Inclusive Services Update: Implicit Bias

Please read the following end-of-year update from NFLS Inclusive Services Representative Emily Rogers

As your NFLS Inclusive Services rep, I wanted to share an end of year update with all of you from the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Action) Team. Wisconsin Libraries Talk about Race recently hosted a webinar titled Understanding and Challenging Implicit Bias in Decision Making. This training, conducted by Anne Phibbs from Strategic Diversity Initiatives, is archived on The IDEA’s website if you missed it. Knowing how busy things are at the end of the year, I wanted to share some highlights and resources from this talk that you can browse at your leisure.

Unconscious or implicit bias is unintentional. It is the way we automatically react to situations and people without conscious thought. It shapes our judgements about how we conduct ourselves and how we treat others, often without us even knowing it. This can impact who we interview and hire, who we trust, who we see as competent, and who we affiliate with both inside and outside our libraries. It can also impact our collections, programming, services, and policies.

You might be asking, if I’m not even aware of these biases, how do I combat them? Well to begin with, understand that we all have these blind spots. We need to do the work to challenge our own thinking. When making decisions, slow down and try to consider all angles of the issue. Be objective. Ask others who think differently than you for their views. Become aware of your biases.

The resources below can help you understand and combat your own biases.

• Project Implicit is a virtual laboratory to collect information on bias. It provides surveys to help you understand where you might demonstrate a preference for or against certain groups of people.
• ​PwC’s short videos on blind spots highlight how to challenge assumptions, enhance objectivity, overcome stereotypes, and broaden perspectives.
• The Ohio State University’s, Kirwin Institute provides a series of short videos to help you better understand implicit bias and how to mitigate unwanted bias.
• TedX Talk Are You Biased? I Am by Kristen Pressner is a quick video (less than 9 minutes) that explores how our biases develop and how we can challenge them.  
• Othering & Belonging Institute (UC Berkley) provides research and strategies to address a variety of issues such as food insecurity, health care, the digital divide, Islamophobia, and housing.

I hope you can join us for the next training, Moving from Allyship to Leadership, on January 11 at 10am. Register for Moving from Allyship to Leadership here.  

Emily Rogers
NFLS Inclusive Services Rep
Deputy Director, Brown County Library ​