Keynote Speaker: Jess Crilly, Associate Director Content & Discovery, Library Services, UAL (University of the Arts, London)
Abstract:
The presentation explored theoretical and practical approaches to diversity and collections: touching on the value of diversity as a term, the influence of critical librarianship, and the strategies of diversification and decolonisation. The presentation described some recent activity at UAL, and also explored what might be particular to architecture as a discipline, in these contexts.
Reflection:
Jess covered a lot of ground and really set the tone for ARCLIB’s programme for Thursday at the conference in Venice. I have summarised my notes from the talk below, including some personal takeaways at the end. Hopefully I haven’t misrepresented any of the content! Please post your comments and we can continue the discussion…
Definitions…
‘Globalism’ – essentially envisioning a ‘world that is characterised by networks and connections’ (not to be confused with internationalism, globalisation or nationalism!).
‘Diversity’ – positive recognition of the value of difference. There is debate as to the terms usefulness. It is a more palatable concept to discuss compared to discussing race or white privilege directly, and as such could be seen to help institutions avoid deeper interrogation of these issues at a structural level. In terms of promoting diversity, a lot of work at UAL was focused on closing the attainment gap (i.e. difference in degree results) between BAME and white students.
‘Critical Librarianship’ – focusing on bridging the gap between theory and practice, in this case to challenge ‘how libraries “consciously and unconsciously support systems of oppression”‘ (Nicholson & Seale, 2018).
The two main strategies by libraries in this direction are 1) Diversification – adding more voices, narrative and histories to collections, and 2) Decolonisation – seeking out marginalised content/authors, often in alternative formats (e.g. Youtube, Zines) and making those available.
‘Coloniality‘ – the remnants e.g books, cultural practices, etc, that survive colonialism long after it has ended.
‘Eurocentrism‘ AKA ‘Western-centrism’ – the content of the canon in Western education which has overtaken other/previous forms. Whilst not being abandoned, there is certainly pressure to broaden it. See: diversification and decolonisation efforts. The end goal being a ‘Pluriversity‘ rather than University, allowing for many different viewpoints (from many cultural backgrounds) rather than a single dominant viewpoint (white/European).
At UAL, the largest Art & Design place of study in Europe with a high proportion of female and also BAME students, a lot of research has been focused on diversifying the collections. For example, looking at their ‘Printing Historical Collection:
- UAL pamphlet: Practice. Special Collections and Decolonisation.
- UAL Zine: DECOLONISING THE ARTS CURRICULUM
Takeaway:
I am wondering how we can generate momentum to move beyond delivering one-off efforts- for example to diversify the curriculum, celebrate annual events (e.g. LGBT+ History Month; Black History Month), or to update our policies/statements of values to incorporate commitments to diversity – to more concerted, long-term efforts that tackle structural issues.
Whilst our institution is engaging in a broad process for Curriculum Transformation, it is certainly timely to raise these issues as well as look at our Collection Development in a more concerted way. Talking with colleagues at the conference and listening to Jess and other speak, I feel we may be a bit behind the curve in terms of addressing these issues head-on. As such I was pleased on returning to work to hear about new institutional efforts in these directions and hope to be involved.
Notes & reflections – David Stacey | University of Bath
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