GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network,
envisions a future in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or
gender identity/expression. Resources include an online documents library, curricular materials, and links to
local chapters including Cleveland
and Cincinnati.
The February 2005 issue of the State Library of Ohio
News takes diversity as its theme. Feature stories discuss ESOL partnerships, outreach to migrants, the statewide
Commission on African-American Males, and more.
The Diversity Librarians' Network welcomes diversity librarians
from library residency, fellowship, and internship programs (and interested faculty, students, and human resources
professionals) to a forum for sharing ideas and networking. Of particular note are the sections on internship, residency,
and fellowship programs, scholarships and awards, and calendars of diversity events and training opportunities.
In November, 2004, the New Jersey State Library
sponsored a one-day conference, One Community New Jersey: Diversity in Libraries.
Besides conference materials, handouts, and links to sponsors, this site includes a must-see
set of resource guides on staffing, organizational
climate, services, and collections. While some of the links are relevant primarily to New Jersey libraries, most
are of great interest to all who are involved in library diversity work.
Hennepin County (MN) Library welcomes its diverse linguistic communities to the library with WorldLinks.
Interfaces in Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese offer links to local information and
WWW sites of interest. There are also lists of local resources for immigration, citizenship, and learning English.
This is an excellent bridge to library and community information for new residents from abroad.
The Association of College and Research Libraries' Instruction Section offers a
Library Instruction for Diverse Populations
Bibliography. This extensive bibliography will help librarians and instructors who teach diverse populations within
academic settings. It cites resources related to the following groups: African American students, Asian American students, First-generation
college students, GLBT students, Hispanic and Latino students, international students, Native American students, nontraditional
students, students with disabilities, and transfer students.
North Coast Seniors Connect, developed by Cleveland Public Library, is a multifaceted
web site designed exclusively for older adults and those that care for and about them in Cuyahoga County. This project intends to
organize information integral to successful aging, create an online community in which older adults and those that care for and
about them may explore a variety of subjects, and promote computer use and training opportunities for the growing number of
older persons accessing the Internet.
The Brooklyn (NY) Public Library makes basic web resources, including
library information and the online catalog, available in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Hebrew and French. BPL also offers information
about its Multilingual Center, which has books, magazines, and newspapers in the major languages spoken in Brooklyn, including
Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, and Haitian Kreyol. The Center also houses additional materials in French, Yiddish, Hindi,
Bengali, Polish, Italian, and Arabic.
The Queens Borough (NY) Public Library) provides library web interfaces in Spanish,
French, Russian, Chinese, and Korean. Its WorldLinq site offers local and worldwide resources
in Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, French, Korean, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
The National Library of Canada offers a Multicultural
Resources and Services Toolkit, including guidelines for developing multicultural collections, technology
and content resources, lists of vendors, and more. Please note that, while this site is highly useful and relevant,
the emphasis is on Canadian resources and vendors.
Reforma offers a number of valuable resources,
including "Spanish for Librarians," "Spanish Internet and Library Terminology," and a list
of bookstores and distributors with Spanish language and bilingual books.
Tolerance.org
provides resources to promote tolerance. Librarians will be particularly interested in the wealth of curricula
and classroom activities, and in the free semiannual magazine, Teaching Tolerance.
