Laurier L. Cress

The importance of diversity and inclusion in librarianship is a common topic in LIS pedagogy today. Not long ago, that was far from the norm. However, in 1967 the University of Maryland’s School of Library and Information Sciences (SLIS) offered a comprehensive program that focused on topics designed to better serve the disadvantaged. It included an experimental library, High John, created and facilitated by SLIS in a predominately African American community named Fairmount Heights.