In acknowledgment of their advances in promoting diversity, the Binghamton University Libraries were given the Prism Award for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Accessibility.

The South Central Regional Library Council’s Prism Award commemorates workers and institutions that have made outstanding contributions to creating a diverse and inclusive environment within their organization. Recently, the BU Libraries received the honor for their extensive efforts to foster an inclusive campus environment.

“Binghamton University Libraries is proud to hold a core value to be intentional about cultivating an environment of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility to validate the lived experience of those we work with and serve,” Nancy Abashian, senior director of public services and Libraries Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility wrote in an email. “Receiving the SCRLC Prism Award for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Accessibility is one testament to our commitment to our core values.”

The South Central Regional Library Council was chartered in 1967 by the New York State Board of Regents — one of the nine Research Library Resource Councils that are a part of the Empire State Library Network. Their goal has been to support their members and communities through the promotion of advocacy, innovation and diversity, also helping to develop educational programs and services in libraries throughout 14 counties, including Broome County.

The University Libraries have established multiple initiatives that have earned them this recognition and will sustain positive change in the future, like the Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility and the Decolonizing Collections Committee, which successfully carried out a five-year plan to promote inclusion and diversity in language.

Established in 2020, the Binghamton Libraries Anti-racism Coalition Keepers is a group of librarians and library professionals who want to deconstruct systemic racism within their organization. Later, they formed the Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility to further support the coalition’s impact. The office has since helped foster an inclusive, diverse environment throughout the Libraries by representing and supporting the variety of backgrounds and cultures on campus.

Abashian said the work by the office and the Decolonizing Collections Committee contributed greatly to the Libraries receiving the Prism Award.

“First, policy language and a feedback mechanism were approved for a statement related to harmful language found within the Libraries’ catalog bibliographic description,” wrote Matt Gallagher, the director of collection development. “Second, a list of independent publishers was created for subject librarians to expand their collection development activities. Third, the DCC acquired primary source and reference works related to area studies in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia and Latin America to complement our existing electronic collections and facilitate research being done in those arenas.”

This process has worked to amend potentially harmful and offensive labels in the Libraries’ archives and further advance their mission toward diversity and inclusion. The Libraries have made an expansive impact in ensuring inclusive representation and appreciation of BU’s diverse student population and will continue doing so in the future.

Vidhu Kumar, a freshman majoring in global public health, said it is important to him as a student to have a library system that is mindful of inclusivity and diversity.

“I feel like having a diverse library system really enables you to look at the world and at education through very different perspectives and viewpoints,” Kumar said. “I feel like that’s very important, that you’re just not looking through one perspective, and you’re looking through many, many people’s ways of thinking, and you get to educate yourself upon what so many other people have been through. I feel like that’s a very important part of being able to grow as a person, both intellectually and emotionally.”