Close
We are working to address inclusivity and diversity within our library collections. Our goal is to reflect a fully representative range of voices and perspectives across the whole collection.
UCL Library collections have been developed over 200 years. In some cases, they reflect historic and structural inequalities in the university and in society, such as a bias towards white, male, western-centric theories, views, experiences and opinions.
Today, as we work on ensuring our current collecting policy and practice supports and reflects a fully inclusive range of voices and perspectives, we still, on occasion, acquire material which is required for teaching and research that may be considered harmful or offensive.
Building on recent notable work, for example in relation to UCL’s history of involvement in eugenics, we are committed to an ongoing process of reflection, assessment and action, challenging aspects of content, discovery and provenance.
We are also committed to transparency and clear communication around our policy and decisions. Our Library Liberating the Collections Steering Group oversees a range of initiatives to enable our ambitions in this priority area of work.
Background
Our work in this area is guided by the Library Liberating the Collections Group (or LLTC for short) which we set up in July 2020 to oversee, monitor and communicate our activities.
The name was originally derived from UCL’s Liberating the Curriculum Working Group which (back in 2016) funded projects to explore ways of challenging the traditional Eurocentric, male dominated curriculum. We adopted the name to build upon this previous work and keep continuity within the UCL community.
Although we use the term "Liberating" to encompass the diverse range of work being undertaken, a wide variety of terms and definitions are used by other libraries engaged in similar activities and we recognise this can be confusing. Sometimes you will see terms like decolonising and decolonisation being used as a shorthand for a wide range of initiatives relating to equity, quality, diversity and inclusion.
We felt it was important to be clear that decolonising is a specific activity relating to the identification and dismantling of colonial systems, structures and relationships, to address the inherent systemic bias that arises from them. Projects specifically addressing decolonisation are included under Liberating the Collections but alongside other aspects of exclusion such as gender and sexuality, disability and religion.
The use of complex terminology is a big challenge for libraries, and we are continuing to work on this. You can read about one of our completed projects on the Describing our collections page.
Wider context
The context for this work can be found in the Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science (LCCOS) Strategy 2024-27. This includes a commitment to taking this work forward under the theme Accessible Collections. Our activities feed into the strategy implementation plan which the group reviews regularly. You can also read about our broader commitments to EDI across LCCOS.
Ongoing and recently completed projects
Allocated funding for specific LLTC-related purchases
This includes items suggested every year by the UCL community for a series of diversity-themed calendar events. We have created a series of reading lists to promote the books that have been suggested.
Improved access to our Hebrew and Jewish Special Collections
The archives of Rabbi Dr Moses Gaster and the Trades Advisory Council have been catalogued, and this work will continue with a three-year project, starting in Spring 2025, to catalogue our Rare Print collections and improve access to additional archives.
Created a Liberating the Curriculum guide
We supported UCL’s teaching staff with a Liberating the Curriculum guide to creating more inclusive reading lists. Building on this, a new Teaching Toolkit will be hosted on the UCL Teaching and Learning Portal.
Created a Black Studies subject guide
We launched a Black Studies subject guide, created and maintained by our Subject Liaison Librarians, to enable discovery of black scholarship within our collections.
Joined the NACO UK Funnel
To improve the inclusivity of library catalogue records, we have joined the NACO UK Funnel, which enables our cataloguers to contribute names to the Library of Congress Name Authority File (NAF). This is a controlled vocabulary used internationally to improve the visibility of lesser-known authors and contributors within library collections. Some of the first names contributed and edited by UCL were suggested during the Liberating the Collections volunteer project. For more information see the LCCOS Annual Report.
Screenshot of a Library of Congress authority record alongside a photo of a book inscription by Selwyn Oxley.
Selected past projects
- Reviewed our Acquisitions policies to ensure they are fully aligned with our LLTC agenda including continuing to address challenges with purchase of material from the Global South.
- Run a very successful Liberating the Collections volunteer project.
- Completed discrete projects relating to reclassification of library materials, such as The reclassification of non-Western art, global literature in the English language, and creating separate collections for countries of the former USSR at SSEES.
- Created an exhibition in the Main Library, Hidden in Plain Sight: Liberating our Library Collections, featuring items identified by the Liberating the Curriculum volunteer project and accompanied by a programme of curator tours.
Working with us
We are keen to partner with our UCL community (staff and students) and hope to also play an active part in national and international efforts to advocate for solutions to wider issues relating to the acquisition, cataloguing and classification of our collections.
For further information, or if you wish to get in touch, we have an email address library.liberating-collections@ucl.ac.uk.
To keep up to date with Liberating Collections work by our Special Collections Team subscribe to our Special Collections blog.