Recruitment and retention of diverse workforces in supportive and productive work environments are reported to be major concerns of academic libraries. Diversity efforts are crucial in order for academic libraries to serve their diverse user groups well. However, it is only within the last ten years that diversity assessment has become a tool in libraries for measuring and planning change, and assessment of diversity initiatives is still scattered. The presenters have developed and have been involved in diversity assessments and are experienced in using those assessments for planning change and organizational development.
This workshop’s goal is to show that diversity initiatives can be assessed and that those assessments can be used as tools to manage and identify areas of growth and development for organizational change. The workshop will have the following elements: Background of library studies and rationale for diversity assessment generally; Briefing on current research and efforts in diversity assessment; Exercise for workshop participants to identify goals of such assessments in their organizations, variables they want to measure, and actions based on assessments’ findings.
The workshop’s outcome is that participants will understand that assessment can be used as a way to realize the benefits of ‘productive diversity. ’This workshop fits the conference theme of ‘Working Diversity – Managing the Culture of Diversity.

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Keywords

• Assessment
• Organization development
• Work climate
• Workforce planning

(60 min. Workshop, English)