I like to say that I entered the library science profession based on my love for building community connections, but I stayed for the critical conversations around creating not only reflective and accessible collections, but also strong, inclusive communities.
For these two reasons, the PIPEline blog was born. The name serves a dual purpose: it alludes to the commonly used metaphor of encouraging individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups to enter and flourish in the library profession; it also defines the charge of this blog: addressing the intersections between Power, Identity, Privilege, and Equity within our work in libraries and information science.
Through this platform, we will share with the library community how our work intersects with these themes and how they have both shaped not only the work itself, but also the way we as professionals, view and engage with our work.
There are 6 primary contributors to this blog:
Jeff Witt, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist
Anna Schnitzer, Disability Issues and Outreach Librarian
Stephanie Rosen, Accessibility Specialist
Jesus Espinoza, Resident Librarian
Edras Rodriguez-Torres, Resident Librarian for International Studies
And of course, myself - Sheila Garcia, Resident Librarian
Along with our regularly scheduled posts, we have various spots for guest posts! We invite you to contact us if you’re interested in contributing a post (and by us, I really mean me because I have a color-coded schedule that I LOVE to use).
All of that said, welcome to the PIPEline blog! We’re glad you’ve decided to follow our adventures (and possibly misadventures) from here on out and we’re excited to share our work with you all!