ARAAC stands for the Anti-Racism & Assessment Committee (ARAAC). This committee, which was formed in Summer 2023 was created by and continues the work of the Anti-Racism & Assessment Working Group (ARAWG) which started in Summer of 2020 and sunsetted Spring 2023.
The committee monitors the current progress on the Library’s Anti-Racism Action Plan and provides the framework and recommendations needed to further progress toward these goals and posts updates to the dashboard.
ARAAC is also responsible for gathering and sharing information from groups involved in implementing the action plan and building transparency between library employees and administration.
Following the events after George Floyd's death in the summer of 2020, the SJSU King Library sought to develop an anti-racist culture and workplace. After various virtual DEI and anti-racism training sessions and discussions, library administration solicited employee input on improving library policies and fostering an anti-racist library workplace via an anonymous survey. The results from the survey came to be known as the Library's Anti-Racism Action Plan. ARAWG is one of two groups developed as a starting point to carry out the items on the Library’s Anti-Racism Action Plan.
Framework & Process
From Summer 2020 to Fall 2022, ARAWG created recommendations for developing an anti-racist workplace and library by using the input of library employees and adapting GRC Pundit's Improving Policies Through Metrics Framework.
Through an ongoing 10-week consensus process and conducting a 4-week voting timeline between the working group and the library, ARAWG was able to make progress on the Action Plan.
ARAAC Committee Members
Academic Liaison Librarian
(408) 808-2019
Student Technology Training Coordinator
(408) 808-2017
Library Technology Coordinator
(408) 808-2370
Library Faculty Chair
(408) 808-2033
UX Librarian
(408) 808-2655
Subject Librarian
(408) 808-2315
Associate Dean of Innovation & Resource Management
(408) 808-2046
Assistant to the Library Associate Deans
(408) 808-2445
- Anamika Megwalu, Faculty Director of Library Instruction and Assessment 2021-2023
- Sylvia Ruiz, Executive Assistant to the Dean 2021-2023
- Erika Johnson, Institutional Repository & Digital Scholarship Coordinator, 2021 - 2022
- Lesley Seacrist, Project & Communications Analyst, 2021 - 2022
- Justin Villena, Student Computing & Media Services Coordinator, 2021 - 2022
- DeeAnn Tran, Senior Assistant Librarian, 2021 - 2022
- Karen Schlesser, Resources and Analytics, 2021 - 2022
Past Co-Chairs/ Chairs
- Neil Ordinario (Co-chair), Library Technology Coordinator (2021-2023)