Antiracism/Equity Statement

(En Español: Declaración De Antirracismo/Equidad)

AACPL Stands with Our Community

The Anne Arundel County Public Library stands with our community in the fight against systemic racism. Read the Statement on Racism by Library CEO Skip Auld. Also read our statement Supporting Our Asian Colleagues, Friends and Neighbors.

Equity Statement

The Anne Arundel County Public Library is committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion. Transformation must occur on the individual, collective, and institutional levels, and AACPL can help achieve true and sustained equity through intentional and systemic library-community partnerships. Through AACPL’s mission to educate, enrich, and inspire, we will work with our community in promoting equity and racial justice. The AACPL’s core values, which include diversity, serve as the principles that guide our daily work and will help us to plan the Library’s operations, functions and service to our customers.

Black Lives Matter

The AACPL Board’s Human Resources and Diversity Committee and the AACPL staff’s Library Equity and Diversity Team     stand up for racial justice, stand down systemic racism, and reject the perpetuation of hate. We stand in solidarity for human rights, and join the clarion of worldwide calls to end the brutal violence and discriminatory injustices against Black people. We commit to intentional movement towards justice with the guidance of our core values that include commitment to action, compassion for those in need, and empowerment to our community to face the need for change.

Solidarity with Libraries and Communities

We stand with The American Library Association and the Urban Libraries Council in their condemnation of racism and support of social justice. 

The American Library Association (ALA)

The American Library Association unequivocally condemns racism and endorses recent statements by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

Policy Audience