Background: The purpose of this project was to build a partnership between a hospital library and a larger health institution to enhance diversity-related educational opportunities and resources for their communities. A hospital librarian received a grant that supported two related projects: 1) funding for two speakers to come to campus to provide educational sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity topics, and 2) launching a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) print collection managed by the library.
Description: As a member of the hospital’s D&I Council, the librarian worked together with council members and library staff to meet the goals of the grant. Funds were used to co-sponsor a talk on health disparities in cystic fibrosis, and to bring an immersive workshop to campus focusing on cultural humility. Additionally, a D&I print collection was launched, with 20 seed titles. This project fostered collaboration between the library and key stakeholders, demonstrating the library as a valuable partner in the institutional effort towards promoting diversity and inclusion education.
Conclusion: Evaluative surveys were built in REDCap and distributed electronically to all attendees. The responses were very positive and showed a high instance of first-time attendees to a D&I sponsored program. Questions related to the speakers’ learning objectives were formulated and attendees were asked to rate their awareness or abilities in these areas before and after the programs; marked increases were seen across the board. A majority of participants stated they were likely to apply something they learned from the programs to their daily lives, and that they would recommend the program. The print collection circulation has been low but steady.
