Event:

Pre-Conference Session

IN-PERSON EVENT ONLY
Registered conference attendees who attend can claim MSL CE credits for this workshop.
Register for the conference   

Libraries try to create spaces where everyone is welcome and to provide equitable access to information. Libraries do this for people from diverse backgrounds and origins, regardless of their beliefs or affiliations. But achieving goals for equity, diversity, and inclusion is not easy and often takes years of undoing old systems of inequity, starting within libraries themselves.

In this 6-session series, topics related to equity, diversity, and inclusion will be discussed as they relate to libraries across Montana. Every other month will highlight a new focus area, with opportunities for Montana library professionals to learn, interact, and take action. Funding from this grant will compensate professional facilitators and content experts, ensuring safe and productive conversations that are meaningful to participants.

Throughout the first year of this multi-year program, a flipped classroom model will be utilized to incorporate synchronous and asynchronous learning. The self-guided portion will give participants the freedom to read and reflect at their own pace. During the virtual discussion, participants will explore topics even further and create action plans, with the help of the facilitator, to impact their communities.

The series will kick-off during this preconference session at the Montana Library Association Conference in Billings this April. During this session, EmpowerMT will help participants become leaders in ending oppression by deepening self-awareness, increasing understanding of inequities, and developing intervention and ally skills. It will be structured around participatory activities, small and large group discussions, and drawing on the experiences and expertise of workshop participants. This workshop will create the foundation for the remaining Year of Learning sessions, which will include the following topics: Optical Allyship, Serving community members with disabilities, LGBTQ2S, Indigenous peoples, and Mental health/suicide prevention.

Slaven Lee is the Director of Missoula Public Library
Alyssa Ramirez is the Director of Lincoln County Libraries
Emily Wicks is the Director of Chouteau County Library