Volunteering at Austin Public Library

I had an amazing experience volunteering at Austin’s central library branch learning all about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

Equity, diversity, and inclusion was a new field of experience for me, as even today schools don’t effectively teach the importance of EDI. I was able to learn so much about EDI this summer. During the first week, we had done introductions and were touring the building. At the tail end of the day I researched the library’s existing EDI commitment as well as Austin’s history with EDI. The subtle change of placing equity first in the acronym was surprisingly powerful. Equity is what needs to be prioritized since we already have so much training on diversity, but no real action on equity. Actually helping people comes from equity, so we must put it before diversity. I found that EDI applied to all sorts of areas. Of course, the most common area is race, but it stems to gender, economic situation, age, and even geography.

With this in mind, I reviewed the EDI SharePoint site. At my start, the site was still scattered and even had copies floating about. I was glad to give what feedback I could and see that it had greatly cleaned up by the time I was done. Similarly, the EDI table tents had also made great strides in progress during the summer and I was able to provide some suggestions.

A great example of a way the library practiced equity was by including me in Teams meetings such as racial healing circles even though I am still 17 and in high school. They did not exclude me because of my age difference. I was still able to share my experiences and thoughts as well as listen to others, and they even invited me to their meetup. I was moved by how much effort facilitators put in to garner participation by being proactive and practicing their presentations. They were constantly aiming to improve their panel with each run. Through these meetings, I was able to learn much about Austin’s history, especially with EDI.This volunteering experience provided me with an abundance of knowledge on EDI which I will be sure to apply wherever I can.

Aside from EDI, I had the pleasure of meeting many of APL’s staff and seeing behind the scenes of the library. I was able to observe how everyone was always working hard and working together. This was my first opportunity to view and even participate in a real work environment. I learned how important communication can be amongst coworkers and how fluid it is to have a whole network of people.

Also, I saw how effective trainings and short breaks can be to improve a work environment. I was exposed to professional tools like Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint. Although they can be technically tricky at times, I can see the value in using them. The office space as a whole made me feel all grown up. Having to buzz in to unlock the door and entering offices near all the executives felt exhilarating.

I truly gained much knowledge and experience from it and am so glad it happened. I’ll keep the memory of this summer for the rest of my life.