








































Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion


5

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California, Chair 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

• Elli Cucksey, Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University
• David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California
• Kenneth Litwak, Gateway Seminary 
• Daniel Smith
• Jennifer Ulrich, Eastern Mennonite University
• Alexis Weiss, Atla Staff Liaison 

YEAR IN REVIEW

The DEI Committee welcomed new members Daniel Smith and 
Elli Cucksey in 2022. Alexis Weiss, a member of this committee last 
year, joined the Atla staff and became the committee’s new liaison. 
David Kriegh remained on the committee for an additional and fi-
nal year to continue serving as chair and manage the transition. 
The committee held its first in-person meeting since 2019, a day-
long event at the Hotel June in Los Angeles on February 28, which 
included a visit to the library at Loyola Marymount University to 
learn more about how their staff prioritizes DEI matters. Kenneth 
Litwak retired from Gateway in May 2023 and completed his term 
on the committee.

Here are the highlights of the DEI Committee’s work this past 
year: 

DEI Series blog posts - Although there were no blog posts tagged 
as DEI this year, the Committee developed a schedule to prepare 
and release quarterly posts authored by Committee members and 
invited guest bloggers.

DEI LibGuide - The Committee continued to research and update 
the various tabs of the DEI LibGuide, recommending the addition 
of a tab for neurodiversity and placing a greater emphasis on open 
access resources in the hopes of attracting more traffic to the site.



6    ANNUAL Y E ARBOOK

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship - There were 20 to-
tal applicants, although one submission arrived after the deadline. 
The Committee identified six outstanding candidates and from 
among them selected Adam Howard, an LIS graduate student at 
Kent State University as the 2023 recipient of the Atla Diversity, 
Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship. The Committee requested that 
the Director award a second scholarship to Shirley Delorme Rus-
sell, an Indigenous Librarian intern for the University of Manitoba 
earning her library degree from the University of Alberta, and was 
pleased to learn the request was granted.

Atla Annual 2023 - DEI committee members Elli Cucksey, David 
Kriegh, Daniel Smith, and Jennifer Ulrich hosted the conversa-
tional group “Serving Our Neurodiverse Communities: Reflections 
from Theological Librarians.” Elli Cucksey also participated in the 
panel presentation “Best Practices for Virtual Library Services for 
Small Libraries,” and Daniel Smith was a panelist for “What About 
the Aqueduct? Or, Does Decolonizing the Library Mean Deacces-
sioning Augustine?” Both plenary speakers emphasized DEI issues 
in the field as well.


