We are excited to announce that the Black Book Nook: Fostering Community Engagement with Black History has earned a CASE 2023 Best of District VII Winner in the category of Leadership: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives.

About the Award

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is a nonprofit organization of educational institutions that supports advancing education in academia to transform society.

The CASE’s District Awards recognize the accomplishments, impacts, and effects of educational innovations in districts across the United States. Case District VII is the western region of the U.S., including Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Utah.

The District Awards recognize educational innovation entries across various categories, including leadership, alumni relations, advancement services, and more. The Black Book Nook received the Best of District VII Award for “Leadership: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusions Initiatives,” which is evaluated using the following areas:

  • Ability to serve as a model for other institutions
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Impact and results
  • Strategy and methodology
  • Use of resources (budget, people, and time) and return on investment

About the Black Book Nook

The Leatherby Libraries and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion launched the Black Book Nook in 2022 to foster education and community engagement with Black history, thought, literature, and culture.

The idea for this project began when Dr. Reg Chhen Stewart, the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Chapman, led Iowa State University and Ames Public Library to collaborate on a virtual black book nook. He presented this project to the Leatherby Libraries, which inspired the library to bring a physical Black Book Nook to life in its first-floor lobby.Black Book Nook

Our Black Book Nook Collection currently has a collection of over 400 books that rotate regularly. The collection continues to grow, and a complete list of titles can be found in our library catalog. These books encourage patrons to engage with Black experiences, culture, and literature to educate the Chapman Community. In addition to these materials, the Leatherby Libraries has offered expanded coverage within the ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers database to encourage further exploration of historical and contemporary Black narratives.

We are thrilled that the Black Book Nook has received such a prestigious award and we are excited to have a space in our library to encourage the Chapman University community to engage and reflect on Black literature, thoughts, culture, and history.

It is worth mentioning that the Black Book Nook project has previously won the 2023 Bronze Level CASE Circle of Excellence Award for Leadership | Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives at the international level, competing against 4,000 entries from members in 27 countries.

To learn more about the Black Book Nook, check our blog post here. For more information on the 2023 Case Best of District VII Awards, visit the CASE website here.

To learn more about the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts of the Leatherby Libraries, check out our website.

The Leatherby Libraries’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts align with the Chapman University Strategic Plan for Diversity & Inclusion, fostering a diverse and inclusive campus climate.