Preconference: Leadership Institute (AM): Cultural Humility for Library Leaders

Cultural humility is an approach to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) that helps us recognize and redress structural issues and power differentials that interfere with providing good library service to all.

Beginning with critical self-reflection, compassion, and appreciation, cultural humility offers a way to navigate the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between our patrons and our staff or staff members with one another, and to develop and review institutional practices, policies, and services. Cultural humility can serve as both a lens to understand and a practice to improve institutional culture.

Practicing cultural humility is particularly important for those in leadership positions, as a culturally humble leader can have a significant impact on an organization’s ability to make positive change. Leading with cultural humility also empowers others in the organization to practice cultural humility and to contribute meaningfully to the EDI outcomes of an organization.

Workshop attendees will gain an understanding of cultural humility as an approach to work in libraries, ways cultural humility can be practiced in library settings, and keys to using the practice to pursue meaningful, positive change in their organizations.

By the end of this session, participants will be able:

• Describe the benefits of practicing cultural humility and how it differs from other approaches like cultural competency.
• Identify areas in their own work where cultural humility could be applied.
• Choose one area to take action using cultural humility and design a plan to do so.