Current Research
Actions Matter
The Actions Matter research study explores what it means to be an ally or an accomplice in librarianship. We surveyed information professionals and librarians, and interviewed 30 librarians about their experiences with being an ally or an accomplice.
Research Questions:
- What is the perception/mental model of an ally and an accomplice by librarians?
- How can librarians shift from being allies to becoming accomplices?
- What tools and strategies can librarians use daily to help in the fight against injustice, microaggression and racism.
Methods: Online survey and semi-structured Interview
Collaborator: Simone L. Yearwood, Interim Dean of Faculty, School of Arts & Humanities, Former Chief Librarian and Associate Dean
Presentations:
Completed:
- 6/27/25 (2:30pm – 3:30pm): ALA 2025 Conference Presentation – LiteracyNation – Beyond Allyship: Building Accompliceship to Dismantle Injustice in Librarianship
- 7/26/2024: Librarians Need Accomplices! | 12th National Conference of African American Librarians (NCAALXII) – “Culture Keepers XII: Unity in Diversity – Stronger Together in the African Diaspora”
- 2/27/24: Be My Accomplice, Not My Ally! | Queens Public Library’s President’s Council for Racial Equity
- 11/2/23: Be My Accomplice, Not My Ally! | New York Library Association (NYLA)
- 10/24/23: Have Ally, Need Accomplice | Metropolitan Library Council (METRO) Rest, Reset, and Re-Engage: Centering EDI in the New Normal
- 6/16/23: Moving from an Ally to Becoming an Accomplice | State University of New York Librarians Association (SUNYLA) Sets Sail: Academic Libraries Charting the Future Conference
Grants
2025 | Queens College Research Enhancement Grant
The grant provided $2K to fund part of the research study on faculty user experience in AI.
2023 | Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Diversity Enhancement Research Grant
The grant provided $11.5K to fund the research study “Actions Matter: Shifting from Ally to Accomplice.”
2020 | Administration for Community Living
The grant provided the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), a coordinating center, with funding of $75K per year for 3 years, to be the Coordinating Center to promote program-wide collaboration and coordination among the five Minority Aging Technical Assistance & Resource Centers (TARCs), their partner organizations, and the Administration for Community Living (ACL). In my role, I provide content expertise on the educational components of the Coordinating Center, and the main goal of my work is to conduct a needs assessment, a survey, and build a resource library based on the results. 5% of my time is allocated to the grant per year for a total of $5K per year.
2020 | Pine Tree Foundation
The grant provides funds to digitize 10 rare English language manuscript cookbooks and make it available to the public through a new digital collection.
2018 | Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
The grant provides funds to conduct a user research study on IMAGE: NYC website, the Interactive Map of Aging, so that the usability can be improved.
2018 | Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) Digitization Grant
METRO provided the funding to help offset the cost of scanning for the digitization of the William S. Ladd collection of prints.
2017 | The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
The foundation provided $13K to fund the digitization of rare books dealing with Italian printers.
2016 | National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Projects for the Public Grant
The grant provided $30K in funding for the Biography of a Book project. The goal of the project was to explore creating an interactive digital exhibit that can be access both online and in the lobby of the Academy building while showcasing the life of a book.
2016 | Gladys Brooks Foundation
The foundation provided $30K in funding to purchase equipment to build a digital lab.
