In June of 2020, the UW Tacoma Library made a public commitment to equity, social justice, and antiracist action. To honor this commitment, the Library has contracted with Archway Consulting Group to facilitate a formal antiracism assessment of the Library’s policies, practices, work culture, and internal bias. The goal of this assessment is to gain professional recommendations and training so the Library may grow as an antiracist organization.

A total of three consultants were considered for this work. Ultimately the UW Tacoma Library antiracism working group unanimously decided to recommend Archway Consulting Group for the contract. Archway is a local consulting firm that offers a range of services for clients seeking transformative organizational change. Among these services is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Support. Specifically, Archway offers organizational assessment, trainings, process design, and benchmarking services to help clients develop and assess targeted goals. Archway Consulting Group has previously worked with Tacoma Community College, the Tacoma Children’s Museum, and the Metropolitan Development Council in this capacity.

The antiracism working group was impressed by Archway’s open and personable approach to this work. Their commitments to equity, the Tacoma community, and to developing ongoing relationships with clients is clearly at the forefront of their work, and reflect the shared values of Archway Consulting Group and the UW Tacoma Library. We also welcome the opportunity to support a grassroots, Black-led organization in our community.

The assessment, which begins June 2021, will include collecting feedback from Library staff via survey and focus group; assistance developing a common language and framework for discussions about equity, diversity and inclusion within the Library; and a two-hour training for staff on unconscious bias and mitigating bias in the workplace. The culminating product of the antiracism assessment will be a new EDI strategic plan assessing the current state of the Library’s practices and culture and providing an improvement plan to guide ongoing antiracism work. We will report back to campus Fall Quarter 2021 with updates.