News & Events

Bjork Library received the 2025 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The LEAD Award honors academic libraries’ programs and initiatives that encourage and support inclusive excellence and belonging across their campus. These include, but are not limited to research, technology, accessibility, exhibitions, and community outreach. Stockton University will be featured, along with 33 other recipients, in the March 2025 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine.

Insight Into Diversity magazine selected Bjork Library for this national recognition because of the impactful work done across all library departments, much of which takes place behind the scenes to ensure equity and inclusivity are ingrained in our daily practices.

One highlight was the incredible efforts of our library's outreach team, particularly their monthly cultural and heritage celebration displays. These thoughtfully curated exhibits, presented both physically and digitally, shine a spotlight on underrepresented authors, works, and topics, further promoting awareness and diversity within our collections and programming.

We are proud to receive this recognition and remain committed to enhancing access, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do. This award reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire library team and our shared vision of serving as a resource and advocate for all members of the Stockton community.

At Friday's NJ Academic Libraries Conference, our Special Collections Librarian Heather Perez presented on a panel with two other members of the Archives and Special Collections section of the NJ Academic Librarians. In their panel, "Teaching with Primary Sources: Flexible and Fun Ways to Share Special Collections and Archives," the speakers discussed the art of teaching students to use special collections as it can sometimes be a challenge to keep them engaged while helping them to navigate the intricacies of working with documents. Heather shared one of her favorite lesson plans, "Speed Dating with Documents" which introduces a class to our Special Collections by allowing students to quickly explore and engage with different pieces.

Click here to learn more about Special Collections at Bjork Library.

At the NJ Academic Libraries Conference on Friday, January 10, Outreach Librarian Joyce DeStasio participated in a panel of four librarians from across New Jersey as part of the Marketing & Outreach section of the NJ Academic Librarians. In their panel, "Adapting to our Communities’ Needs through Marketing and Outreach," speakers each shared their library's current approach to communications and outreach, identifying that "meeting our users where they are" requires flexibility and dynamic marketing strategies. Joyce discussed the variety of work we've done to communicate and market the library renovations to the Stockton Community. This includes digital initiatives, such as website updates, presentation slides,  newsletters, and social media posts, as well as printed pieces such as flyers and signage both in the library and across campus.

To learn more about the library renovation, visit our renovation updates page.