University of Southern Maine

Diversity Plan: 2003 - 2005

USM Libraries

GOAL I: Climate

USM continuously strives to make the campus a welcoming climate inclusive in its understanding and integration across multiple dimensions of diversity, including, but not limited to, diversity based on race and ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, gender expression and identity, religion, and class.

The Libraries will do the following:

1. Participate in inservice training opportunities to develop a broader awareness of diversity issues and to explore resources and strategies for addressing diversity issues in the Libraries.
   
   
2. Publicize the availability of collections related to diversity.
   
   
3. Create a list of diversity issues to which Library staff should be sensitive, and include the list in the staff orientation packet.
   
   
4. Create exhibits that highlight the artifacts, papers, and significant people that are part of the rich heritage of diversity in Maine.
   
   
5. Identify key staff members who will represent the Library on key university committees that address issues of diversity.
   
   
6. Provide access to library information resources for all library users regardless of their race, gender, age, nationality, sexual orientation, exceptionality, economic status, religion, or class.

GOAL II: Academic Experience

The USM academic experience, which includes both curricular and co-curricular activities, increasingly reflects the multiplicity and diversity of communities and cultures locally, nationally, and globally.

The Libraries will do the following:

1. Regularly update its Diversity Reference Research Guides (traditional and electronic) to include the most helpful resources for connecting students and faculty to database and resource information on issues of diversity.
   
   
2. Incorporate a statement on diversity into the Library's Collection Development Policy.
   
   
3. Add monograph, serial, and reference resources (as funding allows) to the libraries' holdings to address issues of diversity.
   
   
4. Create exhibits, as appropriate, through its Special Collections and the Osher Map Library to align with major university activities that address issues of diversity.
   
   
5. Offer the resources and services of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (through its director, who is the Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist) to assist faculty, students and staff in exploring issues of diversity.
   
   
6. Work with students, staff and faculty through various learning modalities to help them gain access to information resources that are needed to investigate issues of diversity.
   
   
7. Inform students, faculty, and staff of available resources on topics related to diversity using appropriate print and electronic media.
   
   
8. Offer inservice and course instruction, as resources allow, to inform faculty, staff, and students about information and resources related to issues of diversity.

GOAL III: Student Recruitment and Retention

USM strives to increase the diversity of its student body through active outreach and recruitment. USM increasingly works to develop structures and mechanisms that support the retention of all students, particularly student os color and other underrepresented populations.

The Libraries will do the following:

1. Work with the Admissions Office to explain information about the Libraries (e.g., the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine and related collections) that may be useful in recruiting students from underrepresented populations.

GOAL IV: Faculty and Staff

USM strives to increase the diversity of faculty and staff, particularly faculty and staff of color, but inclusive of other underrepresented populations as defined in Goal I.

The Libraries will do the following:

1. Actively recruit staff and student workers who contribute to the diversity of the university.
   
   
2. Advertise all staff positions to listserves that target the underrepresented populations.
   
   
3. Remind academic deans of the resources available at the Libraries (e.g., the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine and related collections) that may be used for sharing with recruited faculty and staff from underrepresented populations.