The mission of SUA is to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life. Daisaku and Kaneko Ikeda Library supports our students, faculty, and staff in their endeavors to meet their academic and personal goals as we all work together toward fulfilling the SUA mission. To that end, the library actively engages in teaching information literacy skills, facilitates access to information, and provides spaces for scholastic collaboration and intellectual exploration. The values we uphold are our principles that guide our actions and decisions.
Ikeda Library Book Discussion Series
Purposes:
Create a safe space for open discourse and contemplation on challenging topics.
Gather as a community to build authentic, supportive relationships.
Encourage sincere, honest, and respectful communication and active listening in lived experiences.
Reflect on our responsibilities to be Global Citizens who work for transformational changes in ourselves and our communities.
Guidelines*:
Participants will engage in the discussions in the following ways:
Support the dignity and well-being of everyone present.
Be humble, be comfortable with being uncomfortable, and commit to continuous learning.
Speak freely and openly in an honest and constructive manner.
Be respectful of other’s time to speak. Listen carefully, in earnest, to understand what is being conveyed, and reflect on our experiences, values, or beliefs.
*Inspired by the California Association of Research Libraries’ Code of Conduct and Bunny Mack’s presentation at the Association of College and Research Libraries’ president program: Shifting the Center: Transforming Academic Libraries through Generous Accountability.
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
Audre Lorde Sister Outsider. 1984
“Lincoln didn’t just end slavery. King didn’t just dream segregation away. Parks didn’t just get tired one day. It is often the unrecognized actions of previous generations that push a society to eventually embrace mantras such as hope, equality, change, and other ideals, which transform the political landscape.”
Shirley Chisolm Unbought and Unbossed. 1970
“We all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. ... And the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. It is a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on February 2, 1968
“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. Address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on August 16, 1967
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength to Love. 1963
"I am persuaded that hopelessness is the enemy of justice; that if we allow ourselves to become hopeless, we become part of the problem. I think you’re either hopeful, or you’re the problem. There’s no neutral place. Injustice prevails where hopelessness persists. And if I’ve inherited anything from the generation who came before me, I have inherited their wisdom about the necessity of hope. ... we’ve been dealing with injustice in so many places for so long. And if you try to dissect why is this still here, it’s because people haven’t had enough hope and confidence to believe that we can do something better. I think hope is our superpower. Hope is the thing that gets you to stand up, when others say, “Sit down.” It’s the thing that gets you to speak, when others say, “Be quiet.”
Bryan Stevenson, Love is the Motive. 12/3/2020
Ikeda Library • 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 • 949-480-4205 • library@soka.edu • © 2021 Soka University of America
