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Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

Purpose

The Working Group acts as an advocate and driver for change, collaborating with colleagues across the Library, representatives of the student body, University and beyond to improve equity, diversity and inclusion within our workforce, services and offer (including collections). The Group will drive and coordinate EDI activity in the Library, ensuring that learning and best practice is shared across Directorates and with the wider University and sector.

This Group will discuss, advocate for and recommend action, focussing on changes to structure and systems which prolong systematic bias and discrimination. These discussions will be supportive and inclusive, incorporating an open community of practice space in which Library staff can engage. The Working Group will work in close partnership with staff and students to lead on agreed activities with defined and measurable actions to drive positive change.

The Group will develop EDI initiatives that support and shape Imagine 2030 ambitions and align with work in the wider University and sector, including the University’s EDI aims and national benchmarks such as Athena Swan, the Race Equality Charter and the Stonewall Equality Index.

Responsibilities

  • Advocate for and recommend evidenced structural change to support equity, diversity and inclusion at appropriate level
  • Create a safe space within the Working Group to enable colleagues from across the Library and the wider University to contribute to the EDI agenda
  • Develop the Working Group as a hub to engage with and share EDI activity across the Library and drive actions based on an open forum of discussion
  • Support and maintain a Community of Practice which will ensure an open and supportive space to encourage learning, advocate for and recommend action
  • Enable and activate the sharing of individual experience to drive positive and effective change in systems and structures
  • Drive action within the EDI space by advocating for change with senior leadership
  • Lead on agreed action and projects in partnership with colleagues from across the Library and wider University
  • Support members of the Working Group to develop and fulfil their potential through involvement in projects and the Community of Practice
  • Ensure equity of opportunity to lead on and participate in EDI projects across the Library
  • Build an evidence based, sustainable model to implement EDI best practice.

Scope

Alongside legally protected characteristics, the Working Group will advocate for equity of experience, access and opportunity for all staff and users and the creation of an environment in which all feel safe and welcomed. The Equality Act (2010) requires the protection of certain characteristics (age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief (including lack of belief) & sexual orientation). This group also sees class discrimination as an important issue to tackle. The Library’s EDI Working Group will take an intersectional approach, recognising that inequity is most experienced at the intersections of different characteristics.

The Working Group will support Library colleagues to learn, develop and share their practice to enable colleagues to take responsibility for their contribution to the EDI agenda.

Contributions

  • Group members are encouraged to engage and contribute fully regardless of their substantive role
  • Members of the Group with a strategic, managerial and decision making roles will be expected to actively continue the work of the Group within their teams and Directorates
  • Members of the Group with operational roles will be expected to actively support the EDI agenda within their operational responsibilities
  • The Group will formally meet four times a year as a minimum, but members will engage in activities between meetings, including involvement in projects and reporting on EDI initiatives within Directorates
  • Regular communication between meetings is encouraged via Teams, email and chat, with decisions returning to the main group for agreement
  • Group members will model an honest and reflective approach to EDI within their own roles, respecting each others’ experiences and understanding, regardless of substantive roles and hierarchies
  • The Group will be porous: those leading on EDI projects in the Library will be invited to join the Group for the duration of their project
  • The Group will report to the Library EDI Lead four times a year as a minimum.
  • If a member is unable attend, they can nominate an alternate to attend in their place.‌

Membership

The group membership is:

  • Katy Woolfenden (Library Executive Team EDI Lead)
  • Jane Gallagher (Library Leadership Team lead for EDI) Chair
  • Mehvish Ali (Collections Strategies)
  • Jennie Blake (Education, Experience and Strategic Insights) 
  • Abi Harrison-Henshall (Directorate of the University Librarian)
  • Amin Hussain (AI and Ideas Adoption)
  • MT Hutchinson (Curatorial Practices)
  • Padma Inala (Education, Experience and Strategic Insights)
  • Rachel Kirkwood (Collection Strategies)
  • Tahira Majothi (University EDI Office)
  • Esther Miller (Education, Experience and Strategic Insights)
  • Deborah Morrisey (Directorate of the University Librarian)
  • Representative from The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre (to circulate: Maya Sharma, Lianne Smith, Annie Dickinson, Safina Islam)
  • Representative from the Students’ Union (to circulate: Julia Gerda Sokk (SU Postgraduate Officer), Miguel González-Valdés Tejero (SU Education Officer), Melody Stephen (SU General Secretary))