Inclusion and Diversity Initiatives

These initiatives represent the highlights of our work related to equity, diversity and inclusion from across the libraries.

2023-2024

VCU Libraries celebrated the freedom to read during Banned Books Week. Our efforts were honored with an Intellectual Freedom Award from the Virginia Library Association.
Developed a Pride Month Reading List for VCU Libraries news.
VCUarts Qatar Art and Design Library conducted a manual diversity audit of its print collection, identifying collection gaps that have since been addressed through acquisitions of works from neurodiverse artists, neurodiverse makers and making, and BIPOC authors in the areas of Africana Studies.
Revamped the Research and Learning Division’s service excellence documentation with an eye toward inclusivity. Updates were made to guidelines for consultations, chat and text guidelines, referral logistics, and recommendations for teaching language minority patrons.
Opened the Reflection Room, which is open to all for meditation, reflection, and prayer, and fills an important gap for spaces needed for some religious rituals.
The Workshop added new accessible, height-adjustable tables for equipment such as 3D printers and laser cutter computers, replacing side tables that were static and lacked knee clearance.
Added decals to restrooms at both libraries, noting priority use of accessible bathroom stalls is intended for those with accessibility needs.
During the digital collections migration from Islandora to Scholars Compass, the migration team identified language or materials that can be offensive or potentially harmful and made changes to collections through a reparative metadata framework.
VCU Libraries’ Social Welfare History Project received an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to expand access to articles and images that focused on public health and elderly homelessness and disability services.
Continued to offer programming and events for the VCU community, including:
- Hosted the National Library of Medicine Traveling Banner Exhibit: Surviving and Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture in Fall 2023, and offered supporting programming, including gallery exhibits of photographs from the Valentine Museum and artifacts from VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, highlighting the stories of survivors, caregivers, activists and health care workers on the front lines.
- 2023 Social Justice Lecture: Coloring the Conservation Conversation by ornithologist and wildlife ecologist J. Drew Lanham.
- 2024 Black History Month Lecture: Narrative Medicine and Identity by Shirlene Obuobi, M.D.
- Presented the Special Collections and Archives exhibit, Ink & Rebellion, which explored the history of comics through the lens of suppression and control of creative content and highlighted works focused on LGBQTIA+, BIPOC, and other marginalized communities.
- Presented Through the Decades, AAPI Life at VCU in partnership with the Asian American & Pacific Islander Affinity group, You First at VCU, and The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

Past Years’ Initiatives

2022-2023

Offered three fellowships in Summer 2022 for undergraduates as part of its American Rescue Plan grant project, concluding with workshops in Fall 2023 designed to help bridge information literacy gaps for transfer, first-generation, and students of color.
The Inclusive Service Excellence Work Group (established by VCU Libraries' Research & Learning Division) concluded its work to examine and make recommendations to ensure that the division’s approach and guidelines towards service excellence reflect principles of inclusion and equity, including services for students, staff, and faculty at VCU Libraries' busiest service points.
VCU Libraries received a generous gift for the creation of the VCU Publishing Research Awards: honoraria that support scholars whose research expands the Social Welfare History Project’s resources. This year’s awardees have contributed research on disability education, Black community organizing in Richmond, Va., support for veterans, HIV awareness, citizenship, race, and education in a U.S.territory, and the history of an orphanage for African American children.
Joined as a supporting member of punctum books, an independent, queer, peer-reviewed open access publisher
Published a new Racism and Health Guide to promote understanding, support teaching, and inspire research about racism and health.
Continued to offer programming and events for the VCU community, including:
- Our inaugural social justice lecture focused on racism in health care
- Our Black History Month Lecture at which a Smithsonian curator shared lessons in Black musical history
- Hosting the National Library of Medicine Traveling Banner Exhibit: Care and Custody: Past Responses to Mental Health

2021-2022

Conducted a survey of faculty and focus groups to understand how to best communicate about the tensions and unsustainable costs of purchasing online access to journals controlled by commercial publishers. As part of this work, the committee created a values statement committing to Sustainability, Transparency, Openness and Inclusivity.
Building gender inclusive restrooms at both Cabell Library and the Health Sciences Library.
The Fines, Fees, and Equity Work Group reviewed how the fines and fee structure impacts user groups and made recommendations regarding all policies related to borrowing fines and fees at VCU Libraries, considering how particular user groups may be disproportionately affected by library fines, fees and associated policies.
Revamped faculty and staff recruitment processes with an eye toward inclusion.
Addressed VCU Libraries expectations for professionalism through a Faculty organization resolution on cultural competence.
Installed Little Ram Pantries in both Cabell Library and the Health Sciences Library as part of a pilot project to help address food insecurity among financially challenged students.
The Libraries Inclusion and Diversity Committee organized the Walking the Ward tour, which deepened the knowledge of and connection to Jackson Ward, a neighborhood that is steeped in the history of Black life in Richmond and is located between the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV Campus.
Read more about the Libraries’ efforts in Reconnection: VCU Libraries 2021-22 Year in Review

2020-2021

The Health Sciences Library (previously Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences) was renamed, as part of Virginia Commonwealth University’s efforts to de-commemorate buildings and monuments on campus that honor historical figures with ties to the Confederacy.
The VCU Libraries' Open and Affordable Course Content Initiative expanded its program, saving students $3.5 million on course materials since its inception.
VCU Libraries launched a redesigned website to make navigation easier for people who use assistive technology.
The Food for Fines program is expanded into an ongoing food drive that allows library users to pay off their overdue fines by fighting food insecurity on campus.
VCU Libraries’ Social Welfare History Project and the companion Image Portal continued to grow and served as an important resource for the VCU community and the general public, providing access to articles and images on topics such as women’s history, voting rights, civil rights, and African American history.

2019-2020

A team of librarians was invited to present locally and nationally on “Developing Gender-Affirming Library Spaces, Systems, Services and Staff.”
The University Librarian issued an anti-racism statement and launched an anti-racism initiative to “deeply examine every aspect of our work to highlight how we fail to advance racial justice and equity, as well as instances in which we perpetuate it, and design substantive, meaningful reforms that we must undertake together to address those failures.”
Published a new guide on LGBTQIA+ Health to address health disparities that LGBT individuals face linked to societal stigma, discrimination, and denial of their civil and human rights
Read more about the Libraries’ efforts in Connections: VCU Libraries 2019-20 Year in Review

2018-2019

The Gender-Inclusive Library Workgroup explored how the library might better support VCU community members who are transgender or nonbinary. The Workgroup’s report includes recommendations to make the Libraries more inclusive for library employees and users.
The Libraries hosted a Food for Fines food drive benefiting Ram Pantry, encouraging library users to donate food in exchange for waiving their library fines.
VCU Libraries’ Community Engagement Librarian receives national honor for advocacy in LGBTQIA community.
The Lactation Room opens at the Health Sciences Library.
New campus exhibit at Cabell Library showcased first-generation students’ experiences at VCU.
Read more about the Libraries’ efforts in Priorities: VCU Libraries 2018-19 Year in Review