“[T]he diversity of perspectives presented within this publication will build on the reader’s existing knowledge to bring nuances and alternative approaches to these enduring, seemingly intractable challenges within the LIS profession and within society.� —from the Foreword by Mark A. Puente   Academic library workers often make use of systemic, bureaucratic, political, collegial, and symbolic dimensions of organizational behavior to achieve their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, but many are also doing the crucial work of pushing back at the structures surrounding them in ways small and large.   Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion captures emerging practices that academic libraries and librarians can use to create more equitable and representative institutions. 19 chapters are divided into 6 sections:   Recruitment, Retention and Promotion Professional Development Leveraging Collegial Networks Reinforcing the Message Organizational Change Assessment   Chapters cover topics including active diversity recruitment strategies; inclusive hiring; gendered ageism; librarians with disabilities; diversity and inclusion with student workers; residencies and retention; creating and implementing a diversity strategic plan; cultural competency training; libraries’ responses to Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action; and accountability and assessment. Authors provide practical guiding principles, effective practices, and sample programs and training.    Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion explores how academic libraries have leveraged and deployed their institutions’ resources to effect DEI improvements while working toward implementing systemic solutions. It provides means and inspiration for continuing to try to hire, retain, and promote the change we want to see in the world regardless of existing structures and systems, and ways to improve those structures and systems for the future.

Libraries have a distinctive role to play in the small business ecosystem and can effectively partner to complement existing business services in the community. A nationwide initiative that launched in 2020, Libraries Build Business (LBB) aims to build capacity in libraries offering programming or services to local entrepreneurs and the small business community, prioritizing low-income and underrepresented entrepreneurs. And libraries have already begun to transform communities, with programs ranging from one-on-one business consultations, classes, and workshops to networking and equipment lending, as the many initiatives spotlighted in this book demonstrate. Serving as powerful models of how libraries and their staff can advance innovation and economic growth on any budget and scale, these examples will inspire you to plug into your own community while guiding you through the nuts-and-bolts of making it happen. You'll learn the value to libraries of getting involved in entrepreneurship development; how libraries are integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) into their efforts, working to create more inclusive business communities and, in turn, cultivate a vision for justice in communities across the country; vivid case studies of more than two dozen programs representing a cross-section of urban, suburban, and rural libraries, such as Entrepreneurship Academy, a training program; a 6-month business incubator targeting the formerly incarcerated; empowering street vendors, a consulting service with local business experts; and a makerspace for business; best practices related to budgeting, partnerships, staff, outreach, evaluation, sustainability, and other core components; and information about additional resources to support your work.

Librarians are uniquely positioned to rise to the challenge that artificial intelligence (AI) presents to the field. Libraries and their like have existed for millennia; they progress with society, altering and adapting their services to meet the information needs of their communities. The Rise of AI collects projects, collaborations, and future uses from academic librarians who have begun to embrace AI in their work. In three parts-User Services, Collections and Discovery, and Toward Future Applications-it explores: machine translation creating incubation spaces robotics combining information literacy initiatives with AI literacy fostering partnerships with other on-campus groups integrating AI technology into collections to enhance discoverability using AI to refine metadata for images, articles, and theses machine learning The Rise of AI introduces implications and applications of artificial intelligence in academic libraries and hopes to provoke conversations and inspire new ways of engaging with the technology. As the discussion surrounding ethics, bias, and privacy in AI continues to grow, librarians will be called to make informed decisions and position themselves as leaders in this discourse.