Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility: DEIA Committee

Please reach out to any DEIA committee member if you have success stories or ideas to share.  You can also share at deia@ocls.info. 

You have several options to contact your DEIA Specialists:

Matthew Cavalier
407-835-7469
cavalier.matthew@ocls.info

Ruben Cortes
407-835-7338
cortes.ruben@ocls.info

DEIA Email Address
deia@ocls.info

Anonymous Contact
CLICK HERE

Our origin story; told by Yvonne Hartley, Chief Human Resources Officer.

Our journey toward the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) committee began with the Diversity Committee in 2020. Led by members of the Events & Programs and Marketing & Public Relations departments, the mission of this committee was to focus on promoting and celebrating a culture of diversity and inclusion through library events, services, and resources. To that end, members met once per quarter to discuss ways to ensure that there was diversity in the library’s programming and marketing. Each month through the event themes, which complemented the Required Displays, the committee worked to ensure that Diversity was represented for our customers.

To further our commitment to Diversity, and to be intentional about creating an environment of inclusiveness for employees and customers, the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee was formed at the request of the Library Director/CEO. The committee’s focus was to work to create a sense of belonging for staff and customers, and to ensure that employees have access to equitable benefits, resources, and opportunities. The first meeting was held on May 26, 2022. The ‘A’ representing accessibility was added in July of 2022, changing the name to the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) committee.

To accomplish our goals as an organization and to integrate DEIA into our Vision, Mission and Values, two DEIA Specialists were hired in April of 2023. With their dedicated leadership and focus, and with the committee’s help, we are on our way to realizing a library where everyone feels they belong, and DEIA is integrated in all that we do.

You will be asked to log into your OCLS account (that you use to sign into a computer) to view the archived committee minutes files.

All 2022 & 2023 Committee Minutes are now located on the Archive page of the DEIA LibGuide.