Libraries are inherently democratic institutions, striving to provide equal access to resources and services. From this position in our community, how can we change our services and approaches around digital humanities, makerspaces and innovation services to support a multicultural, diverse community? Specifically, how can we redesign our services to support more women and people of color in our communities.
The scope of the conversation could include, but is not limited to: How can libraries (and their partners) help to increase opportunities for and exposure to emerging technology, “making” and digital scholarship for a diverse user base? How are the designs of our spaces and/or services affecting the community we cultivate? How are they contributing to a narrow set of users? What constitutes an inclusive maker community? How does the start-up/entrepreneurship community exclude women and people of color? How do we make “innovation” accessible to a diverse community?
Outcomes: programming ideas marketing/outreach strategies considerations in partnerships and strategic initiatives future research projects
