Diversifying reading lists toolkit

These pages have been created as an aid for academic staff in identifying and adopting more diverse information resources onto reading lists; in support of more inclusive curriculum design.

This guide includes links to the work done by other institutions on diversifying reading lists, tips for searching for resources to include on your reading lists, and examples of reading lists, compiled by LBU students, that they feel reflect themselves and their experiences.

Use our Request It! service to obtain resources not currently available that you are not adding to a reading list.

Diversifying reading lists is important

We want our Library’s collection to be representative of our students. 

Through diversifying our collection, we hope to make a visible statement that all our students are welcome and should feel they can learn from and about all people, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, age or social background. As our collection development strategy is driven by teaching requirements, via the online reading lists, this diversification is dependent on all of us considering the voices represented in the sources we expect our students to use.

If you have any suggestions of appropriate resources or information to be added to these pages please contact the Library Academic Engagement Team via the details at the bottom of the page.

Reflective questions for course teams when compiling reading lists

Library and Learning Services' policy is to base our collection on the needs of our users, prioritising purchasing resources on online module reading lists. You can help us in diversifying our collection by reflecting on your own reading lists with a diversity lens.

• How diverse are your course readings? Do they reflect a broad spectrum of thought and experience? Are there publications that you have ignored or turned away from through lack of understanding or fear of difficult conversations or feelings?
• If your module focusses on the experiences of a particular group, how much of your course reading is authored by people from that group?
• How often do you update your course readings to reflect changes in discourses or wider learning? What views have you sought in compiling or updating reading lists?
• Do you read widely yourself? Reflecting on your own reading and learning patterns, are you challenging yourself in reading a more diverse authorship?

You may find the Equality and Inclusion courses available through MyDevelopment helpful.

Diversifying reading lists guides

The following guides have been created to support you in diversifying your reading list content:

• Best practice in diversifying reading lists
• Diverse research
• Searching for inclusive resources
• BAME publishers and Book lists

The Library owns many resources either written by BAME authors, or which explore academic subjects from a BAME perspective. Some of these resources have been added to an online reading list and grouped by subject area to make them easy to explore and add to your reading lists:

• Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) resources by subject area