The College of New Jersey Logo

Apply     Visit     Give     |     Alumni     Parents     Offices     TCNJ Today     Three Bar Menu

My Account | Hours | Maps | A-Z |

Inclusiveness at Gitenstein Library

Statement on Inclusiveness at Gitenstein Library

The R. Barbara Gitenstein Library at The College of New Jersey is committed to treating all people with respect, dignity, and equity. This commitment reflects a broader dedication to inclusiveness by the college as well as a long-standing commitment within the library profession. As an early step, the library has emphasized inclusiveness by positioning it as an overarching goal in its strategic map. Gitenstein Library continuously strives toward increased inclusiveness, diversity, and equity, informed by, but not limited to, TCNJ Academic Affairs’ TCNJ 2021: Bolder, Better, Brighter and the American Library Association’s Diversity Policy. We further recognize that diversity among library employees can significantly contribute to an inclusive library experience for students, faculty, and community users. To this end, Gitenstein Library strives to create and maintain a working environment that embraces diversity among all library employees.

We strive to be more inclusive in the following ways:

  • Identify initiatives and design programs that highlight inclusiveness, diversity, and equity
  • Create a welcoming environment of civility and respect built on professional and courteous user service
  • Provide universally accessible facilities and technology platforms
  • Build collections (physical or digital) that represent the diversity of the human experience
  • Create opportunities for library employees to increase cultural competencies
  • Collaborate both within the library and across campus to promote wider understanding and application of inclusiveness
  • Develop a variety of outreach initiatives to engage TCNJ and the greater community

 

Approved unanimously by the Library Strategic Planning Committee, July 10, 2019.

Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Metadata

Library users are advised that some of our bibliographic records may reflect language and cataloging conventions that are considered culturally offensive and inappropriate today in public and community contexts. This is perhaps most important to the library system’s use of subject headings, which are standardized terms that describe the content of a resource. In library cataloging, it is a common practice for efficient and timely processing to re-use records created by other libraries, including the Library of Congress. Cataloging and Metadata Services is dedicated to monitoring the efforts underway throughout the library community to address these issues and applying current best practices for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in library metadata.

Contact

R. Barbara Gitenstein Library
The College of New Jersey
P.O. Box 7718
2000 Pennington Rd.
Ewing, NJ 08628

Hours

Maps and Floor Plans