When Leadership Falls Short: The Crisis of Care in Library Work
Posted on in Blog Posts
Curating Diverse Library Displays
Posted on July 28, 2026 in Blog Posts
Authors:
Jamia Williams
One of my favorite things about working in academic libraries is creating displays. At first glance, they may seem like a simple way to highlight books, but library displays can be so much more. They are opportunities to tell stories, spark curiosity, encourage dialogue, and help members of our communities see themselves reflected in the library. When we intentionally incorporate diverse perspectives into our displays, we send a powerful message: everyone belongs here, and every story has value. As academic librarians, we have an opportunity, and I would argue a responsibility, to create displays that move beyond performative representation. This is an opportunity to incorporate voices that have been left out and to showcase them. In this blog post, I want to share successful library displays I co-created, and I hope to encourage you to keep creating.
Celebrate Awareness Months with Intention
One of my favorite things to see in libraries is displays recognizing observances like Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month, Disability Pride Month, and many others. These displays have the power to introduce patrons to stories, histories, and perspectives they may not have encountered otherwise. But I’ve also been thinking about how we can use these moments for more than just swapping out a display because the calendar tells us it’s time.
Showcasing awareness months can be the beginning of an amazing journey for people coming into the library. One way I’ve found to make these displays more meaningful is by partnering with faculty. While it’s easy to think first about collaborating with departments like history, English, sociology, or women’s and gender studies, don’t stop there. Every discipline has underrepresented voices whose contributions have shaped the field. A computer science professor can recommend books highlighting Black innovators in technology during Black History Month. An engineering faculty member might suggest resources featuring women whose discoveries changed the profession. A health sciences faculty member could curate materials recognizing disability advocates or LGBTQ+ researchers whose work has advanced healthcare. Even information technology faculty can help shine a light on the diverse individuals who have influenced the digital world we rely on every day.
These collaborations do more than strengthen a book display. They remind students that diversity isn’t separate from their discipline, it’s woven into it. Faculty bring subject expertise, research interests, and personal perspectives that librarians simply can’t replicate on our own. Asking them to recommend a few books, share resources that have influenced their scholarship, or write a short reflection about why a particular topic matters within their field transforms a display into an opportunity for learning.
I’ve also found it especially meaningful to collaborate with faculty from historically marginalized communities. Their lived experiences and scholarship often add important context that isn’t always reflected in traditional narratives. Rather than deciding on our own which voices to elevate, we can create space for those voices to help shape the conversation. That’s a much more authentic approach to representation.
At the same time, I hope we don’t limit ourselves to these observances. Don’t wait until February to highlight Black authors or until March to feature women in STEM. Continue incorporating these voices into displays throughout the year so they become part of the everyday library experience rather than appearing only during a designated month. When people consistently see collections that reflect a variety of identities, cultures, and lived experiences, inclusion stops feeling like a special event and starts becoming part of the library’s culture.
Engage Student Organizations as Co-Creators
Students are not just consumers of library spaces; they should also be collaborators in shaping them. Many campuses have student organizations centered around culture, identity, advocacy, faith, disability, gender, social justice, and countless other communities. These organizations possess valuable knowledge about what matters to their members and the issues they are passionate about.
Inviting a student organization to co-create a display for First-Generation College Celebration Week, Transgender Day of Visibility, Arab American Heritage Month, or World AIDS Day. They can recommend books, suggest multimedia resources, and contribute artwork that accompanies the display. Also, doing collaborative social media posts would be a great way to market the displays.
By sharing ownership of these projects, libraries create opportunities for authentic representation rather than speaking on behalf of students. Students also gain leadership experience while seeing their voices valued within the institution. Also, this is a great way for students to see some of the work that academic librarians do. Perhaps even more importantly, these partnerships communicate to students that the library is not simply a place they visit, but a space where they belong.
Highlight Alumni Who Are Making an Impact
Another wonderful way to incorporate diverse perspectives is by showcasing alumni whose work reflects the richness of your institution’s community. Many alumni are creatives with work they are willing to share. Their accomplishments can inspire current students about the possibilities for their futures. Consider creating displays that feature alumni publications, artwork, research, or community projects. Pair the display with programming such as panel discussions, author talks, workshops, or community conversations.
When working with alumni, we have invited classes to engage with the alumni and discuss their work. This has been great to witness. These events create meaningful opportunities for students to engage directly with individuals whose experiences may resonate with their own aspirations and identities. They also remind students that success comes in many forms and that their own stories have value.
Creating Displays That Center Diversity
Library displays may seem small in the grand scheme of academic librarianship, but I believe they have tremendous potential. They can affirm identities, introduce new perspectives, challenge assumptions, and create moments of connection. The most impactful displays are rarely created in isolation. They emerge through partnerships with faculty, students, alumni, and community members whose voices deserve to be heard.
As academic librarians, we don’t have to be experts on every culture or every lived experience. Instead, we can become facilitators who create space for others to share their knowledge, tell their stories, and help shape what representation looks like in our libraries. When we intentionally center diverse perspectives, our displays become more than shelves of books. They become invitations to connect and ultimately to build libraries where underrepresented stories can be seen, represented, and valued. To me, that’s the real goal. Awareness months give us a reason to begin the conversation, but our commitment to representing diverse voices shouldn’t end when the display comes down.
About the author:
Jamia Williams (she/her) is a health sciences librarian. She is also the co-creator and co-host of the podcast LibVoices and the founder of The Diversity Fellow’s blog.
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Header image is a detail of This is Harlem by Jacob Lawrence. Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. © 2021 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. For more information, click here.