Today, it is crucial to highlight the important efforts to foster belonging in health sciences libraries, particularly within the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona. These libraries are making great strides in fostering inclusive, accessible spaces, and we hope this page sparks positive discussions that further advance community-building initiatives in our community.
Introducing a project by Dot Winslow!
- Dot Winslow (They/She)
- Library Assistant
- A.T. Still University
Dot is on the MLGSCA Membership committee and has been standing in as Interim President-Elect to run the monthly coffee chats. Dot’s library supports up to 5,000 patrons at the library on ATSU’s California campus location. There is a sparse physical collection of books and models in addition to an extensive digital collection. Primary patrons are Central Coast Physician Assistant students and faculty members. Their informational needs include general reference, literature, and scoping review guidance, and database assistance. On the ATSU California campus, Dot won the NNLM Collection Equity Award in 2023 (renamed the Collection Development Award) and completed the collection in December 2024.
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“The award was designed to support collection development that amplifies diverse voices writing on health/medical topics. In the application, I explained what I planned to do with the award, which targeted populations would be supported through this work, the demographics of the targeted population, and an explanation of need. The initial books were selected by our Central Coast Physician Assistant inaugural cohort 2023. Subsequent titles were suggested by faculty, staff, and CCPA CO2024, 2025, and 2026. Assistant University Library Director Maud Mondava created the AT Still Memorial Library Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility (DEIA) Committee in 2023, of which I am a founding member. Please see the included poster from MLA 2024 with all of our accomplishments we achieved up until the conference last year!”
“For our private university, nothing has changed for us at this moment in time, per the direction provided by A.T Still University’s chancellor. These initiatives should be mandatory within this political climate, and retaliation can be avoided by playing the simile game. Since “divers*” and “equity” are now considered offensive terms to a particular population, pivoting within the verbiage is essential. Using terms like varied, belonging, multitude etc, historically underrepresented groups, underserved populations…whatever term is deemed safe by your institution. At this point, you could call it the morale boosting or sunshine committee, and really focus on bringing people together and finding similarities with each other - the only way we can fight this othering is to work harder on these initiatives, to not back down and be brave enough to do the necessary work, to continue to be fiercely joyful, and rest to recharge your resistance, because that is how we will persevere.
My goal was to create a student-suggested, whole-person diversity collection. Easy access to diverse experiences help inform our class of historically underrepresented students like themselves and the groups they will be serving in the clinics. I was successful in meeting that goal through surveying our student population, faculty, and staff multiple times as the population fluctuated.
Because I just completed this collection and am still in the process of cataloging and shelving the material, the impact and feedback is unknown, other than the enthusiasm of suggestions. Professors from Appalachia all recommended “Yesterday's People: Life in Contemporary Appalachia.” Several students recommended “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma,” and both students and faculty members noted “When Breath Becomes Air,” as a book that needed to be included. A Hmong student recommended several texts about their culture and people which I was thrilled to add as well: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures (FSG Classics) and Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother's Life in particular.
I plan to one day create a LibGuide dedicated to the medical terminology in a variety of languages that our PAs and PA students will be encountering in the clinic to help connect them to the communities they serve.” - Dot Winslow
We are so thankful to Dot and their amazing work! If you would like to highlight your own project please respond to this form! https://forms.gle/Yjb27hmDe6hPYxez6
With love,
The Community and Belonging Task Force of MLGSCA
