RBMS, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, AND THE CHALLENGE OF DIVERSITY: THE ROAD TO THE DIVERSITY ACTION PLAN

Abstract

Anyone who has ever attended an RBMS preconference will have noticed the racial and ethnic homogeneity among the section’s members. In 1997, a survey in the RBMS newsletter revealed that 97 percent of RBMS members were white.¹ Historically, RBMS has responded to the challenge of increasing diversity with some talk, but little action. The recent approval by the RBMS executive board of the Diversity Action Plan is a positive and long overdue step toward encouraging more diversity in the section.

Making an effort to attract more members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to RBMS is the right thing to . . .