Subject Guides: Anti-Racism: Home

This subject guide explores the topic of anti-racism. Use these curated resources as a starting point for your research. Navigate the tabs to find relevant articles, books, journals, and other resources. If you require more information on this topic than what you find here, submit a literature search request for a focused and comprehensive scan of current evidence and practice changing updates.

Anti-racism involves proactive efforts to identify, confront, and rectify the values, structures, policies, and behaviors that sustain systemic racism. The relationship between anti-racism initiatives and healthcare systems is critical, as it directly impacts health outcomes and access to medical services for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour. Research continues to show that racism contributes to negative health outcomes and fosters mistrust and hesitation in seeking medical care, resulting in increased unmet healthcare needs.¹ Further, this reluctancy leads to an underrepresentation of diverse demographics in clinical research that can skew the applicability of research outcomes and worsen health disparities. The lack of inclusivity "can contribute to significant health disparities, such as treatments and interventions being tailored to the majority population [resulting in]. . . biased data that fails to reflect the needs of ethnic minority groups."²

This guide provides general information about anti-racism & anti-oppression and includes reading materials and links to other websites and collections to encourage learning and self-reflection. It serves as an introduction and is not a comprehensive recommendation of resources or representation of the many facets of dialogues occurring at this time. The intent is to open the door to the resources available and for people to select material that speaks to them and their experiences. Your feedback is valuable. If you are a subject matter expert in this area, send your content recommendations to library@northernhealth.ca.

References:

1. Martin Cooke, Tasha Shields, Anti-Indigenous racism in Canadian healthcare: a scoping review of the literature, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, Volume 36, Issue 3, 2024, mzae089, https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzae089
2. Pardhan, S., Sehmbi, T., Wijewickrama, R. et al. Barriers and facilitators for engaging underrepresented ethnic minority populations in healthcare research: an umbrella review. Int J Equity Health 24, 70 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02431-4

Content Warning

Information included in this guide is sensitive and may be difficult to read. The following services are available if you need emotional support:

Northern BC Crisis Prevention, Intervention & Information Centre 1-888-562-1214, available 24/7
Hope for Wellness Helpline 1-855-242-3310 for First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, available 24/7
Métis Crisis Line 1-833-MétisBC (1-833-638-4722), available 24/7
KUU-US Crisis line 1-800-588-8717 for Indigenous people in B.C., available 24/7

Libraries & Anti-Racism

In providing this guide, the library is not excusing itself from doing its own work to learn and improve in these areas. Library history is rooted in colonialism and gatekeeping, and there is an ongoing need to dismantle institutional racism within libraries. To learn more about anti-racism and advocacy in libraries, check out some of these resources below.

Position Statements

Anti-Racism Statement | Health Libraries Association of BC HLABC is an organization dedicated to supporting health libraries, their staff, and anyone interested in health information search and discovery.
Anti-racism themes in the medical library literature: draft review of papers An informal environmental scan of literature relating to anti-racism in medical libraries, compiled by health sciences librarians.
Change the Subject | Dartmouth Libraries Change the Subject (2019) is a 54-minute documentary film about a group of Dartmouth students who challenged anti-immigrant language in the Library of Congress subject headings. The Dartmouth Library is pleased to provide free streaming access to Change the Subject (2019), and to a digital collection of materials related to the original action and to the production of the film.
Statement on anti-Racism | Canadian Health Libraries Association CHLA aspires to build a community of Canadian Health Library and Information professionals who are valued partners in the improvement of health, health care, research, and education. They promote and advocate for high quality health information and library services through education, funding opportunities, knowledge sharing, research, and collaboration.
Truth & Reconciliation Report | Canadian Federation of Library Associations The CFLA's Committee on Indigenous Matters exists to work with Indigenous (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) people to address issues related to libraries, archives and cultural memory institutions; to promote initiatives in all types of libraries by advancing and implementing meaningful reconciliation as addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and in the Calls to Action.

Recommended Readings

Decolonizing the Library | Saint John's University "The concept upon which the library catalog is based, that of classification and categorization, relies on one way of understanding the world. Implicit bias is further introduced by the the language used, which has traditionally centered White voices. This guide aims to help patrons surface works by the historically marginalized voice in a finding tool that is biased. Searching for works by diverse and historically underrepresented people can be challenging, in part due to standard practices in library organization of materials outlined below. It is not necessary to understand all the complexities of metadata management, but if you are curious about implicit bias in library systems read below..."
Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship: A Reading List Developed by Karla J. Strand, DPhil, MLIS, University of Wisconsin
Indigenous Librarianship (Xwi7xwa Library Research Guide) "Indigenous librarianship unites the discipline of librarianship with Indigenous approaches to knowledge, theory, and research methodology." (From Indigenous Librarianship by Burns, Doyle, Joseph & Krebs, 2009). "It is my view that you need to look carefully at the way Aboriginal people are portrayed in libraries, and you need to reach out to Aboriginal people and show us that we are welcome to participate in an area which we were excluded from for a long time." (From Mick Dodson cited in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library and Information Resources Network Protocols, 2012).
Libraries on the frontlines: neutrality and social justice This article examines libraries’ responsibility to engage with and support communities of color as they challenge systemic racism, engage in the political process, and exercise their right to free speech. Many libraries have ignored the Black Lives Matter movement, citing the need to maintain neutrality. Despite extensive scholarship questioning the validity of this concept, the framing of library neutrality as nonpartisanship continues. This article examines librarianship’s engagement with, and disengagement from Black communities through the lens of the Black Lives Matter movement. It also explores the implications of education, engagement, and activism for people of color and libraries today.

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