A celebration of the Indiana’s Librarians Leading in Diversity program will be held Oct. 29 at the downtown Indianapolis library.
The program, which ran from 2008 to 2012, supported the recruitment and education of 31 fellows from underrepresented communities in library and information science with the goal of increasing diversity in Indiana’s libraries.
“When I first joined the faculty at IUPUI, it was the first year of the I-LLID program, and I had many of the fellows in my courses, reference, public library management, introduction to research and readers advisory,” said Andrea Copeland, associate professor and chair of the Department of Library and Information Science at the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI. “We had so much fun learning together. The fellows brought a lot of new energy and helped to create an inclusive environment in the program, which made all the difference to me, as an outsider to the Midwest. I’ve loved watching the contributions they’ve made to the profession in the state of Indiana and beyond.”
The program continues to make its mark, more than 10 years since the final cohort completed graduate studies.
“I have witnessed the impact of the work and ideas of I-LLID fellows on both local communities and national library and cultural heritage professions,” said Kristi Palmer, program mentor and dean of the IUPUI University Library. “Many fellows are now employing their professional expertise to lead, to mentor new professionals and to inform the next iteration of Indiana’s Librarians Leading in Diversity. They are setting the bar for professionalism.”
The celebration will be part of Indianapolis Public Library’s Center for Black Literature & Culture 5th Anniversary. Learn more and register on the event website.
For additional information, contact Palmer at klpalmer@iupui.edu.
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