social justice

January 11, 2024

Celebrating MLK

updated 1/2024 In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day, UW Libraries encourages you to explore resources within our collections and across campus that reflect Dr. King’s work and collective efforts to combat racism, inequality, and injustice in our community and beyond. UW Libraries Racial Justice Resource Guide, for recommended readings, podcasts, videos, and articles…

February 3, 2023

Black History Month 2023

While Black History Month provides a focused platform for collective reflection and celebration of Black History, the responsibility to self-educate is never-ending.   Making space to read, listen and watch something new – as a continuous practice (well beyond February) broadens our understanding of Black History in support in our collective work as allies, advocates, educators…

May 31, 2022

Celebrate Pride Month!

Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had…

March 21, 2022

UW Libraries in the Classroom: Looted? Ethnomusicology, Archives & Colonial Legacies

Inside the echoing walls of the Smith Room* within the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, John Vallier, Ethnomusicology Curator for UW Libraries, presses “play”.  Students listen intently to the scratchy recording of a so-called “war chant”. Vallier explains that it was recorded in 1906 near Mount Kilimanjaro by an officer in Germany’s colonial force. “The singers…

September 7, 2021

Words Matter: Critical Cataloging and Archival Description at the University of Washington Libraries 

Authors: Conor M. Casey, Erin Grant, Keiko Hill, Kat Lewis, Crystal Rodgers  In August of 2021, catalogers, metadata specialists, and archivists at the University of Washington Libraries published a statement on Critical Cataloging and Archival Description to the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism hub on the UW Libraries website. This statement is a road map…

August 6, 2021

UW Libraries 2021 High School Internship Program

The UW Libraries High School Internship Program is a fun, project-based program for students thinking about college and is one of the only paid internships of its kind in US academic libraries. Students learn how to use various tools to produce digital storytelling, mapping, and information science projects. They leave the program with a portfolio…

January 15, 2021

Community Reads 2021: Environmental Justice

UW Bothell and Cascadia College Campus Library’s Community Reads program strives to build community through shared intellectual experiences and discussions around social justice, equity, and diversity.  With something new to read, watch, and listen to each quarter– participants get a variety of perspectives and mediums to engage with. Although this year’s digital interactions may look…

December 4, 2020

Featured Resource: How to FOIA

In 2019, the UWCHR celebrated its 10th anniversary. As a part of the celebration, I facilitated a public FOIA training workshop, and rewrote the training manual to be relevant to a wider audience looking to do public interest research. The manual, How to FOIA,  was published by UW Pressbooks and provides guidelines on how to…

October 16, 2020

Labor Archives of Washington Spotlight: Creating Bilingual Access to Collections Documenting the Latinx Experience

This summer, the Labor Archives of Washington (LAW) within the UW Libraries Special Collections, was lucky enough to have Diana Rocha, MLIS student from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, complete their final semester practicum with us. Working remotely, Diana enhanced access to several important collections documenting the histories of the Latinx community in Washington….

September 16, 2020

I Wish My Parents Knew: A New Message For Parents From First Gen Students

Meeting user needs on the basis of equity and inclusion is embedded in the UW Libraries Mission, Vision and Values. A central part of Libraries outreach and education efforts focus on collaboration with UW First Year Programs, including parent orientation to over 500 parents, many of which include those of first generation college students. In…