Assessing Academic Library Collections for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Abstract

Assessing Academic Library Collections for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a practical introduction
for those who work in academic libraries who, as author Karen Kohn writes, “have a sense that they
should be conducting some type of diversity assessment or audit but are unsure how to do it or are
overwhelmed” (1). Kohn’s book reads like an intensive, asynchronous workshop and follows a project
planning approach. The text is not prescriptive; it offers four different approaches (list checking,
metadata searching, diversity coding, and evaluating institutional efforts) to assess collections’
diversity, with the reader selecting what works best for their institution and needs