Cultural Humility in Public Libraries: Colleagues & Customers

Are you curious about the term cultural humility? At its root, cultural humility requires one to acknowledge inequality and take action. This online course will introduce the concept of cultural humility as a professional tool in the library. We will focus on your role as colleague and as a professional and will link the concepts of cultural humility to librarianship. We will explore personal identity and culture. We will also examine how culture and identity translate to a deliberate practice of cultural humility in the workplace.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Define cultural humility and cultural competence
• Name three ways to implement cultural humility in your interactions with colleagues
• Name three ways to implement cultural humility in your interactions with clients or patrons
• Write an action plan to adopt cultural humility as a colleague
• Create an identity collage as a way to examine your identity and reflect on how cultural identity shapes worldviews
• Identify one short term goal and one long term goal for your  practice of cultural humility with colleagues and patrons

Course Description: Through online meetings, assignments, and discussions we will explore the concept of cultural humility. You will complete a cultural humility action plan and an identity collage. The instructor will provide resources, and concrete tips and techniques that can be applied immediately. During the course, you will participate in discussion forums and online meeting about cultural humility and identity. You will be able to share experiences and apply the concepts learned to your own library and community.

Online Meetings:

Meeting One: April 22, 2020 10 am Pacific Time/ 11am Mountain Time/ 12pm Central Time/ 1pm Eastern Time

Meeting Two: April 29, 2020 10 am Pacific Time/11 am Mountain Time/ 12pm Central Time/ 1pm Eastern Time

Note: Please make every effort to ensure that you are able to attend these two meetings before enrolling in the course. If this is not possible, archived recordings will be made available.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Cultural humility and Identity
  • Examining identity to provide better service
  • Interrogating identity
  • Connecting with colleagues
  • Statistics about librarianship
• Week 2: Cultural humility with clients or patrons
  • Connecting with clients & patrons
  • Pillars of cultural humility

Pre-course Assignment:

First: Read the chapter by Xan Goodman about creating an identity collage.

Next: Using the handout Dissecting Identities, sketch out parts of your identity. Begin to gather images that represent your identity.

Keep in mind: An element of cultural humility requires us to examine our identity and reflect on how our cultural identity shapes our worldviews. This exercise will help you begin to explore your identity as an element of intentional cultural humility practice.

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2 1/2 hours per week, for a total of five course hours. Each week's module contains an online meeting, readings, and various options for assignments and discussions. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Any library staff member who would like to learn about cultural humility as a tool to benefit you as a colleague and a service provider.

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for one more week, and the course material will stay up for an additional week after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.

Are you a member of ARSL? If so, you may be able to sign up for a free seat in this course. Limit is four free seats per course. Make your request here and if a free seat is available you will be notified.

Keywords: cultural humility