Augustana library receives diversity excellence award
Augustana College's Tredway Library received the 2025 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) award from Insight Into Diversity magazine. This is Tredway Library's first time earning the national recognition, which honors academic libraries that encourage and support inclusive excellence and belonging.
Tredway Library will be featured along with 35 other recipients in Insight's March 2025 issue. Director Stefanie Bluemle said it is an honor for the library and Augustana to receive this recognition.
'In my time as the library's director, I have seen the highest dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility from our librarians and staff,' Bluemle said. 'Everyone at Tredway Library is committed to student success and well-being, and to making the library a welcoming and inclusive space for the campus community.'
Bluemle said Tredway Library engages in many inclusive-focused initiatives, including a new collection development policy adopted in February 2024 aimed to increase the diverse voices, identities, perspectives and geographic locations represented in the collection.
The policy was adopted following the spring 2021 diversity audit of Tredway's main circulating collection. Given Augustana's history as a predominantly white institution, Bluemle said the audit showed white authors, authors using he/him pronouns, and authors in opposite-sex relationships were overrepresented in the collection, compared to both Augustana's current student body and the U.S. population.
'We'll use the results of the audit, as well as input from students, faculty and Augustana's Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity, to continue diversifying the voices and identities represented in our collection,' said Bluemle. 'The audit has already made us more mindful of our collection development practices. Every year since 2021, our new purchases have been significantly more diverse than the collection as a whole.'
Other Tredway Library initiatives include an accessibility review to verify that the library is maintaining compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements as well as identifying improvements, such as better signage and lighting or improved digital access.
'I'm incredibly proud of the work Tredway Library does to ensure our students, faculty and staff have the resources they need to learn, grow and support Augustana as an institution,' said Provost Dr. Dianna Shandy. 'The LEAD award is a prestigious recognition of the many ways Tredway Library serves the needs of our evolving community.'
In addition to recognizing impactful programs at the Rock Island campus, the LEAD award also recognized Tredway Library for its support of the unique research needs of the more than 40 students enrolled in the Augustana Prison Education Program (APEP) at the East Moline Correctional Center.
'Tredway Library works with APEP faculty to provide access to books and articles for the students,' said Bluemle. 'Librarians and on-campus student employees also conduct research on behalf of APEP students at times. Additionally, a Tredway librarian has obtained clearance to visit East Moline Correctional Center in order to provide information literacy instruction to students in APEP.'APEP students enrolled in a fall 2024 history class researched and curated an exhibit that will be on display at Tredway Library this spring.
Bluemle said the library needs for on-campus and APEP are ever-evolving and the staff are committed to aligning services and outreach efforts to meet the needs of all users.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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