LSU Libraries has assumed publication responsibilities for the national journal Library Diversity and Residency Studies (LDRS), making it newly available through LSU Digital Commons, LSU’s institutional repository. An open access, peer-reviewed journal founded and published by a team of librarians and library and information science (LIS) faculty members involved in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Diversity Alliance, LDRS publishes articles that are engaged in the social justice project of increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the library profession and in Library and Information Science (LIS) curricula.

The journal is an outcome of a 2018 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant, awarded to the University of North Carolina (UNC) Greensboro to fund the 2019 Diversity Resident Institute for members of the ACRL Diversity Alliance. LSU Libraries joined the ACRL Diversity Alliance in 2017.

“The Library Diversity and Residency Studies journal editorial board is extremely grateful to the LSU Libraries for its willingness to host the journal long term,” said Dr. Martin Halbert of UNC Greensboro.  Halbert is one of the founding editorial board leaders and was the principal investigator of the original IMLS project that led to the creation of the journal.  Halbert continued, “We have been impressed with both the technical capabilities of the digital publishing platform that LSU Libraries offers as well as the generosity of the library staff in catalyzing this new contribution to scholarship in this area of librarianship.  We feel that hosting the journal with the LSU IR will increase its visibility and long-term impacts for the field.”

The ACRL Diversity Alliance program unites academic libraries committed to increasing the hiring pipeline of qualified and talented individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. As a Diversity Alliance member, LSU Libraries has hosted a Diversity Resident since 2019.