Decolonising library collections and practices

Dr. Zainab Khan

- Associate Pro Vice Chancellor (Attainment, Equity & Inclusion), London Metropolitan University

Dr Zainab Khan joined London Metropolitan University in September 2019 as the Associate Pro Vice Chancellor (Attainment, Equity & Inclusion). She has held a number of strategic and academic leadership roles and prior to her academic career trained as a barrister. She is an award-winning anti-racism champion. She was the winner of the Bristol Diversity Awards 2018 and 2019 and a finalist at the Inclusive Companies Awards (Education Sector) 2018. She designed and developed the innovative Equity Programme at UWE Bristol between 2016-2019 which received national recognition, winning at the Guardian University Awards 2019.

Ka-Ming Pang

University of Roehampton

Sarah Field

Academic Liaison Services, University of Kent

Emma Mires-Richards

Academic Liaison Services, University of Kent

Jennifer Bayjoo

Academic Support Manager for Research, University of Salford

I have been working at the University of Salford as the Academic Support Manager for Research since May, where I also act as the library’s Inclusion and Diversity lead. I founded Diversity in Libraries of the North (DILON) in 2018, which is a network for anyone who identifies as a BAME library and/or information worker. When I’m not raging about racism, feminism and equality, I enjoy comedy, writing and starting but not finishing craft projects. .

Briony Birdi

The Information School, University of Sheffield

Briony is a Senior Lecturer in Librarianship at the Information School, University of Sheffield, teaching campus-based and distance learning Masters and PhD students on Librarianship and Library & Information Management programmes. In her teaching and research, she focuses on public libraries, social justice and diversity. She combines the standard teaching methods with a more ‘outward-facing’ approach, and has introduced various engaged learning initiatives in her teaching. In 2016 and 2017, she was awarded Teaching Excellence in Social Sciences awards, for Outstanding Practice in Learning and Teaching. Briony is also Co-Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for the Faculty of Social Sciences at Sheffield University, and a member of the CILIP Community, Diversity and Equality Group committee.

David Clover

Head of User Engagement within Library and Learning Services, University of East London

David Clover is currently Head of Use Engagement within Library and Learning Services at the University of East London. David leads the service’s work on student experience and having led the library’s successful Customer Service Excellence accreditation is project leading a wider university implementation of this standard. His professional interests include user experience, diversity and inclusion, the experiences of reading print and digital formats, open textbooks, the provision of learning spaces, customer service, professional development for LIS staff, and managing change. David began his library career in New Zealand and has largely worked in higher education.

Clara Panozzo

Collections and Academic Liaison Department, Latin American & Iberian Collections, Chadwyck-Healey Liberation Collection, Cambridge University Library

Originally from Argentina, I have completed my studies in Italy. I work as an assistant for the Latin American & Iberian Collections and I am currently also on secondment as Hispanic Specialist for the same collections and as a special collections cataloguer for the French Chadwyck-Healy Liberation Collection, all within the Collections and Academic Liaison Department at Cambridge University Library. In 2018, I began collaborating with colleagues from other Cambridge libraries with the aim of raising awareness of the issues surrounding decolonisation in academia and of promoting ways to think critically about them from the perspective of library work.

Jamie Finch

International Librarian & CILIP ILIG Chair, Cardiff Metropolitan University

It is my pleasure to serve as ILIG Chair in 2019 and beyond as I have a keen interest in how libraries, big or tiny, can help communities or individuals, regardless of where they are on our lovely planet. I am a career Business Librarian, and, since 2015, I am also an International Librarian, supporting my employer (Cardiff Met) with their transnational education strategies. Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Sunday Times Bestseller, Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race was my personal catalyst towards being a BAME ally.

Alex Mormoris

Project Manager, Business Improvement Services (BIS), Cardiff Metropolitan University

Alex Mormoris is a PGT student at the University of Birmingham’s Education department. He joined the University as a member of staff in May 2018 as the Equality and Diversity Officer for Student Services. In this capacity he managed Birmingham’s Equality and Diversity ambassadors as part of an OfS funded project in partnership with the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University; this has been recognised by Universities UK as an example of best practice in the sector. In 2018 Alex was included in the Bristol BME 100 Power list and in 2019 he collected a Guardian Higher Education award, both for his work on the UWE Equity project.

Denn Yearwood

Project Manager, Business Improvement Services (BIS), Cardiff Metropolitan University

Emma Mires-Richards and Sarah Field

Emma has worked mainly in Higher Education in a variety of roles focused in supporting academic liaison and related activities. Currently employed as a Liaison Librarian supporting Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Kent.

Sarah has worked in Higher Education for 15 years in academic liaison and student experience. Currently employed as the Liaison Librarian supporting sciences at the University of Kent.

Emma and Sarah have been working collaboratively with academic schools, Kent Union and the Student Success Project, to develop the Diversity Mark Award at University of Kent using reading lists as a mechanism for diversifying collections and the curriculum. The work from this project received the Talis Aspire User Group Creativity Award 2019 and contributed to the THE Shortlisting for Outstanding Library Team.

Rahul Patel

University of Arts London – Teaching and Learning Exchange