geographic locations of members and political pressure. Co-chair asked if we could make recommendations to PDA in the future.
- CARLI staff asked if we could add ILA, IHLS, and other orgs to the project.
- Co-chair inquired if we should expand this recommendation to compile online links/resources and the other members decided it might be too big of a lift to include that additional charge.
Decisions
- Minutes of the March 2026 meeting approved.
Tasks Assigned
- Member from Bradley University is interested in extending their term.
- Members will research what other DEI conferences and symposiums have looked like to give us ideas on the description of our recommendation in the FY26 report.
- Co-chair will search for the CARLI Instruction Showcase from 2024 to pull ideas from.
Meeting Dates
- Next Meeting: MAy 5, 2026 1pm.