> C/V
> P.L.O. 1
> P.L.O. 2
> P.L.O. 3
> P.L.O. 4
> P.L.O. 5
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PLO 1: Advance Information Equity and Justice
Introduction
The advancement of information equity and justice calls for the confrontation of the ways libraries, as do all institutions, participate in broader systems of exclusion, power, and privilege. During my time in this program, I have affirmed that addressing inequity concerns recognizing both the visible and invisible structures that shape information access, representation, and participation. I understand equity-driven librarianship as a continual, ethical practice. This PLO mobilizes reflection, policy development, ethical reasoning, and community-centered engagement as core tools for challenging inequitable systems, while reconstructing information spaces which act to honor the dignity, narrative power, and lived experiences of all users.
1.1 Identify situations where systemic information inequality exists
In my Library Community Issue Analysis (IST 672), I examined structural disparity in information access affecting the Seneca Nation in Buffalo, NY. I detailed how historic land dispossession and lack of representation within archives and their structures continue to exclude Indigenous communities from library governance, collections, and visibility. Similarly, my Access Effectiveness (IST 616) report assessed a Teen Tech Center’s layout, signage, and staff protocols, identifying embedded barriers such as surveillance-heavy design and lack of multilingual information, which are all factors that limit access for youth of color and English language learners.
1.2 Interrogate and internalize professional ethics, values, standards, and principles
My Responsive Librarianship in Action (IST 511) reflection directly addressed tensions between traditional library neutrality and the urgent need for justice-oriented practice. I instigated ALA’s core values (including access, democracy, and diversity) and their ability for deployment in order to resist institutional bias and advocate for users’ full humanity.
Additionally, the Digital Audio Preservation Practices (IST 715) paper explored how archival ethics, specifically particularly around informed consent, provenance, and descriptive authority, must evolve when stewarding vulnerable or marginalized oral histories, especially in community-run archives like the Patterson/Rensaa project.
1.3 Create and support policies that reflect principles of a just and equitable information society
In my Strategic Plan for the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (IST 672), I proposed a series of reparative initiatives to embed justice in policy, such as tribal education partnerships, Indigenous language inclusion, and youth-led service design. These policy recommendations were grounded in community consultation and focused on an active instigation in order to rebalance power and representation across services and staffing models. My Genre Study (IST 612) also considered policy from a collection development perspective, challenging genre categorizations that erase or tokenize BIPOC and multilingual narratives.
1.4 Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning via engagement with users, communities, colleagues, and professional networks
Through both personal reflection and project design, I have emphasized continual learning with and through communities. In the Booktalks: Librarians and Children reflection (IST 612), I considered how youth readers engage as collaborators and teachers, as they shape librarian development by means of dialogic learning and interpretive play. The Librarian Interview (IST 717) assignment deepened this commitment: the librarian I spoke with emphasized service and flexibility as evolving practices, reminding me that learning within the profession is ongoing and community-driven.
Learning Transfer
The work represented in PLO 1 illustrates my understanding of responsibilities an information professional may bear. I approach library work with an expanded awareness of how power circulates through policies, collections, and daily interaction, and how these systems may act to support, or marginalize. I carry with me a commitment to interrogating the structural causes of information inequality rather than treating access barriers as isolated problems. Equity literacy, ethics-centered decision-making, reparative policy design, and community collaboration will continue to guide my professional choices as active frameworks. They remind me that justice in information work is iterative, relational, and grounded in accountability, and that meaningful change occurs only when libraries actively support voice, visibility, and resources to communities historically excluded from them.
Evidence
IST 511 - Responsive Librarianship in Action
IST 612 - Genre Study
Booktalks: Librarians and Children - Oral History
IST 616 - Access Effectiveness
IST 672 - Strategic Plan (Buffalo Erie County Library)
- Library Community Issue Analysis
IST 715 - digital audio preservation practices & history
IST 717 - Librarian Interview