![[A woman sits at a laptop with books spread around her.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/01/library1.jpg)
In 2019, Inside Higher Ed used federal data to show that Latinx and black students switched out of STEM majors at rates of 8% and 11% higher than their white counterparts. This led to people in higher education trying to figure out why BIPOC students did not feel supported enough to stay in STEM fields. The truth is that higher education is white-centric and reinforces many of the same layers of systemic racism that are more widely acknowledged in government, courts, policing, prisons, and beyond. To ensure that all students feel welcome and secure in STEM spaces, collegiate science libraries have launched many initiatives to support BIPOC students in tangible ways…
Tag: libraries
“They have seaweed in the library?”: Algological books by Victorian women
![[A picture of an open book with two specimens of seaweed pasted onto the right-hand page and a description of the seaweed on the left.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/11/Allom-Fucus-Crispus.jpg)
Of all the wonderful things a great library can be, “a vessel for preserving the natural world,” may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But the library can be a preservational space as significant as a national park or a wildlife preserve. Not just in words and images, but in actual specimens. Take, for example, the copy of a rare and unusual book by Elizabeth Allom, The Sea-Weed Collector, found at IU’s Lilly Library.