
















































INVITED COMMENTARY  
 

 

 

 Hypothesis 
Vol. 33 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2021 

Message of Solidarity to Research Caucus Members* 
 
Alexander J. Carroll, MSLS, AHIP 
Librarian for Steam Research 
Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries 
Vanderbilt University 
Nashville, Tennessee 
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0248-3811 
alex.carroll@vanderbilt.edu  

Dear RC members, 

For members of the Research Caucus who are members of the Asian, Asian-American, 
or Pacific Islander communities, I join the chorus of voices expressing solidarity with you 
this week. The leadership of the Research Caucus affirms and echoes the Asian Pacific 
American Librarians Association (APALA)’s recent statement, which condemns the rise 
in anti-Asian hate crimes across the United States over the past year. 

To those of us wondering what they can do to get involved and show up for our Asian, 
Asian-American, and Pacific Islander community members, I would encourage you to 
learn how you can speak out and step in when you see anti-Asian bias, harassment, 
and violence happening in your local communities. If you’re looking for places to start, I 
would recommend Hollaback!’s training resources on Bystander Intervention, available 
here: https://www.ihollaback.org/bystander-resources/. If you want to learn more, they 
are also offering several synchronous online training programs over the next several 
weeks, which you can register to attend for free 
here: https://www.ihollaback.org/harassmenttraining/. 

Beyond bystander training, it is critically important that as medical librarians we continue 
to interrogate how our professional practices may reinforce systemic racism in ways that 
can contribute to acts of racialized violence. When drafting a statement of solidarity to 
our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) colleagues this past summer, I 
encouraged members of the Research Caucus to use research to ask questions about 
systemic inequities within medical libraries. I renew that charge to all of us today: 

How do our systems and services reflect and reinforce systemic inequality, and what 
can we do to reform those systems to create more equitable libraries, institutions, and 
communities? These questions are challenging; asking them will require courage and 
will lead to discomfort. But if we want to live up to the spirit of “I Am MLA,” which MLA 
Past President Beverly Murphy describes as “the collective understanding...that it is up 
to us, as members and as volunteers, to do what needs to be done for our association,” 
we must rise to meet that challenge. 

To our Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander colleagues: we see you, and we 
hear you. The Research Caucus is committed to fostering a safe and equitable 
community for all our members, and if we can support you in this time, please know that 
we are here for you. 

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0248-3811
mailto:alex.carroll@vanderbilt.edu
https://www.apalaweb.org/apala-statement-against-anti-asian-violence/
https://www.apalaweb.org/apala-statement-against-anti-asian-violence/
https://www.ihollaback.org/bystander-resources/
https://www.ihollaback.org/harassmenttraining/


INVITED COMMENTARY  
 

 

 

 Hypothesis 
Vol. 33 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2021 

Sincerely, 
Alexander J. Carroll, MSLS, AHIP 
MLA Research Caucus Chair 2020-2021 

*Solidarity statement initially disseminated to MLA Research Caucus Members on March 19, 2021.  

 


