A statement from the DPLA Board of Directors
All of us at Digital Public Library of America have been outraged and saddened by the tragic killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and David McAtee. As an organization, we believe that it is our responsibility to reject racism and reiterate our commitment not only to free access to knowledge, but to continually strive to be anti-racist in all that we do.
We recognize that projects like ours have often served—sometimes inadvertently, other times intentionally—as instruments of oppression, colonialism, and white supremacy.
DPLA was founded with a mission to ensure equitable access to information for all. We believe that our work can and should contribute to a more equitable society, and that only by sharing and recognizing our true history can we live up to our promise as a nation. We know that we as DPLA have work to do to live up to that commitment.
DPLA staff have prepared a list of relevant resources:
- Anti-Racism Resources
- Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages, by Nicole Cooke, the Augusta Baker Chair in Childhood Literacy at the School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina
- Children’s Books About Activism, San Francisco Public Library
- Discussing Race, Cleveland Public Library
- Talking About Race, from the National Museum of African American History & Culture
- Teaching and Learning about Racism and Protest in America Using DPLA Resources
Digital Public Library of America Board of Directors
Jill Bourne, City Librarian, San José, California
Laura DeBonis, (Treasurer), Independent Consultant
Jennifer 8. Lee, CEO and CoFounder of Plympton
Katherine Maher, Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation
Niko Pfund, Global Academic Publisher of Oxford University Press, and President of Oxford University Press, USA
Denise Stephens, (Chair), Vice Provost and University Librarian, Washington University in St. Louis
Felton Thomas, Director, Cleveland Public Library
Elaine Westbrooks, Vice Provost of University Libraries and University Librarian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill