This statement is a living document and remains under review. Please contact the Circulation Team at library@ecuad.ca with your feedback. Updated November 26, 2024.
The Library Service Team play a number of roles within the library, and we are committed to advancing equity, accessibility, decolonization, and sustainability in our work. This document outlines some of our ongoing efforts to combat systemic oppression and reduce barriers within the services we provide. To foster transparency and community sharing, we have included links to relevant projects, policies, and resources for your further exploration.
As public-facing employees who engage directly with the Emily Carr University community, we acknowledge the unique barriers, stresses, and traumas faced by community members, particularly Black people, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, and people with disabilities. We also recognize the specific challenges experienced by international students, who face disproportionately high tuition, housing insecurity, bureaucratic alienation, and language barriers.
To foster a culture of empathy, accountability, and action, we prioritize learning and evolving through community feedback. We actively seek input from library users via conversations, surveys, and anonymous comment forms.
For the purposes of transparency, we commit to sharing the information we gather from our surveys. We provide results (with any identifying information stripped out), analysis, and identify action items in our Student Feedback libguide.
Our entire Library team participates in regular training and team discussions to improve our services, including:
EDI training with The Commons Consulting (2021)
TransFocus workshops on inclusive practices and working with trans students (2019)
Access workshops facilitated by ECU faculty member Sunny Nestler (2021)
Accessability workshop facilitated by student Taryn Goodwin (2022)_
Bystander Intervention Training to stop anti-Asian and xenophobic harassment facilitated by Right To Be (2021)
Navigating Difficult Situations facilitated by Raj Dhasi (2024)
Lessons from these initiatives are incorporated into our public service operations, policies, and values.
We are actively reducing barriers to accessing library resources. Key initiatives include:
Offering free community borrower cards to Indigenous community members.
Eliminating most overdue fines on books and media which allows students to borrow books without fear of financial penalty.
Extending semester-long loan periods for most items to support accessibility.
Providing short-term loans of course materials0 through our reserve system to ensure equitable access to required readings.
Facilitating access for remote users by offering mailing options for borrowing and returning materials.
Offering free lifelong library memberships to alumni.
Removal of security gates at the library entrance to create a more welcoming environment.
We view sustainability as an integral part of decolonization. Our efforts include:
Eliminating plastic covers from book processing, significantly reducing plastic waste.
Participating in Plastic Free July and Climate Action Week (expanded to a month) with displays and programs that highlight libraries' roles in addressing climate change.
Installing bilingual plant signage in English, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, promoting land-based learning and recognizing Indigenous knowledge systems.
Creating guides and hosting projects such as the Braiding Sweetgrass reading group; and Buffalo is the New Buffalo reading group.
Helping to organize events such as a tour of the Capilano watershed led by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh ethnobotanist Senaqwila Wyss.
Supporting reciprocity and community sharing through the Seed Swap, Supply Swap, and our Buy Nothing Facebook Group.
We have worked to make our library systems and policies more inclusive, particularly for marginalized community members. For example:
Advocating for the display of preferred names in our Integrated Library System (ILS) to avoid deadnaming or outing individuals. This update benefits all 150+ libraries in the BC Libraries Cooperative.
Collaborating with community groups to design inclusive exhibitions and events, such as the Centre for Polite Dissent’s BIPOC Reading Room and the Neuro-Divergent + Disability Artist's Collective exhibition.
Hiring an Anti-Racism Research Assistant to produce a project on the history of Emily Carr University and Student Activism.
Hiring an Accessibility Research Assistant to implement Low-Sensory Study Nights as well as conducting student-centric research about library accessibility needs
Continually strengthening our ability to refer students to other staff and resources within the school, so that their needs are met efficiently and safely.
Our team curates displays, events, and social media content to celebrate the diversity of our community. This includes observing significant dates such as:
National Indigenous History Month,
Black History Month,
Pride,
Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and
Earth Day.
We strive to reflect a broad range of voices and perspectives year-round and welcome community input to guide our efforts.
Working within the constraints of our physical space (acoustics, floorplan, technology requirements), we try to create an environment which fits the diverse needs of our users. Needs differ throughout the semester and can fluctuate year-by-year. Decisions about how to plan and implement changes to the physical library space are made through a combination of user feedback and observations on how the space is used.
As the ECU Library + Archives is considered a ‘Learning Commons’ rather than a traditional library, we must balance needs for spaces which allow quiet study, collaborative work, programming and events, and social opportunities. Efforts have included:
Purchasing comfortable furniture such as beanbag chairs and hammocks which can suit a variety of different sensory needs
Designating different floors as Social, Quiet Collaboration, and Silent Study. These designations were determined by the acoustical properties of the space.
Despite working within an open-concept space, attempting to allow a sense of privacy at some tables through careful deployment of plants and furniture
Ensuring that our limited number of computer workstations remain within eyeline of the Service Desk, so that staff can provide immediate assistance
Caring for the many plants we have nurtured within the space
As a library committed to equity and decolonization, we recognize that this work is ongoing and requires collective effort. We welcome feedback and invite community members to contribute ideas for future initiatives, displays, or services. You can reach us at library@ecuad.ca
In 2020 and 2021, the ECU Library Team met with members of the university community to receive training on research help and service desk interactions, with the goal of mitigating some of the damage done to BIPOC, 2SLGBTQQI, neurodivergent students and students with disabilities when doing research. We learned about threat assessment, student wellness + advocacy, accessibility, and access needs.
The research help team went through Rachel Chong's KPU Indigenous Information Literacy videos and shared ideas about how they relate to research help services. This led to updates to LibGuides sections on evaluating resources, Indigenous information literacy being incorporated into library instruction sessions, and changes in how we talk about evaluating resources on indigenous topics, such as investigating research conduct and ethics, and how researchers follow protocol:
LibGuides have been created on following topics related to diverse lived experiences, EDI and decolonization.
The research help team had discussions on accessible reference services and developed guidelines + website content on accessibility:
library@ecuad.ca 
604-844-3840 520 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, BC